Neighbor calls police over a dozen times for a noise disturbance, tenant convinces cops to fine her instead: 'They were forced to admit that my volume was not high enough for an actual complaint'

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Isabella Penn
Aug 11, 2025 6:00 AM EDT

Living in a multi-unit building can be tricky. Between the mystery smells in the hallway, a shared laundry room, and the symphony of stomps from upstairs, it's a real test of patience. And if your building is old, you can forget about peace and quiet. Soundproofing wasn't even a passing thought back then. Every creak, cough, and clink of a spoon travels like it's being blasted through surround sound.

I live in a duplex, and I swear I could write a full biography of my upstairs neighbors based on their footsteps alone. Honestly, sometimes just hearing those heavy footsteps while I'm trying to decompress after a long day is enough to send me over the edge. And yes, I know I'm being dramatic.

That said, I would never call the cops over it. And apparently, you really shouldn't because if the noise isn't actually bad enough, you might end up on the hook for a hefty fine.

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  • One woman found that out the hard way after calling the police on her neighbor over a dozen times for “noise disturbances”… only for the officers to finally turn the tables on her.

    Justice, as they say, was served.

  • Close up photo of flashing police car lights
    via Ahmet Kurt For Unsplash+

  • "Old lady got the ticket instead"

    This was taking place at my appartement about 21 years ago. I was 24 back then and was living in a 18 appartement building. Probably made of cardboard and paper because the sound proofing was awful.
    via SecretGentleman_007
  • I had this old lady and his husband as a next door neighbor. Once in a while she would call the cops. on me for noise disturbance while I was listening to some music or watching a movie. Each
    via SecretGentleman_007
  • and every time the cops arrived they were forced to admit that my volume was not high enough for an actual complain. But they still asked me if I could turn it down a little.
    via SecretGentleman_007
  • This happened a good dozen times before I got ped and asked the policemen if they were allowed to ticket someone for repeatedly bothering them for nothing. They didn't really answer but I could tell
    via SecretGentleman_007
  • that it was making them think a lot. That was the last time I saw the police at my door from that old b*tch. Weeks later, the janitor told me she told him that she got a huge fine for bothering the police with false accusations.
    via SecretGentleman_007
  • Photo of police officer writing a ticket
    via Jordan Andrews For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • Justice served.
    via SecretGentleman_007
  • delulu4drama She definitely paid the price for her obnoxiousness
    via delulu4drama
  • Angrybadger52 Back when my kids were kids, we had a neighbor who called the police for silly things. (example, my daughter was doing her homework after school
    via Angrybadger52
  • and listening to a clock radio.) Eventually, an officer looked at her record, talked to people, and removed her ability to get police to come over calls about kids. Her son put her in a retirement home shortly after.
    via Angrybadger52
  • stillnotelf I was at a party like this in high school. No alc ol, we were playing music in the yard, but at a reasonable volume, there was a fire being
    via stillnotelf
  • treated responsibly, parents were home. It was friends hanging out, never intended to be a rager. The cops got called. They spent 3 minutes chatting with us
    via stillnotelf
  • and then 20 telling off the neighbor for wasting their time on what had to be the quietest party they had ever been called to.
    via stillnotelf
  • Cake-Over I lived in a building and my neighbor would complain about hearing my shower or me washing dishes or toilet flush. I absolutely have no control over how loud the plumbing is.
    via Cake-Over
  • WhipCream Whistle Sounds like granny learned the volume limit and the price of petty.
    via WhipCreamWhistle
  • Wonderful-Put-2453 Keeping Authorities Really Engaged for Nothing. the Karen law.
    via Wonderful-Put-2453
  • untitled-33 Injustice for the appartement building. Now other buildings are making fun of it.
    via untitled-33
  • FaeWhimsyGlow Imagine being so bored and bitter that calling the cops becomes your hobby and only to get billed for it. That's some top-tier boomer irony.
    via FaeWhimsyGlow
  • Babajji As a person who is disturbed by sounds I just have a really good noise cancelling headphones and use ear plugs while sleeping. I can't expect the
    via Babajji
  • world to change for me, I have to adopt to it. I am surprised old people never learned that lesson.
    via Babajji

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Tags

neighbors neighborhood-drama petty revenge Bad Neighbor karma entitled people complaining cops fine complaints old lady noise loud police
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