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Shared Garage Access question

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feyd2010

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

I share a garage with a neighbor in a separate back house. The garage is below our main house. It is a side-by-side garage with a storage area attached that we share and has it's own access door. We both have our own electric garage doors. Our side is a 2 car garage and the neighbor has a single. There is one side door on our side that we both use to access the garage to get to the storage closet which is accessed from our side as well. We keep the access area clear so we can all enter the garage via the side door, turn left and walk into the storage area. The door swings in so with cars parked it is a little awkward but very doable meaning our cars or items are not directly obstructing access into the garage or the storage area.

With our cars, scooter and bikes, there is no room to walk clear across the garage or behind our cars to gain access to their side of the garage where their car belongs. The neighbor does not use their side for parking, they use it for storage and work space. They park their car outside of the garage. Our garage doors are the type which swing outwards so when a car is parked outside of the garage, the doors cannot open.

The neighbor wants us to clear a path so they can enter the garage from the side door and walk to their side but it isn't possible. They can use their garage door to gain access to their side but won't because they don't want to move their car. I've spoken with our landlord who agrees that this is not a tenants rights issue since they have access to the storage area as well as to their garage via their garage door so they cannot order us or dictate how we use our space if we are withing our reasonable boundaries. The neighbor is not happy. They claim that we need to leave space for them to walk to their side because sometimes they need to get in and have pajamas on or something.

Since they cannot walk along side and behind our cars I offered to let them open our garage door when they need to since our cars are inside. But they don't want to do that. One night we did have another car outside blocking our garage door making that impossible so rather than move their car so they could open their garage door and put bikes away, they chose to leave their bikes on our side effectively blocking our access to our car door. That leads me to think that they don't understand. Despite the landlord telling them that, while inconvenient, that they can use their garage door rather than ask us to do the impossible, they continue to come to my door, ask me to park our cars outside like they do and move all of our items so they can walk around. All of this because their car blocks their garage door.

I don't believe we are obligated to make a walking path for them since they have reasonable access to their garage via their garage door as well as the storage area via the side door. I've also offered to let them open and close our garage door for their convenience even though it is not convenient for us (since it's noisy and we hear it loudly in our home above".

By choosing not to move their car and instead stash their bikes on our side, they demonstrate several things that anyone reading this probably knows. They are breaking an actual rule to try to make a point. My question is how do I get them to stop asking us the same thing and what is my recourse if they don't stop bothering us or if they leave their items on our side. I've already notified the landlord but regarding the walking access, they have already been told to accept reality and use their own door and that this isn't a legal boundary issue. Insight/advise please? I mainly want to know if I'm unaware of anything here that I should be considering. Thanks
 


xylene

Senior Member
Ask you landlord if it is possible to make the door open out? That would seem to solve the whole problem.
 

feyd2010

Junior Member
Ask you landlord if it is possible to make the door open out? That would seem to solve the whole problem.
Well, it would make getting in and out of the storage area easier for both of us but the neighbor is very insistent that we are supposed to make a path for him to walk from the side door to his side of the garage but that just isn't true. The side door is actually for accessing the storage area. He doesn't want to use his garage door because his car blocks it. He got used to access and now that it is changed he feels entitled to be able to walk around our cars but there is no room and I don't believe we are obligated to make it so. Clearly he doesn't understand boundaries if he is parking his stuff on our side out of protest.
 

FarmerJ

Senior Member
I see the issue is more that your LL has failed to address with more detailed information / directions written into the lease EG your landlord could have written into that other tenants lease something like > access to the garage shall be limited to the larger door that tenant would open up to drive thru.< but in the time being I suggest you ask the LL to send to the other tenant written notice telling them that they can access their garage space via their big door and if they have any issues with that they are to take it up with them NOT you.
 

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