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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 guy is 80 and possibly not all good upstairs and has LOTS of free time.
So, with that said all the ideas of tacks etc. as funny or deserved as they might be can swing back around ten-fold and the guy with the least to lose always wins those.
So if you're going to do something it can't be done as a "message" meaning suspect you did it.
Just be firm but polite.
That being said, I'd be inclined to get some sort of inconspicuous motion-sensor camera set-up because I'd have to wonder what else this dude might be up to when you're not around.
Sorry, I wouldn't waste my time with arguing or thinking of things to do to get even. Plain and simple, you've warned him, he couldn't care less, so the next step is have it towed each and every time he does it. You are not causing trouble or being a bad neighbor. You paid for the spot and have the right to use it, not him. Age is no excuse for being inconsiderate and mean spirited. He knows exactly what he is doing and I wouldn't let him get away with it.
Better yet, ASK if it is OK to park in his spot at any time it is unused. Being offered the opportunity to receive a dose of his own medicine may help him see the error of his ways.
All cars come with tie down points for when they are transported on those big trailer trucks. Hook a shackle to his hard point, hook on a chain and drag his vehicle to the most distant visitor spot. You must know somebody with a pickup that can do this. He will get the hint.
Bad advice ...
Much as there may be some "satisfaction" in reclaiming your spot from doing this …
it's not legal for a private party owner/assigned parking space user to do so. There's a lot of "hoops" to jump through before towing somebody's car off your property/space can be legally done. Posting a "tow-away zone" notice of who can park in the space is only one of the required steps in most jurisdictions.
Outside of the inconvenience to you to do this, the legal repercussions should the old guy file a police complaint could be serious for you.
PS: been there, done that … with former tenants who blocked a narrow driveway to a house of mine with their abandoned pick-up truck filled with trash. They'd reportedly left the state for summer jobs out of the country and I needed access to the house to get it into "rental ready condition" again. The local PD wouldn't authorize a tow and warned me against touching/moving/damaging a vehicle that wasn't mine. The local tow companies wouldn't tow it to an impound yard without a police order, and/or proper notice to the vehicle owner of record, which was not possible. Their suggestion was I pay them to have the truck towed to the impound yard, but only if I'd agree to pay the tow, impound, and storage fees … which were prohibitively expensive. I wound up towing the truck away with my truck to the impound yard and abandoning it in their driveway. A month later, one of the former tenants had a friend come to get the truck from my place … he was going to use the truck for the summer while the owner was away. With the truck not where he'd left it, they filed a complaint with the PD. Suffice to say it took a lot of "I don't know what happened to it" moments with the PD inquiry for the "stolen" vehicle "operated on city streets without the owner's permission" as to how the truck got moved from my place to the impound yard.
It's been 20 years since this happened, but I've had other former tenants abandon vehicles in the limited off-street parking for the property, which impacts new tenants ability to park at the house. There is no on-street parking there, they must park on the property. I've tried numerous times to get folk to remove their abandoned vehicles, some have even told me that I "could keep the car, it was not running and not worth anything" … and the response from the PD and the local tow companies is the same as years before. They won't authorize a tow from private property and now even want payment in full in advance for the tow/impound/120 days storage before the lot can sell it for their storage lien and fees. It all comes down to me not being the legal owner of the vehicle. The PD has made it clear that if I touch the vehicle in any way not authorized by the owner or the PD, I'm looking at "stolen vehicle" charges.
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.
^^^^ this.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KaraG
I would continue knocking on his door and nicely saying, "you forgot again and parked in our space - I'm going to keep coming every time you forget and have you move your car - we need our spaces."
I don't know, I'm thinking he's 80, he could be forgetting, or he could be a bully, I would just put on my fake smile and let him know you're not going to give up on this.
Not this....LOL.
He called the OP a b**ch, how many times do you knock on his door to remind him? 5 times, 10 times, 20 times, he isn't forgetting, he is a bully.
Wondering if the OP is down in FL, the land of entitled old people. They are the worst. The rules don't apply to them.
You pay an HOA fee. Send a notice to the board(get a return receipt) giving them notice that if they do not correct the situation they will be hearing from your attorney about possible legal action.
In my HOA I would give the person a violation letter that would tell him the date of his hearing. He will lose. I would then tell him it will cost him $100 for each future violation. If he doesn't pay I will file a lien.
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.
Depends on the laws where the OP lives. When I had an apartment that came with *assigned* off-street parking in a fenced-in lot, complete with a sign with my apartment number on it, I sure as hell could skip the police and call the tow truck company direct, because my spot was on private property owned by my landlord, and I had his permission to have any unauthorized car towed that I found in my spot (didn't hurt that he was one of my city's more prominent citizens, so if I threw his name down things would definitely get done for me).
OTOH, if someone parked on the street, blocking our parking lot entrance, then the police would have to deal with it, because that is city property that car is parked on.
And, yes, we had signs on the lot fence stating "24-hour access required" and "unauthorized cars will be towed" so it's not like people weren't warned. 14 years in that place and I never had to have anyone towed.
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