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My husband and I recently rented a downstairs two bedroom apartment. We live in Hawaii and things are slightly different than what I am use to in other states I have lived in. There are very few traditional rental apartments here. Most times they LOOK like what you would consider a rental complex but each unit is owned separately.

Recently we had new neighbors move into the unit above us (the unit is not owned by our land lord. ) At first it was only a man and a toddler. Well I understand that toddlers are still learning how to walk and being that the apartment above us has that lamanet hardwood flooring, we knew we would hear -some- noise from the little guy walking around.

About a week or two later we found out that his fiance and the rest of her children would be arriving in a few days. Since then it almost feels as if the ceiling will cave in on top of us.

My husband works a night shift and is in the military. Generally speaking he is home no later than 4 am. Now of course MOST normal people are asleep at this time so we go to great pains to remain as quiet as possible. Headphones for music, low volume on tv watching, ect. We -try- to be considerate to those around us and expect a little in return.

When we found out about the new people coming into the apartment above us, we very politely explained our schedule to the guy and he said they would do their very best to be quiet. I did not expect that there would be FOUR children all under the age of ten and TWO adults living above us. In the exact same sized apartment no less. If we do the math that is three bodies to a bedroom, or four children in a small second bedroom and two adults in the master bedroom. Hmmm...

I have said I will give them until the end of the month to get their schedule situated and for them to settle down but I do not think I will make it that long having to listen to that day in and day out. I realize that there is little we can do between certain hours of the day (which we are usually trying to sleep through the incessant noise above us) but there comes a point where it is just too much.

I have been trying very hard to find out what the occupancy laws for the state of Hawaii are and have come up short at every turn. I don't want to put children out on the streets but at the same time we are law abiding people, why should we get screwed over?

I have very politely, calmly and nicely told them several times that we can hear their stomping -and- the loud screaming of the adults at the small children (like, go do this go do that, instead of getting up off their rear ends and actually parenting).

The last people who lived there before them we -never- heard. They were home a lot but we never had a problem with noise. Heck we hardly knew they were home unless we saw them and I know that the owner of the unit didn't just put in the hardwood floors either. I intend to contact my landlord to see what steps we can take as I have a feeling they are breaking the law by having so many people in that apartment and I suspect that not all of them are even on the lease to begin with.

So I feel everyones pain with the noise issue. There are -some- things you just have to suck up and deal with but when the quality of life for you is being diminished beyond reasonable circumstances, then yes it is a major problem.

Good luck to all those seeking peace and quiet!!