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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