who are lawyers,
i have found myself in a sticky situation that i could use your help with.
when i rented my apartment it came with a parking spot in the back of the building.
but the parking spot was not noted on my lease.
a year after i signed my lease the building was sold to a new owner. hes not the greatest owner.
i do not have a car.
sometimes i rent cars, sometimes people loan me their cars, sometimes people come over and use my spot.
about six months ago a new tenant began parking in my spot.
because im a nice person and i usually dont have a car, i have been allowing them to use the spot.
some times when i have parked there they have seen me park there and they have said nothing, just like i said nothing when i saw them park there.
miss montreal is going away for 4-5 days, loaned me her car, and i would like to park in my spot, but the new tenants are there.
i had a feeling that they were under the impression, somehow, that the spot was theirs or “up for grabs” so i wrote a letter to my landlord asking him to notify them that the spot was mine and enclosed it with my rent check earlier this month.
i called him tonight and asked him if he got my letter. he mumbled. when i told him of the situation he said that because they have lived here for six months that they could lay a claim to the spot because i hadnt said anything about it.
even though i have lived here for three years and its been my spot the whole time.
even though ken layne lived here right before me and the spot was his.
even though our friend shira lived here right before him and the spot was hers.
as i have said, the spot was never specified on my lease.
my landlord is now saying that he doesnt recall that spot being anyone’s in particular.
i said, when you bought the place you never took inventory of who had what spots? he said no.
interestingly though, a few months after he bought the place he allowed the new tenant to park behind my spot in a place that wouldnt really be considered a spot. i call this interesting because if he truly thought that no one had that spot, why wouldnt he had included that spot in her new lease?
i asked him this and he said that he specified in her lease “there is no parking available in the back”. because, he said, all the spots were full.
ah ha! so he admits that my spot was being used! yes?
so heres my questions:
1. did i fuck up and gave away my spot because i waited “too long” to tell my landlord?
2. if the spot is not in my lease, but the woman who offered me the spot, the manager of the building at the time, will vouch for me that we had orally discussed the spot being mine – is that verification enough?
3. if her word isnt good enough, what about the word of some of my neighbors who know that spot to be mine?
4. are there any other ways that you know of where i can (re)claim my parking spot
if you would rather not answer this through the comments, feel free to write me at busblog at gmail dot com.
thank you so much,
tony