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Ever since I moved into the upper apartment the downstairs neighbors have mad it very clear that our shared driveway is there for their convenience. Even from day one when I moved in they parked at the very end of a long empty driveway and would not answer the door to move their vehicle. The couple of times I have parked in the driveway they have turned off my hot water tank that is in their basment, cursed and sworn at me that they were calling the cops if I parked in driveway again and blocked me in or out constantly. They have even blocked the opening of the driveway when there has been noone in it! (From the street!)
In spite of the landlord sending out a letter, they are doing it even worse now and the verbal abuse had gotten out of hand. Ex..other day I went to the door to ask them to move their car so I cld go grocery shopping and I got called an effin natzi repeatedly.
I LOVE my apartment but I HATE these one sided people. Their kids run thru the house till 12 at night even on school nights, yet I have not said a word. I like a peaceful and quiet, no drama life.
Is a parking spot too much to ask for? Really? Without being bullied? I guess its time to talk to the police, I have taken pictures and recorded all of the foul mouthed conversations. Unreal!
Does your lease say you share the driveway? My daughter had a 1st floor in a double and her lease also gave her the garage and driveway; she had to keep it and the sidewalks clean. It was in her lease. The upstairs tenant was told it was not her driveway. Find out if it is their basement? In the lease? Most doubles share that as well.
I would talk to the landlord and find out what the deal is. But, then again, the other tenants may be the landlord's relatives.
That is very frustrating. I just had to resolve an issue between two tenants about parking. I thought to myself, these are adults, why can't they put their heads together and figure out something as simple as parking. Well there you have it. Americans are ridiculous when it comes to their cars. They would park the thing in their bedrooms if they could. Good luck and I hope you figure something out. They sound like wack jobs...
Im going to talk to the local authorities today. It isnt in my lease about the driveway, however, it was advertised as an off street parking apartment and I have no off street parking with these people not sharing the driveway. I also have a copy of a letter sent to them saying that I pay rent as well and I am also entitled to use the driveway. These people are driveway obsessed, they live 10 steps from the street but park at the very end of the driveway and I live all the way in the back, up the stairs. This is only half the problem, they also have a dog without it vaccines that runs all over the neighborhood because they open the door, let it out, shut the door and wait for it to scratch. No leash, roaming freely. They also leave trash all over, we now have a rat problem and even the landlord told me their dog craps all over their basement..hmm, I wonder why this is acceptible? It is ridicoulous how people are with parking, so ridiculous they have NO consideration for others. Yes, adults should act like adults, not like selfish little name calling children.
Because some adults have not grown up yet. I have had many polite conversations towards them but not with them and you are correct, they would park in their bedroom if they could. They are too lazy to walk from the street to the front door of the house. However, its ok for me to park on the street all day long, every day, pay for a driveway I never get to use and haul groceries and cases of pop from the curb to the back of the house and up the stairs. God forbid I ask them to pull out, or I get called names and cursed at. Some people never grow up!
It might be time to look at it a different way.
It seems unlikely you will be able to change their behavior. In your shoes I'd make a choice. Learn to live with it or move. If this is the only downside to the location/neighbors then I'd make a mental choice not to let the issue get to me. You'd be accepting the inconvenience of not using the driveway but you'd be riding yourself of all the stress this fight is putting you through.
Thank you marc, thats exactly what Im going to do and ask for a rent reduction, as advised for giving up my rights to the driveway so I can live a peaceful life. However, since the whole driveway incident, the downstairs people are now complaining about rats as they leave their trash hanging out of the cans. Landlord informs me that their basement is full of dog crap and thats what he believes is attracting the rats. Im not understanding the lack of common sense here. So he asks me to take pics of their trash cans and who knows what he is going to do next? It sycks when you really love your apartment but you cant stand your filthy neighbors.
If they are as bad as you say, I bet they are on subsidized housing/welfare/rent thru some agency --- and the landlord is stuck. The landlord can easily change their lease to having standard clauses as: "no dogs", "no loud noise after 11pm", "parking must be shared in the driveway". If they are on any kind of subsidized stuff or an agency pays part of the rent, you'd be better off moving. Lower rent won't give you less peace of mind or less frustration.
There is a longer process but a "do-able" one. If you find that they are breaking lease terms, you can urge the landlord to initiate eviction proceedings. I don't know how sympathetic the landlord will be. Of course, if you have someone who would make great tenants, you could tell the landlord this and I'm sure they'd be happy to help you. Good luck!
What kills me is I seem to know the municiple codes better than he does and my landlord doesnt realize I am on the same side as him. They gave him a list of things that needed repaired and he has complied to their every demand. All of this has come about since he sent them a letter about sharing the driveway. Its a joke really. Its like they are playing the blame game. In the meantime, they dont have lids on their garbage can which breaks a housing code, they leave dog **** in the back yard, breaking another code, neighbors have called the police on them for being foul mouthed and ignorant. I am not the only person who has had issues with these people. I do know one thing, it says if a tenant is creating bad living conditions the landlord is not responsible for breaking the warranty of habitability because it is a self inflicted problem. Yet they have my poor landlord setting traps while the rats are feasting out of their cans. They are breaking the terms of the lease, right in my lease it says I have the right to a quiet and peaceful enjoyment of my apartment. I do not have that. One thing I am wondering is, if they withhold the rent (yes, they did for rodent problems) and they are the cause of the problems) can I withhold rent too until he does something about them because they are the root of the problems?
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