Does "Leases Premises" include the street?

[exitwound]

My lease states:

"No mechanical work on any motor vehicles may take place on the leased premises."

The Leased Premises is defined as:

[House Number] [Street Name], State College, PA 16801

I have been hit with a phone call already about working on the Porsche here in the driveway and now I have a fuel leak I have to fix. I cannot drive the car off the premises and don't want to have it towed AGAIN. I can't push it out to a nearby street either due to it being a pretty big boulevard to cross (and uphill both ways).

Does the 'leased premises' (the house, the driveway etc) legally include the street in front of the house? Can I argue that I am no longer on the leased premises?

[Paul_Heery]

No. Leased premises does not include the street. However, you should check to see if there is a municipal code regarding working on vehicles on public streets.

[Dueller]

It would certainly include the driveway, yard etc. But not the street. But that is a moot point as you say you cannot get it to the street. I would push/pull it to the most discreet place on the property, and quickly make the repairs. If you're fearful your landlord is trying to evict you, I don't know I would risk it. If you get called on it explain its an emergency repair and you're trying to prevent a fire that would destroy his property.

May be better to beg forgiveness rather than ask permission.

[stomachmonkey]

Ask the landlord to define "mechanical work". Sounds like right now it means you can't do anything.

I can see it being a clause so a tenant does not run an auto repair business from the place or engage in hobbyist activity that is an eyesore to some and brings down curb appeal/property values.

Maybe you can come to an agreement that standard maintenance, oil changes, tune ups or emergency repairs are allowed. Maybe give it a time limit, any single incident of work can not exceed a specified amount of time or you get x hours per month.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Dueller

...its an emergency repair and you're trying to prevent a fire that would destroy his property..

If I were landlord and tenant told me that I'd give him 24 hours to remove said POS hazard from my property or I'm sending a tow truck by.

[Rick V]

You need a landlord like me. I used to help one of my tenants work on his cars. We built a couple of very fast RX7's. I figure better to play along than have to fight it. It also help when I had a request for doing something to the property, I didn't get any arguments.

[exitwound]

I managed to sneak and finish the gas leak on the street today. I didn't think about the city having ordinances against it though. We pushed the car onto the street last night, but I wasn't about to pay $40 for another tow for just an o-ring repair. That's insane. But they caught me doing my power steering work when I left the jack under the car and gave me a call to say that it's against the lease. I'm probably on some 'list' now.

[the]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

If I were landlord and tenant told me that I'd give him 24 hours to remove said POS hazard from my property or I'm sending a tow truck by.

lol, i agree. in a situation involving working on a car, introducing the idea that the tenant's pos car may burn down the property is bad advice.

[BeyGon]

No garage or back yard? Even at that, I live in a condo and emergency fixes are ok, just not restoring, motor pulling, so forth. I have done some work in the driveway but never jacking anything up. If I am going to really do anything I put it in the garage and close the door.

[exitwound]

It's low-income housing. we have to qualify to live here by making so much per year or less. Funny to see not one, but TWO porsches in the driveway. Thing is, towing the car costs MONEY. we work on the cars to SAVE money by doing our own oil changes, changing sensors etc. I'm not going to tow the car every time it decides it needs something. That's ludicrous. That's just feeding the cycle of being in low-income bracket. No garage. No back yard.

[Dantilla]

As a landlord, the purpose os prohibiting mechanical work is to prevent a junky-looking property.

Some guys go overboard- If the hood is up, they scream that you're breaking the lease.

On my property, I have no problem if you want to check your oil, or perform routine basic maintenance. What I won't allow is a car left on jackstands, or taken apart for any length of time. After a bit of time, the parking area could look like a junkyard.

My rental agreement says no mechanical work. The enforcement doesn't happen unless the car is left overnight in an unsightly manner.

As long as you're working on the car, I'm not worried (I am watching, very carefully, that no waste fluids are disposed ), but as soon as the car is just sitting there, it's time we have a talk.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Given how dumpy most rental properties look (cheap/shoddy/low-budget maintenance) I find that statement kinda' funny, but I do understand where you're coming from. I think your interpretation is reasonable - you don't want the place looking like the Clampett's.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by exitwound

It's low-income housing. we have to qualify to live here by making so much per year or less. Funny to see not one, but TWO porsches in the driveway. Thing is, towing the car costs MONEY. we work on the cars to SAVE money by doing our own oil changes, changing sensors etc. I'm not going to tow the car every time it decides it needs something. That's ludicrous. That's just feeding the cycle of being in low-income bracket. No garage. No back yard.

Or you could sell the Porsches and buy a Honda that won't need fixing all the time until you move out of low-income housing.

That would be a way to break the cycle of being in a low income bracket...

[exitwound]

My last girlfriend had a honda accord that we are still working on too. speed sensor. transmission control unit failure. Oil leak. Broken coil spring. It's not like one car over another needs more work. They ALL need work when they're aging. Whether the car's from 1986 or 1996, they all require maintenance.

And I understand why they don't want cars up on jacks. If they're unregistered even, the landlords will call to have them removed. The area does look really nice. THey provide flowers and mulch every year to the houses who want them, and they take car eof the grass maintenance.

[Dantilla]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Given how dumpy most rental properties look (cheap/shoddy/low-budget maintenance) I find that statement kinda' funny,

My rentals look nice. A nice property attracts nice people. Life is good.

A cheap/shoddy low-budget property attracts cheap/shoddy/low-budget renters. "Let the problems begin!"

Yes, those are words of experience. I used to have some low-end apartments. No thanks.

[Dantilla]

Originally Posted by exitwound

...the landlords will call to have them removed.

I've found it's better to simply ask the resident when he expects to be done. A simple question, and they get the message, and we avoid the hassle of calling a tow truck.

I like my residents, don't want to tick them off. In return, they don't want to tick me off, and button the car up rather quickly.

[trekkor]

Can you put a 'tent' over it and work inside? ( semi-serious question )


KT

[exitwound]

It's worded exactly as typed above. I thought of doing that actually, but I'm sure that would have just attracted the landlord gnats faster. I'd still be doing 'mechanical work' on the leased premises. I fixed the fuel leak in the road, taking like 10 minutes. If they're going to freak out about something like that, let them. I'm no longer on their property.

[trekkor]

I'd still be doing 'mechanical work' on the leased premises.

That's true.

Gotta a buddy with a car dolly?
Tow the car to a friends house to work on it.


KT

[exitwound]

That's the next step. We could push it to the church across the street for small repairs, but unfortunately, it's a small hill and we'd never get it there easily enough. next thing IS the dolly tow tho.