Neighbor Below Us Bangs on the Ceiling in Response to Normal Activity

My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Georiga


My girlfriend and I have been living in our apartment complex for roughly 6 months. For the past six month's things have becoming increasingly worse. We are proud owner of two small cats, roughly 5 pounds each. Whenever we walk around or do daily activities, the lady below us will bang on the ceiling with a broom stick/yard stick/ or something composed of a thick material. The apartment complex is 3 stories, we are on the second floor, and she is below us. Just to give you an example, last night I woke up at roughly 1AM to use the restroom. When the toilet flushed, she banged on the ceiling roughly 10 times. I would like to think we are a very quiet couple, I weigh roughly 130lbs and my girlfriend 125lbs. We try to be very quiet, we don't listen to music at home, and we have no such thing as a stereo in our apartment. I can understand if our cats run around and play, but cats are not noisy enough to cause a woman to bang on her ceiling repeatedly. This is an everyday occurence, she will follow us around the apartment (below us), and bang whenever there is a noise. It has almost escalated to the point of harassment (in my opinion). The reason I am reaching out to this community is because last Saturday evening, the cops were called to our apartment. My girlfriend and I were in bed watching TV, lights off, half asleep, when they banged on our door. Fortunately for us, my gf knew the cops and they had a good laugh about the situation, but they stated they also couldn't do much about her banging, mostly because they were not called out to the complex for her nor have they witnessed her commotion. She wakes me up almost every night. If i could count, she probably bangs on the ceiling roughly 40-50 times per day.

Steps I have taken: I have tried to speak with the women, and she jumped in her car to avoid me and drove away. Also, I have spoke to management roughly 4 times. They stated they would speak to her and take care of the situation and that she was in "violation", but it is becoming increasingly worse. It has not been resolved. We have spoken to the police, although, we did not initiate the issue.

I do not know what else to do? Like i mentioned before, it's almost to the point of harassment. We thought about trying to seek out profession legal advice via face to face contact, but it might be too costly for comfort. Sadly, we are almost to our breaking point. My girlfriend is becoming increasingly angry and upset at the situation. I am trying to remain strong and hold the situation together in a peaceful manner. Also, my family won't even visit, due to them having small children... the lady below us goes ape-sh*t with her rod of doom when my family comes over. It scares them.

What do you all recommend? We do not know what to do. Is there any grounds for eviction or legal repercussions for her actions?

You have no grounds for evicting anyone. Only the landlord could evict her, and if she is paying her rent every month on time and in full, she is unlikely to be evicted. Her being "in violation" is irrelevant unless the landlord is willing to take action based on that "violation". In my opinion, you need to confront her. Her dodging you and jumping into her car is not an excuse for not having a conversation with her. Go down to her apartment. Knock on her door until she answers. Stand there and knock for 20 minutes. Last resort, call the police. I'm not a proponent of people using the police to sort out minor issues like this, but if she refused to discuss with you and be rational, call 'em and let them deal with her.

PS - I don't think we're getting the whole story. Her actions don't necessairly reflect how a "normal", rationally thinking person would act. So either she is 1) not a sane, rationally thinking person or 2) you are leaving details out. I know the only reason I'm banging on the floor with a broom at 1am because of a flushed toilet is if I already have "issues" with the person. Are there "issues" between you two?

Thanks for the response.

That is the thing. I am giving you all the details, unless you want more examples. Honestly, we do not think that she could be considered rational or sane. I have heard her on the phone outside, and her conversations, tone of voice, and dialect, are just not normal. We have tried to have sympathy for her "maybe being ill." But, we just can't live with all the commotion.

In regards to any previous issues... we have never had a conversation with her. The only reason i can think of the issue getting worse is due to management already speaking to her in regards to our complaints. And, I have heard her say some racial remarks when she was on the phone with someone (we are white in a predominantly black area). Sometimes people have a chip on their shoulder, and you just never know. Also, there was a stray cat that would hang around out building. She would yell and curse at it to stay away from her patio (in a very defiant way). I am wondering if us owning a cat would have anything to do with it? Some people are weirdly angry towards particular animals.

She may just be that sensative to noise, I'm not sure. But, it's odd that if she has such a problem with us, she has never spoken to us about the issue. It goes to show how irrational she is. If we make a footstep. She will amplify that footstep by banging on the ceiling 10 times.

To give you some more examples: We were washing the dishes the other night. I can understand dishes being somewhat chaotic. She was banging.
While i take a shower = banging.
talking on the phone = banging.
Anything you can think of, she will do it. The only thing she told the police was that "we were making too much noise, almost as if we were rolling something around on the carpet". The only response to that would be our cats. But, they are both over 3 years old and are really not that chaotic. They are rightfully paid for and are allowed to be there.

Yes, she sounds like just a troublesome neighbor. Unfortunately, these problems don't get better or resolve themselves on their own. You need to try and have a conversation with her. Be the adult and try speaking with her, find out what her issues are, why she is irritated by your living arrangement above her, and what you can do to help minimize confrontation with her. If that doesn't work, you can move, or you can involve the police. But things get ugly when a neighbor calls the cops on another neighbor. If you are unable to rationalize with her and have a normal conversation, that may be your only option.