Noise problem in my appartment

[314652gyl]

I have load "hummer" noise in my appartment when the boiler starts at night. It is 2 year problem already. Last year i have sent several letters to LL without any reply. In July i took LL to small court where he claimed the problem was fixed. This year everything is repeating - noise, ignoring my requests etc. I stopped paying my rent now from December and do not know what else i can do. I got though rent request letters from LL with late fees and "legal" fees (about $275 each month). Does anybody know what I can do in this situation?

[joliett]

I have enclosed a link from the Tenant.net archives relevant to your problem:

http://tenant.net/.WWW/pars/pars14/GD610213.RO

[Chimera]

NEVER stop paying rent or reduce your rental payments without it being ordered by a judge. This behavior is very risky and is likely to provoke your landlord into starting eviction proceedings. I think the landlord is only allowed to charge you a late fee of 5%, I'm not sure how much he can charge for legal fees, but $275 does sound excessive. At any rate, my suggestion would be that you pay all of your back rent immediately. Don't make any financial moves on your own unless you have been advised by a competant lawyer, or unless you have gone through housing court and a case has been ruled in your favor.

[Cranky Tenant]

Landlords aren't entitled to any legal fees unless they're awarded in court.

[mbrenner]

I recommend that you speak to a lawyer. It's never wise to go on a rent strike without competent legal counsel. Good luck on the noise issue. That is so difficult to prove. And unless you've had to live with the problem you cannot imagine what it is like.

[tiredsecy]

I wouldn't hold the rent - it would just make things rocky between me and the person who has the power to fix things: the landlord.

Plus it would give the landlord a case in court -- you as a tenant are not paying, therefore you are violating your agreement. Don't give this LL anything to use against you.