I wouldn't sweat your problems too much. Find a new place to live and get out of where you are as quick as you can. You can do all sorts of things to try to enforce the contract and make things fair, but it will cost you time and money and with varying chances of success. this is a thing many who live here have to deal with.
In fact, about half of the temporary apartments I lived in when I first came here, I either didn't get my deposit back, or part of it, or had problems getting it back. We take care of the places we live in, but many owners (particularly of part-time rentals) are a bit more dishonest when it comes to having money in hand and forgetting about everything else, and making up stuff to charge for to justify their dishonesty. I learned to expect that I wouldn't be getting my deposit back (and was happy when I did get it back with no problem) as time went on.
As for the kids:
I make these comments in a general fashion, not specifically directed to the OP, as the OP mentions that they are only having noise complaints in the current place and it may be that they are not being too noisy, but people around them may be TOO sensitive. It is impossible to keep all noise from other people in apartment buildings and one always has to deal with some noise as a given.
We have three young ladies who live with us, 18,16 and 13. We have a number of younger kids that come all the time, including, for about 5 months, my wife's oldest sister's three kids, 12, 9 and 1 year, who lived with us full-time while the elder sister was.getting her life together.
We were after the kids all the time at first to keep them quiet, specifically not to run in the apartment and bang things around, and also not to go out the front door or the kitchen door and play in the staircase where the sound echoes so well up and down the shaft. I even had to get after them about throwing orange peels out their bedroom window because it fell onto a small patio where our portero's kids play. It took a couple of days to get it under control, with an occasional reminder, but they learned pretty quickly.
I mention this because one of my biggest pet peeves are the people who live above us and do nothing to control their kids, as far as we can tell. 10 and 5, older a boy and younger a girl. I've literally heard the boy and his friends playing futbol (thump thump thumpthumpthumpthump CRASH! BANG! "Goooooooollllllll") and various other noises of running through the apartment from front to back (we have a floor), pretty much all day long while they're not in school, well into the night.
Talking to the parents has done nothing. "Sorry [shrugs shoulders], but what can we do? They're just kids" is what always comes back. I've been trying to figure out a way to attach a speaker to my ceiling and make their floor vibrate loudly, but I'm sure it will annoy me as much as it will them...
I raised three kids in the States from babies to young adults. I know what it is to keep kids from doing thing they shouldn't.
It has been my observation that here people love their kids - maybe a little too much, not that they don't love them. They are indulged and allowed to run pretty much wild at many times/places. I've been in restaurants where the parents let their kids run around the dining room, and have had a 3-4 year old come up to my table and want to take something off my plate before (only once - but still! And most everyone looking on saying "oh isn't that cute").
In fact, about half of the temporary apartments I lived in when I first came here, I either didn't get my deposit back, or part of it, or had problems getting it back. We take care of the places we live in, but many owners (particularly of part-time rentals) are a bit more dishonest when it comes to having money in hand and forgetting about everything else, and making up stuff to charge for to justify their dishonesty. I learned to expect that I wouldn't be getting my deposit back (and was happy when I did get it back with no problem) as time went on.
As for the kids:
I make these comments in a general fashion, not specifically directed to the OP, as the OP mentions that they are only having noise complaints in the current place and it may be that they are not being too noisy, but people around them may be TOO sensitive. It is impossible to keep all noise from other people in apartment buildings and one always has to deal with some noise as a given.
We have three young ladies who live with us, 18,16 and 13. We have a number of younger kids that come all the time, including, for about 5 months, my wife's oldest sister's three kids, 12, 9 and 1 year, who lived with us full-time while the elder sister was.getting her life together.
We were after the kids all the time at first to keep them quiet, specifically not to run in the apartment and bang things around, and also not to go out the front door or the kitchen door and play in the staircase where the sound echoes so well up and down the shaft. I even had to get after them about throwing orange peels out their bedroom window because it fell onto a small patio where our portero's kids play. It took a couple of days to get it under control, with an occasional reminder, but they learned pretty quickly.
I mention this because one of my biggest pet peeves are the people who live above us and do nothing to control their kids, as far as we can tell. 10 and 5, older a boy and younger a girl. I've literally heard the boy and his friends playing futbol (thump thump thumpthumpthumpthump CRASH! BANG! "Goooooooollllllll") and various other noises of running through the apartment from front to back (we have a floor), pretty much all day long while they're not in school, well into the night.
Talking to the parents has done nothing. "Sorry [shrugs shoulders], but what can we do? They're just kids" is what always comes back. I've been trying to figure out a way to attach a speaker to my ceiling and make their floor vibrate loudly, but I'm sure it will annoy me as much as it will them...
I raised three kids in the States from babies to young adults. I know what it is to keep kids from doing thing they shouldn't.
It has been my observation that here people love their kids - maybe a little too much, not that they don't love them. They are indulged and allowed to run pretty much wild at many times/places. I've been in restaurants where the parents let their kids run around the dining room, and have had a 3-4 year old come up to my table and want to take something off my plate before (only once - but still! And most everyone looking on saying "oh isn't that cute").
