Getting noise complaints from other tenants- Landlord’s responsibility?
I’ve recently opened a small, but loud, martial arts studio on the ground floor of a residential apartment complex. We have other commercial properties (barbershop and tattoo studio) that seem to share a wall on both sides, as noise transfer such as voice and music is audible in our studio. We just started our first week of muay thai classes, and already we have received complaints of impact noise (hitting pads/students yelling) from the commercial tenants and residential above us. I was a bit skeptical of moving our studio to this location because of the close proximity to others, but the broker said “we sound like a good fit for the spot” which I can only imagine he said out of urgency to fill the vacancy. However, the landlord approved us knowing our desired use and now we are in this situation. We’re talking with some sound proofing experts on installation, but before going further I would like to know who is responsible. Is it the landlords responsibility to deal with the noise problem and complaints of other tenants and potentially cover cost of soundproofing? Is this something we could terminate our lease early for and not be liable for the remaining 5 years of rental obligations if soundproofing is not possible? Our building was split into multiple commercial properties years ago, however, our exact address does not register on our city’s property information and zoning map. Wondering if this is an illegal or unverified unit, which could help us back out of the lease. ANY information is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
[{"id": "f9nhb2e", "text": "Your lease include most likely has language for quiet enjoyment and the residential leases almost definitely have implied warranty of habitability in their leases. \n\nEither way, I don\u2019t see how responsibility falls on the landlord using the reasoning \u201cwe told you we would be loud\u201d. \n\nBest case scenario, you could try negotiating a compromise to split the soundproofing costs.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "f9npjjk", "text": "You can think of it like your landlord is responsible to the other tenants, but you're probably responsible to your landlord via terms in your lease (or even terms that can be unilaterally added). \"Probably\" because it's sort of a question of whether your lease is written at all competently, so it's impossible to say without a lawyer actually reviewing it, which is something you should consider. I will say that his knowing what line of work you were in, particularly if it's in the lease, is not a good look.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "f9ny8e6", "text": "Tough situation.  Usually if you sheet rock to 'deck' at the demising walls it will help with the contiguous (commercial) tenants, but what is your insulation crew recommending for the apartments above?  Never seems to be a way to mitigate that noise going above.  We try laying acoustical insulation on ceiling tiles but that is just not a full measure imo.  Broker probably didn't care - in his mind he's paid at commencement and the ultimate decision was on his client (LL).  If you are getting complaints LL is too and he is probably nervous about it.  I would split cost of insulation if I were LL most likely, but again what if that doesn't solve the problem and noise persists?  That would be my concern if LL and tenant.  Honestly if I am LL and getting multiple and serious complaints, I am happy to cut my losses and terminate the lease.  Maybe terminate it after 3-4 months to give myself time to market the space.  This would only work if no one put any TI's into the space.  If LL put 10K or more into it he will be hesitant to let you out.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "facj1na", "text": "Just cover both walls in foam. If it's like most martial arts studios I have seen, it's probably going to be easy to do. You can hang stuff on that too.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]