Landlord Renovation - What Are My Rights?

Rose2021 ↓

Tue, Nov 19 2024, 1:34 pm

Hi,

Looking for some advice on a renovation situation. My landlord is converting some empty rooms below our apartment into a new two-bedroom unit. To make the space more livable, he needs to drill down a foot into the floor to increase the ceiling height. This means two weeks of constant drilling followed by a month of standard renovation work.

The noise is pretty intense, and I'm finding myself having to leave during work hours just to avoid the constant sound Can't Believe It

. My father, who works in construction, believes the landlord should definitely reimburse me for at least a month's rent given the significant disruption.

I want to understand my rights: What's reasonable for the landlord to do in this situation (and for us to expect from him)? Any insights from people who've dealt with similar renovations would be super helpful.

Thanks!

Molly Weasley

Wed, Nov 20 2024, 1:04 am

Depending where you live, you usually don't need a special permit to do noisy work during the daylight hours, besides weekends.

I think its a question of yashris, and I would approach the landlord with that angle in mind

↑ Rose2021 ↓

Wed, Nov 20 2024, 10:30 am

Wow that's crazy Can't Believe It

They actually just blocked our parking spot with a huge container (to dump all the garbage) so let's hope he'll be a mensch and at least understand that he needs to compensate us.

Thanks for your replies!

snooper86

Wed, Nov 20 2024, 10:38 am

Rose2021 wrote:

Wow that's crazy Can't Believe It

I’m not sure about the noise and compensation, however if the parking spot is part of your lease then sorry he has no right to block it.

Regarding the noise, sounds like you work from home and it’s affecting your work. Can you ask him if he maybe has somewhere you can work for these few weeks? Or maybe he can pay for you to rent a desk for a month?

eduardo

Wed, Nov 20 2024, 10:46 am

Sorry but asking for a month off rent off is taking advantage. He isn’t doing anything wrong technically and is entitled to do construction. If a neighbor was doing it instead would you ask them to pay you??

MAYBE If I worked from home/was a SAHM I would ask him to buy me a pair of noise canceling headphones for a couple hundred bucks. Or a $300 gift shop to a local coffee shop I could go to daily and work on their wifi

Pickle1

Wed, Nov 20 2024, 11:23 am

as a landlord who recently did construction that was disturbing to my tenants, we calculated their monthly rent and then divided it in 30 days (which was the amt of days in the month we did the construction) and we figured out their 'daily' rate.
we then counted out how many days the drilling/noise,bothering was for and rounded it up a few extra days and told them to take it off that month's rent. we also told them in advance before construction starts that we will be discounting the next months rent. they seemed happy with that arrangement and we asked them clearly if they felt that was fair or if they were expecting more discount etc but they were good with that.
please note that us, as landlords, rely on our tenant's income to pay our monthly mortgage, giving them a month off when their dwelling was clearly livable the entire time didn't seem like would be fair to us. it was uncomfortable for some days, but completely livable.

Chayalle ↓

Wed, Nov 20 2024, 11:33 am

I used to live in an attached house. Our neighbors went on vacation (elderly couple, Florida) while their adult children oversaw renovations in their home. They told the contractor it's an empty house, and he came to drill at 11 pm!
Trust me we got no compensation, and just headache when we had to get him to understand that while the occupants of the home were away, we certainly were not, and were trying to sleep.

Normal daytime noises are legal and your landlord's right. I think compensating you somewhat, just because he's your landlord and benefitting from your rental, makes sense, but a full-months rent at least, is your father's personal negius and makes no sense. There's plenty of time during that month when you are not experiencing discomfort.

As to your parking spot, he should rent it from you if it's legally yours, or park the bin elsewhere.

kosherkween ↓

Wed, Nov 20 2024, 11:35 am

Don't know the laws and halachas, but from common sense pov, why do they owe u anything? They're entitled to renovate space that belongs to them. Ppl paint,scrape, add porches, redo kitchen, tiles etc, and the neighbors all have to deal with fumes, smells, noise, mess, tiles being cut by saw (oh the chills!) With 0 compensation.

↑ Rose2021 ↓

Thu, Nov 21 2024, 11:43 am

Thanks to everyone for their perspectives.

When my husband tried discussing compensation with the landlord yesterday, it was like talking to a wall. Despite my husband being calm and reasonable, our landlord got all defensive and confrontational. He said that it's his apt. so he's allowed to do whatever he wants. He's blocking our parking spot with his container which is definitely outright geneivah so don't know what was going on in his head..

Whatever, I guess Hashem keeps a cheshbon. Davening we get to buy a house soon...

↑ Rose2021 ↓

Thu, Nov 21 2024, 11:56 am

eduardo wrote:

I appreciate the perspective, but I think there's a misunderstanding. This isn't about "taking advantage" - it's about fair compensation for significant disruption. The construction isn't just minor noise; it's fundamentally impacting my ability to live in the space I'm paying full rent for.
I'm not demanding a full month's rent, but seeking reasonable compensation for the inconvenience. I'm paying full rent for a space I can't even live in for a significant part of the day. My landlord needs to recognize this isn't just a minor inconvenience, but a major disruption. Talking about any kind of rent credit would show he actually respects the tenant-landlord relationship. Bottom line: I'm paying for a home, not a construction zone.

Issue is he wouldn't pay for noise canceling headphones or anything else.

↑ Rose2021 ↓

Thu, Nov 21 2024, 11:58 am

kosherkween wrote:

Again, why do you think money is owed to u just because you're a tenant? Would you expect similar payout from a random neighbor?

just addressed that above Smile

Yes, if it would be a neighbor I would expect to discuss it like normal ppl and come to an agreement that would be satisfying for both parties.

↑ Rose2021 ↓

Thu, Nov 21 2024, 12:06 pm

Pickle1 wrote:

This makes so much sense! I would love to send my landlord to you for a crash course Wink

. I totally understand that landlords rely on the income and I'm not looking to make money off him. Obviously, I wouldn't ask for a month off, if I would only be bothered half that time.

↑ Chayalle ↓

Thu, Nov 21 2024, 12:11 pm

Rose2021 wrote:

Does your lease specify that you are entitled to that parking space?

↑ Rose2021 ↓

Thu, Nov 21 2024, 12:11 pm

Chayalle wrote:

Wow, that sounds very not fun Can't Believe It

.
By the way I had asked a dayan about it and he said that obviously he can't give a psak, but in his experience, most landlords will compensate monetarily and that would be ideal, but he wasn't able to specify what amount would make sense.

↑ Rose2021

Thu, Nov 21 2024, 12:16 pm

Chayalle wrote:

Does your lease specify that you are entitled to that parking space?

I just asked my father for it, hopefully he has it.. We definitely discussed it, though, prior to signing and he said we would get that parking spot.

↑ Chayalle ↓

Thu, Nov 21 2024, 12:26 pm

Rose2021 wrote:

I just asked my father for it, hopefully he has it.. We definitely discussed it, though, prior to signing and he said we would get that parking spot.

If it's in your lease it's definitely something he needs to explain - how can he take away something in your lease.
I always find things get messy when people assume something is theirs and it's not in the lease - it's so important to look over the lease and make sure it includes all the important points. Because past the lease, he said/she said becomes a problem....

lamplighter

Thu, Nov 21 2024, 12:44 pm

My neighbors do construction and it's noisy and annoying and I work from home, but they don't owe me anything. When I do construction it impacts my neighbors and they just live with it, it's how it is.
I don't understand why you should be compensated unless the construction is in your actual living space and you need to move out or can't use half your apartment.
He shouldn't block your parking space. Asking for him to pay you for having used it? I don't know, this nickel and diming is just ich. He should have asked in advance and he's wrong but unless you had to park in a parking garage because of it, you really should just let this go.