I moved out last year in April. I had found a really nice apartment, decent size and affordable rent. It was the first apartment I even looked at, and I got it. I felt so lucky and people kept telling me that I hit the jackpot. I had no idea what kind of hell I'd have to go through the next 6 months.
I bought a lot of new furniture, moved in, decorated just the way I liked it. I loved feeling independent and finally having my own space. I had a nice view over a park, in a calm neighborhood. It was just too good to be true. The only downside I could see at that time was the fact that I didn't have an oven, only a microwave. But I felt like it was worth it anyway since everything else was perfect.
I got a taste of what the next half year would be like on the third night. I was sitting on my bed browsing the internet in the evening, listening to some music, when I suddenly started hearing sounds. I took out one of the earphones and listened. I could hear my neighbors arguing about something. It felt weird since my parents' apartment had super thick walls, and you could literally not hear anything from anyone. But I shrugged, accepted the fact that not all apartments are that well built and went back to browsing, increasing the volume of my music slightly. But when I was done browsing and ready to go to sleep, maybe an hour or two later, they were still arguing. I got very irritated but again, decided to accept it as a part of life and tried to block out the sounds with my pillow.
It kept happening. Every few days, they would start fighting. Usually late in the evening or at night. Sometimes they tried to keep it cool, other times they literally started screaming at each other. I told my parents and they reacted the same way I first did, by shrugging and explaining that it's just something I have to accept now that I have less soundproof walls. But I didn't buy it. Something felt very off. Sometimes I could literally hear exactly what they were arguing about. One time it was about a car, another time about rent or just money in general. The woman had not accepted a job opportunity because of the man, for whatever reason, so they fought about that too. I tried to not eavesdrop, but because they were so loud, it was just impossible to not hear.
One night, I decided to strike back. I had had enough. They started yelling at each other late at night again, so I decided to kick the wall with my heels while lying on my back on the bed. I kicked as hard as I could and took out all my pent up anger on that wall, lol. It worked. They became silent and I was able to go back to sleep, hoping that they had gotten the message. I was wrong.
They were silent for a few more days, but the woman broke the silence one evening by yelling again. This time the man wasn't present, so it sounded like she was yelling at him over the phone. I listened for a while, but then decided to send another message. This time, by yelling back. I yelled out "STOP!" as loudly as I could without actually screaming. She got silent again, but like last time, the silence didn't last for more than a few days.
My parents now noticed that this wasn't normal anymore, and we decided to contact the woman who owned my apartment, as well as the building's landlord, to let them know what was going on. The landlord sent the couple a formal warning and in a nutshell told them to shut up and abide to the building's rules (you have to be more careful with how much sound you make past 11 PM as to respect those who want to sleep).
It got a little better after that, but only a little. Instead of arguing loudly maybe 4 times a week, they were down to 2 times a week. I still felt so frustrated. I'm a very sensitive person, so having to hear them argue constantly made me feel like shit. Not only due to the lack of sleep, but because literally I could not stand hearing that much negativity going on. And to make matters worse, I slowly figured out that they actually have a kid, because I heard the kid crying one night. He/she got involved in one of their arguments, and the man told the kid to "shut the fuck up". It was horrible. I left them a note saying that if they seriously don't stop arguing past 11 PM, I'm going to contact the police. In hindsight, I should have done that A LOT earlier. Not just threatened, but actually called the police.
I had enough one night in October. I had had trouble falling asleep, so I didn't sleep until around 1 or 2 AM. But then I woke up really early in the morning, at maybe 4 AM, to the sound of my neighbors having a party. They were playing loud music and their guests were also talking and laughing loudly. I tried kicking the wall but either they didn't hear it, or they didn't care. I had a meltdown. At 7 AM I contacted my mom, crying, saying that I wanted out. I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't take hearing their fighting, the negativity that affected me so badly, and the sleepless nights. My neighbors had showed zero signs of remorse. Not once had they apologized for the countless times that they had fought and kept me up at night. And the fact that they threw a massive party, knowing full well just how thin our walls were and how mad I was at them, further proved just how little they actually cared about anyone but themselves. That just pissed me off even more. They were actual assholes.
So, I broke the contract. Thankfully the owner of the apartment was very understanding. Since I had informed her of what was going on every now and then, she sympathized with me and allowed me to get out and find another apartment. I started apartment hunting, found an ok one within a month (this time with a nicer kitchen and an actual oven) and started the process of moving out. The night before moving out, my dad was wonderful enough to come over and help me pack my things in the evening. We had a really nice time, listening to some quiet music while talking about life. We finished up at around 9 PM and I decided to sleep at their place since I couldn't stand the thought of possibly having to deal with my neighbors for a last time.
I put on my jacket and my shoes, and went out in the hall with my bags and stuff to give my dad more room to get dressed as well. Then we closed the door and started walking down the spiral staircase towards the first floor. Literally after walking down maybe 5 steps, I heard my neighbor open their front door. He just stood there in the doorway, staring at us like a crazy person. I didn't think much of it right at that point, because I figured that maybe he was just about to take out the trash or something. But once we were out of his sight, I heard him close the door. So he had literally opened the door just to stare angrily at us. What a fucking sick creep.
That's it. That was my story about my creepy, angry, fucked up neighbors who were unable to stop screaming for more than just a few days. I should have called the cops on them way earlier, especially considering that they have a kid. But I always figured that they would pretend like nothing has happened and try to blame it on me. They even denied ever throwing a party, when I mentioned it to the landlord. The only and best thing I could do in my situation, was to simply move. Now I feel a lot happier. I can finally sleep better. I don't have any loud neighbors. The walls are thicker so I've only heard some quiet mumbling. And I finally have a nice kitchen with an oven, so I can bake lots of cake and cookies. The only downsides are that the rent is a bit higher, the bathroom is smaller and I don't have a nice view anymore. But even with the downsides, this apartment is so much better for me and I feel like I can finally relax in my own home.
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