Woman Asks For Advice After Her Maintenance Man Moves Into An RV In Her Backyard With His Friends
She's considering taking legal action now that strangers are living in her backyard.
Virrage Images / Shutterstock It’s always good to have someone reliable you can call on to fix things when needed. But what happens when that professional relationship crosses a line? One woman was left wondering what she could have done differently to prevent her maintenance man and his friends from all but moving in.
A woman’s maintenance man moved into an RV in her backyard with his friends without her permission.
An anonymous woman from Florida posted to Reddit asking for advice after she experienced something incredibly strange — her maintenance man decided to move into her backyard.
“I work from home, and all of a sudden I look up at my window (it’s behind me), and I see a huge RV in my side yard,” she stated.
After some investigation, the woman discovered that her maintenance man was staying in the RV.
“I had no warning about this, no one said anything, it was just done," she wrote. "I feel extremely uncomfortable.”
According to the woman, her boyfriend got involved to try and figure out what exactly was happening.
“On the second day, my boyfriend asked our maintenance man what was going on, and he said his friends came over and they were leaving today,” she said. However, that was five days ago, and leaving clearly wasn't actually in the maintenance man’s plans. “They’re still here five days later. The RV was just moved away from our window into the actual backyard, which it seems all three of them are living [in] now,” she explained.
As if strangers living in a giant RV in her backyard weren't bad enough, that wasn't the only issue.
“They have dogs and they’re loud, which is an issue because of me working from home. I need my clients to be able to hear me when discussing their businesses," she clarified — and the problems don’t stop at the dogs. “They’re also costing me money at this point,” she added. “I pay all utilities for my apartment.”
The man and his friends have started using her water and electricity, the cost of both coming out of her pocket.
The woman is even more confused because she was not supposed to use the backyard. “When we first moved in the landlord said we don’t have access to the backyard," she claimed. "Now the maintenance man lives there.”
Commenters suggested the woman take legal action, which would be within her right to do.
Fellow Reddit users told the woman it was time to turn this situation into a legal issue. “It depends on your location, but check into local laws regarding [RVs] living in backyards. It’s absolutely not allowed where I live,” one person wrote.
“You pay for water,” another pointed out. “If they use it to a large degree without your consent that’s utility theft. Same goes for any electric use.”
Others suggested that the woman may be able to end her lease early because of this. “A term in most leases is ‘quiet enjoyment.’ If you wish, document and break the lease, [especially] since it meddles with [your] job,” one person stated.
The woman can indeed seek legal repercussions. According to Tiny House Design, “There are no permits that make it legal to live in an RV on someone else’s property indefinitely.”
However, as many commenters pointed out, location matters. Different states have different rules for what is allowed in terms of RV dwelling. Unfortunately, this puts the situation in a bit of a gray area. Outdoor Bits said, “All Florida counties allow RV living … The only universal stipulation is that it should have a power source, running water, and an efficient sewage system.”
The woman may have some control over the bizarre situation since she pays for the utilities. Also, the police would likely not take kindly to a stranger moving into someone’s backyard. Still, it seems there is no clear answer.
As of her latest update, the woman is waiting to hear back from her landlord while searching for a new place to live.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news and human interest topics.