Disabled tennant - making noises at nights. How to deal

[BratNikotin]

Hi. I have the following issue
I live in Brooklyn in a building owned by a corporate management.
The neighbor above is a family with some elder woman in a wheel chair. There is a lot of noise coming from the apartment above related to her disability, such as her riding the chair, heavy objects dropping to the floor, etc. It happens several times throughout the night and causes me to wake up every hour.
Can someone, please explain to me, can I break a lease early based on such case? It is just physically unmanageable to live there now.
Maybe I can transfer to another apartment in the building with the same lease? That is I do not want to take a new lease with the new terms (amount expiration, etc .. ).
Basically, what are my options in such situation ?

[lofter1]

Talk to management and see if they have another apartment you can move to. They may not want to lose a tenant these days, given the state of the economy.

Also does your lease have the "80% of floor must be carpeted" caluse? Perhaps your upsatairs neighbor has that clause but it's not being enforced?

Bottom line: When you talk to management make it clear that the current situation is untenable.

[BratNikotin]

Yes, I see ....
I did that .. thank you. They made me put it in writing .. and I really wanted to talk live with the decision making body or something.
The downside of staying in the building ..(and this off the records) is that that family is related to our super and he is really overprotective of them. I wanted to talk to him about available apartments, but he didn't want to listen to anything once he heard about complains on those people. And I just wanted to ask if he knew of available apartment. So if I move within the same building, he may take it personal. Just don't like to have people who make judgment of me behind my back.

[impunchdrunk]

Sorry to report this but your only alternative is going to be to just move. I was in this same exact situation with a noisy and inconsiderate neighbor living above me. She walks as if she's the only person living in the building and CONSTANTLY drops, slides or rolls things on her floor. I complained to management with several certified letters and they sent someone to inspect her apartment. They discovered that she didn't have any carpet on her hard wood floors as required by the house rules. They also received complaints about her inconsideration in the parking lot so they know this idiot is a problem. I just landed an apartment in a private house and I couldn't be happier. Take this advice and try to find you something in another building. No one should have to live like that. Good luck.

[BratNikotin]

Thanks, I figured that this is the only alternative - I am only affraid, that a landlord managing company will report to credit agencies, and I am very picky and considerate about credit rating. So I don't want to just tell the landlord "to h..l with you' and move.
And yes, there is someone going there to inspect their appartment... so I think the situation is indeed the same.

[impunchdrunk]

Well sometimes the managment company will just keep your security deposit and be done with you. Talk to them and see if that is indeed the case and if it is, just get it in writing from them and keep your credit rating intact.

[Landlord's Boy]

You're in NYC and the sound of the wheelchair is disturbing compared to the sound outside?

And do you know for sure exactly what is being dropped on the floor? It might be deliberate and thus can be remedied. I once lived below a model who liked to play jacks in the middle of the night, drove me crazy until I complained to the management and she stopped.

[BratNikotin]

I am in Brooklyn, and in relatively quiet neighborhood, so there is no noise from outside.
I don''t know for sure which objects are being dropped, I know for for sure the soulds of a rocking chair. Don't think she is doing this on purpose - it's just a way for her to get about. The fact that it bothers me is really landlord issue. I think

[JohnMI]

The fact that it bothers me is really landlord issue. I think

Why is it a Landlord issue that the upstairs neighbor bothers you when moving around? You live in an apartment -- you have to expect that you will hear sounds from neighbors. Even for things that are "disturbing the peace", you generally have to call the police to file a complaint, not the Landlord. And I'm sure this is well below "disturbing the peace."

So, you can ASK your LL if they will look into it. But, if they check and say "sorry, but she's just moving around and not purposefully doing anything to make extra noise", then you are out of luck. It isn't the Landlord's responsibility to make sure that your apartment stays completely quiet, sorry.

- John...