Small claims court is easy and inexpensive, and you don't need a lawyer. You will need to show following:

* There is excessive and disturbing noise. * Your enjoyment of your property is diminished. * You have asked person to stop noise (your letter should be enough to prove this).

To prove your case, you can use police reports, witnesses, recordings, your own testimony and testimony of neighbors or other witnesses.

The amount you'll want to ask for will depend on how much noise bothered you. Did you lose sleep? Were you unable to carry on your usual activities, such as reading, playing music or talking to friends? Decide on a reasonable dollar amount per day, and multiply that figure by number of days you've been seriously bothered. The amount of money you can ask for in small claims court is limited, between $2,000 and $5,000 in most states.

If You're a Tenant

Noisy neighbors are always bad news. But when you share walls with insensitive neighbor, problem is especially vexing. The good news for renters is that, in addition to all your other options, you have built-in allies in battle to keep your apartment livable: your lease or rental agreement and your landlord.

Remember lease or rental agreement you signed? Chances are your neighbor signed one too. Standard leases and rental agreements contain clauses that entitle you to "quiet enjoyment" of your home. A neighbor who is blasting stereo in an unreasonable manner is probably violating lease or rental agreement and can be evicted for doing so.

If you warn your neighbor about noise in writing and are sure that your lease entitles you to a reasonable amount of quiet, send a copy of lease along with your letter. In your letter, tell neighbor that next complaint will be to landlord or neighborhood association if noise continues.

If warning your neighbor doesn't work, go to your landlord. Most tenants don't like to complain to landlord or manager about unreasonable noise or other nuisances because they are afraid of being branded as troublemakers. But other neighbors are probably bothered by noise too. Get together with them and complain to landlord as a group. It's easier and you might get faster results. Most landlords don't want arguments between tenants and won't put up with tenants who cause trouble by ignoring signed lease or rental agreements. Your landlord will probably tell noisy tenant to pipe down or face eviction.

Parking: You might not always catch that prime parking space, and depending on where your apartment complex is, this could mean parking on street. If you're living in arts district in Downtown Dallas, you might need to feed parking meter monster or pay for a secured parking lot. Keep this in mind when you yearn for that artsy loft.

Some states put a limit on deposits a landlord can ask for. For example, in California deposits cannot add up to more than two-month's rent. Check out landlord/tenant laws to get scoop on your state's restrictions.

Regardless of how many of deposits and fees landlord asks you for, make sure these are all outlined in lease. If they are not, make a list of all of charges, when they were paid, then date it and have landlord sign it with you. Keep one copy of this list and give one to your landlord to avoid any problems in future.