The people next door sometimes have friends over for a cocktail...or 12. In the morning, I feel like the one with a hangover. What can I do?

The First Step: Be patient. It's important to make a distinction between repeated partying and the occasional bash. "If it's a onetime party, I recommend that you be tolerant," says Cora Jordan, an attorney and mediator in Oxford, Mississippi, and the author of Neighbor Law (Nolo, $18, www.amazon.com). "Once you call the police on the neighbors, you've effectively lost your right to have a loud party."

The Next Step:

If you believe the neighbors' activities have crossed the acceptable-noise line (in terms of noise laws and neighborhood standards), call them. If this is your first complaint, give them the benefit of the doubt. They may be having such a blast that they missed the sun going down — or coming up. "So much depends on how you ask," says Peggy Post, author of Emily Post's Etiquette (HarperCollins, $26, www.amazon.com). She suggests saying, "I know you're having fun, but we have to get up early tomorrow," even if that's not true.

If you rent an apartment, you can also get the landlord involved. Standard rental and lease agreements contain a "quiet enjoyment" clause, which gives tenants the right to occupy their apartments in peace. It's the job of the landlord to make sure they can. If another tenant is violating the rental agreement, he can be evicted.

The Last Resort:

Call the police with your complaint.

If the situation is chronic and exhausting, you may want to go to small-claims court. Small-claims court allows you to seek monetary damages (between $2,000 and $10,000 in most states) from your neighbor. Suing in small-claims court is relatively easy and inexpensive, and you don't need to hire a lawyer.