NOB/ NEIGHBORS One downfall of living in an apartment or a residence hall can be dealing with noise By Meghann Cuniff • Freelance Reporter After three terms in the residence halls, some students can't imagine a noisier living situation. Freshman Natalie Caminiti is looking forward to leaving the residence halls because she has been plagued by problems with noisy neighbors all year. She said she is optimistic about her future living situation be cause she will have more con trol in an apartment. "There are better people to enforce the rules about noise complaints and getting kicked out," she said. Although apartment living generally does offer a greater level of privacy and a lower lev el of noise than residence hall life, noisy neighbors can and do pop up anywhere. Knowing how to deal with these neighbors is crucial for a livable environment. Freshman Kristin Ellingson said her neighbor did not noti fy her before calling the police about a noise disturbance. "She's never talked to me; she's never asked me to be qui et, then she just calls the cops on me," said Ellingson, who rents an off-campus apartment with her boyfriend. Ellingson said she had been crying over the death of her aunt and was "just really upset all over" when a police officer knocked on her door and said a neighbor had called and asked that police check on her. Ellingson took it as a show of concern but soon found out from the apartment manage ment that it had actually been a complaint. When she was told her downstairs neighbor had filed a formal noise complaint about the noise made by her af ternoon aerobic workouts "they said it was the second time she had complained" and cited the earlier visit from po lice, Ellingson said. Ellingson said she never thought she was causing any problems and is upset the neighbor never discussed the complaints with her before tak ing them to authorities. She said the complaints mostly stem from "me doing aerobics at two o'clock in the af ternoon ... even the apartment manager said she seems to be a little too sensitive to noise." Ellingson said she plans to move as soon as the lease is up. "She could have at least left a note," Ellingson said, citing that as the best thing to do when faced with a noisy neigh bor. "People who live in apart ment complexes have to expect some noise." Like Ellingson, freshman Ian Caputo opted for an apart ment rather than a residence hall room, and though he said he is happy with his decision, noisy neighbors are hardly for eign to him. He has never had a problem persistent enough to push him into action but said he is "good natured enough so that what bothers a lot of people doesn't really bother me." Caputo said it is best to do anything possible to avoid no tifying the police of a noisy neighbor, and if necessary he would ask his neighbors to quiet down. This approach to dealing with noisy neighbors adheres to the recommendations of apartments downtown, said different situations can call for different courses of action. Brandow said while in a per fect world, all noise complaints would be settled without inter ference by an outside party, sometimes it is best to contact authorities rather than risk a dangerous situation. Lorig Property Management, the company that owns the apartment building, has on-site managers such as Brandow in every building to ensure a qual ity life for tenants. She said although she and other on-site managers are there to deal with noise and other disturbances, tenants should not hesitate to notify the police if they feel the situa tion is beyond their control. "If it's just really loud and unruly, feel free to call the cops," Brandow said, citing the idea that a large number of guests and an obvious pres ence of alcohol can be very in timidating to someone want ing to ask the noisemakers to quiet down. The apartments Brandow manages have quiet hours from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m., mak ing noise more problematic if it does arise. She stressed that different companies have dif ferent policies. "We have on-site manage ment to take care of (noise complaints)," Brandow said, making communication be tween neighbors thoughtful but not necessary. She said not all apartments have noise policies, making the need for an open line of communication between neighbors greater. most prop k erty man I agers, but ■ Tristan I Brandow, I on-site * manager of the Broadway Place Meghann Cuniff is a freelance reporter for the Emerald. The finer points of renting The following are a few tips to avoid mistakes made by inexperienced renters: 1. Read the lease It sounds pretty simple, but many renters don't read each provision. ASUO Legal Ser vices warns not to sign any thing without understanding the contents. If a landlord is rushing the renter to sign the lease, it may be an indication that something is not right. Tenants can avoid rental mishaps by paying attention to details By Emily LoVerde Freelance Reporter Once the lease is signed, the renter is obligated to obey it. "Landlords like to hand you a lease, but if there is something in there you don't like, you can negotiate," Nicole Miani, a staff attorney for Legal Services, said. For example, most pet de posits are non-refundable, but renters could ask the landlord for it to be refundable if the animal causes no damage. Whatever changes are made to the lease, it is essential to get them in writing with the ten ant and landlord's signatures. Another indication not to sign the lease is if the fees are outrageous. "If students read the lease at all, it's very easy to think it will never happen to them," Miani said. This is a common problem with renters who have nu merous roommates. 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