My carport or am I forced to share?

13 years ago

I hope someone knows a site that shows how rental properties are divided. I've been told the carport to the right of your place is yours. If that's true then she doesn't have a carport and has taken over mine long before I moved in. I want to talk to the landlord about this but I want to make sure I have my information right.

Two months ago I found the perfect little one bedroom cottage at the end of a dead end street. It's super quiet, has a small front yard and a small, shady backyard and there are only 4 tenants. There are carports between each cottage so there's nobody directly on the other side of a wall.

Ever since the first time I came to check out this place, the neighbor to my left has done nothing but bad mouth the other tenants and the landlord (as if I can't tell for myself by the lack of upkeep that he's a deadbeat), and how rundown all four cottages are. They were built in the 1930's for pete's sake!

Against her attempts to deter me, I moved in. Everything is great except for her. She's constantly tries telling me what I can/can't do right down to the trash and recycle. She has no carport, so she has taken over half of what should be my carport. She has huge metal storge lockers and a large counter with locking cabinets and her washer and dryer in my carport. I can barely get into my storage, my backyard and my hot water heater. Not to mention everything reeks of cat pee/spray and cat crap. When I try to park up next to my place, she gets super nasty telling me that this is HER parking space and has been for 20 yrs and that I'm to park elsewhere! She parks so close to my car that I can't get in or out of it!

How do I get her and all her cat infested stuff out of my carport so I can park there?! She doesn't have a carport of her own but there is a spot in front of her yard.

There's nothing in the lease that says that's her parking space only. She also keeps pushing my washer and dryer off the pavement saying they're in her way and I have seen her go snooping around in my backyard. I put a lock on my front gate to stop her from coming in and looking in my windows.

Sorry for such a long post but I appreciate any information.

Comments (7)

larke
13 years ago
Don't even think of getting 50 opinions here. You have a lease, I presume, and a landlord, and you need to talk to him now (just ignore her!). If the landlord won't act then there must be a municipal housing board or something there and you should speak to them. Read your lease very carefully for references to the carport, parking, storage, etc. and make sure you didn't sign yourself into a mess. But it's the landlord that needs to equalize things, not you (and you could even make trouble for yourself if you mess with her precious stuff).
moonshadow
13 years ago
Don't even think of getting 50 opinions here.
What does that mean? (I don't get it.)

Anyway, was her stuff on the carport when you were shown the unit and when you signed the lease? I ask because there is a common clause in leases that one accepts the property in its "as is" condition. So if the lease does not mention carport use, and her stuff was clearly all over it and by appearances had been there awhile when you signed the lease, you might be stuck.

I hope someone knows a site that shows how rental properties are divided. You could go into your local county Auditor or Recorder's office and ask if property taxes include a carport attached to your particular address. Or check online, a lot of local jurisdictions offer tax maps or diagrams online now showing which buildings and structures are taxed at a given address. Go to your county's web site and look for Auditor or Recorder section, or anything that mentions property taxes. You can generally search via address so put yours in. Keep in mind your lease language or LLs decision on how its used is going to override a tax map. But if nothing specific is indicated in the lease or verbally by your LL, and county tax records show its part of your address, it's not far fetched to conclude you're paying rent on that structure too, and so entitled to use of it. Along that same line of thinking, it is a stretch for your neighbor to conclude that she has use of a structure that is not mentioned in a lease anywhere and is attached to your specific address, not hers.

As the other poster mentioned, a lot of this is lease related and ultimately your LL is the one who is going to have to straighten those parts out. (Which I'm concluding will not be a first for this particular LL if that woman has lived there 20 yrs.) But your last paragraph screams of "neighbor from h-ll" issues and behavior that goes above and beyond what a LL can enforce. If a tenant chooses to wander around the neighborhood trespassing & looking around or into other people's homes, that's a law enforcement issue. Post a No Trespassing sign and call the police if you catch her doing it. That's just creepy.

Whatever you do, don't postpone discussing this with your LL much longer. To the LL your silence could indicate acceptance of the situation and letting the clock keep ticking is only working against you. (Perhaps tell him you've been trying to work this out amicably and in an adult manner with your neighbor but have not had any success on your own.)
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graywings123
13 years ago
What Larke said.
GammyT
13 years ago
Also, What Larke said.

Read your lease. does it include a carport?
dilly_dally
13 years ago
Soooooooooooooo, what is preventing you from asking your landlord?

Step 1.) Read your lease. Pay close attention to anything written regarding parking or carport use.

Step 2.) Discuss the carport situation with your landlord to clarify anything in the lease that you don't understand. Discuss inappropriate use of the carport by neighbors if that is indeed the case.
westvillager
13 years ago
See Larke's post above.
daisymaewi5
13 years ago
What Larke said!!!!!!!!!!!! Besides (hopefully) fixing things, this is what a landlord is for. If you are right and the landlord doesn't do anything to this woman, try to get the police involved.