The downstairs neighbors (that we have never met) are suing us (criminal and civil charges)

To be clear the “noise evaluation” wasn’t via any official department. It was downstairs conducting their own tests, their lawyer, and some other witness.

Sounds like a fit-up, good call on not letting them in.

The problem is the intercom was loud. It was interrupting conference calls I have for my work, and generally interrupting my overseas business dealings.

Not connected. They are just doing “self-prosecution”. I’m in contact with a good lawyer.

I honestly don’t think letting them in would have solved the problem. The building staff gave us the downstairs court documents. They are also suing the building management for other issues. And apparently they are known to sue a lot of people. They are also well known for yelling and screaming at staff. I think we actually dodged a bullet by not letting them into our apartment. Their “noise experiment” could have been another lawsuit if something happened while inside the apartment.

The staff were sent up to listen for noises outside our door on many occasions. They never reported hearing any noise.

Sounds like you could be dealing with professionals, I mean, there are people here who sue others for any matter, just for profit. And they get away because there is no double jeoperdy here, so, they can sue you ad nauseum.

is there any vexatious litigation law in Taiwan?

One gets the impression there isn’t. You might think people would want it.

It seems to be a big problem in Taiwan. It’s too easy and cheap to sue people. It also seems easier to win a criminal case than a civil case.

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That’s not what I’ve been told. If the plaintiff uses “self-prosecution” (i.e. going directly to the prosecutor, instead of police) they are liable for your legal fees if they don’t win.

As I said I’m not sure how it all works.
I’ve been involved in prosecutions as a defendant and witness. I felt the law was an ass and it’s far too easy to make up shit, file a lawsuit and see what sticks. Even if they fail as most do it’s just used to try and bully and intimidate people . That’s why the best tactic is to sue back.

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America is famous for being easy to sue anyone for anything.

I do not think Taiwan is like this, if this were the case everyone would drive far more carefully and product liability would be far more strict.

You are confusing the ability to file a lawsuit with success probability and amount of payouts.

Chinese tourist always suing people…

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I just dug up some of the complaint messages from downstairs (forwarded to us by the building staff). They are quite clear that the noise issue was caused by the landlord’s timber floor. I did a lot of Google searches about timber floors in apartments. Apparently when they’re not installed correctly they amplify footstep noises. Kind of like beating a drum.

The landlord also confessed to my wife that he might need to replace the floor with tiles, which will cost big $$$. So he knew about the issue.

Everyone in Taiwan should be very careful when renting an apartment that has a floating timber floor over concrete.

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Excellent video.

People in this country all seem to say if you don’t talk to the police they will automatically assume you’re guilty.

We have the floating timber floors on the second floor of the apartment we rent. Luckily the first floor is ours as well, but you can’t hear anything much downstairs, even jump roping is quite quiet.

From what I understand, it depends on insulation and construction. If done wrong it will amplify footsteps.

what are the decibels level? I don’t think footsteps will be higher than the allow decibels levels.