Having bad neighbors is unavoidable. This, regrettably, is universal and it stretches across all racial ethnicities. From the nicest suburbs to the shabbiest areas of the city, the chance that you will have an annoying person living in close proximity to you is very high. The fact that neighbors sometimes can't get along is a common people problem and you'd better know how to handle people; if not, you may very well be on your way to the big house. Let's say you worked hard all day and have to come home to the latest pimp movie soundtrack pulsating from your ceiling; you may not be able to keep yourself from charging toward that upstairs apartment, round house kicking the door down and bashing that surround sound system in with a baseball bat. There are alternatives, you know. Check out a list of my tips that just might keep you from obtaining your new, pretty cell block number.



KNOW WHOM YOU'LL BE RENTING FROM

1. Before renting out an apartment, always check out the rental agency or landlord you'll be renting from. Get online and do some research. Online, there are a few apartment rating websites and if you must, (and trust me, you must) talk to people who already live there. A majority of the time, it's simple. Bad management does even worse business. There's always a vacancy because no one wants to live there. In my opinion, one of the best things you can do when apartment hunting, is get a referral from someone else, preferably a friend. Okay, so you don't have any friends; again, check out the place as thoroughly as possible before you make a decision that can aggravate you for the entire length of your lease.

MOVE WITH CAUTION. THINK BEFORE ACTING

2. If you fell to your knees in praise when you saw the apartment, moved in and didn't research your landlord, more power to you. Your neighbors might be wonderful. That's great! However, if you moved in and now your neighbors have become your worst nightmare, the seemingly easy way to handle things would be to go to them and kindly ask them to turn the music down, but be wary about doing this. Why, because it rarely works. Sure, you might have a good neighbor who didn't know they were disturbing you. In that case, you knock on the door and ask them to turn their TV down. If they apologize and turn it down, your problem is solved and life goes on. But, if you're like a ton of us who has experienced the person who knows they are disturbing the peace and they really don't care, your best bet would be to not knock on their door because it will enrage them. More than likely, the music is going to play louder and longer and you're going to be livid.

My suggestion is to document the time and the dates of every disturbance. Then e-mail your landlord every time there is commotion. The reason I say e-mail your landlord rather than call is because your email is proof you asked the landlord to resolve this issue. I mean, it is their job isn't it? In the long run, it will really help to print and save all of you and your landlord's cyber communication because watch this:

DO SAVE DOCUMENTATION

3. If your landlord responds, "I already contacted your neighbor and you all should be able to work it out amongst yourselves," you may need all of that documentation to help get you out of your lease. If you're like every other person who has ever called a Tenants Association or organizations just like it, you may have contacted your landlord on many occasions about the situation. Your landlord is about cashing rent checks and they may not put out a rent paying tenant who is causing a ruckus regardless of what your lease says about 'quiet enjoyment'.

I'm even willing to bet your landlord is sick of you and is now labeling you as the 'troublemaker'. So don't think for one minute if you break your lease and move, they won't still sue you for the money owed on the remainder of the lease and you don't want that. Here's why:

LOOK INTO BUYING OR RENTING TO OWN A HOUSE

4. You may want to concentrate on getting your credit in order. There is nothing worse, and I speak from experience, than wanting to make a major purchase like a car or a home and not being able to because of a blemish on your credit. Recognize early in the game that apartment living is not for you if you have a problem with the sound of a herd of cattle stampeding over you. Put yourself in the position financially and credit wise, so when you're fed-up and ready to leave apartments behind completely, you can make that move quickly.

MOVE ONTO BRIGHTER HORIZONS

5. Learn to let go of your place if you're unhappy. Stop going tit for tat with your neighbors and stop calling your landlord. If you're miserable, move. No apartment is worth the energy it takes to complain all the time. To make matters worse, if you start to complain too much, everything that you're fighting against, you will start to mirror. If you're not careful, ultimately, you will become the dreadful neighbor.

HELP OUT MANKIND. REVIEW YOUR APARTMENT

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