Vent: neighbour and parking issues

We live in a side-by-side duplex on a double lot. It's a rental property. Each side has designated parking in the lane, and there is a garage, which we get the use of, as a quid pro quo for tending all the lawns.

The people on the other side moved out not quite a year ago, and another woman moved in. Almost immediately we began having parking problems. The woman (J) and/or her friends blocked the garage repeatedly. We were forever going over there, asking if they knew anything about the vehicle that was in the way. "Oh, Sorry, Sorry, didn't know you were home", or "It was only for a couple of hours," or...

We asked them repeatedly not to park there, pointed out that in fact it is illegal to do so, and it has continued. The city will ticket and tow -- provided, of course, they get there before the culprit comes and moves the vehicle.

The conversations have become somewhat heated lately, and a few days ago escalated: J's friend parked in our space on our side of the garage. When confronted, she justified this by saying that we work during the day -- uuuuuuum -- we weren't working that day, we were on vacation -- not to mention that Rob Jr uses that space when he visits, often when we aren't home; our cleaners use that space, usually when we aren't home; and of course, it is OUR space 24/7, to use as and when we please. She found it "unneighbourly" that we should refuse her the use of it.

If I hadn't been so floored by that one, I might have remembered to point out that it's not particularly neighbourly to take what is your neighbour's without asking permission; that, the space is ours to give, not hers to take; and that, had she asked permission in the first place, there might well have been a number of times when it would have been convenient to say "yes" and we would have -- but that she has quite thoroughly blown it now, and the answer is no. Period. End of story.

For what it's worth, I'm logging the wayward vehicles, so that new offenders get a warning, and repeaters are recognizable. We won't call the city for a first timer, except in an emergency, but for a repeater, we will.

Are we being unreasonable?

Oh no not at all Fran. I have no advice for you but hope this issue gets sorted.

Not at all. IMO you're too kind!
How about placing wooden sawhorse with a big NO PARKING sign on it?

Grrrr I would be very frustrated if I were you - and you are SO not being unfair!

I had a friend that kept happening to and one night we turned up there for dinner and he was casually sitting on the curb letting all the air out of their tyres. It was pretty funny, I must say!

Not that I'm recommending that kind of reaction but certainly a little brush-up with the law couldn't hurt.

Have you tried to approach her and say, `Look, this has just got out of hand' and list your issues, listen to hers and try and reach a compromise?? I know you're so mad now you don't want to, but it may be worth it to save discomfort and hassles in the future.

You aren't being unreasonable at any stretch of the imagination! People were always parking in my space when I lived in the flat and I used to leave a polite note on the window - and an apologetic one on mine as I was forced into someone elses space. It really gets annoying! I often thought of offering them the space if they pay my full rent (as that's how I got the space!)

Still get the odd problem now with people parking infront of the house blocking my car in the drive - but I'll deal with that when I really need to get out! *sigh*

You've a good idea to log the offenders though!

Not unreasonable at all! I have similar issues with my neighbours nicking my parking space, they have an 18 year old daughter who seems to think she can do as pleases, including parking in a space I paid for grrrr! She also has a habit of parking her car in the driveway to the car park, so that no one else can get in or out, talk about selfish

We have just moved into a new place and I don't know who it is but they keep parking their red Barina in front of our fence. I know it's petty but it really irritates me - I'm going to leave a note on their car soon saying `STOP PARKING IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE!!!!'. Grrrrr...

I agree with the No Parking sign idea..You could even put "Sorry, No PARKING!" to be neighbourly

Or you could put, `Excuse me J, but sorry - NO PARKING!!!'

I've had some frustrations with neighbors lately so I know how they can get. It really adds stress to your life - I hope you can reach some sort of friendly conclusion.

What I did to cure a similar situation was to park behind the offender, blocking their car so they couldn't move it, and when they came to ask me to move it so they could get out, I told them that my wife had the keys to the car and was gone with a friend, and I didn't know when she would be back.

After causing the person to be late for work because they couldn't get their car, I finally relented and told them I had "found" a spare set of keys to the car, and gently admonished them for parking where they shouldn't have, and the problem has never recurred, and if it does, I will do it again.

Leonard

oooooh, good one

You aren't being unreasonable at all. Her saying that you aren't home all day is absolutely ridiculous! What if you were to come home sick and have her parked in your spot? Obviously you need to give her your schedule every day! Absolutely ridiculous! We used to live in an apartment where we had a designated spot. It used to irritate me when I was home and my husband was out and our neighbor would come and park in our spot, even if it was only for 15 minutes or so! There is no need for it!

You COULD put a NO parking sign out ther but 1) why should you have to? and 2) it could backfire and get your cars towed or ticked. Do you have a landlord? Inform them of the problem and they should take care of it right away. If not then well, the air in their tires is always easy to let out..... and the blocking them in is a great one too, but just don't give in, make them not only late, but so late that they remember never to park in your space ever again!
We had a problem with a renter parking on the grass behind his house, when I told Brad, he asked him not to do it so this guy would wait until we left and then have his friends do it anyway, I busted him one night when I came home early and found a car on behind the house, and I was not a happy camper, needless to say, he's no longer living in our rental. He was not a good renter anyway so good ridance.

Boy that would drive me crazy!!!!
It sounds like she doesn't like the rules!!! Do you happen to have a lease signed starting your parking and maybe the other tenents parking rules??
Long time ago I rented the top of a house. A women and her son lived on the 1st floor and parking was always a hassle-she got the garage ( a 2 stall) I could never use it but I could park in the driveway per the landlord. It was a big problem for her to see my car in the driveway. We (landlord and other renter) finally hashed out the "rules" one day-turns out she (the renter) was charging people for renting the space in the garage. I got to use a stall and put my bike in there. Turned out well in the end.

Originally Posted by winwin

What I did to cure a similar situation was to park behind the offender, blocking their car so they couldn't move it, and when they came to ask me to move it so they could get out, I told them that my wife had the keys to the car and was gone with a friend, and I didn't know when she would be back.

After causing the person to be late for work because they couldn't get their car, I finally relented and told them I had "found" a spare set of keys to the car, and gently admonished them for parking where they shouldn't have, and the problem has never recurred, and if it does, I will do it again.

Leonard

Click to expand...

That's a very effective one, Leonard, when the physical space is conducive. I do use it at work, when someone steals my space, and they don't ever do it again. It would be dicey, though, at home, to do it without creating an obstruction for other traffic in the lane. I go out of my way not to do that, to protect my own credibility.

We have a "No Parking" sign on the garage door -- just one of those ones you can buy in any hardware or Home Depot. (The "Keep Gate Closed" ones have been effective, too.) We try to use those, so that we can use terse language without it being OUR language

Our lease (which expired a year or so ago -- we're on month-to-month, but that scenario is very common here) I'm sure does mention parking, and I'm sure the lease that the previous people had would have, too, as they were both executed at the same time, with the previous landlord, just prior to the sale of the property to these new owners. So I have no idea what's in J's lease or even if she has one. However, the landlord was by the other week for something or other at the next property, which they also own, and parked in our empty space. That's OK, but we didn't recognize the car, so Rob went out on that excursion, discovered it was Alex, and mentioned why we were monitoring the parking. Obviously I have THAT one logged, too, now, as OK.

Incidentally, someone mentioned J's approach to rules I think her approach to rules is that they are for everyone else. We have watering restrictions every year from June 1 to September 30 (I think those are the dates -- Rob deals with it, so I don't pay close attention). It's not at all uncommon to see her watering the garden at times other than the allowed ones. We've discussed ratting on her, but it's not been a dry summer, the reservoirs are in good shape, etc, so we decided that in this situation that would just be mean. Now, if someone ELSE rats her out, we'll be happy to corroborate! And if the water situation were such that the city needed to move to the next stage of restriction (as has happened in the recent past), we'd do something -- probably approach her first and ask if she was aware of the restrictions, and play it by ear from there.

Thanks for the reality check, everyone. It doesn't change the situation or the frustration level, but you know, you go on with that kind of thing, reasonably confident that you're not being unreasonable, but after a while, you begin to doubt. It's good to know others see the situation in a similar light.

Fran, I also live in a duplex, but unlike you I have had really good neighbors about sharing parking spots. I am soo sorry you have to go through this. All I can is tell her that you will take furthur action if she allows anyone else to park in your spot. When our neighbor goes out of town, he always tells us we can use his spot since my car always get left out of not being under the carport. You are not being unreasonable at all. Good luck with the situation. If you do go out of town, maybe let her use it for the time you'll be gone, and make sure to tell her when you'll be back. Sometimes it gets so frusterating living in a duplex that you just want to rent a house....