landlady has big ears

[plamberti]

my husband and i live above our landlady in a two story house. we share the front entrance,so we see her a lot. we have hardwood floors. at her request, i bought rugs for every room, even though i had to put it on my credit card. but now she's complaining that my husband keeps her up at night by walking around. granted, he wears his shoes. he doesn't like slippers and feels we pay her and have a right to walk around as we choose. i dont think we have a year lease as there are no to-from dates on our lease. but short of moving, what do you suggest?

[HardKnocks]

It doesn't take "big ears" to hear shoes on bare floors above you. It sounds like someone is hammering on your ceiling. I should know, I live with it day and night. It's deafening and unbearable and DOES keep you up at night.

Your right to do as you please regardless of the needs of others doesn't extend to the middle of the night. Late at night you have an obligation to be as quiet as possible if you are up and around. Just because you're up doesn't give you the right to keep everyone else up as well.

My suggestion is for your husband to take his shoes off. He may not "like" slippers, but I don't "like" paying rent either. I still have to do it, though. Taking his shoes off won't affect his quality of life. Wearing them, on the other hand, affects the quality of life of those below you.

[Cranky Tenant]

In addition to what Bleary-eyed tenant said, if your lease doesn't have a term, your LL may have to right to evict with only 30 days notice.

Granted she might continue to complain even if your husband does remove his shoes but at least it would allow you to explain to her you're making an effort to keep the noise down.

<small>[ October 23, 2003, 05:26 PM: Message edited by: Cranky Tenant ]</small>

[HardKnocks]

Cranky, that is an EXCELLENT point.

Pissing off your neighbor is one thing. But when the neighbor is your landlord and you have no lease... be very, very careful.

Look, I'm sorry if I came off as insensitive in my reply. But as the current downstairs neighbor of a lunatic who thinks it's perfectly acceptable to get up at 4 am every day and clunk around in shoes on bare floors for hours at a time... I guess I am a little testy on this subject.

[plamberti]

i appreciate your comments. i agree and sent these to my husband as proof he needs to take off his shoes and get over his fear of slippers. hopefully, this will work, but i ahve a feeling she'll start harping on another subject, like that we walk at all. at which point, i guess we just have to move.

[mjr203]

lol @ "fear of slippers"

[HardKnocks]

My previous upstairs neighbor refused to put down rugs of any kind because she said she was "allergic to floor coverings." Uh... OK.

Peanut, perhaps a nice thick pair of socks could substitute for the dreaded slippers?