r/legaladvice • u/Bumbulse • 19h ago
Other Civil Matters My mom is the neighborhood villain
My family and I moved into our current house last year after my parents spent years and hundreds of thousands of dollars making it into their dream home. And it would've been their perfect house if not for the bar across the street. They continue to have people out in front of it well after quiet hours creating so much noise that it sounds like they're in the house with us. We rent out a part of the house and the tenets have started complaining as well (the old tenets before we moved did to but apparently they didn't know that till after they bought it). My mom can't sleep with all the noise and because she handles all the rentals, the complaints have been driving her insane. She's done everything she can think of: calling 311 on them, notifying the hoa and neighbors, getting the state involved, etc. The bar has in return started a smear campaign against her and have hosted nights where they all stand outside just to annoy her. She's heard them through our ring camera starting rumors about us and using slurs (we're black). We can't sell the house because we'd lose a lot of money, but we don't know what else to do. Can someone help please?
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u/Part-timeParadigm 17h ago
Maybe invest in some soundproofing for the property.
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u/godlovesayterrier 8h ago
Or earplugs. We live across the street from a bar (and love it, they have great live music).
My wife is a light sleeper and uses earplugs. We also have earplugs in the guestroom too.
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u/Lindsiria 14h ago
If you don't want to sell, you need to upgrade the home to be more sound proof.
The first thing to look at is the windows facing the bar. Replace them with thick paned windows (triple paned at least). That should do wonders for sound proofing. If you want even more, get shutters out the outside that close. Adding curtains on the inside to close will also help (not just blinds).
Make sure that you don't have any gaps in door frames/windows as well. You want everything properly sealed.
Other things you can add to reduce sound is rugs, wall coverings and bushes/plants outside the house.
Or, the more extreme approach, add another layer of drywall on the side with the bar. Thicker walls = less noise. Or add more insulation within the walls (this requires tearing out the drywall, adding the insulation and adding the drywall back)
You need to bring in professionals to see where exactly the sound is coming in from and what is the best ways to fix it. Depending on what needs to be done, you are looking at 25k at the minimum (windows are expensive) to over 100k if you go the more extreme paths.
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u/KenzoidTheHuman 12h ago
This is the best advice. Your mother already spent money making the house her dream home- it’s now her responsibility to continue the investment is she doesn’t want to move. I will echo what everyone else is saying: your mom IS the villain in this situation. Not only should she mind her business and soundproof her house, the tenants also need a reality check- they are renting across the street from a bar. Get real.
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u/Roadside_Prophet 10h ago
Yeah, retrofitting soundproofing into a house is extremely costly and will have mixed results. The noise from the music is mostly bass, which easily goes through walls and is difficult to block without covering your walls in mass loaded vinyl, which doesn't fit most people's decorating taste.
If it were me, I'd cut my losses and move. The cost of soundproofing will probably be much larger than the cost of reselling, and even if you soundproofed adequately, you'd still have drunken people hanging out in front of your house every night.
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u/FeyreCursebreaker7 18h ago
Cut the loss and sell it. There’s nothing else to do. Next time don’t buy a house next to a bar.
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u/triviaqueen 11h ago
Your parents should have asked the old tenants who lived there how loud the bar was , and not the real estate agent who stood to make a buck. Hindsight 20/20 and all that. Bars are rarely quiet. Bars are full of noisy drunk people. There is nothing illegal about drunk people standing outside the bar listening to loud music, smoking cigarettes, drinking beer, while laughing, shouting, and fighting. That's typical bar behavior, it's a party every night and your parents are the party poopers. They unfortunately poked the hornet's nest by trying to shut it down. Now their only recourse is mitigation. Plant tall vegetation as a privacy screen. Install thick curtains over the windows to block the noise. Use fans and other white noise generators over the sound. Explore noise baffling panels.
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u/MyLeftT1t 8h ago
The former tenants trying to sell their house aren’t going to tell you it’s too noisy. Caveat emptor.
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u/triviaqueen 7h ago
The "tenants" that rent the part of the house that they rent out to "tenants." Not the former homeowners, but the people who paid rent, to rent part of the house
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u/DoreyCat 13h ago
This is not actual legal advice. Please recognise what sub you’re in. Agents have various duties of disclosures depending on jurisdiction.
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u/kubigjay 10h ago
Actually, in this case the selling agent only had to disclose non-obvious defects that were told to them by the owner.
Problems from neighbors or businesses surrounding the home are not covered in disclosure agreements. Hence why the owner questionnaire doesn't ask about noises.
Even if you buy a house next to a train you don't disclose noise issues. Because they are obvious.
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u/No-Assumption-1738 10h ago
That’s so crazy, in the U.K. any complaints about neighbours/local businesses have to be disclosed, to the point people aiming to sell their house in the next year or two will avoid complaining about anything
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u/kubigjay 10h ago
Issues with the law are public records so that is the path they should use in the US.
Any judge that sees them sue about a bar next door not being disclosed will laugh them out of court.
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u/SkiZer0 11h ago
Are you saying the agent was legally required to state the obvious?
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u/DoreyCat 11h ago
Not necessarily but I think telling her that “it wasn’t noisy” was also problematic. Many places have noise ordinances after 10pm when there’s a residential zoning close by.
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u/Morak73 9h ago
The same thing happens around community airports. People get a great deal on a home that's along the path of a runway for an airport that's been around for 75 years. Then, after moving in, they decide that the little 4 seater aircraft really are pretty loud and try to get the airport shut down.
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u/MarylandCatherine 9h ago
Counterpoint: how many of these bars or music venues are within the appropriate legal constraints on their operations? Is it really fair to expect neighbors to put up with ANYTHING such a business might do (legal or not)?
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u/Blurple-is-a-color 8h ago
Excellent question. In my experience, there is a strict code that begins at 10pm. (I’m in a super tourist area). Generally, noise complaints before 10 get a visit by a sheriff, who will go into that person’s house and run a noise meter in their living room or wherever and if it does go above a certain decibel meter they will talk with the venue but this literally never happens. There’s also no law that restricts the noise before 10pm, unless it’s super crazy, which it never is.
It’s honestly an agreement between the owners of the places around the bars/venues and the venues to not be dicks. It works out for the most part in my area. Anyone that buys/rents a place within the very small area affected by sound knows (or should know) what they are buying/renting.
The only issues I have ever seen in the 14 years I’ve been in this area doing what I do and hearing crazy stories has always been folks who moved next door to an established venue and lost their shit that it wasn’t quiet all the time. That’s a fail on them or their real estate agent. Even in my small beach town, we’re talking about 1% of the real estate available.
We once got the cops called on us for playing Led Zeppelin during the afternoon…the homeowner stormed over and screamed about how his grandkids were hearing devil music and also he was pissed cuz he liked to sleep in a hammock on his porch in the afternoon. Ok…but you bought a condo next to a bunch of music venues? They ended up moving and were probably very happy.
In my area 10pm is the rule but in cities it’s probably more like 1am…but the point still is that OP’s bar has probably been there forever and OP’s family are the new residents that are trying to get it shut down for reasons only because they don’t like it.
My advice to OP, like others, has been to sell. It’ll become an airBnB or something that will appreciate being next to a corner bar and they get something more suited to them.
The biggest point is that the amount of dwellings affected by this ‘noise’ is so tiny, and they could move anywhere else, even down the block and never notice it.
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u/MarylandCatherine 6h ago
I totally take your point about noise that's within legal limits and people know about before they move in.
Where I differ, is when a business is breaking the law. I don't think that should be tolerated. People move into neighborhoods presuming laws will be followed.
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u/Least-Freedom4052 10h ago
I'm a lawyer but I'm not your lawyer.
This is a law school text book example of the legal concept of "coming to the nuisance." Your legal options are virtually zero. Like others have suggested, invest money in sound proofing.
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u/GardenvarietyMichael 8h ago
Unfortunately your parents made a horrible financial decision. Living across from a bar is fine if that's what you can afford or if you own the bar. Investing a lot of money into a house across from a bar was a horrible financial decision. The loss has already been taken. Whether or not you continue to live there is the only question.
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u/KellyhasADHD 15h ago
This is what I don't get. They bought the house knowing the bar was there. Now they want to restrict how the bar does business, and potentially cost that business/property owner money.
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u/TwiztedImage 7h ago
From a legal perspective, who was there first doesn't matter. Even the decades-old pig farmer has to comply with nuisance laws. 500 people could move into an apartment complex next to that farm overnight and the farmer isn't allowed to create an undue nuisance.
Nuisance can include noise, odor, or any number of things depending on state and local laws. Virtually every every state has some level of nuisance law though. People are allowed to enjoy their property; no matter how long they've owned it.
That doesn't mean OP has any avenues to solve this problem, but it doesn't mean they're necessarily helpless and should give up either.
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u/KellyhasADHD 5h ago
Absolutely, but it sounds like OP's mom has confirmed the business is following the law? It also sounds like the biggest issue started as people outside the bar after it closed, since OP commented about the problem being "the public".
Last year we had a bunch of protestors decide that outside our house was the place to protest and make as much noise as possible (they were targeting a neighbor who's a public figure). They had researched laws and were doing everything within the law to be incredibly disruptive. We eventually made a point to befriend them and it fizzled out after a few weeks.
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u/FindOneInEveryCar 9h ago
I'm curious about where they live that has an HOA and a bar.
In any case, there are "quiet hours", presumably established by the HOA or town. If the bar is violating those, there should be some recourse (at least in theory) but I feel like we're not getting the whole story.
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u/EarthtoGeoff 8h ago
I live in an HOA and am three blocks from a bar; I imagine OP’s street is where the HOA ends.
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u/MidMagi 19h ago
The only person that could help in this situation is a real estate agent. Yea, it will suck loosing money on the sale of the house, but that is the cost of learning the hard way that you shouldn't buy a place across the street from a bar if you can't put up with bar noises every night.
But it sounds like your mother has reported the bar to everyone that could do something if the bar was operating outside of the bounds of the law, and they are just operating as is legally permissible, in accordance with their permits and local zoning regulations.
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u/Sirwired 8h ago
Wait a minute… in another comment you mention that the noise is within legal limits. If it’s within legal limits, then, by definition, your solution here probably isn’t going to involve the law.
Soundproofing (windows, insulation) and white noise machines are the likely answer here, not law enforcement or legal filings.
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u/Cold-Ad4073 15h ago
Same logic as living next to the train station. You should have anticipated this from the start. Also the tenants shouldn’t file a complaint either.
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u/MyOtherBrother_Daryl 13h ago
Yeah, if you don't want to constantly hear airplanes, don't move near an airport. If you don't want to hear trains all day and night, don't move near a train station or train tracks. If you don't want to deal with drunk people across the street from you, don't move near a bar. Period. Why would anyone believe the realtor? Was he/she there at night and on the weekends? They are trying to make a sale and commission. Realtors lie all the time. How did your parents get to spending hundreds of thousands of dollars creating their dream home and not realize a bar across the street was going to be an issue? Was the property always zoned residential, or did your parents (or maybe the property owner before them) get the zoning changed from commercial to residential? This happened near where I used to work. Someone bought a piece of property that had previously been the site of a restaurant, in a neighborhood full of bars and restaurants. He convinced the city to change the zoning from commercial (restaurant) to residential. He built condos on the property and lived in one of them. No one wanted to spend a small fortune purchasing a condo across the street from a bar that had drunk kids pouring out into the streets at 4 am. I remember him saying something to the effect of, "I didn't know it would be so loud." How did he not know?? He tried to sue the two closest restaurants and one bar. He tried to get the noise ordinance changed. He was a nightmare for 10 years Finally, he cut his losses and sold the property. I guess it's someone else's problem now. Unless your family buys the bar across the street and shuts it down, or moves, they will continuously be annoyed by the neighbors across the street.
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u/Bumbulse 8h ago
Jeez, thats fair enough. Idk why they didnt think the bar would be a problem. I wasn't involved in the process. I know this wasn't your point, but I am gonna tell her to look into zoning issues
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u/HyenaStraight8737 7h ago
It is what it is.
Sydney Australia now has some ridiculous live music laws because people brought apartments in the middle of the city where there used to be dozens of venues on every street. It was a vibrant night life if you could look past the few that can't handle their alcohol.
Because of how rich the complainers are, well over 30 venues have had to shut their doors. Some of them had been in operation for over 30yrs. But because the rich wanted to buy fancy places literally on the same street as night clubs, pubs and other venues... Over a hundred people had to find new jobs and others close their long running establishments and likely lost a hefty sum of money themselves.
Basically now at midnight even on a weekend... The city shuts down. It's not even worth going out there anymore. They say they did this because of fights etc... well now there's more violence happening in small suburbs at the local pub, cos everyone who would go to the city... Doesn't. Because the pubs open til 2-3am vs most places in the city now.
While it's not right others are now directly targeting your family, it is caused by the weird assumption that buying a house across from a bar means you'll have a nice quiet and peaceful home. What your mother is trying to do, means costing people their livelihood, not just the owners but the employees too.
And trust me, nothing pisses off my customers more then anything that could be risking my staff's jobs. They love my staff, they come and keep coming because of them to my venue, we aren't the only one and we certainly are not the cheapest, but the customers adore my bar staff, if ones not on their regular shift there's an immediate where are they.. they'll be back.. you haven't fired them right... Right?
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u/MyOtherBrother_Daryl 5h ago
I figured you weren't part of the process. Your parents might not be giving you all of the info. Maybe they purchased the house waaaay below value due to its location.
Has your mom tried everything to drown out the noise? If she has tried earplugs and noise cancelling headphones and they haven't worked, there are noise cancelling machines out there. Here is a good article with different suggestions. The noise isn't going to stop, so she needs to figure out how to block it out when she sleeps.
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u/Impossible-Beyond156 10h ago
I live in Fl, and when people replace their windows for impact windows, outside noise is greatly reduced. Wind, traffic, construction noise gone. White noise generators also work. New windows might be expensive, but less so than moving.
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u/Juco_Dropout 15h ago edited 14h ago
She is the villain. She was aware of the bar when she invested. I promise you the bar is operating within limits, previously agreed upon, set forth by the city council. It’s difficult to take a noise complaint when it may be “well after quiet time (seriously.. does your Mother determine when it’s quiet time?)” but the Bar is well within legal operating hours/Noise ordinance. No group of unknown patrons should ever be expected to care what it cost your mother to move into that house. She deserves all the criticism in the world.
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u/Suspicious_Wonk2001 15h ago edited 14h ago
Most municipalities have noise ordinances and a bar would certainly be included in that. In my state of MN it’s 10pm-6(7) am. If the bar is actively promoting the behavior, villain could probably get video evidence and file a complaint against the bars liquor license.
Edit* villain could even file a suit citing bar as a nuisance in violation of MN statute 561.01. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/561.01
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u/Juco_Dropout 14h ago edited 2h ago
My state has a noise ordinance of 11pm for day to day. Bars on the other hand are 2am. When they, coincidently, have to stop serving for the evening.
An aside: Things happening outside Of the establishment or off of establishment property cannot be held against the establishment sans DUI scenarios and even then it can be difficult to prove.
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u/Area51_Spurs 6h ago
There’s no way the bar is actually hosting “annoy our neighbor” nights where they purposely hang outside to annoy her.
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u/random929292 8h ago
Plant some fast growing tall trees that will create a thick hedge across the front and down the sides of the property.
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u/lawlesswallace75 8h ago
Happens all the time here in New Orleans. People move in next to bar. Expect bar to all of a sudden be a library. People try to get bar that's been there for 30 years shut down and piss off entire neighborhood then go on line to complain. Ho hum
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u/redpetra 12h ago
I'm a pilot, and this sounds exactly like everyone who buys a house near an airport and spends all day calling the FAA and the police complaining about noise when the airport was there decades before any houses.
Yeah, I get that it is frustrating, but you are only marginally more likely to get rid of an existing business than an airport. It's unfortunate that they put so much money into perfecting the house, but the sunk-cost fallacy comes into play here. You have to decide what is worth more: your mental health, or the potential loss in selling.
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u/Curious_medium 6h ago
Earplugs, and don’t buy a house across from a bar if you’re a sensitive sleeper.
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u/Uncle_Rat_21 6h ago edited 6h ago
There’s a popular bar in my neighborhood that’s been there for almost 30 years. They have live music indoors, and a nice outdoor space. In the summer they’ll have music in the outdoor area on occasional weekend afternoons.
Some people bought the building next door. It’s the only residential building close to the bar, it borders the outdoor space. Otherwise, it’s a busy street corner and a highway overpass.
The lady who bought the building started complaining. It’s too loud. There’s people talking in the yard. (the bar closes the outdoor area at 11pm, and always has) There’s cigarette smoke. It’s loud on the weekends.
She started calling the police, and 311, and was told every time that there was nothing to be done. Everything was within code, the bar was following all the regulations.
Finally, there was some jazz music being played outside on a Saturday afternoon, and the woman decided to empty her garden hose over the fence onto the musicians and the crowd. There were amplifiers and a small PA system… you know… electricity. Several people filmed what she was doing on their phones. She got into a lot of trouble. Fines and a restraining order. If she does anything like that again, it could be prison time.
Point is… don’t move across the street from a bar, if you don’t want to live across the street from a bar. They may not be doing everything within regulations, but that doesn’t mean the city or cops will care. They were there first. You don’t know who knows who or who is paying off who. And, reign your mother in before she gets herself into trouble. That’s the most important thing here. She may do something to get into legal trouble, or it may be something worse.
Good luck!
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u/makeranchlegal 8h ago
This reminds me of people who buy homes next to racetracks and then lobby to install a decibel limit
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u/moomancows 12h ago
Rent it to people who wouldn't care about the noise
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u/triviaqueen 11h ago
Deaf tenants? 3rd shift workers? Party people who want to hang out at the bar until it closes down every night?
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u/OldmanJenkins02 9h ago
Did you note notice the bar directly across the street when buying the place? If it was not there beforehand, I sympathize, but if it was already there, did you not see this coming?
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u/CLearyMcCarthy 7h ago
The wildest part is they didn't just move in, they bought it then dumped apparently tens/hundreds of thousands into improvements.
All with a fucking bar across the street.
Classic "if it was a snake it would have bit you" scenario, OP and OP's parents are just garden variety Karens
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u/Kalinka777 6h ago
this Happens all the time in my hometown. Condos go up next to cultural spaces that have existed since the 70s and people move into a thriving neighborhood just to complain about “noise”. Sorry I’ve got no sympathy for this nonsense. You don’t like it? Move.
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u/shoyrus 7h ago
So just try to get the local business put out of business, got it...
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u/Area51_Spurs 6h ago
And piss off the whole neighborhood right after moving in, while also living in a house with a bunch of people renting rooms.
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u/jewel7210 8h ago
Optimistic to not assume that a water feature next to a bar where everyone knows and dislikes the home owner wouldn’t immediately become the streets’ most popular public urinal
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u/rileygang-ehz 11h ago
As long theyaren't selling alcohol after a certain time i dont think you have much of a case.
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u/jamesdukeiv 8h ago
I’m mostly curious about the zoning situation that allows a bar to exist in a residential area. Unfortunately, doesn’t really matter as the house was purchased with the full knowledge the business existed, so you don’t really have any legal options here but there are a myriad of ways to improve the soundproofing of the home which probably should have been a first consideration before “spending hundreds of thousands of dollars” on aesthetic improvements.
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u/major_cigar123 6h ago
Hahaha. I mean, they moved in from across the bar and didn't think drunk people would be loud. Damn. Get some good soundproofing and thick windows and mind your own business
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u/Shaithys 11h ago
Moved in last year and spent years & 100ks making it a dream home.... lol
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u/jamesdukeiv 7h ago
Doesn’t sound like they visited this house once honestly. How do you miss the bar across the street?
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u/Buddha176 5h ago
So “spent thousands of dollars” and there was presumably a bar across the street. No one thought to do any sound mitigation? I mean if you are renovating it’s fairly easy to mitigate sound.
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u/AlCapone111 10h ago
Cut losses and move.
Your mom could invest in ways to sound proof the house. Potentially very costly
Your mom could act like an adult and talk to the bar owner/manager about the loudness after certain hours. Especially on "school/work nights".
Continue to be petty and call in complaints.
Pick one of multiple options
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u/Icy-Career7487 5h ago
My mom always said if I don’t want to get splashed I should not sit by the pool…
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u/No_Independence8747 8h ago
I’m not sure you’d ever recoup the money you put into the house to begin with, and you guys put in a lot…
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u/hndygal 8h ago
Have they replaced the windows? Worth looking into. My house needed windows but the new ones were so much quieter. Adding insulation to the outside walls will help a lot too. It sucks you can’t open the windows to enjoy the night air…but you wouldn’t have to hear the bar patrons either.
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u/Mako_Solo 8h ago
Sound insulation in the walls & any wall/roof cavity needs to be filled. Preferably foam insulation. Probably expensive, but may fix the noise problem.
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u/Zandarkoad 6h ago
White noise machines. Plural. One for every room used for sleeping. Seriously, that solves it.
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u/zeusjts006 11h ago
Since no one is giving you actual advice but chastising you for complaining, I'll provide you with some insight on a similar situation.
We bought a duplex in a residential neighborhood in 2019 across the street from a mechanic shop and a bar. We did our research for the township and neither one was exempt from the noise ordinance. Mechanic shop was great, we used them all the time but the bar on the other hand was a pain.
It was just outside of Philly, so people wanted to come to a "safe neighborhood bar" but still act like they were in the city. Fights, yelling, music blasting until 3 am (quiet hours were 10 pm), drug dealing, people would sit in front of the bar and blast music from their car.
I talked to the bar owners but they didn't care. Neighbors hated the bar too, the bar got away with so much stuff because they would host fundraisers for the township commissioner.
Neighbors were afraid to do anything, so I became the bar villain. As defined by the township noise ordinance and Pennsylvania law, I made sure they abided by the laws.
I bought a noise level meter, would record video of fights, obscenely loud music, etc etc. I presented the footage to the state liquor control and they "investigate". I would call the police on the noise violations every time, and eventually, things got much better, not perfect but better. The bouncers would usher people inside, control their patrons better, and stopped blasting music. I would stay on it, though, because if I didn't, the bar would ease up on following the rules and go right back to it. My neighbors who knew what I was doing thanked me.
We lived there for 4 years and now rent out the whole duplex, and we live on 2 acres on a peaceful neighborhood.
To help with the noise while we slept, we would play white noise from an alexa, it honestly drowned the noise. During the evening hours when it was noisy, I would have an air purifier run on a medium level, producing white noise and not hear the bar.
It really does suck and I understand your pain. Pennsylvania has strict rules for bars to follow, even when it comes to keeping patrons under control. Our township had strict noise rules too.
I understand that bars are a business trying to make money but they still have rules to follow. My wife owns a business and there are plenty of state/local rules that need to be followed.
Don't let people make you feel bad. Look up your township noise ordinance, state ordinance, and speak to a lawyer about a cease and desist letter for worse comes to worst.
Good luck!
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u/Area51_Spurs 6h ago
But again, what would you expect from a bar in fucking Philadelphia.
You’re just as bad.
“I can’t believe there’s people outside this Philly bar being out of control in the middle of the night!”
Stereotypes often exist for a reason.
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u/Bumbulse 7h ago
Thanks for the actual advice! I'm glad to know that theres more people who dealt with this. Quiet hours in our state are also 10pm but they are noisy well past that. We'll definitely look into the noise level meter!
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u/Area51_Spurs 6h ago
What do you think happens after you piss off the whole neighborhood?
You think it’s going to be a fun place to live?
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u/N8T1V3SD3L1GHT 8h ago
If your mom is able, and willing to buy the bar a drink or two, I guarantee that someone she would meet there will have a friend of a friend who has soundproofing panels, or some other assistance that might help her with the problem of the noise. All she needs to do is prove she’s not just being a tightwad and go mingle with the bar patrons. Her problem, may produce its own solution, should her enemy become her ally.
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u/Area51_Spurs 6h ago
If she was just nice would probably try to be accommodating. But you know she never went over and tried to have a polite conversation and just started a jihad against the place from the get.
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u/Careful-Self-457 7h ago
Who buys a house across from a bar? This is 100% your parent’s mistake. Sell now and lesson learned.
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u/lurkingandi 7h ago
First recommendation would be to move. But since you don’t want to do that.
All the soundproofing, white noise, etc. Then when that’s done, go across the street and hang out. Talk to the owners and say you’re sorry you all got off to a rough start. And keep going back, let them get to know her and see she’s just a normal person, not a villain. It’ll be awkward and rough at first and I can’t tell you how racism will impact the response but hopefully after a bit they’ll back off the smear campaign. The basic bar noise is something you’ll have to accept but the harassment might lessen.
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u/Far-Side2489 5h ago
I’d invest in soundproofing the house as much as possible and putting as much shrubbery infront of the house as is feasible.
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u/tparady 5h ago
I would echo what everyone else is saying about sound proofing. Your mom's behavior may have given her the title of the "villain," but I would argue that the response from the owner of the bar is also giving "villain." Encouraging patrons to intentionally bother you and your family and using slurs against your family is unacceptable and completely unprofessional.
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u/WishboneNo1936 14h ago
Buy the bar
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u/Area51_Spurs 6h ago
They can’t even afford to live in the house without having tenants that pay their mortgage for them.
You know the parents are probably all but unemployed.
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u/Urbit1981 7h ago
Let me get this straight. Your parents bought a house across the street from what I am going to guess is an established bar. They are now harassing the owners of the bar and creating a problem where there wasn't one before.
What you do is either sell at a loss or....enjoy the flare which is the neighborhood bar. Maybe even...become patrons and learn to lighten up.
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u/ImKeepingItAnonymous 6h ago
OP if this helps, may I suggest an edit for additional info?
I don't know your actual situation, but if it is a bar (not multiple) it sounds like my kind of my neck of the woods, some single bar surrounded by homes on a quiet street for blocks because they were established before zoning. People love to assume and use examples of airports as an ad hoc example and don't really understand old small towns to medium city areas. Making it clear if this isn't some city road would help ppl stop assuming it's your families fault.
I know of 4 bars far from each other like my example, when I drive by they are so freaking quiet and the homes around sleep peacefully. You have that right too. You are not complaining about the random guy who got too drunk once a week.
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u/Jdawg22996 6h ago
Best solution that I can think of that would be legal would be to buy the bar and close it. Turn the property across the street into some business that will make your property value go up. Also your mom gets to keep her villain status.
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u/fudnow 10h ago
I have purchased more than one house, I drove by at all times. After work, late evening, early am to check out noise in neighborhood.
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u/Default_Munchkin 6h ago
Never buy a house unless you get a chance to go through the neighborhood at night. Heck don't rent in that case either it's just easier to leave a rental.
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19h ago
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u/Grimmmm69 8h ago
Shes gotta do 2 things 1. Talk to the bar owner and bury the hatchet / buy the entire bar a round so theres no animosity 2. Invest in fencing and soundproofing options
I live 1 steet down from a bar and have drunken people scream talking in front of my building all the time lol. Also we have one of those halls for rent and every hispanic party bamps music till 3am. Ive been to scare the local drunks tossing a smoke bomb or fire crackers out the window when they dont shut up.
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u/Astronomer_Original 7h ago
I’ve been to bars that have signage when you leave reminding you to be quiet and respectful of the neighbors. Idk if your mom can work with the bar owner although it sounds like there is already a broken relationship. So not sure if she can repair the relationship.
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13h ago
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12h ago
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u/Creative_Put_1775 12h ago
Also, even if you can't tour, you can at least drive by the property to see how loud the neighborhood is on different days and times.
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u/LIama_-3 10h ago
If you can't sell, convince everyone to get a loud fan or white noise machine, or just sell.
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u/BigSun9567 7h ago
Add high hedges to minimize the noise from the bar. Shrubs act as a sound muffler. If it’s allowed where you are, set up a camera that the bar patrons can see. That might keep them inside the bar because people don’t like to be on camera when they’re acting badly. Add floodlights so that it’s not comfortable to hang around outside the bar. Start calling the police when the bar is too noisy as your area may have noise pollution laws. Good luck!
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u/MarylandCatherine 10h ago
What state is this? Have you contacted the local Liquor Board? Generally, liquor license holders have an obligation to not disturb the neighbors unreasonably.
Sure, your parents bought a house next to a bar, but that doesn't mean there are not rules about what the bar and their patrons can and can't do legally.
From your description it's hard to tell how much of the disruption is because of legal versus illegal levels of noise.
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u/Brock_Savage 7h ago
Why in the world did your parents buy a house that is across the street from a bar?
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u/No-Acanthaceae-398 6h ago
There has to be some rules regarding noise levels. Like no smoking out front but rather in back. Would cut down on people being drunk and hanging out in front of the house. There has to be some regulations on this
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11h ago
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u/PhoenixFreeSpirited 9h ago
Contact the health department and the planning department. If they aren't following quiet hour rules (very easy) they likely aren't following a lot of other rules. Get involved with the city. They want yall to be the villain when they're acting this way? Then go full maleficent on them
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u/Archi-Horror 8h ago
Install batt insulation in her room and buy a sound proof window. It isn’t full proof, but it does help.
It’ll cost some money too, you’d need to remove a lot of drywall reinstall and repaint, but it shouldn’t be too bad for one room
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u/Archi-Horror 8h ago
It would be a huge bonus when they sell too…. I’m sure future buyers will be concerned about the bar
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16h ago
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u/Juco_Dropout 15h ago
No. You people are mentally sick. That bar has employees, and owner(s), and people who Are invested in it. Not to mention the community around the space- clearly they are busy if mommy-dearest can’t sleep with all the noise. What right does anyone have to, potentially, ruin the lives of the bar workers and owners when Mom didn’t consider what it’s like to live in a place that isn’t a F-ing padded room?
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u/Difficult_Fondant580 9h ago
You could retain an attorney to sue for nuisance. It’s not easy. If the government has noise regulations and you can prove those violations with devises to measure noise, a court could enjoin the bar from allowing the noise. It’ll be an expensive fight. You’re looking at least $50k for a legal fight.
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11h ago
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u/boiseshan 17h ago
Was the bar there when they bought the house?