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Can I sue my neighbor for having my vehicle towed from our shared driveway?
Anonymous5 views3 answers
We live on the 2nd & 3rd floors of a rental unit. The 1st is occupied by a salon, which our 'neighbor' rents. Her salon is open 30-35 hours per week. We share a driveway, & during her business hours, customers park in the driveway. There is nothing in our leases dictating ownership of the driveway. 3 weeks ago, we had a strange vehicle towed from it (8pm on a Thurs). Turned out to be her friend's, whom she told to use our driveway. In the past, she'd notified us if she gave permission to park there; it was an honest mistake. She got angry & told me the next day that she was "very vindictive". This past week, she posted a "parking for salon only" sign. During non-business hours, we parked in front of it. She called 911 & had our car ticketed & towed. Can we sue for lost wages & harassment?
Hopefully, a PA attorney will chime in whether or not you have a specific cause of action that would give you a good chance to sue. Let us assume you could sue with a chance of winning, think about what that would mean: the "war" between you and the neighbor will just escalate. You might want to reach out to the landlord to see if some kind of resolution can be reached about the use of the shared space before things get any uglier.
I assume you can beat the ticket by going to court and showing your lease. You may even be able to file a complaint against the neighbor for filing a false report against you...assuming you can show that she knew that was your car. You would still be out the costs of the tow/storage and lost work from heading to court. These damages would be the basis for any civil claim you could make against the neighbor so keep your receipts.
If the driveway is between the property where you rent and the property next door, your landlord's rights and yours may be based on a written easement in a prior deed, or a separate deed of easement. If the shared driveway is on your landlord's property alone, your rights and the first floor tenant's rights should be speled out in your respective leases to avoid controversy. If you have no rights to use the driveway in your present lease, however, be careful what you ask . The landlord may tell you both that you have no right to use the driveway for parking.
You should be able to get the ticket thrown out, but it likely would not be worth your time to sue over that cost and inconvenience. If a pattern of harassment continues, the answer would be different.
