Tenant blocked own parking with shed, now blocking other tenants.

[Mr Chetty]

What is the name of your state? What is the name of your state? Massachusetts.
A tenant erected a shed on one of the two designated parking spaces allocated to the apartment. The tenant and her regular guest (husband) who is apparently not living there and is not on the lease are now parking in the way of other tenants. This is a house with three apartments, the rest of the property is rented to a landscaper and an excavation company, so there Is open area for trucks and trailers to park and move around. The husband often blocks the landscapers trailer and she parks behind and blocks another tenants car, they had been told where to park but ended up putting a plastic shed in their own parking space leaving barely enough room for one vehicle. There are other problems too, the husband planted marijuana left a mess which we payed to clean up and stored some equipment and tires on another part of the property all without the landlords permission. It gets worse, the husband often just gets in his truck and revs it loudly to amuse their young son. Attempts to talk to him just leads to him shouting and insulting the property manager, the list goes on but on one positive note, she pays the rent almost on time.

 

[Just Blue]

What is the name of your state? What is the name of your state? Massachusetts.
A tenant erected a shed on one of the two designated parking spaces allocated to the apartment. The tenant and her regular guest (husband) who is apparently not living there and is not on the lease are now parking in the way of other tenants. This is a house with three apartments, the rest of the property is rented to a landscaper and an excavation company, so there Is open area for trucks and trailers to park and move around. The husband often blocks the landscapers trailer and she parks behind and blocks another tenants car, they had been told where to park but ended up putting a plastic shed in their own parking space leaving barely enough room for one vehicle. There are other problems too, the husband planted marijuana left a mess which we payed to clean up and stored some equipment and tires on another part of the property all without the landlords permission. It gets worse, the husband often just gets in his truck and revs it loudly to amuse their young son. Attempts to talk to him just leads to him shouting and insulting the property manager, the list goes on but on one positive note, she pays the rent almost on time.

Who are you in all this?

Did you have a question, or did you just want to vent?

 

[Mr Chetty]

I work for the landlord, I do not manage this property. I would like some advice about how to deal with the shed. They erected a plastic shed on a parking space, now they don’t have a place to park. Some of the personal property in the shed belongs to a person who is not a tenant. Sorry for venting.

 

[LdiJ]

I work for the landlord, I do not manage this property. I would like some advice about how to deal with the shed. They erected a plastic shed on a parking space, now they don’t have a place to park. Some of the personal property in the shed belongs to a person who is not a tenant. Sorry for venting.

They need to be told to correct the problems, and if they do not, they need to be evicted. Paying the rent on time does not absolve them from the other rules. If I were in the landlords shoes I would be telling them, formally, in writing, that they can only park in their parking spaces and that they will be towed if they park elsewhere (and actually tow them) and give them 10 days to remove the shed and all other unauthorized stuff or it will be removed and they will be charged for the cost.

Unfortunately, with those kinds of people (the husband in particular) a landlord has to be fairly ruthless in order to make things clear.

 

[Mr Chetty]

We have no contact information for the husband, he is not on the lease and has never been a tenant. He comes and goes, sometimes he’s there for a few days other times he’s there longer, sometimes he just leaves his landscape trailer there. There is some ambiguity as to the ownership of the shed and contents. As far as we know, Massachusetts does not allow a landlord to charge a tenant for cleaning up the grounds. I’m not sure we can legally just dispose of the shed and contents as this is somebodies personal property. Even if given notice, they may simply just not do anything about it. There is nowhere for them to move the shed. Do we just ignore the husband and communicate with the lease holder? The husband is the major problem, when he’s not there things go back to normal, when he’s there he starts making trouble with other tenants. The landlord is reluctant to evict the tenant as she has a young child living with her, the child’s grandparents live upstairs in another apartment and are very good tenants, the apartment is also very close to the school. It’s a small community and being ruthless to a mom and her kid is not a good option for the landlord.

 

[quincy]

We have no contact information for the husband, he is not on the lease and has never been a tenant. He comes and goes, sometimes he’s there for a few days other times he’s there longer, sometimes he just leaves his landscape trailer there. There is some ambiguity as to the ownership of the shed and contents. As far as we know, Massachusetts does not allow a landlord to charge a tenant for cleaning up the grounds. I’m not sure we can legally just dispose of the shed and contents as this is somebodies personal property. Even if given notice, they may simply just not do anything about it. There is nowhere for them to move the shed. Do we just ignore the husband and communicate with the lease holder? The husband is the major problem, when he’s not there things go back to normal, when he’s there he starts making trouble with other tenants. The landlord is reluctant to evict the tenant as she has a young child living with her, the child’s grandparents live upstairs in another apartment and are very good tenants, the apartment is also very close to the school. It’s a small community and being ruthless to a mom and her kid is not a good option for the landlord.

If the landlord and/or management and/or owner of the rental property do not want to address the shed issue, there is nothing that you, as someone who only works for the landlord, can do.

 

[adjusterjack]

They need to be told to correct the problems, and if they do not, they need to be evicted. Paying the rent on time does not absolve them from the other rules. If I were in the landlords shoes I would be telling them, formally, in writing, that they can only park in their parking spaces and that they will be towed if they park elsewhere (and actually tow them) and give them 10 days to remove the shed and all other unauthorized stuff or it will be removed and they will be charged for the cost.

Unfortunately, with those kinds of people (the husband in particular) a landlord has to be fairly ruthless in order to make things clear.

As a former landlord I emphatically agree.

Do we just ignore the husband and communicate with the lease holder?

Yes.

The husband is the major problem

No, he's not. The tenant is the major problem for allowing the situation to exist. It's the tenant that should be brought to task for it.

The landlord is reluctant to evict the tenant as she has a young child living with her, the child’s grandparents live upstairs in another apartment and are very good tenants, the apartment is also very close to the school. It’s a small community and being ruthless to a mom and her kid is not a good option for the landlord.

Tell the owner his TS Card is on the way.

TS Card | The Chaplain Kit

 

[LdiJ]

We have no contact information for the husband, he is not on the lease and has never been a tenant. He comes and goes, sometimes he’s there for a few days other times he’s there longer, sometimes he just leaves his landscape trailer there. There is some ambiguity as to the ownership of the shed and contents. As far as we know, Massachusetts does not allow a landlord to charge a tenant for cleaning up the grounds. I’m not sure we can legally just dispose of the shed and contents as this is somebodies personal property. Even if given notice, they may simply just not do anything about it. There is nowhere for them to move the shed. Do we just ignore the husband and communicate with the lease holder? The husband is the major problem, when he’s not there things go back to normal, when he’s there he starts making trouble with other tenants. The landlord is reluctant to evict the tenant as she has a young child living with her, the child’s grandparents live upstairs in another apartment and are very good tenants, the apartment is also very close to the school. It’s a small community and being ruthless to a mom and her kid is not a good option for the landlord.

Unless the landlord is willing to get ruthless the problems will not end. Unless the landlord has the trailer towed away and the shed taken away etc., people will continue to take advantage of him. Perhaps he should have a friendly chat with the grandparents? A landlord can charge a tenant for any damages/messes/problems that the landlord has to deal with that were caused by the tenant or the tenant's guests. Yes, if a landlord gives notice to someone to remove someone like the shed and they do not, the landlord can legally have it hauled away.

 

[not2cleverRed]

We have no contact information for the husband, he is not on the lease and has never been a tenant. He comes and goes, sometimes he’s there for a few days other times he’s there longer, sometimes he just leaves his landscape trailer there. There is some ambiguity as to the ownership of the shed and contents. As far as we know, Massachusetts does not allow a landlord to charge a tenant for cleaning up the grounds. I’m not sure we can legally just dispose of the shed and contents as this is somebodies personal property. Even if given notice, they may simply just not do anything about it. There is nowhere for them to move the shed. Do we just ignore the husband and communicate with the lease holder? The husband is the major problem, when he’s not there things go back to normal, when he’s there he starts making trouble with other tenants. The landlord is reluctant to evict the tenant as she has a young child living with her, the child’s grandparents live upstairs in another apartment and are very good tenants, the apartment is also very close to the school. It’s a small community and being ruthless to a mom and her kid is not a good option for the landlord.

1) The lease should say something about this. Enforce the terms of the lease.

2) If signs are not already posted stating that violators of parking rules will be towed, then do so. And follow through by having rude people towed.

 

[quincy]

1) The lease should say something about this. Enforce the terms of the lease.

2) If signs are not already posted stating that violators of parking rules will be towed, then do so. And follow through by having rude people towed.

The lease definitely should have addressed that tenants cannot erect anything on the rental premises without authorization from the property owner.

The parking issues should be easier to handle. If vehicles are parked where they block others from entering or existing, the landlord simply gives notice that the vehicles improperly parked will be towed at the vehicle owner’s expense.

But removing the shed and disposing of its contents might not be so easy. Notice can be posted on the shed to inform the owner that it must be removed. Proper wording of the notice, and the best way to inform someone who is not actually a tenant of the rental, can get complicated. The landlord will want to follow “abandoned property” laws.

I also think the landlord has to start treating the rentals as a business. Paying rent is only part of a tenant’s responsibilities.