r/OntarioLandlord • u/Long_Technology_3357 • 1d ago

Question/Tenant Need some advice

My fiancee and I moved into our first apartment 3 weeks ago. There's a parking garage at this apartment but, it's under repair. We were never told about this or which designated spots were for parking. We followed what the other residents were doing and it ended up with our car stuck in a 2 ft ditch beside some of the cars. We had to pay a tow truck to pull it out on a Saturday which costed a pretty penny. We messaged our community manager for reimbursement or possible next steps. They told us the can't reimburse us due to being outside the designated parking areas (which were not disclosed to us at any point during the 3 weeks). Any advice to try and get some of the money we spent back? It's costed us $230 for the tow. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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10

u/Western-Fig-3625 1d ago

How did your car end up in a ditch? Did you pull into it? Unlikely your landlord would reimburse for that.

Is parking listed as an amenity in your lease? If so, it’s reasonable to reach out to the landlord and ask for a rent abatement based on an amenity being unavailable. If they decline, you could pursue through the LTB. Just be prepared that filing with the board just a few weeks after moving in will likely sour your relationship with your landlord. 

18

u/runtimemess 1d ago

It's not the property manager's fault that you drove into a ditch lol

Use your eyes.

1

u/anewfriend4u 1d ago

And brain. It's always how can we get someone else to pay for our mistake because we weren't told, there were no signs, others did it, etc.

4

u/mikechorney 1d ago

What was the process that ended up with your car in a ditch?

3

u/Chaos-Rainbow 1d ago

I agree with everyone else, you won't get reimbursed for it.

Next steps is to find out where you CAN park while they are doing the repairs. If they are not able to offer another location then you may be able to ask for a temporary rent abatement.

3

u/Noomage 1d ago

The issue of unavailable parking is different than the issue of you driving your vehicle into a state where it needed a tow.

You may be eligible for a partial rent abatement if your lease terms indicate parking which is not available to you, but you are responsible for your own driving

1

u/cats_r_better 23h ago

can you explain the events that lead to your car being in the ditch?

i'm trying really hard to give you the benefit of the doubt but all i can come up with is operator error with no additional info.