I don't know what to do

[Food Lady]

For the last several years I have made many complaints about various neighbors slamming doors. The manager dutifully talks to people about it, and they make excuses about the doors not fitting right (they don't, and I'll get to that) and maybe stop for a short while, and start up again. Actually, I don't even know if it's the same people, as turnover rate in my building is ridiculous. At any rate, any new tenants should be told about the door slamming. Yes, they can be hard to close, but they don't need to be slammed so hard that my walls shake.

Tonight I think it's the people below and one over. Now, I was told they were moving out due to non-payment of rent. And the mailbox last week had a vacant notice on it. It's blank now. So maybe these are new tenants. I saw someone in there tonight. Someone just slammed the door so hard my apartment shook, at 11:30pm. Seriously?? I guess I should complain yet again. But I am sooooo sick of complaining.

I don't even know who's sucky, the tenants or management. I have been here 4 years, and while my door is a bit wonky, I don't slam it like that. It sounds exactly like a kid walking out, pulling the door hard enough to make sure it slams behind him so he doesn't have to actually close it. We probably all did this as kids. But these are adults!

[Flying Grype]

I think the next thing to do would be to see if there's a tenants' rights organization locally, that can help you get building maintenance problems addressed. If everyone who ever lives in that unit slams the door like that, it's likely something wrong with the door. Either it has to be pulled hard to close it, or its springs are broken and it slams when someone lets it fall shut rather than gently swinging.

[PepperElf]

hmm that's a good point.

although some residences have rules about being quiet and respectful of other residents... if the behavior is violating local laws/codes you may have options besides just asking the apartment manager to take care of things. (such as police, or other legal options)

[Seshat]

I'm with FlyingGrype on this. If multiple different households of people have done it, it's probably the door. Thus, maintenance issue.

[Amayis]

If it's the door, though, then I'd blame the tenant. They should fix that instead of leaving it. Over. And over. And over...

Anyways, that would get beyond aggravating.. Aren't there laws against leaving things like that? I don't know if it'd cover a door, but things like stoves and such have to be fixed... Iunno. Worth looking into?

[EricKei]

In most US states, at least, the landlord is generally responsible for fixing such things. A renter may choose to do so, however (with prior authorization from the LL) and just have the cost taken out of the rent.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I may have told this story here, or I may not have.

One year at college, I lived in a ground-floor apartment. The building was somewhat secluded with the woods near it.

And the door stuck. Quite badly. There were times you had to fling yourself against it to open it.

So one fall night, I spent the evening watching movies at a friend's place and then came back to my apartment and crawled into bed.

After sleeping a bit, I woke up, and then turned to fall back asleep again.

"POLICE! LEMME SEE YOUR HANDS!"



I put my hands in the air, and then the cop asked me for my ID. I made a move for my wallet, which was on the nightstand, but I must've moved faster than the officer was comfortable with, because he told me to stay put and he would get it instead. Then he ushered me into the living room.

While this was going on, my roommate was being held outside. Then he was brought into the living room.

Here's what happened: Roommate came in after I did, but the door was stuck. Rather than fight with it, he decided to enter the apartment through the living room window. This might have gone unnoticed if it weren't for the fact that the apartment next to ours had been broken into that evening, and various valuables stolen. So somebody saw my roommate crawling through the window and called the police.

At the time the police came, my roommate was at the sink outside the bathroom brushing his teeth. He told me he desperately wanted to ask the officers "If I broke into somebody else's place, why would I be brushing my teeth?"

[Seshat]

In Australia, fixing the doors is also the landlord's responsibility. A tenant may make an arrangement with a landlord to make such a fix, but the duty is the landlord's. Pretty much anything more difficult than changing a lightbulb is the landlord's duty.

However, the tenant has a duty to notify the landlord of the need for repairs.

One thing you can do: ask the landlord to fit 'soft closing' mechanisms to the doors, as well as to repair them. They might not do so, but they might. Another option is to fit foam insulation strips around the doors: they're sound dampening as well as insulating, and it's harder to make a door slam against foam than wood.

[An Haddock]

"If I broke into somebody else's place, why would I be brushing my teeth?"

Oh, you'd be surprised... I've read stories of burglars getting caught because they stopped to eat a meal, have a nap on the couch, etc.


As far as door-slamming goes, I used to live in a big apartment building and all of our doors had those automatic pneumatic-handle things on it that pulled the door shut. Some sort of safety issue. Although you could set them so that not only did they close the door automatically, but they would resist someone slamming the door as well.