Be persistent about noisy neighbors

Q. I hope you can help me with this problem. I live in a condo and my neighbors create excessive noise. They play their TV and stereo very loud for several hours almost every evening. They make loud noises at all hours of the night, frequently disturbing my sleep. I have filed a complaint with the condo board and they are reticent to become involved. They sent the unit owners a warning but the noise actually got worse after the letter arrived.

Doesn't a condo board have the legal responsibility to ensure that each unit owner has the "quiet enjoyment" of their unit? They are telling me that I should just call the police. We do have the typical nuisance clause in our declaration and also excess noise is covered in the rules and regulations. Can a condo board legally wash their hands of this matter and not deal with those unit owners?

A. One of the responsibilities entrusted to the board is to ensure the provisions contained in the declaration as well as the rules and regulations are strictly and uniformly enforced. Also, I would presume the board has the power to issue fines in the event of noncompliance. Fines are often an effective way to enforce rules.

If you cannot get any action out of the board, contact the police, have them come out and ask them to file a report. Do this a couple times and then attend a board meeting with police reports in hand. Demand that the board issue fines absent compliance. Perseverance will probably be required to accomplish your goal.

Follow-up

My last column addressed problems associated with obtaining information necessary in selling or refinancing property in foreclosure or bringing their accounts current. I received the following from a woman who previously worked in this area, which may be helpful to anyone in a foreclosure situation:

I read your Sunday item about working with attorneys and mortgage companies to get information during a foreclosure process and wanted to add my two cents, as I worked in the foreclosure department of a mortgage subservicer for awhile.

One way to get a payoff more quickly may be to request one by fax. Make sure you give a date that you want the payoff good through. As you are well aware, the cost can change quickly and dramatically during the foreclosure process.

At the company I worked at, there were three departments that would be appropriate to talk to for a payoff during a foreclosure: foreclosure, loss mitigation and payoff. If you can't reach one, try another.

Another thought. Often, a file is assigned to an individual. That person may or may not be competent and that person may or may not care about doing a good job. If you are having trouble getting results, you might want to try to call during lunch hours. Rather than leave a message, see if anyone else can take your call. I know that there were many people who ended up getting the help they needed because they reached me during my co-workers break, especially for something as simple as a payoff.

Finally, please do not wait until the last minute to try to save your home. Most people processing the foreclosures would like to help you save your home, but they are doing their job. If you do not give them the proper time to get the information they need to help you, they may not be able to help you. If you have been working with them, though, and (especially) being polite throughout, most people will do their very best to help you, even if something happens last minute.