I just had the police called on me for a noise complaint, and it’s the first time in my life that this has ever happened. I was a bit panicked when they showed up, and they informed me that the complaint was about footsteps being too loud. They asked for my name, DOB, and phone number. The strange thing is that I live alone and had been sitting at my desk coding for the past three hours without even getting up for a glass of water. It was only 9 pm, and I had my earphones on, so I couldn’t tell if someone else was making the footstep noises.
This is the third time something like this has happened. The last two times, my property management company (UR) contacted me because someone complained that my “kids” were running around in my room and that I needed to keep “them” quiet. Same words as this time, “足音がうるさい”. After the second time, I used a voice recorder to keep track of any sounds for two weeks and never heard the kind of noise they mentioned. (This also proved that I’m not in the habit of stomping my feet while sitting)
Now I’m worried that if this person continues calling the police, I might get arrested or punished for something that never happened. Could this lead to me being put on a list that makes it more difficult to find another apartment or get PR? Is there anything I can do to put a stop to this nonsense? I’ve just ordered a security camera to prove my innocence and have started looking for a new apartment. Has anyone else experienced a situation like this? What did you do to resolve it?
23 comments
Don’t worry. You will never be arrested for a crime you didn’t commit. In any case, it’s important to speak calmly. Gradually, the other party may be treated as a psychopath.
Ghostbusters.
Literally nothing will come of this. Tell them you don’t have kids and the sound must be coming from another apartment. I had a horrible nightmare neighbour who ACTUALLY was guilty of playing piano and screaming (not at the same time) for hours at night and probably called the housing company and the police like 10 times combined and even THEN nothing ever came of it and they never kicked him out and he never had any actual trouble with the police (he would refuse to open the door for them every time)
You’re not going to get arrested or be unable to get PR from this. Especially because you can easily people you have nobody living with you and it’s obviously not you making the noise. Just be firm and keep repeating you have no family, you live alone, and you’re sitting still and not moving during those times. Sometimes sound travels weirdly through walls or floors or ventilation and it sounds like it’s coming from a certain apartment but it’s not.
> I might get arrested
For what exactly? Because you’ll be sharing a cell with my son and wife if that because cause for criminal conviction. I swear to god they don’t use their knees or ankles.
I also love the thought that how you walk might affect PR applications. Like a catwalk assessment or a huge room with rice paper on the floor like a kung fu movie I saw once.
I can’t help your situation other than to say it’s not that serious. Tell them you’ll report them for harassment if they keep calling the police falsely. Basically get really mad next time. But maybe not feet stomping mad.
Bro, what exactly would you be arrested for 😂 did you talk to the management company and explain that it wasn’t you and that you don’t have kids ?
I don’t think there’s any chance of you getting arrested for noise, or ending up on some sort of blacklist that makes it hard to find a new apartment or get permanent residency.
Since noise complaints are usually a civil matter, it might be better to focus on your apartment management company rather than the cops. Let them know that you’re getting repeatedly reported for something you didn’t do, and that it’s causing problems. It’s better to speak up now than to stay quiet and have it work against you later. It’s also possible that your neighbor might have a mental illness like schizophrenia, so it’s probably best to stay away from them and deal with the management company or police instead.
If they were going to arrest you, they would have done so already. Most likely the cops just have to show up because someone called. They probably think these pointless calls are just as dumb.
I highly doubt it would put you on a no renting list, and it won’t affect PR.
I don’t know how much the rent is in your area, but in my experience of living in affordable areas, there is a larger percentage of people not right in the head.
You won’t get arrested. And if I were you, I would tell police and property managers stop harassing me with proofs that I didn’t make noise.
Even if you were hypothetically making noise, the police in these cases are just there acting as go-betweens to resolve a conflict before it can escalate. They are not there to arrest anyone. Even if you were making noise, there really wouldn’t be anything to arrest you for.
I mean, what are they going to do? Arrest small children if they actually existed? At the end of the day, this would be a civil matter, but they got a call so they have to show up.
You really gotta change your mentality. It sounds like you’re ripe for manipulation from a local asshole (People who say you have no choice but to do something because you’re a foreigner and will face [non-existing] consequences if not).
C’mon man…you just need to stand up for yourself here. No need to buy security cameras or get stressed about looking for another apartment. You seem certain that you’re not in the wrong here, so be assertive and move on. To add, UR housing is government-funded so to put it politely, you’re living in the same building as a certain demographic (ie. lower income, single-parent, not highly educated, etc.)
Sometimes people think the noise is coming from above when in fact it’s coming from another room like the neighbor next to you or even below. You could talk directly to your neighbor below and explain that it’s not you.
they can’t arrest you for a noise complaint.. some people like to complain.. and I’ve heard people complain in apartment buildings all the train.. especially reading on this site about wacky neighbors
ignore it
Ignore or perhaps you are actually heavy footed (I preusme you take shoes off) and don’t realise the noise?
Unfortunately you’re not alone in having this experience – there are people around who just love to complain, and foreigners get picked on more than others. Often it can be traced back to some minor incident that the complainers perceived as a slight for which they want revenge. It’s called ‘malicious complaining’. Please let the housing management and the police, if they come again, know that these neighbours have been making malicious complaints and you have proof of not making the noises they claim you are. Believe me, it won’t be the first time they’ve come across such a situation. But if it continues then at least they’ll have some awareness that it might not be your fault, and at best they will have a word with the complainers about their behavior.
The Conjuring 4:
You start out this is the first time this has happened, then the next paragraph says this is the third time? What?
It’s funny how the japanese aren’t aware of the fact that mr foreignersan have already advanced past the “stomp the fuck out of the floor with your heels when you walk” stage and most use the front part of their feet to walk indoors. Tell the cops, the west have progressed and you’re not interested in listening to someone’s Stone Age problems.
But seriously it’s such a tell tho.
Oh I forgot! gaijinsan have another technique up their sleeve. We don’t scrape the goddamn ground with our shoes when we walk outdoors.
You are definitely worrying too much. There is no way to prove it is you anyway. Cops get called for pointless shit all the time, just like in other countries, don’t worry too much about it. As for PR, all that really matters is your financial situation (paying nenkin/health insurance on time, paying taxes on time, have a stable job with stable income, etc) and you haven’t actually committed any crimes. You are fine.
Does your neighbor have kids? Unintuitive fact is if the guy complaining underneath hears sounds overhead they can be coming from other rooms close to you not directly above him … bc the vibration of steps seems to transit on a floor sort of like vibrations on a drum. I’ve had same thing happen to me both in terms of having noisy person above turn out to the next apartment over vs guy directly above me, and also being accused of being noisy where it became clear it wasn’t me bc the noise continues even while I was away on holiday. So I would potentially mention to landlord or police even that you don’t have kids but x aparmtwnr down the hall does maybe that’s what he’s hearing.
Dude, stop worrying and stand up for yourself. You’ve done nothing wrong. Tell them to go fuck themselves.
I had a crazy downstairs lady who called the police on me three times. Even bought a thick rug and wore slippers, to no avail. I finally contacted the apartment manager and explained the situation. They told her to stop it or move out.
I really wouldn’t worry about it. Maybe if they kept calling the police like many times but still… You didn’t do anything wrong. The police showing up means absolutely nothing else than “someone complained”. Maybe they didn’t even mention you specifically.