My mom's in a very unpleasant and worrisome situation with her downstairs neighbors, as well as with her landlord, in a two-family semi-attached apartment building (two apartments in each building half, one upstairs, one downstairs, with a common wall between the two halves and each half separately owned) and I was hoping for some useful legal or practical advice as she’s at her wit’s end.
Since they moved in some 5 years ago, they've been real jerks, making noise well past 10pm, painting using very noxious-smelling paint and not bothering to use fans to blow the fumes out, causing them to rise up to my mom's apartment via the common air ducts (of course they moved out for a few days when they did this), not doing their share to maintain common areas and pick up their dropped garbage, etc. She tried appealing to both them and the landlord, to no avail.
Now she has a new and troubling problem. There is a common driveway between the building she's in and the one across the driveway, to be shared by 4 apartments even though it can only fit 3 cars max lengthwise as it's too narrow to fit cars side by side. On the other side of the driveway lives a disabled elderly woman who takes up the front 2 spots with her car so she doesn't have to walk far to get to her kitchen door. She's lived there forever and claims the right to do this, and being a cantankerous type no one wants to argue with her. So there's just the one remaining spot, closest to the street.
In both my mom's and her downstairs neighbors' lease it says that no one is to park in the drive unless the landlord gives verbal approval. But the landlord did in fact give such verbal approval, providing that my mom and the downstairs neighbors take turns share the remaining spot, basically FCFS. My mom, not being the confrontational type, almost always parks on the street. But several weeks ago she came home and there was absolutely no street parking to be found, but since the driveway spot was free, she decided to park there just the one night.
Shortly after, one of the people who live downstairs came home, and was unable to park in the driveway as she's used to. Her husband stormed out and started yelling like a lunatic at my mother, "Get your fucking car out of the driveway! Get it out of there NOW! Move your fucking car!!!" He yelled at her window, then buzzed her apartment buzzer (which is VERY loud) and walked halfway up the stairs to her apartment and continued yelling. Needless to say, she was terrified. She's in her 70's and has been through a lot in life. She started yelling back at him to stop harassing her and that she had just as much of a right to park there as they did. He kept yelling, in a very threatening and intimidating way.
She then called me and begged me to come right away. I got there shortly. By then things had calmed down a bit and they weren't yelling anymore. I saw the neighbors and told them what my mom said, that the landlord said both apartments could park there so long as they worked it out between them. They replied that only the downstairs neighbor can park there. I said that's not true and not what the landlord told my mom.
The husband downstairs is a real hothead and asshole, and quite stupid. He's always getting into arguments with his family and talks loudly, and struts outside like he owns the street. Once his wife even kicked him out and threw his belongings on the street, like in some movie. He scares my mother. When they lived across the street they terrorized their neighbors too. So when a spot opened up on the street, my mom moved her car to it, to avoid further unpleasantness.
In all this we both tried to contact the landlord by phone and text, but they didn't respond. We tried to contact them repeatedly over the next few days, and still they didn't respond. Finally, a week or so later, they responded, and said that from here on neither apartment was to park in the driveway. That was nearly a week ago, but the downstairs neighbors have continued to park there every single night. Either the landlord never told them not to park there, or did, but has no intention of enforcing this (it's actually a valid eviction justification as they're in violation of their lease).
We've told the landlord about this. My mom has taken pictures to back up her complaint that they're still parking there. They keep repeating that no one is to park there, but nothing has changed. They claim to have come by once in the middle of the day, when the neighbors are at work, and didn’t see their cars parked there. Instead, they’ve badgered my mom for the rent check, and complain that she's always paying late, which is not true. It was actually due today, a Sunday and thus not a business day, and she told them she's going to drop it off tomorrow (they live a mile away), and the lease provides for a 3 day grace period.
IMO the landlord is in breach of lease for failing to provide for a safe, non-threatening and quiet environment, at least with respect to the property itself and other tenants. The neighbors are also in breach of their lease, for parking in violation of the lease saying that they can't, but that's between them and the landlord. But the landlord hasn't enforced the no-parking rule, hasn't gotten them to be quiet after 10, hasn't done anything about the crazy neighbor screaming at my mother in a threatening and insulting manner.
They also haven't made long-overdue repairs, like replace a kitchen floor whose tiles are very cracked with huge gaps between them, fix door panels that are delaminating badly, install a more secure front door lock and door to replace the flimsy one that's been there since literally the mid-50's with who knows how many former tenants having copies of the keys, fix a leaky window frame, etc. They've given my mom trouble about cleaning the rain gutters when they get clogged. They've even cancelled the landscaping service that used to come by once or twice a week to mow the lawn, trim the hedges, collect leaves and debris, etc., and asked my mom to do the work, without compensating her for it. And they never call to see if everything’s ok or come by to pick up their mail.
What I'm wondering is what her rights are in this situation. She lives in Queens, NYC, and unfortunately her building isn't rent regulated or controlled, and has fewer than 4 units, so a whole bunch of laws don't apply to her. Rent is free market, and the landlord has no obligation to renew her annual lease or give her a longer-term lease. But, surely there are certain basic laws governing landlord-tenant relationships that protect my mom in this awful situation, and don't allow a landlord to be so neglectful, remiss and exploitative. What should she do? Who should she turn to? Can she sue, on what basis, and for what terms?
My mom's rent is somewhat below market for her kind of apartment in the area she lives in, so she is getting a good deal there. However, it's not in great shape. Liveable, i.e. no mold, rats, major leaks, gets decent heat and hot water, etc., but it’s run down and in sore need of various repairs. So, I think she's paying what it's actually worth. I suspect that the landlord wants her out of there so they can put someone new in who'll pay a lot more for it. They could just refuse to renew her lease, or jack up the rent. But I suspect that they don't want to be seen as kicking an old woman out, and are trying to harass her into leaving voluntarily, by refusing to make repairs and using the neighbors to terrorize her (I bet they're getting paid under the table by the neighbors to be able to park there).
Realistically, my mom should just move, since neither the neighbors nor landlord are likely to change. She'd have to pay more than she's paying now, but it would probably be worth it for the peace of mind, and possibly safety. However, I don't want her current landlord to be able to get away with such treatment in the meantime. Is it possible to sue for rent reduction, perhaps even retroactively, to compensate her for their behavior? She could document it as she has texts, emails and photos going back several years. It's not just about the money, but about not letting them get away with being such assholes. You shouldn’t be able to treat tenants this way and get away with it.
I also suspect that they’re straw owners for overseas investors who need to park a lot of money in safe investments like real estate, given how hands-off they are as landlords who live just a mile away. NYC is rife with such situations. Is that even legal, and is there a way to look into it without hiring a detective and spending a ton of money?
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.