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Legal Advice- Barking Dog, Apartments


Dexterity

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Person above me has a small dog. It sits in a window & barks all day. Then at night it scratches at a door and barks all night. I mean literally all goddamn day. Occasional barking or noise doesn't bother me. That's not what I'm talking about. I literally haven't spent 15 minutes in my home without hearing their dog bark. And I moved here in September.

I pay $1,400/month to rent a luxury apartment at Birkdale Village in Huntersville. I feel I should be able to enjoy my evenings, sleep, or even walk to my door without hearing obnoxious barking.

I've complained to management 6 times. 4 e-mails and now twice in person. I've recorded the dogs nonstop barking for months. I have not said a single word to the tenant, or yelled or beat on the ceiling. And I won't. If I lived in my own home I would've directly communicated, but I'm leasing property so I feel it's the landlord's problem.

Is anyone familiar with noise ordinances in Mecklenburg County? Specifically pertaining to dogs & apartments. In my hometown, persistent barking is against local laws. You can void your lease without notice. You can also call the police and give them proof (recordings) and they will fine the tenant $100. After 3 fines they will force the tenant to turn the dog over to animal control or vacate the property immediately. While that seems harsh, I don't care. I love animals, but I am tired of this bullshit.

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Contact main office and notify them of the problem. Give them 48 hours to contact the tenant. I would let them contact the police for noise ordinance so you don't have to be on the police report. Follow up with the office and if they do nothing, then you might have legal grounds to move at their expense. That's a long process in a really short answer.

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If your complex allows pets, your only option is to complain to the landlord and see if they'll talk to the owners for you. You have no other option. Little barking dogs isn't breaking any noise ordinance.

Also, man up and talk to them yourself or move.

Mecklenburg County

Vol. 2-52. - Noise Ordinances.

Sec. 3-69. - Nuisance.

(a)

It shall be unlawful for any person to own, keep, possess or maintain an animal in such a manner as to constitute a public nuisance or a nuisance to neighbors. By way of example and not of limitation, the following acts or actions of an owner, harborer or possessor of an animal are hereby declared to be a public nuisance and are, therefore, unlawful:

(5)

Allowing or permitting an animal to bark, whine, howl, crow, cackle, or cause noise in an excessive, continuous or untimely fashion so as to interfere with the reasonable use and enjoyment of neighboring premises.

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If your complex allows pets, your only option is to complain to the landlord and see if they'll talk to the owners for you. You have no other option. Little barking dogs isn't breaking any noise ordinance.

Also, man up and talk to them yourself or move.

Barking dogs can violate noise ordinances. Even small dogs can produce a fairly loud bark. It's all about when it occurs. Constant barking can also be considered a nuisance. Actually had animal control called on me for my barking dogs. Code enforcement gave the guy who called a ticket midday because his dogs were barking constantly.

Also, check the fine print of your lease. Some provide for the peaceful and quiet enjoyment of your home.

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Know a guy who was able to have a dog silenced in an apartment based on this:

 

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Quiet+enjoyment

 

 

Quiet Enjoyment

A Covenant that promises that the grantee or tenant of an estate in real property will be able to possess the premises in peace, without disturbance by hostile claimants.

Quiet enjoyment is a right to the undisturbed use and enjoyment of real property by a tenant or landowner. The right to quiet enjoyment is contained in covenants concerning real estate. Generally a covenant is an agreement between two parties to do or refrain from doing something.

 

Courts read a covenant of quiet enjoyment between the Landlord and Tenant into every rental agreement, or tenancy. Thus a renter, or tenant, has the right to quiet enjoyment of the leased premises regardless of whether the rental agreement contains such a covenant.

 

In the covenant of quiet enjoyment, the landlord promises that during the term of the tenancy no one will disturb the tenant in the tenant's use and enjoyment of the premises. Quiet enjoyment includes the right to exclude others from the premises, the right to peace and quiet, the right to clean premises, and the right to basic services such as heat and hot water and, for high-rise buildings, elevator service. In many respects the implied covenant of quiet enjoyment is similar to an Implied Warranty of habitability, which warrants that the landlord will keep the leased premises in good repair. For example, the failure to provide heat would be a breach of the implied covenant of quiet enjoyment because the lack of heat would interfere with the tenant's use of the premises and would also make the premises uninhabitable, especially in a cold climate.

 

 

 

Tenants have at least two remedies for a landlord's breach of the covenant of quiet enjoyment: the tenant can cease to pay rent until the problem is solved, or the tenant can move out. A tenant who moves out may be liable for any rent owing under the agreement if a court decides that the landlord did not breach the covenant of quiet enjoyment.

Never even had to get a lawyer involved.  Simply wrote a letter to the landlord that centered around this and threatened to take it further.  Within a couple of days the dog wasn't barking anymore.

 

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