Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 20
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Posts
    11

    Default Can Your Landlord Evict You for Blocking Other Tenants from Parking in the Driveway

    My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: New york

    Hey guys, this is a followup to this thread: http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/show...053#post825053. But to spare you having to open that link I will review. I and the neighboring tenants all live in a apartment building with 3 separate apartments. The people below me are 4 individuals all sharing an apartment. In the past, prior to these four people moving in below me, the driveway has always been treated as first come first serve, with alternate parking on the street. These 4 individuals asked me to let them park me in, a request I refused. The landlord claimed he would take legal action, which was the basis of the previous post. My lease states that I may park one car in the driveway and does not say I have to let anyone park behind me. When I posted about this, the consensus seemed to be that the landlord didn't have a legal leg to stand on.

    Today, for the first time since I previously posted I got home and the driveway was empty, so I parked in it. Later tonight, about 8ish, the neighbors knocked on my door threatening to call the police and have me towed (A hollow threat it seems). After calling the landlord to see if he told them they could (he says he didn't), he told me that he was intending to evict me because my parking in the driveway violated my lease, and that he was having said neighbors document me parking in the driveway for evidence in court. Is this something he cal possibly do? What steps could he take and how should I prepare for them? Are there any preventative measures I can take?

    Now, in addition I have a maintenance issue, which I wish to how best to deal with. There are 3 items that need to be fixed, first is the window. This summer, when I opened the window, the bottom (sash?) fell off, apparently rotted from years of moisture. His man has come and reattached the sash (he simply used two metal L shaped brackets to attach the bottom sash piece to the sides of the window.) However, the sash is not tight against the window pane in any sense (There is like a centimeter gap on one end) and come winter will affect my heating bill. Assuming he does not fix this, what are my options? I am understanding that this would comprise an honest habitability issue and want to know how to deal with it if he doesn't fix it.

    In addition to the window, I had previously had my kitchen light stop working, and while working on it, the maintenance man had damaged/removed tiles from around the light switch, which were never reattached, so I have a patch of bare wall next to my lightswitch. Secondly, the top of the counter top next to the light switch was removed from the cabinet, so it is now loose and sitting on top of the counter. Therefore the counter top can fall off of the cabinet anytime it is bumped. After talking to the landlord today, he told me he simply wouldn't fix these two issues. Do I have any options or is just up to him and I have to deal with it?

    Thanks everyone for your time!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default Re: Can Your Landlord Evict You for Blocking Other Tenants from Parking in the Drivew

    I am assuming at this point that you're not in NYC.

    You have apparently been repeatedly told by your landlord, and you know from the layout of the driveway, that the driveway is to be shared in order to be usable by all tenants, that you must pull forward for all tenants to be able to park, and that you are not supposed to block other tenants out of the driveway. Months later it's still an issue, so your landlord's frustration is understandable.

    I do not know how much time is left on your lease. If you are a month-to-month tenant, your landlord can give you thirty days notice. If you have a longer lease, your landlord would have to proceed with an eviction based upon your material violation of the terms of the lease. If he does that, you will have the right to oppose the eviction action, arguing that your actions were consistent with the lease or that your violation doesn't rise to the level that would support an eviction. You could also try arguing that for the first 2-1/2 years or so that you lived in the unit, the other tenants shared your interpretation that a driveway big enough to accommodate one car from each unit was nonetheless "first come, first served", and that the lease contract should be interpreted in a manner consistent with past practice. The court will review the lease and evidence and made a decision.

    You can read this article on trying to get a landlord to complete repairs. Note that the repair and deduct and rent withholding remedies can be treacherous -- if an issue is minor and cosmetic (e.g., the missing tiles) your exercise of those remedies may be found to be unjustified based upon there being no issue of habitability, justifying a landlord's proceeding against you for nonpayment of rent. Before you take those steps you should have the facts reviewed by a local real estate lawyer.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    15

    Default Re: Can Your Landlord Evict You for Blocking Other Tenants from Parking in the Drivew

    Consider, however, that according to the poster, " My lease states that I may park one car in the driveway and does not say I have to let anyone park behind me". If, in fact, that is the case, I would argue that the written lease controls, and any oral instructions are meaningless as a matter of law. He would seem to have the sole right to park in the driveway. If the other tenants have a clause allowing them to park in the driveway, and their lease post-dates the poster's, then those tenants would have a beef with the landlord, and they can claim against the landlord for the reduced value of the apartment without parking. However, they cannot force the landlord to vary the terms of the written lease with respect to Ziratha. If the facts are as our poster claims, then I like his position.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Posts
    11

    Default Re: Can Your Landlord Evict You for Blocking Other Tenants from Parking in the Drivew

    So for the maintenance issue, based on the article and Mr Knowitall's opinion, I don't seem to have any recourse for the tiles and counter top. I was afraid of this, but it was no unexpected. Now, for the window, which should be a habitability issue since me apartment is exposed to the elements. Is there a preferred method to achieve repair (withholding rent versus repair and deduct)? I.e. is one considered done in better faith/safer and/or therefore less likely to result in being successfully evicted?

    Secondly, for the parking situation, I would rather not wait around to maybe be evicted at some point in the future. If I wanted to take the path of arguing as NY atty has and would like to have this decided once and for all, how would I go about this? I think better or worse, I would rather have a decision and get this dealt with.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    15

    Default Re: Can Your Landlord Evict You for Blocking Other Tenants from Parking in the Drivew

    Quote Quoting ziratha
    View Post
    Secondly, for the parking situation, I would rather not wait around to maybe be evicted at some point in the future. If I wanted to take the path of arguing as NY atty has and would like to have this decided once and for all, how would I go about this? I think better or worse, I would rather have a decision and get this dealt with.
    Not so easy, nor is it cheap. To take affirmative action, you would have to start an action for a declaratory judgment, in which you would be asking the court to declare what your rights are with respect to the parking. This would have to be commenced in Supreme Court in the county in which you live. This is not something you should do yourself, and hiring an attorney would be very expensive.

    You could, however, wait for your landlord to sue you in a summary proceeding (landlord - tenant action). This would be brought by the landlord in the local courts. If you're in NYC, it would be in the Civil Court of the City of New York for your county. If you're on Long Island, it would be in the District Court of either Nassau or Suffolk Counties. Otherwise, it would be in your local city or village court. The landlord would have to start this action, and you would ask the court to determine whose position is correct. While an attorney is always advisable in court, this is one you may be able to handle on your own.

    Good luck.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Posts
    11

    Default Re: Can Your Landlord Evict You for Blocking Other Tenants from Parking in the Drivew

    I see, so that is probably not an option. Thank you very much for your help.

    The only issue then is the window. Does anybody know, is either of the two options (withholding rent/repair and deduct) preferred/better?

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Posts
    372

    Default Re: Can Your Landlord Evict You for Blocking Other Tenants from Parking in the Drivew

    Sorry for the obvious answer but window caulk is cheap and easy to apply.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Posts
    38,867

    Default Re: Can Your Landlord Evict You for Blocking Other Tenants from Parking in the Drivew

    I believe ny is incorrect. Op was not given exclusive use of the drive. I see this as no different than a parking lot situation since that is what it is; a small parking lot. Just in a large lot if a tenant would take multiple spaces the would be abusing their rights to use a single space as op was allowed to park one car in the drive. By parking such that more than one space was used she was in violation of her rights under the lease.

    Op admits the space is well adequate to park 2 cars and she was using 2 spaces. Sorry for her that they were inline spaces but she is not the first to experience such a situation


    what she could have done is park in the outer most space such that when another tenant wished to park in the drive they couod have asked her to pull up or pull out. At that point op could pull out allowing the other party to pull in with her behind


    of course if I had a neighbor that insisted on such an arrangement I might be able to change her mind due to the frequency I used my car and needing her to move every time I wished to run to the corner store or whatever.

    And im known to be active any time of the night and day

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    New Jersey
    Posts
    3,666

    Default Re: Can Your Landlord Evict You for Blocking Other Tenants from Parking in the Drivew

    Why don't you just come to an agreement that you can alternate weeks of occupying the driveway? You get the driveway this week, they get it the next...

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Posts
    11

    Default Re: Can Your Landlord Evict You for Blocking Other Tenants from Parking in the Drivew

    Wow, so many replies. In order:

    Dave, the problem with the window is not that the window doesn't close against the frame, it's that there is a gap between the window pane and the sash. I.e. the window pane is contained in 4 pieces of wood that are attached to each other, and this whole thing can slide up or down in the window frame. The problem is that there is a gap between the window pane and the bottom piece, the sash. I don't think you can caulk this, though I will look into it... Edit: That actually may work.


    JK, I hope you are wrong, though maybe you are right. Hopefully we won't have to find out. In any case, they don't want me to pull out and let them be parked in, they want me to pull out and let them park in the driveway instead of me. And while I could potentially park them in when they are already in the driveway, I would rather not. (If there were some kind of emergency, there is no guarantee they can reach me to get me to pull out.)



    Who'sThatGuy, I don't think that that is an agreement they would accept...

    1. Sponsored Links
       

Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. Grounds for Eviction: Can a Landlord Evict Tenants if They Have a Child
    By SP Shepard in forum Landlord-Tenant Law
    Replies: 14
    Last Post: 03-03-2014, 07:36 PM
  2. Parking Tickets: Parking in a Driveway While Blocking a Sidewalk
    By Andrificus in forum Moving Violations, Parking and Traffic Tickets
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 09-25-2013, 06:35 PM
  3. Grounds for Eviction: Can a Landlord Evict Tenants on a Lease So That He Can Move In
    By NateKyle87 in forum Landlord-Tenant Law
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 03-02-2012, 09:36 PM
  4. Blocking a Driveway
    By mysticide in forum Moving Violations, Parking and Traffic Tickets
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 07-16-2009, 09:59 AM
  5. Parking and Access: Can a Landlord Revoke Parking Privileges to Attract New Tenants
    By roarvis in forum Landlord-Tenant Law
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 06-28-2008, 07:06 AM
 
 
Sponsored Links

Legal Help, Information and Resources