[NBR] Landlord Scooter Harassment

[Skootz Kabootz]

Forgive me while I vent...

Yesterday I was happily, quietly, cleaning my scooter in an out of the way place in parking area of my apartment building. There was no soap and water involved as I use a spray cleaner. So when I'm done there is no sign I was even there. Along comes my building manager...

"You can't clean you scooter there. You can't clean it in your parking space either... in fact we don't allow motorcycles here... it's in your lease"

Why no cleaning? "We don't want it to lead to people working on or cleaning their cars here."

Of course this is total bull!@$% and is simply scooter harassment. There is no mention of any kind in my lease. Neither is anything about cleaning cars, not cleaning cars, or any other such thing. And unless your motorcycle is breaking noise laws, there is no legal issue.

Why she is choosing to be such an ass and manufacture a situation where none exists? Who knows. But today I'll have to chat with City Hall and find out exactly where I stand legally.

One thing I do know is that this is a no pets building and there is a no pets clause in the lease. I'll hate to see her little dog go...

Why do some people have to such A-holes... yeesh.

[Vic]

When I lived in an apartment it was actually spelled out that motorcycles were not permitted to be parked on the property. This was before I got my scooter. When I was signing my lease I asked why this was and they said that motorcycles leak oil all over the place and the stands damage the asphalt, so they were not permitted. So, you might want to re-read your lease and make certain you are sure it is not written in there.

Unfortunately, when you live under someone else's roof and sign a contract with them, they can put a lot of things into that contract, if they want to. I won't go so far to say they can put "anything" but from what I have seen they can put pretty much whatever they want as long as it is not illegal.

That's the scary thing about contracts and authorizations. Most people just sign them and assume that the document reads to include reasonable things and they are going to be fine, no big deal. You could be signing away a shocking amount of your rights in these things and never know it.

My mother's former husband used to be a landlord and he was one of those who loved to sit around and come up with new things to add to his leases. There were times he added things that I knew and told him were illegal, but he added them anyway because first the tenant would have to read the contract, then they would have to question that part, if they signed it then their position was weaker, but even so even if they signed it they would also have to be sophisticated enough to argue with the landlord about it and seek legal advice. Nobody ever did that because it would be more expensive to deal with an attorney. Sad, but true.

Good luck, I hope it works out for you. When I was in my apartment we had these inspections and the @)+?# would give 48 hours notice that over the following 48 hours the place would be inspected. And when she was ready for the inspection, the inspection happened. My son was in the shower one time, she still inspected and did inspect the occupied shower.

-v

Edited to fix spelling error.

[Skootz Kabootz]

Thanks Vic. Happily I am in a different situation.

I just talked with West Hollywood City Hall. They totally backed me, confirmed that as there is nothing in the lease the manager is completely out of line. They even gave me a name and direct number at City Hall to pass on to the manager should she continue to harass me. (West Hollywood has amazing tenant rights. I even learned that this year rent will not go up 1¢ because the CPI dropped - I live in an amazing rent controlled area, the reason I have lived here so long)...

Further more, City Hall confirmed that so long as I am not using the buildings water supply or making a mess when cleaning my scooter (which I am not), I can clean it 24hrs a day if I so choose. Sweet. Victory is mine!

Now, about the managers little dog...

[charlie55]

Assuming that there was such a clause (no motorcycles) how's about going all Perry Mason on her and asking what exactly is meant by "motorcycle".

Is it anything with two wheels and a motor?
Are there certain size/weight/displacement qualifications?
Are trikes included in the prohibition? Racing mowers?
Is it dependent upon the type of vehicle registration?

Are there equivalent penalty clauses/restrictions for automobiles that leak oil and/or cause damage to the pavement?

Of course, the landlord will most likely win in the end since it is their property, but losing's a lot more fun if you get to spread some agita around in the process.


[/i]

[Vic]

That is awesome! I LOVE hearing about things like this-knowing that some of these damned landlords are actually getting what they deserve.

For the record, I am not anti-landlord by any means, I am just against those who stick their noses in where they don't belong and don't have the right to be. Not all of them are like that.

Way to go and mark one up to the little guy!

-v, raising my freezer pop to you (hey, it's hot today 85 with 98% humidity)

[jijifer]

Thanks Vic. Happily I am in a different situation.

I just talked with West Hollywood City Hall. They totally backed me, confirmed that as there is nothing in the lease the manager is completely out of line. They even gave me a name and direct number at City Hall to pass on to the manager should she continue to harass me. (West Hollywood has amazing tenant rights. I even learned that this year rent will not go up 1¢ because the CPI dropped - I live in an amazing rent controlled area, the reason I have lived here so long)...

Further more, City Hall confirmed that so long as I am not using the buildings water supply or making a mess when cleaning my scooter (which I am not), I can clean it 24hrs a day if I so choose. Sweet. Victory is mine!

Now, about the managers little dog...

oh, pretty please spare the pooch. It's hard out here for pups.

I was thinking the clause may be more about attractive nuisance - my scoot's a kid magnet! Maybe it's the bird decals that make it look like a toy.

Sutton, age 3, cute as a button, very talkative little man down stairs KNOWS my scoot's off limits. He KNOWS it's because it gets hot and takes time to cool down but he finds ever increasingly cute and clever ways to skirt around the rules.

He's learned the blue part isn't hot - so maybe he can touch that? What about the front - what gets hot in front? Do the mirrors get hot? Speakers? what about the seat?

Big Baby Blue gets parked under my stairs (next to Sutton's back door) but my stairs are slated. Sutton now climbs up and sticks his arms through to touch SOMETHING on my scooter. He hawks it when I clean it. He figures it's not hot if I'm cleaning it.

If BBB ever fell over on him, my heart will break. If he ever gets burned by my pipe, my heart will break and guilt will haunt me.

Luckily his parents and our landlords adore my scooter so they aren't making me jump through hoops to make it Sutton proof.

Your lucky to live somewhere with tenant rights. down here in SD renters are screwed!!!

[Skootz Kabootz]

...I am not anti-landlord by any means, I am just against those who stick their noses in where they don't belong and don't have the right to ...

Totally. It is all about fairness and equal justice. I have been here for 18 years (longer than both the manager and the building owner) and am the most low-maintenance tenant any landlord could ever hope for. You'd think she had some bigger fish to fry than to fabricate some imaginary issue with me. There are cars leaking oil all over their parking spaces, why not go after them? Yeesh.

oh, pretty please spare the pooch...

Of course After all, that is my ultimate trump card. Don't want to play that until absolutely necessary...

Funny, I noticed while looking at my lease that I am past due to have my apartment painted, new carpet, new flooring in the kitchen and bathroom, and new counter tops. We get that every 7 years. Manager is going to be so glad she got me to look at my lease...

[pugbuddy]

Make sure you've got a place to live while they do all that! And make sure that you can move all your stuff out while they put all that in too. She can make it pretty rough on you so be sure you are prepared ahead of time! (But, yeah, I'd go get all that stuff--well worth it)!

As an aside, I SO LOVE being a homeowner! I even had good landlords and neighbors but I absolutely adore not dealing with them any more!

[ishi]

Consider a Xena "screamer" disc lock alarm. A kid at my apartment complex climbed on my scoot and it went off. Hasn't happened since.

Thanks Vic. Happily I am in a different situation.

I just talked with West Hollywood City Hall. They totally backed me, confirmed that as there is nothing in the lease the manager is completely out of line. They even gave me a name and direct number at City Hall to pass on to the manager should she continue to harass me. (West Hollywood has amazing tenant rights. I even learned that this year rent will not go up 1¢ because the CPI dropped - I live in an amazing rent controlled area, the reason I have lived here so long)...

Further more, City Hall confirmed that so long as I am not using the buildings water supply or making a mess when cleaning my scooter (which I am not), I can clean it 24hrs a day if I so choose. Sweet. Victory is mine!

Now, about the managers little dog...

oh, pretty please spare the pooch. It's hard out here for pups.

I was thinking the clause may be more about attractive nuisance - my scoot's a kid magnet! Maybe it's the bird decals that make it look like a toy.

Sutton, age 3, cute as a button, very talkative little man down stairs KNOWS my scoot's off limits. He KNOWS it's because it gets hot and takes time to cool down but he finds ever increasingly cute and clever ways to skirt around the rules.

He's learned the blue part isn't hot - so maybe he can touch that? What about the front - what gets hot in front? Do the mirrors get hot? Speakers? what about the seat?

Big Baby Blue gets parked under my stairs (next to Sutton's back door) but my stairs are slated. Sutton now climbs up and sticks his arms through to touch SOMETHING on my scooter. He hawks it when I clean it. He figures it's not hot if I'm cleaning it.

If BBB ever fell over on him, my heart will break. If he ever gets burned by my pipe, my heart will break and guilt will haunt me.

Luckily his parents and our landlords adore my scooter so they aren't making me jump through hoops to make it Sutton proof.

Your lucky to live somewhere with tenant rights. down here in SD renters are screwed!!!

[digital-entropy]

That's horrible. Where I live, my landlord lets me park it in the same spot as my girlfriend's Honda Civic.

[ScootStevie]

Way to go Skootz. Be kind, and ask her if she'd rather you have a dirty scoot instead

Now....go get that apartment brand spanking new again.

[MrsLatch]

we deal with scooter haters in our apartment building as well, its actually how they got stolen.

we originally parked them on the bike rack, but there are these weird berry trees and they would constantly dirty up the scoots, it was in a dark corner and a buddy 50 little italia was stolen from there(unlocked), so we moved to the street sign on the front corner (building is a high rise) One day as my husband is locking his RH to the street sign the building manager comes and informs him in a very not nice way that he can't park there its city property and illegal, he tells her that she cant tell him what to do on city property and walks away, As he is walking she tells him that she will inform the city that it is there. We move both scoots back to the bike rack after this to be courteous. With in two days someone attempted to steal my bike, they failed but it was hot wired. We move back to the street sign because its well lit and traffic is driving by constantly. The manager then gives us a free parking space in the gated lot (im assuming she thought the scoots were eye sores and the buddy was already in that lot) We move to the gated lot after she tells us that the bikes are covered by the buildings insurance in the lot and that the lot was had cameras. there was nothing to lock them to in the lot, so we locked them through the wheel and then onto the rear spring, they only lasted like that 10 days before they were stolen, After they were stolen were informed the camera doesnt look at anywhere but the door out of the gate, that the camera doesnt even record, the leasing company does not cover theft and we signed a paper saying we couldnt sue the company for lost/damaged/stolen property. eeeeeeeehhhhhk

they did however just build a locking thingy in the lot that my husband can lock his scoot onto, hopefully that holds up

[purple]

Hey Skootz!

Good for you! So glad you got the upper hand on the situation! Some people just have too much free time on their hands... I'm very lucky my apt. manager is awesome! She tried to get the owner of the car next to mine to move it over a little, because I had such a hard time lockin l'il putt-putt between my car and that one. That owner was out of town, so she let me move my car to another spot that's right next to the elevator, and has
plenty of room in front of my car to lock her around a post. Hope you don't have any more problems...

[pdxbuddy]

I was parking my scooter in a community garage in front of my GFs car for a couple months and then the other day I parked it behind the car when she parked further forward, which takes up the same amount of space.

I got a note on my scooter saying do not park your vehicles past this concrete piling. Funny thing is the car is always past it.

I put a note on my scooter saying that if you have any questions or concerns please don't hesitate to contact me at [phone number] signed [me]
(my neighbors would rather report me to the landlord or city than actually discuss the issue)

[Derrick]

Thanks Vic. Happily I am in a different situation.

I just talked with West Hollywood City Hall. They totally backed me, confirmed that as there is nothing in the lease the manager is completely out of line. They even gave me a name and direct number at City Hall to pass on to the manager should she continue to harass me. (West Hollywood has amazing tenant rights. I even learned that this year rent will not go up 1¢ because the CPI dropped - I live in an amazing rent controlled area, the reason I have lived here so long)...

Further more, City Hall confirmed that so long as I am not using the buildings water supply or making a mess when cleaning my scooter (which I am not), I can clean it 24hrs a day if I so choose. Sweet. Victory is mine!

Now, about the managers little dog...

I so miss that about West Hollywood. I lived on Fairfax just north of Fountain. There is no rent control in San Diego and it's quite expensive here.

[pugbuddy]

MrsLatch, that TOTALLY sucks and I believe is a very good justification for landlord abuse. Check your rental agreement, that worked for Skootz Kabootz!

[TVB]

Consider a Xena "screamer" disc lock alarm.

Also consider that an alarm like that can provide a landlord with an opportunity to accuse you of creating a noise nuisance, especially if it goes off repeatedly or isn't silenced promptly. And justifiably, IMHO. The first time someone leaves a vehicle alarm unattended, they get a note insisting that they not let it happen again. The second time, they get a note promising damage to the vehicle if they do it again. The third time... fortunately it hasn't come to that yet.

[ericalm]

Skootz, fightin' the power!

Assuming that there was such a clause (no motorcycles) how's about going all Perry Mason on her and asking what exactly is meant by "motorcycle".

Perry would lose this one, big time. A Buddy 150 is a motorcycle under both state of CA and federal law.

[charlie55]

Ah, but does the lease agreement state "motorcycle, as defined by local, state, and/or federal statute"? Nit-picking? Of course; that's what law is about anyway. That, and expense, delay, and counterintuitive logic.

Personally, I'd prefer an updated Code of Hammurabi:

Touching scooter without permission - death.
Making disparaging remarks about scooter(s) - death.
Annoying/harassing a scooter owner - death.
Flicking bird at scooter - death.
etc.

Ah, for the good old days....

[ericalm]

Personally, I'd prefer an updated Code of Hammurabi:

Touching scooter without permission - death.
Making disparaging remarks about scooter(s) - death.
Annoying/harassing a scooter owner - death.
Flicking bird at scooter - death.
etc.

Updated code of Pvt. Francis 'Psycho' Soyer:
Look at my scooter, I'll kill you.
If I catch you touching my scooter, I'll kill you.
Any of you guys call it a "moped," and I'll kill you.

[kneil67@yahoo.com]

when i got a ticket acouple days ago the officer kept on saying moped
after i received the ticket i made the comment mopeds have pedals

[robby]

The big sticker on the back that says "moped" probably doesn't help. But I let it slide because in exchange I don't have to get plates or pay insurance.

[r0sa]

the rule at my apt is that you can't have more then one car and if you have one car and a motorcycle, you must park the motorcycle in the same parking spot as your car, either behind the car or in front of it...

luckily for me, since my scooter is so cute and tiny, i roll it under the stairwell where nobody will notice

[kneil67@yahoo.com]

The big sticker on the back that says "moped" probably doesn't help. But I let it slide because in exchange I don't have to get plates or pay insurance.

my plate says motor cycle

[pdxbuddy]

The big sticker on the back that says "moped" probably doesn't help. But I let it slide because in exchange I don't have to get plates or pay insurance.

my plate says motor cycle

mine says MP on the license plate

[cadillaczac]

As my apartment manager is usaully pretty cool about having the motorcycles and scooters in the garage, it is the aparment buildings owner who does not allow motorcycles or scooters to be parked in our garages. I have been told multiple times to not work on my motorcycle or scooters in the garage (even though the managers son can change his oil and work on his stupid Harley in her garage).This has led Tricia and I to look at buying a house, which is quite funny enough because our mortage payment would be much less than what we are paying for rent.

[TVB]

This has led Tricia and I to look at buying a house, which is quite funny enough because our mortage payment would be much less than what we are paying for rent.

If you're thinking of buying a house, this would be a good year to do it: they're on sale, with an $8K rebate. There was a condo I saw listed recently that looked pretty good... until I saw that it didn't have any place to park my scooter.

[dvdchris]

So, you might want to re-read your lease and make certain you are sure it is not written in there...That's the scary thing about contracts and authorizations. Most people just sign them and assume that the document reads to include reasonable things and they are going to be fine, no big deal. You could be signing away a shocking amount of your rights in these things and never know it...
My son was in the shower one time, she still inspected and did inspect the occupied shower.

That last sentence has got to be against some law; you mean she entered the bathroom while your son was TAKING A SHOWER? Why does she need to 'inspect' the shower anyway? Sounds like a mentally unbalanced person.

As to your earlier statements, those leases have gotten crazy long over the past 15 years that I've been renting apartments. There is no realistic way to read it all, it would literally take all day and you would have to consult a lawyer on some of it. Some places indeed do not allow you to change your oil or wash your car on premises.

[dvdchris]

we deal with scooter haters in our apartment building as well, its actually how they got stolen...After they were stolen were informed the camera doesnt look at anywhere but the door out of the gate, that the camera doesnt even record, the leasing company does not cover theft and we signed a paper saying we couldnt sue the company for lost/damaged/stolen property. eeeeeeeehhhhhk

Hmm. I would still check with someone to see if there is any legal action you could take; if a business has a visible camera there is a legal expectation that it IS WORKING and that it records; at least that's what every company I have worked for has said.

[TVB]

That last sentence has got to be against some law; you mean she entered the bathroom while your son was TAKING A SHOWER? Why does she need to 'inspect' the shower anyway? Sounds like a mentally unbalanced person.

Doing it while someone is using the shower is obviously inappropriate, but there's nothing peculiar about a property owner wanting to check from time to time that it's being kept in good condition, and that would certainly include the bathroom. Our local housing code even requires rental property inspections periodically.

[n2tattoos]

we deal with scooter haters in our apartment building as well, its actually how they got stolen...After they were stolen were informed the camera doesnt look at anywhere but the door out of the gate, that the camera doesnt even record, the leasing company does not cover theft and we signed a paper saying we couldnt sue the company for lost/damaged/stolen property. eeeeeeeehhhhhk

Hmm. I would still check with someone to see if there is any legal action you could take; if a business has a visible camera there is a legal expectation that it IS WORKING and that it records; at least that's what every company I have worked for has said.

maybe not true everywhere. i work in real estate in SoCal and manage several apartments. my leases specifically state that the camera's are there to protect the buildings and grounds, not the tenant's or tenant's property. yes, i know how it sounds. there are even fake cameras you can buy.

that being said, my managers are 2-wheel friendly. i even provide several spaces with bolt downs for locks. i'm on the fence with working on the bikes in the parking lot. usually, i have the manager ask how long it will take. as long as parts aren't left outside and there's no mess, it's ok.
and as long as the owner doesn't notice.

[Vic]

That last sentence has got to be against some law; you mean she entered the bathroom while your son was TAKING A SHOWER? Why does she need to 'inspect' the shower anyway? Sounds like a mentally unbalanced person.

Doing it while someone is using the shower is obviously inappropriate, but there's nothing peculiar about a property owner wanting to check from time to time that it's being kept in good condition, and that would certainly include the bathroom. Our local housing code even requires rental property inspections periodically.

This was during one of those rough patches life throws out there to keep you from forgetting to be grateful for the good times.

I was living in a housing project and the inspections were required.

They had to inspect to make sure you weren't running a brothel, meth lab or playing host to generations of vermin. They also were able to catch people for doing things that would bring more money in to them, things like pets, room mates, and such. It also provided a means for less scrupulous managers to hold something over the heads of some tenants, those who had "undocumented" "roommates" for example could then be convinced to pay their rent one day late and in cash.
It was an unbalanced place to live and I am glad to have been able to get my kids and myself out of there and now we live in a house owned by me and the bank-and I own more than the bank does!

My son was shocked, but fortunately he was still young enough that it was not traumatic for him, although it came pretty close and a year later he was in the full throes of adolescent modesty.

-v

[louie]

good to hear city hall is so helpful. my biggest problem as a tenant happened in hollywood. the lease said one thing and manager said something else. i called bbb to confirm my understanding and they were nice enough to tell me just what to say to the manager to change her mind. it work flawlessly, she changed her attitude in a blink of an eye.

it's nice when problems work out so quickly.