My wife and I are incredibly boring and are absolutely certain the source of the noise is not us. We never have guests over, we haven't moved any furniture, we don't stay up late, nor do we bang our feet etc. For example, they complained about banging between 3am - 7am last night when we were in bed early due to me being ill so we were 100% not the source of that noise.
However, it is hard to prove and I am concerned that if this turns into something more serious and they want to take action we will need to prove the noise isn't coming from us.
Do you have any recommendations on how I can gather evidence? E.g. sound/video recording devices that you can recommend that allow us to record our lack of noise in a low effort way?
We have a camera in our living room which we use to check on our dog when we are out but this only has a setting to record when there is motion (I have turned this on just in case but I would like something more comprehensive)
- Alternatively, film a time lapse of you in bed, if you are comfortable with that.
- Does your neighbor seem to exhibit any mental health concerns?
- Have you heard the noise yourself? Have you tried to track it down?
- Do you or your wife sleep walk?
- Is your dog active at night?
- Do you have a carbon monoxide detector in your home? Does your neighbor? [1]
1. https://old.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/34l7vo/ma_post...
Don't they need to prove it's coming from you? The reasonable way would be for them to summon an observer when the noises are happening, and then the observer can investigate while the noises are happening.
The funny thing was that I had been up for an hour or so (covering the time period in question) and heard nothing but a peaceful morning. I never did figure out what happened.
For the record, I consented to the search, which consisted of them looking in every place that a person might be able to hide. They were polite, efficient, and got out of there quickly.
If you are worried and trust that the neighbor comes in good faith, you can ask them to call you once they hear those banging, or even better knock on you door and come in to listen.
Recording might not actually help you, as you might record noises and not be able to prove where it comes from. The same applies for renting an acoustic sniper localization system- it might direct you somewhere but not really help find the source
Other than that, remember that the burden of proof is on him. So don't go crazy over it yourself.
2. Ordinarily uour apartment management probably does not want to evict you and if they want to your proof won’t matter.
3. Usually these are a he-said—she-said and the apartment management gets paid to do the least disruptive thing they can do. They take the complaint and follow protocol and call it a day.
It’s their job to get out of bed at 3am and see what is going on. Suggest that and call it a day…politely without the “it’s your job” being explicit.
3. If it really matters hire a lawyer. This is a social issue not a technical one.
Good luck.