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We had moved into a condo with one clearly marked assigned spot right in front of the door. The neighbor's friends kept parking in our spot. I'd drive in, find a car in my spot, have to get out and go to the neighbor's door and ask his friend to move the car.
I finally got tired of that. Came home one night and there was a party going on next door. Car in my spot. I went to the door, got the neighbor and told him to have his guest move the car. He claimed that it wasn't one of his guests. Fine, I said. I went inside and called the towing company, who promptly came out and hooked up the car. At that point, a guy came running out of the neighbor's house screaming about his car getting towed. He had to pay the tow truck driver $100 to unhook his car.
You know what? None of the neighbor's guests ever parked in my spot again.
Sometimes, it's time to stop playing Mr. (or in my case Mrs.) Nice Guy.
We just moved into a little villa that we love but our elderly neighbor keeps parking in our assigned spot. Each resident is assigned 2 spots and overflow parking in close lot. The first time he parked in our spot while were in the parking lot. My husband later asked him nicely for his spot back. He moved and I thought we had the issue resolved.
Today, he parked in husband's spot and left his two spots vacant. I went over there and asked him if knew they were our spots and he said yes. I told him that we need those spots available for us at all times. He said that he was used to parking there because the last owner was never home (vacation property) He said it was hard to break habits. I said yep, but we need our spots. The whole time we had been there, he had been testing us. He takes other peoples spots too, but nobody ever says anything to him. He said that he would take care of it and then I heard him mutter, "Be a good neighbor, b*tch". I couldn't believe he was so rude! When he finally moved, I parked my car in both spots!!
What should I do if this happens again? I'm not out to make enemies here, but I paid for those spots.
I would put a cone in it. I had an issue with this when I lived in a vacation resort. The only people who didn't respect the cone were teenagers working in one of the nearby stores, they not only moved it, they tossed it across the lot to let me know they didn't care about my cone. I do not think you'll have an issue with the elderly man though with it.
Because my cone (and a sign) didn't work for everyone, the last year I was there I bought a parking bollard on Amazon. This is a metal pole about 3" diameter that bolts into the spot. You raise the pole and lock it when you leave your spot, no one can get into the spot. Then when you come back you unlock it, lay it down and drive over it.
I didn't have the option to get people towed, as the property owner had to okay it, and he didn't want to do this (I think he was afraid of getting sued or something, IDK.
We just moved into a little villa that we love but our elderly neighbor keeps parking in our assigned spot. Each resident is assigned 2 spots and overflow parking in close lot. The first time he parked in our spot while were in the parking lot. My husband later asked him nicely for his spot back. He moved and I thought we had the issue resolved.
Today, he parked in husband's spot and left his two spots vacant. I went over there and asked him if knew they were our spots and he said yes. I told him that we need those spots available for us at all times. He said that he was used to parking there because the last owner was never home (vacation property) He said it was hard to break habits. I said yep, but we need our spots. The whole time we had been there, he had been testing us. He takes other peoples spots too, but nobody ever says anything to him. He said that he would take care of it and then I heard him mutter, "Be a good neighbor, b*tch". I couldn't believe he was so rude! When he finally moved, I parked my car in both spots!!
What should I do if this happens again? I'm not out to make enemies here, but I paid for those spots.
Guy is a<bleep> yep i said it. Hope you resolve it OP..he has alot of nerve frankly. Be firm OP don't let him get away with it. Just keep reminding him ...he will finally get the hint. No need to use vinegar either, a pleasant exchange will sink in after a few times.
Last edited by Miss Blue; 06-23-2018 at 05:34 AM..
Reason: language
I told the HOA people and they said to talk to him. After 3 strikes, file a formal complaint. I really don't wont any trouble where I live, especially not with an 80 yr old man. If he asked if he could use our spot, that would be different. He just helped himself.
Situations like this are hard, because it's a minor yet annoying inconvenience, and it has a very simple fix - the guy just needs to stop doing it. It's a perfectly reasonable request. But not everyone is reasonable. So then you need to take some sort of action against your neighbor, more than just nicely asking him to stop. Then it feels awkward, and he's 80 so you feel bad about it even though he is wrong and again, there is a very simple solution - he stops doing what he isn't supposed to do - but he isn't stopping.
Sounds like you may get to that awkward point of taking it a step further, but even though I laid out why people tend to feel bad in these scenarios... don't. He's making a choice here. This is all on him. It's as easy as him not trying to take advantage of new neighbors when he could take advantage of the old ones, or everyone else, now that he's been asked.
The moment he called you a b*tch, all concerns of being non-confrontational should have ended.
You’re right. He’s testing you to see what he can get away with for the times his family comes to town. Stay vigilant. Document. File after the 3 strikes. If you own those spaces, I’d have him towed one good time to drive home the point to him.
Be vigilant and a pain in his backside long enough and he’ll go park in other neighbors’ spots and be a bother to them. I like the sign suggestion also for when his family ever shows up.
I'd love to TU a 1,000 times....Best advice.
The mean half of me says "Slice the tires" but that's not acceptable...Dang it!
Last edited by Disgustedman; 06-20-2018 at 12:29 PM..
I think my neighbor has had a similar issue, while we've never parked in her spot...no need to, we have our own and it is hers after all, she always parks in both spots. She lives alone and there are a lot of elderly people in my neighborhood that I think used to park in her spot because she "didn't use it." Now she parks in both.
I would just tow him every time he parks there. He'll learn fast. You've asked him nicely and he calls you a b so nope. No more niceness for him.
This is the correct solution. Don't bother with cones, signs or tacks. Don't escalate the issue and get into a full blown fight with a neighbor. Simply take a photo with date/time stamp, speak to the neighbor EACH time this happens, and write a note with the details, such as "Friday, June 22, 8:30am. Knocked on door, no response. Knocked on door at 9:30am, neighbor said he was sorry and moved his car".
Keep a record of this and after every five or so occurances, assuming the neighbor doesn't stop, then go to the condo board and file a complaint. With the evidence, they will have to take action. Don't bother with a sign, as a previous poster wrote, the spaces are probably owned by the condo as a whole and simply assigned to the units - the unit doesn't OWN the spaces.
The tacks were my idea and it is certainly a bit extreme. However, while your route is definitely more civil, it also is placing the onus on other people that don't have the same vested interest as the OP.
Many times in my life I've relied on other people to do their job and I'm let down often enough. I temper my expectations and I tend to know when this is something I have to resolve vs relying on someone else to do it.
Still, a flat tire might wake this guy up... but also opens the OP up to retaliation. To be fair, there might be retaliation from this guy even if the OP takes the civil route.
If he keeps moving your sign and parking anyway - park in the far lot for a while... and spread tacks down on your parking spots. I'm not entirely sure how liable you'd be for damage to his tires, but ignorance is bliss, right? After he acquires a flat or two, you can probably just sweep them up after making your point. Maybe go back to using the sign at this point. This method might be the most vicious but would get the point across.[/list]
OP, this is very bad advice. No, you cannot put tacks down to booby-trap your parking space, nor can you key his car or slash his tires or anything else to damage his car. You would indeed be liable for the damage to his car, and he would know exactly who did it.
IMHO, you should keep doing what you are doing. When he parks in your space, knock on his door and ask him again to move his car. I would do this five or six times (not just the minimum three that the HOA told you about), and then complain to the board.
If they are unwilling or unable to resolve this, then look into the legality of having his car towed yourself. (If there are no posted warnings about cars being towed if they're in the wrong space, you may not be able to have his car towed.)
I told the HOA people and they said to talk to him. After 3 strikes, file a formal complaint. I really don't wont any trouble where I live, especially not with an 80 yr old man. If he asked if he could use our spot, that would be different. He just helped himself.
I would put cones at your spots. You should also be able to find a sign to post: "Unauthorized vehicles will be towed". However, I think that in order to tow someone else's vehicle, you have to call police and have them ticket the person; otherwise you could be cited for theft. I'm not sure; check into laws in your area. But if it's not the neighbor parking there--if it's his guests, I imagine that cones and signage would intimidate guests enough to avoid using unauthorized parking spaces.
The moment he called you a b*tch, all concerns of being non-confrontational should have ended.
You’re right. He’s testing you to see what he can get away with for the times his family comes to town. Stay vigilant. Document. File after the 3 strikes. If you own those spaces, I’d have him towed one good time to drive home the point to him.
Be vigilant and a pain in his backside long enough and he’ll go park in other neighbors’ spots and be a bother to them. I like the sign suggestion also for when his family ever shows up.
Take photos of his car parked in your spot, OP. Note time and date of each incident. The fact that he's 80 years old is irrelevant. He does NOT sound like a nice person. He sounds like a guy who gets angry when he's caught doing something wrong, instead of feeling remorse, or taking responsibility for his actions, like a normal, mature person.
The only language people like that understand, is firm boundaries followed by legal action, if they persist in violating legal and reasonable boundaries. Notice, that although he claimed he "accidentally" parked in your space out of an old habit, he cursed you under his breath. This means he was lying, and he knew exactly what he was doing; it was no slip of the memory that he parked in your space.
What seems odd is that you say HE is parking in your spot, not his guests? Are his spots vacant sometimes, when he parks in your spot? I'm not sure I understood the situation correctly. If one of his spots is open when he takes yours, why not park in his? I don't see how he could object. But if he tends to take up multiple spots with his & his guests' cars, by all means, take steps to put it to a stop.
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