7 On Your Side solves Sunnyside parking mystery
SUNNYSIDE, Queens (WABC) -- In New York City, private homeowners can and do often rent out parking spots on their own property. That's what one Queens family has been doing for years.
But this Sunnyside parking deal went south in a big way.
Zena Sehou introduced us to her unwelcome space squatter. "I'm up to here. I'm fed up," said Sehou.
That's because since last December a Dodge Ram has been a hog, taking up a prime spot on her property.
"The person never paid a deposit, never waited for a rental agreement,." said Vera Zeqiraj, Zena's daughter and her property manager.
At this point the landladies don't even want the back rent owed, $900. They just want to know what the heck happened to the truck owner.
Now the truck sits, idle and locked. So Zena starting calling everyone, city agencies and a bunch of tow companies. Zena said all towers declined, saying their driveway is too narrow to get their flat-bed truck in and out.
Adding to the riddle, the pick-up has no plates. The NYPD ran the registration and provided a name and address less than two miles away. But when they went to the apartment, no one had heard of the man.
So we went to the building and had a chat with a guy who turned out to the missing truck owner's former roommate. He told us he hadn't heard from his buddy in six months.
But after I informed him we were about to tow the truck to an impound lot? The parker of the pick-up gave me a call pronto, and we merged him in with Vera.
He said he moved to Maine, and blamed the parking pickle on a pal who he thought paid the bill. But within days, Paul drove from the Pine State to Queens with cash. And Vera had $1,500.
That's all the back rent owed to Christmas plus a four months advance to keep the truck in the spot till September.
Going forward, when they rent the parking space they're not going to disclose the address until they get a copy of the driver's license, a security deposit, and also a signed agreement giving them the right to tow the car and not be responsible for any damages if they don't get paid.
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