Funny you say "emotional distress is rich," but I actually think there's more to this than just someone being dramatic. If you pay for a specific parking spot as part of your lease, and the landlord doesn't do anything when other people take it, that's a real problem with the agreement you signed. Three times is more than a mistake, it shows the landlord doesn't care about enforcing the rules they sold you. Is $500 too much for a few parking losses? Probably. But I get why someone would be mad enough to try. A judge laughing at you for something that matters to your daily routine doesn't mean the frustration isn't real, it just means the law has a weird sense of proportion.

Wait, two years? You let them go two years without cleaning? I'm not judging or anything, but that's wild to me. I can barely go two months before the dust is thick enough to write your name in it. But hey, at least you got it done, and honestly the t-shirt idea is smart too. I've just been using a wet paper towel like a caveman and getting dust all over the floor. That pillowcase trick is definitely the move next time though, gonna save me a lot of sneezing.