Parked my boat in my driveway...Land Lord threatens to evict me!

Help me please.

I just bought an 18 ft Cobia Skiff a month ago and some change. My Land Lord recently called me and told me to move it ASAP or get EVICTED. We live in a 10 complex townhouses connected by one street. I am on a lease and do not own the town home. The "BY LAWS" were given to me by a neighbor who owns his complex and nothing in it shows any restrictions about owning and parking boats in the driveways

The Lease I have does not show any restrictions about not owning any boats nor does it pertain to joint my lease with the "HOUSING ASSOCIATION'S BY-LAWS." After a brief argument...I told my Land Lord I will move my boat under one condition..."He must show me the BY-LAW that proves I cannot have a boat and I will move it." He was supposed to email me the law when he found it but of course he left me a voice mail when I was away from my phone...stating that although he could not find anything about a boat...subsequently my boat is considered an abandoned vehicle therefore I must move my boat as soon as possible because it has sat there for a month.

*He has also stated his insurance doesn't cover boats....
*I pay for full coverage insurance on my boat as well as Renter's Insurance


I seem to have upset him because his by laws do not state rules on owning a boat and parking it in my driveway. The only concern I do have is that on my lease there is a rule that states that the parking spot (driveway) is for motorized vehicles only.

I am an Enlisted Air Force Airmen and I went ahead and talked to the Legal Office on base. A Captain who is a lawyer told me my Land Lord does not have a leg to stand on and that my boat is considered a motor vehicle. She also stated my Land Lord has a poorly written "LEASE"

MY QUESTION IS>>> DO I HAVE TO MOVE MY BOAT? CAN THIS LAND LORD GET ME TO MOVE MY BOAT DUE TO MY LEASE STATING A "MOTORIZED VEHICLE"

Thank you!

SrA David Her

Re: Parked my boat in my driveway...Land Lord threatens to evict me!

nobody here is better suited to advise you than your lawyer......

Re: Parked my boat in my driveway...Land Lord threatens to evict me!

Listen to your lawyer. We know less than they do.

Re: Parked my boat in my driveway...Land Lord threatens to evict me!

Does the base have a auto hobby shop? Many, many moons ago I stored a car at the hobby shop for quite a while while it was being put back on the road. And I wasn't alone. Hobby shops are probably all gone now.

On the landlord problem, you might win the battle but lose the war. He can get you out if he want's too. And that's the extent of my legal advice. See what the Legal Office has to say.

Re: Parked my boat in my driveway...Land Lord threatens to evict me!

Learn a valuable "free" lesson from this thread...don't ask for legal advice on internet forums. Pay a lawyer to answer your questions.

Re: Parked my boat in my driveway...Land Lord threatens to evict me!

GA_Boater said:

Does the base have a auto hobby shop? Many, many moons ago I stored a car at the hobby shop for quite a while while it was being put back on the road. And I wasn't alone. Hobby shops are probably all gone now.

On the landlord problem, you might win the battle but lose the war. He can get you out if he want's too. And that's the extent of my legal advice. See what the Legal Office has to say.

Click to expand...

There are hobby shops still but I just PCS'ed here less than a year ago so I have to look into it. My squadron also has a big parking lot and I have seen some recreation vehicles parked there...so if worse comes to worse I'll move it there until I move.

I have 3 months left on my lease...Legal Office Lawyer said all the Land Lord can do is take me to court if I refuse to move my boat due to the lease being poorly written. Well the worse he can do is take my deposit when I move if I decide to stay stubborn.

Re: Parked my boat in my driveway...Land Lord threatens to evict me!

I decided for now that I'm going to go against this Land Lord's wishes and keep my boat parked! My friend next door has a Ford F250 that is bigger than my boat and I'm getting hashed for this. Haha...Well I'll keep everyone updated and thanks for the replies. I'm going w/ my lawyer on base says. This is verbatim of what my lease says about parking spaces.


"Tenant shall be entitled to use two parking space(s) for the parking of the Tenant's Customers'/guests' motor vehicle(s)."

If you think this is a poorly written sentence like me, I hope you are on my side. This sentence basically tells me how it is written that the parking spaces are mine and for my customers/guests motor vehicles. The apostrophe's and slashes fragment and cause confusion as to what the sentence pertains to. I feel I am entitled to use my parking spaces as I please and if I want my customers or guest to park their motor vehicles there, they can.

Re: Parked my boat in my driveway...Land Lord threatens to evict me!

You probably made him jealous that you have a boat and he doesn't. I would tell the landlord where he can put that lease and you'll park your boat where you want. Tell him take you to court then have JAG eat him alive due to his lack of a sufficiently written lease. Then again I'm a bit of a hard head. Back when I was in the Army, I went against the housing authority on working on my car in my garage and won, since the portion they were trying to get me on wasn't clear and had too much "grey area".

Chris

Re: Parked my boat in my driveway...Land Lord threatens to evict me!

It matters not whose "side" we are on. What matters is whom your lawyer supports.

Re: Parked my boat in my driveway...Land Lord threatens to evict me!

amen...fight the power! I'm a hardhead when I feel like I am right. thx for your service btw.

Re: Parked my boat in my driveway...Land Lord threatens to evict me!

JB said:

It matters not whose "side" we are on. What matters is whom your lawyer supports.

Click to expand...

Agreed JB, I plan on going to court if I have to and I've already gotten the legal advice I need from my LEGAL OFFICE. I am also contacting my friend who is a Lawyer and getting his advice as well...and I'll be forking out money to get a lawyer locally because I feel like fighting this to the end if my Land Lord really wants to duke it out in court.

Re: Parked my boat in my driveway...Land Lord threatens to evict me!

I hope you plan to move wayy before your lease ends. He has the right not to renew your lease. He doesn't even need a reason.

Also, He will always come up as a residential reference. this will bite you in the a**.

I say move asap.

Re: Parked my boat in my driveway...Land Lord threatens to evict me!

Tell him your boat helps relieve some of your mental health problems. You just found out that your same sex lover is racist and dropping you and seeing your rabbi.

This should stall things about 99 years

Re: Parked my boat in my driveway...Land Lord threatens to evict me!

Abandoned vehicle?

Is the boat registered and titled?

Has it really been parked that long? I would drive it past his office window once in a while to prove it is being used/moved, not abandoned.

Fight the fight.
Is he the owner? or manager? Contact the owners directly if you can, just let them know what is going on.
If you loose, make sure everyone on base knows what kind of people they are.


Good luck.

Re: Parked my boat in my driveway...Land Lord threatens to evict me!

I think I'd start with another lawyer who understands that a boat is NOT a motorized vehicle. That's pathetic advice.

This is the problem for you: "The only concern I do have is that on my lease there is a rule that states that the parking spot (driveway) is for motorized vehicles only." That means no boats.

This is the problem for the landlord: contracts are construed against the drafter, which presumably is the LL, and if there is no anti-construction clause you may have something. Not a definite winner but something.

This is what you need your LOCAL lawyer to walk you through: what is the process as to timing if he takes you to court, v. your 3 months left on the lease? Start to finish from default notice to post-judgment enforcement (eviction). Can the court require mediation? You may get to the end of the lease with the process so even if you lose on the last week of your lease you are moving out anyway.

As part of that advice, learn from your LOCAL lawyer if the LL can tow the boat during the process--he'd be stupid to do it but there are people like that out there.


Ask your LOCAL lawyer if it is likely that if you go to court and the judge says the landlord is right about keeping a boat there (I think he is) if the judge would also rule that if you then move the boat within 5 days, he'll dismiss the case and not evict? That's a good equitable solution; there is the maxim that "the law abhors a forfeiture."

Your LOCAL lawyer will surely tell you to keep your rent paid in full on time; get behind even a dollar and you lose.

Being in a Navy town, and being very familiar with the court process, I find that the legal staff lawyers often don't do so well on matters like these in court.

Re: Parked my boat in my driveway...Land Lord threatens to evict me!

Just as a side note it is a PITA to evict someone. It requires allot of work, many letters from the court, he has to show the court why he is evicting you etc. If there is nothing in the by-laws or lease then the court will tell him to go pound sand.

Re: Parked my boat in my driveway...Land Lord threatens to evict me!

Home Cookin' said:

I think I'd start with another lawyer who understands that a boat is NOT a motorized vehicle. That's pathetic advice..

Click to expand...

You don't know that. Every state defines "motor vehicle" differently. Here in Ohio the courts have extended the definition to include boats. This was a result of OVI (drunk driving) convictions on the water which were held up. Here is Ohio's state code definition. Lawriter - ORC

It does not mention boats but it doesn't have to, there is case law to support that boats are considered motor vehicles in The Buckeye State. If they are motor vehicles for OVI purposes you could debate that they are motor vehicles for parking regulations.

Re: Parked my boat in my driveway...Land Lord threatens to evict me!

Good luck "debating" that one. But that's not to say you won't get a ruling that defies common sense.

Re: Parked my boat in my driveway...Land Lord threatens to evict me!

david_hawj said:

Agreed JB, I plan on going to court if I have to and I've already gotten the legal advice I need from my LEGAL OFFICE. I am also contacting my friend who is a Lawyer and getting his advice as well...and I'll be forking out money to get a lawyer locally because I feel like fighting this to the end if my Land Lord really wants to duke it out in court.

Click to expand...

Ayuh,.... It'll be Cheaper, easier, 'n ya won't ruin yer relationship with yer Landlord, if ya just get a rental storage spot for yer boat,...

As even if ya win this pizzin' match, life will suck, rentin' from the same Landlord,...

Yer in a No Win situation,....

Re: Parked my boat in my driveway...Land Lord threatens to evict me!

I don't hold exactly 1 grudge, from my landlord in 1987. Yes, its a 26 year old grudge.

We had a very similar argument, and he went so far as to tell me as a tenant, I was not allowed access to the HOA by-laws! (I strongly suspect he knew there was nothing in them I was violating, he was just being a pain in my *****.)

I won the battle, but lost the war. He cooked up some BS 'cleaning' charges and took my safety deposit. I was only there on a summer rental in a college town, but managed to leave the house with $500 cleaning bill.

I still think about this guy sometimes....