Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in New York
common passageways
My husband & I live on the top floor of a walk-up. We have a shopping cart (a granny cart) & a box filled with misc. stuff lying under the ladder going up to the roof. The couple across the hall from us have been giving us a hard time about out stuff. They leave moronic post-its on our door asking us to remove our things away from �the front of their door.� This morning I woke up to garbage bags ON TOP of our things. How immature can these people be?
Now here�s my problem� how is our box any different from a bicycle chained to a railing? They have leased the apartment, not the passage way. I understand if the box was in any way in their way, but this box is under the ladder and in no way in their path. What is the law about common passageways? Are there any guidelines?
We live in rental.
Would appreciate any advice in dealing with these people.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: common passageways
There are sometimes rights to passageways attached to common areas. There is always a right for all tenants to have unimpeded ingress and egress from their apartment to a public street. Assuming that your neighbors do not have a tenancy right to use the outer area where you are storing your stuff, their right to the area is no greater or lesser than yours. You can ask your landlord for clarification, but it is possible that you will have to store your possessions inside your apartment only.
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Re: common passageways
While you both have equal rights to the use of the passaageway, the landlord can compel you to cease using the area for your personal storage.
If the landlord does not act, then you may each use the area without restriction.
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