Private Road Problems

[jeggedda]

What is the name of your state? Arizona

I rented a house in the mountains of Arizona last June. I only have a motorcycle and weather concerns were brought up before renting. I was assured that we only get light snow and that it melts within 24 hours. Yeah right....
My road is PRIVATE. There are 12 houses up here. It's supposed to be a gated community ( as I was told ) but the gates have been locked open since the month that I came to rent ( 2 before i moved in ).
I have been snowed in two times now. 4 days and 6 days. No coming or going. UPS, FEDEX, and Sparkletts could not deliver to me both snowed in times. The road is VERY steep and hilly and if you go off you go off 50 feet down into rocks. No one plows the road when it snows. Once you get off our road ( 1/2 mile ) the roads are cleared and perfect.
When I confronted the owner 2 days ago he basically laughed, told me that I needed to get a " 4 wheel drive like him " and insinuated that is what I get for owning a motorcycle. I went off on him after that. Nothing short of a 4 wheel drive could come or go on this road with the snow. He told me that if I wanted the road plowed to pay for it myself..he wasn't.

Is the owner or the others, or both, in the community responsible for plowing the road when it snows? I'm not an owner..I just rent.The owner and most others up here are only up here on the week-ends. The owner owns a hummer and told me both times that he came up in the snow that it was a bit " hairy " getting up our hill. He's usually the first up on Friday afternoons and his tracks are what the other drive in when they come up. I talked to another couple that lives up here full time like me and they told me that everyone used to chip in and get the road plowed when it needed it but after a couple of times no one else wanted to chip in their shares. So they stopped having it done. None of this was ever discussed before or during the rental process and all my questions about the weather and such concerns because I only had a motorcycle were laughed off and I was told " no worries".

The owner is turning out to be a complete weasel and he's already renegged on putting in a small storage shed ( no garage or storage here ) that he said before I moved in he would install. After I moved in he asked for $3K for my "half " of what a storage shed would cost to be installed here and I told him to pack sand. He laughed and said that it was not worth it then for him to install a shed. The guy is a real tool. I also already had to spend $400 out of my pocket to have water pipes hooked up for washer dryer ( they were dummy pipes coming into the laundry room and never hooked up. ) When i gave him the bill ( after I already paid it ) he laughed and said that he would have had the pipes installed "eventually " and since I took it upon myself to have it done without him it was my bill. I waited on his "eventually" for a month and had to be able to do laundry.

So back to the main issue, am I SOL or is it the owners responsibility to give me access to and from my rental?

Thanks in advance for any input.

[seniorjudge]

Q: Is the owner or the others, or both, in the community responsible for plowing the road when it snows?

A: Yes if they have so obligated themselves; no if they have not.


Q: None of this was ever discussed before or during the rental process and all my questions about the weather and such concerns because I only had a motorcycle were laughed off and I was told " no worries".

A: Excuse me? You believed this when you were renting a place in the mountains?


Q: The owner is turning out to be a complete weasel and he's already renegged on putting in a small storage shed ( no garage or storage here ) that he said before I moved in he would install.

A: Was this in writing?


Q: I also already had to spend $400 out of my pocket to have water pipes hooked up for washer dryer ( they were dummy pipes coming into the laundry room and never hooked up. ) When i gave him the bill ( after I already paid it ) he laughed and said that he would have had the pipes installed "eventually " and since I took it upon myself to have it done without him it was my bill. I waited on his "eventually" for a month and had to be able to do laundry.

A: You didn't check out the water? In Arizona? In the mountains?


Q: So back to the main issue, am I SOL or is it the owners responsibility to give me access to and from my rental?

A: SOL. It's God that's cutting off the access; not your landlord.

[jeggedda]

1."Excuse me? You believed this when you were renting a place in the mountains?"
Why wouldn't I believe what I was told? I moved here in June when it was 95 degrees here. I can only go off what I'm told by supposedly "honest" people. I asked all the right questions and were given all the right bull**** lies answers. It snows all kinds of places and the roads are plowed. The problem is not about it snowing in the mountains. I asked about the roads being plowed and was told the city does it. They left out the "not our road" part...

2." was this in writing?"
No. He didn't want to "put it in writing as to not have to pay any additional to the property management company. His exact words. EXACT. He insisted that any more money he put into the house or improvements would drive up the fee for the management company. Sounded like BS to me but again I don't automatically think that everything that comes out of another persons mouth is a lie..until they prove themselves as he has done.

3.You didn't check out the water? In Arizona? In the mountains?
What does this have to do with dummy pipes installed in the laundry room and not actually hooked up under the house? Hose bibs ran into the laundry room..that's all they were just the faucets poking out of a plastic conduit box..they were just sitting in there no pipes running to them. I didn't turn on every faucet in the house or plug something into every electric outlet to see if they were all ACTUALLY hooked up. Silly me....

[Cvillecpm]

Get a 4WD if you want to go up and down the mountain road in the snow....no, it is NOT the owner's obligation to plow a common road not is it his responsiblity to put gas in your bike or make repairs....you knew that the house was on a rocky mountain road....get over it.

Can't afford a 4WD?.....then park your motorcycle at the entry to the state maintained road and then WALK up to your house. Walk BACK to your bike when you want to leave....you might want to lock it to something and cover it with a tarp....riding a motorcycle in the snow is not a bright idea.

[jeggedda]

Decided to talk with a lawyer about the access issue and he told me that IT IS THE OWNERS ( mine and the rest of the Co-owners of the road ) RESPONSIBILITY TO PROVIDE ANY RENTERS CLEAR AND UNOBSTRUCTED ACCESS TO THE PROPERTY AT ALL TIMES. THEY MUST ALSO DO THIS FOR ALL EMERGENCY SERVICES. THEY OWN THE ROAD AND MUST KEEP IT CLEAR.

I hired him and he's drafting a letter to owner with sections and numbers sited.

So it seems the two that gave advice here might want to give advice on something that they know about instead of posting smart ass remarks just to see their posts in print. And same back..get over it. If you seriously manage property you may also want to study up and learn your job.

[Zigner]

Originally Posted by jeggedda

Decided to talk with a lawyer about the access issue and he told me that IT IS THE OWNERS ( mine and the rest of the Co-owners of the road ) RESPONSIBILITY TO PROVIDE ANY RENTERS CLEAR AND UNOBSTRUCTED ACCESS TO THE PROPERTY AT ALL TIMES. THEY MUST ALSO DO THIS FOR ALL EMERGENCY SERVICES. THEY OWN THE ROAD AND MUST KEEP IT CLEAR.

I hired him and he's drafting a letter to owner with sections and numbers sited.

So it seems the two that gave advice here might want to give advice on something that they know about instead of posting smart ass remarks just to see their posts in print. And same back..get over it. If you seriously manage property you may also want to study up and learn your job.

I'm glad you found an acceptable pit to throw your money in to (ie: Your Lawyer). The owner CAN get through on the road. And, apparently, so can the other owners.
I'm willing to bet that the ES vehicles in the area can ALSO get through on the road (since they are not totally blind to the fact that it snows in mountains!)

[justalayman]

Originally Posted by jeggedda

Decided to talk with a lawyer about the access issue and he told me that IT IS THE OWNERS ( mine and the rest of the Co-owners of the road ) RESPONSIBILITY TO PROVIDE ANY RENTERS CLEAR AND UNOBSTRUCTED ACCESS TO THE PROPERTY AT ALL TIMES. THEY MUST ALSO DO THIS FOR ALL EMERGENCY SERVICES. THEY OWN THE ROAD AND MUST KEEP IT CLEAR.

I hired him and he's drafting a letter to owner with sections and numbers sited.

.

so why don't you post the statute sections here? It would be interesting to see the proof.

[Gadfly]

When you get done writing checks to your attorney you'll see that for a lot less you could have paid to get the road plowed and have acutally accomplished something!