Landlord/tenant rights, dealing with problems, where to get help...
Children's Noise - What is considered reasonable?
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ForumUser Posts: 539
Posted On: 8/31/2016
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Help.
I have a question. I’ve been living at the same location for about 4 years.
I have a 3 year old toddler – the woman below me constantly keeps banging with a stick of some sort at all hours of the day ( Mind you I work from 6AM – 4PM) We usually get home at about 8PM.
The other my son was playing it was a bit late about 11pm he didn’t feel the need to sleep, and she started banging..
She then ran to my floor kicking my door in screaming and calling me names and startled my son.
I contacted the super and he told me to call the police next time.
What are my rights?
I live in fear of my son even walking..
I can’t even more without being afraid she’s going to come to my door and scare my child.
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Moderator Moderator Posts: 4075
Posted On: 9/1/2016
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Hello,
Thank you for sharing your situation and question with us.
We can appreciate that you would be concerned about this situation and that it would be quite stressful for you.
According to one of our Housing Experts, as long as the children’s noise is “reasonable” the Code protects tenants from any harassment or threats of eviction. In terms of what is reasonable, again, there isn’t any precise definition of this, however, it basically means that the noise is what you would expect of a child of that age.
Under the Residential Tenancies Act, as far as we know, there really is no definition of reasonable noise, but the Human Rights Code over-rides the Residential Tenancies Act.
You may want to contact the nearest Community Legal Clinic for additional information regarding your rights in this situation.
There is also another organization that works specifically with equality rights and housing.
According to the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation
Under the Code, children have the right to make a reasonable amount of noise, simply because they are children and children make noise. Parents have the right not to be harassed and threatened with eviction for regular children’s noise such as crying, laughing, playing and running. At a Landlord and Tenant Board Hearing, the adjudicator must consider the Code when making the decision to evict or not evict. Landlords are obligated to make accommodations where possible such as providing carpeting to reduce noise.
You may want to contact the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation for additional information on what your rights are in this situation.
As a final option, you may also be interested in looking into some type of Housing Mediation Service for some assistance or information on how to approach this situation.
Many of these type of organizations provide conflict resolution type services. Community mediation is an alternative way for resolving conflict. Trained mediators help people talk about their problems in a safe and constructive way and acknowledge people's rights and obligations. They may have some solutions they can share with you and your neighbour.
I hope this information is helpful. Please let us know if you have further questions and if there is any follow up to your question/situation.
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Anna
Settlement.Org Content and Information/Referral Specialist, CIRS
Settlement.Org
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