What to do about a neighbor hogging parking spaces?

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein) 11/10/2014 at 23:01 • Filed to: None

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I live in a townhouse, one of 6 units grouped together. Each unit has a 1-car garage, there's a shared driveway with 7* outdoor parking spaces, and more parking on the street. My next door neighbor has 5.5* vehicles taking up too much damn space, and I'm trying to figure out how to handle his bullshit.

(TL;DR at the bottom)

To explain the asterisks, here's the parking lot, with the spots labeled:

I'm putting my 135is in storage, so we'll just have my Grand Cherokee and my gf's Civic, but it's still only a 1-car garage. We alternate weeks where each of us gets the garage.

My next door neighbor is a DJ and runs a DJ company where other DJs are picking up gear from his place, that he keeps in his garage. Partly, but not entirely, because of his DJ business, he has this little POS trailer sitting in the handicap space, a Ford Econoline conversion van, a Taurus wagon, his gf's Murano, and 2 goddamn boats sitting on trailers on the street, one on either side of the driveway.

Because the trailer doesn't take up the whole handicap space, he parks his wagon or van halfway into the handicap space. The spaces are wide enough that 6 cars still fit in the row if everyone figures out to shift over to the right, but not all of my neighbors make the shift.

Last winter, he left his Taurus wagon to sit all winter, taking up a space.

Space #1 up at the end of the driveway goes away in the winter because our snow removal service piles up the snow there. While we can park behind our garages, that's not advisable in the winter because then the Bobcat can't plow our section of the driveway.

As for street parking, the City of Madison has !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in from Nov 15 thru March 15.

If he doesn't move his 2 boats, he's going to get a shitload of alternate side parking tickets. Between his trailer, Taurus and and van taking up too many spaces, there's a good chance my gf and I might need to put one of our cars on the street.

TL;DR...

Something obviously needs to be done about his mass quantities of vehicles taking up too much of what would otherwise be a reasonable amount of parking spaces. Should I:

1. Talk to him directly and explain that this is not acceptable. I'd probably stick a note on his front door and ask him to call me or knock on the door so we can talk about it. Because personally, if a neighbor had a problem with me, I'd hope that they talk to me about it before ratting me out to the landlord.

2. Fuck talking to him, he's being an asshole with all of his garbage vehicles, and I should totally go directly to the landlord and tell them this dude needs to be dealt with.

Scary__goongala! > Textured Soy Protein 11/10/2014 at 23:05

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1. Poop in his sock drawer

2. Try talking to him

3. If step 2 doesn't work refer to step 1

bob and john > Textured Soy Protein 11/10/2014 at 23:07

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if he is living in a house with that little storage area, he should not have 3 cars, 2 boats and a fucking trailer. live within your means. speak to him and if he does nothing, get the land-lord and/or a towing company involved.

FocusedMark > Textured Soy Protein 11/10/2014 at 23:07

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2. He seems like a guy who if you talk to him it'll go in one ear and out the other.

Textured Soy Protein > bob and john 11/10/2014 at 23:09

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Well, I live in a house that small, and between my gf and I we have a 135is, Grand Cherokee, and Civic. Which we can comfortably afford thanks to our cheap rent in our small (but big enough for us and our cats) townhouse. But I get what you're saying.

CB > Textured Soy Protein 11/10/2014 at 23:09

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Talk to him, then landlord. That way you get the moral high ground.

titsinmymitts > Textured Soy Protein 11/10/2014 at 23:10

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I would probably just go directly to landlord. I doubt he's going to do anything about it unless someone with authority makes him.

Aaron James > Textured Soy Protein 11/10/2014 at 23:11

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Talk to him nicely and if he's a dick about it then call the police and tell them that you had a handicap friend who wanted to visit but couldn't because there is a trailer in the marked handicap spot.

Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > Textured Soy Protein 11/10/2014 at 23:11

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Go right to the landlord. Then the parking asshat won't know who got mad at him.

Bandit > Textured Soy Protein 11/10/2014 at 23:12

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Option One first. If that doesn't work, then option two.

Textured Soy Protein > CB 11/10/2014 at 23:12

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Except if I talk to him and then the landlord, I'll have a next door neighbor who hates me because he'll know it was me who ratted him out to the landlord.

Textured Soy Protein > Bandit 11/10/2014 at 23:13

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I wouldn't do both, because if I talk to him first and then the landlord, he'll know it was me who called the landlord on him.

bob and john > Textured Soy Protein 11/10/2014 at 23:13

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but you can afford to store the other cars somewhere yes? my comment probably came off as a bit dickish, and i apologize for that, it was meant to come off more of : with such little storage space.

EDIT: changed the first comment

Textured Soy Protein > Aaron James 11/10/2014 at 23:13

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Haha well I think I'd involve the landlord long before I call the cops.

M54B30 > Textured Soy Protein 11/10/2014 at 23:15

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step one is get the police to tow the trailer from the handicap spot. Step two is check your lease - I'm not allowed to have boats parked outside my house. That's a start.

Bandit > Textured Soy Protein 11/10/2014 at 23:16

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Just tell him like "Hey, I wanted to discuss your parking situation with you without going to the landlord first."

Textured Soy Protein > bob and john 11/10/2014 at 23:17

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Yeah, a storage unit for my 135is will cost around $120-150 a month, but I'll get a good chunk of that back from my insurance by telling them the car's in storage.

Textured Soy Protein > Bandit 11/10/2014 at 23:18

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That's pretty much what I was planning to do if I went with option #1.

Racescort666 > Textured Soy Protein 11/10/2014 at 23:18

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Is this an apartment building or a townhouse? I feel like if te guy has that much shit, the HOA would get involved.

Aaron James > Textured Soy Protein 11/10/2014 at 23:19

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That's only if he's a dick about it and you can't get resolution from the landlord. Just keep it in your back pocket in case it goes that far and you need to pull it out.

Textured Soy Protein > M54B30 11/10/2014 at 23:20

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Honestly though, if he moved the trailer somewhere and hogged the handicap spot with one of his cars, that'd be an improvement. I'd rather the space got used than not.

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > Textured Soy Protein 11/10/2014 at 23:21

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at least you don't have neighbors that make it harder than hell to get in your driveway...

Textured Soy Protein > Racescort666 11/10/2014 at 23:21

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It's a rental townhouse owned by a property management company.

FromCanadaWithLove > Textured Soy Protein 11/10/2014 at 23:24

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Jump to number 2. Fuck him. He should be more considerate to start.

Birddog > Textured Soy Protein 11/10/2014 at 23:28

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Dog crap on the Windscreen would be my go-to.

But.. I was young and dumb when that happened last.

Find out who has the towing contract and "grease the wheels". You may be a twelve pack away from sending a message.

Racescort666 > Textured Soy Protein 11/10/2014 at 23:29

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Is there anything in your rental contract about parking? It's best to play these things by the book, you can let the "official rules" be the bad guy if there's a way to between HOA and rental agreements. If there isn't, you can do your best to work it out with the guy.

Barring that, there's no reason you need to be friends with him and going straight to the landlord would probably be the fastest way of getting shit sorted out.

I know how it is having neighbors that put you in a weird spot. Fortunately, the latest time it has happened to me, eventually the guy moved out. He was asking me for money and shit so I had to say straight to his face "you can't ask me for shit like this." Even when it was like $5 here and there.

Steve in Manhattan > Textured Soy Protein 11/10/2014 at 23:30

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Landlord or HOA. And the trailer can be dealt with ... at night. Accidents happen ....

Textured Soy Protein > Racescort666 11/10/2014 at 23:32

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I'd have to look through the lease and supplemental tenant guide to see what the parking rules are. But I have a feeling the rules might say you get 1 outside spot in addition to your garage, which I'm also in violation of for most of the year when my 135is isn't in storage, since my gf and I use 2 outside spaces for the 2 of our 3 cars that aren't in the garage.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Textured Soy Protein 11/10/2014 at 23:33

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And? Do you really care what he thinks if he doesn't respect your right to have some space too?

Textured Soy Protein > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 11/10/2014 at 23:34

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I don't really care what he thinks, but I do live next to the guy, we share a front stoop, we see each other semi-frequently, and neither of us is moving anytime soon. So I'd rather not have the situation be toxic if it can be avoided.

Racescort666 > Textured Soy Protein 11/10/2014 at 23:35

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Yeah, that's a thin line you are walking. Although there's a difference between following the rules and being reasonable.

Textured Soy Protein > Steve in Manhattan 11/10/2014 at 23:36

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We have a landlord, not HOA. My section of the neighborhood is a group of several townhouse buildings owned by the same landlord.

Textured Soy Protein > Birddog 11/10/2014 at 23:39

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I don't have any dogs whose crap I could use, but we do have 3 cats so I can get plenty of cat shit in short order. Also some pee clods from the litterbox.

MysticStick > Textured Soy Protein 11/10/2014 at 23:44

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If you won't do both, then you have to start with option 2, as there is little chance you will get the changes you want with option 1. His lease probably does not cover running a business from his garage and parking a trailer in the handicap space is not cool at all. Someone who does that seems unlikely to be a caring person who will change because you asked nicely.

Steve in Manhattan > Textured Soy Protein 11/10/2014 at 23:46

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Used to be a real estate agent, still a lawyer. The phrase "equitable division of space" (parking spaces) should be employed. In other words, if there are 2 spaces per unit, that's what you get. And you should check to see whether it's illegal/against regulations to store a car there. Because that's what he's done.

cayman2007 > Textured Soy Protein 11/11/2014 at 00:03

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Because you can't start a flood.. set one of his vehicles on fire every week. I kid... yeah, I kid

deekster_caddy > Textured Soy Protein 11/11/2014 at 00:56

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Usually in situations like this I suggest talking to him first. But with that much bullshit, skip him and go straight to the landlord.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Textured Soy Protein 11/11/2014 at 02:11

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i've said it before and i'ii say it again.

high 5 to the Jeep driver

jkm7680 > Textured Soy Protein 11/11/2014 at 07:30

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The landlord probably is the best person to ask. That's waaaaayyyy too many spaces for one person.

E92M3 > Textured Soy Protein 11/11/2014 at 08:44

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Oh the joys of townhouses. We use to live in a similar setup years ago. Instead of 1 neighbor it was 3 girls living together who each had 1 car, but their boyfriends (all 3 had a boyfriend) would spend the night all the time. So there were 6 cars most nights taking up space for 1 unit. I think I was the only person that actually used their garage for a car, and not storing boxes of crap. We had HOA rules stating no car shall remain in the same spot for longer than 48 hrs, but that didn't help in thier situation. It probably did keep people from storing junkers in the lot though.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Textured Soy Protein 11/11/2014 at 09:40

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Question for you, is the Van marked as commercial? is the Trailer marked as commercial? Do you have bylaws from the landlords that restrict keeping commercial vehicles on the property? Boats?

You should probably check into that before you try and push rules.

Textured Soy Protein > E92M3 11/11/2014 at 09:53

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We have a similar 48 hour rule, but his trailer has been sitting their probably at least 2 years.

Textured Soy Protein > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 11/11/2014 at 10:03

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The main rule from the landlord is that you're not supposed to leave stuff sitting for more than 48 hours at a time. Which, well, I violate that myself because when it's not winter, my Jeep sits around a lot while I'm driving my 135is.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Textured Soy Protein 11/11/2014 at 10:45

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yeah but a boat sitting all winter is definitely sitting.

Is anything in writing from the landlord?

Textured Soy Protein > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 11/11/2014 at 11:20

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Yeah there's like a tenant rules supplement we got from the landlord in addition to the lease, and that has the 48 hour rule in it.

The boats are on the street though, which the landlord isn't in charge of. The city has alternate side parking rules, where they come around and ticket anything parked on the wrong side of the street for that day. That starts on the 15th so he'll start getting a pile of tickets soon if he doesn't move them.

Hopefully that means he'll be moving them soon, but the main concern is really the parking lot more than the street.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Textured Soy Protein 11/11/2014 at 11:39

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Double check those tenant rules, there are commonly line items that specifically prohibit parking commercial vehicles in residential areas, the city may even have a law about it.

Textured Soy Protein > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 11/11/2014 at 12:23

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I mean, I doubt they're registered as commercial. One is just a Taurus wagon. The other is a shitty conversion van, kinda like this but older:

See how the back window has that little corner that opens? His has the same style of window, but the other bottom corner opens. Except that part that opens is missing, and he has a quilt or something stuffed in it to keep it "sealed."

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Textured Soy Protein 11/11/2014 at 12:44

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lol wow

and yeah I was thinking one of these:

which are clearly commercial.

Well, good luck let us know what happens.

Tohru > Textured Soy Protein 11/11/2014 at 21:44

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I live an hour north of you, in farm and wood country.

You'd be amazed at what can just disappear in those woods... like shitty cars... shitty boats... a lumpy rolled-up carpet buried six feet deep...

I've got a truck with a topper and a couple shovels.

George McNally > Textured Soy Protein 11/12/2014 at 18:18

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It's simple, park broadside to all of his vehicles that are in spaces. It will block his vehicles in and send him a message hopefully. When I first moved out and got my first aprtment, we had assigned parking in my apt complex.

If someone parked in my space, I just parked them in. After awhile, they'll get the message.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Textured Soy Protein 11/17/2014 at 14:40

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you could talk to the town as well. Some towns have by-laws stating how many vehicles an individual is allowed to have. I think usually it is for unregistered cars tho. The handicap thing is BS and should not be allowed. Your landlord should be on top of this shit.

Textured Soy Protein > OPPOsaurus WRX 11/17/2014 at 16:02

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All of their vehicles are registered...well the boats don't exactly have license plates. I'm not sure. I'm just going to call the landlord.

45bullets > Textured Soy Protein 11/17/2014 at 18:03

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1. go to his house with a Portuguese flag

2. say that you are Christopher Columbus and you claim his land in the name of Portugal

3. Force him out of house and into another one

4. repeat steps 1-3 until neighbor is in empty plot of crappy land

5. repeat steps 1-3