What should I do about the people in the apartment next door?

Question

What to do about a disrespectful neigbor??
I live in a quadplex, and am the oldest tenant still living here (1yr 1/2). The parking lot consists of 8 spots, with one occupied by the dumpster. The 1st two apartments share 1/2 of the split parking lot.....or 4 spaces. Me and my neigbor share the other side of the lot consisting of 4 spaces.

Now I usually park in the closest spot, as I have done for over a year. The new neighbors usually learn within a week or two to be respectful and park one down. But these neighbors have two cars and for nearly two months have been taking the 2 closest spots. They also have a friend spend several nights over, taking another space up. Plus the neighbor's mom visits occasionally taking another spot up. Usually, 3 of the 4 spots are taken---requiring me to park next to the road at the very last spot.

Today, I was in the 2nd spot, with the girl's bf in the 1st and the girl in the 3rd spot......her bf left, and an hour or so later---she backed out, -

-went around the block (I watched her do it), and pulled into the 1st spot so I wouldnt move there.


What should I do about them? The landlord doesnt do much around here in the first place. And they are on the end, so Im the one who has to deal with these disrespectful teens.

*Plus their dog barks when they leave the house during the day. I cant call the cops because noone is home and its only during the day. What should I do about this as well?

WHAT CAN I DO?

Im seriously thinking about parking sideways and taking up two spaces to make a point..........or spraypainting numbers myself.

Its very irritating to have to walk from the street, through the lot, to my door all because these neigbors are purposely doing this!

Answer 1

You have a legitimate issue.

I have the same situation in my condo complex. We have PLENTY of parking spaces but the three right in front of my condo seem to be rock star parking spaces for the building across mine because "their" spaces are to the right of their building - the three in front of my condo are more convienent to them, as well. WE DO NOT HAVE ASSIGNED PARKING SPACES SO "LEGALLY" I CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.

How to handle? Well, it's a tough one because they may be a**holes, but they are YOUR a**holes, you know? So you have to address diplomatically. As your "neighbors" you don't want to cause such friction to where you risk harassment or even vandalism to your car, and if you park horizontally taking up two spaces then don't be shocked to find your car keyed (and people do this!). So, don't add insult to injury!

You can address it directly (bring flowers, brownies, cookies), and just be firm, but also be nice about it. I would focus more on asking your neighbors if they could ask their guests to park in the other spaces because (and bring in a story about how you had to park farther away one night when it was raining and got soaked???)... Or you could become "buddies" with them, and make a joke out of it in some way. Invite them for a glass of wine one night, and get to know them... you may end up becoming Best Friends Forever (BFF) with them :)

Regardless, without assigned parking spaces you can't do much about them claiming prime parking, but you can address indirectly. Now, you could "have a gathering" one night and ask all of your guests to park in the other spaces... and make sure you send a note to your neighbors letting them know that you are having a party on Saturday night (or whenever) and state that out of respect for them, you have asked all guests to park in the other spaces... and let them know that if a gues does park in one of the spaces near the building to let you know, and you will take care of it.. A great way "to show" and "not tell."

As for the dogs, this one is another familiar situation for me. I handled it by writing a VERY nice note addressing it. Initially, my neighbor was a little ticked, but she took my advise on closing all of the blinds when she left for the day so that her pooches were not "barking at everything they saw"... this actually solved the problem... barking dogs ARE very irritating! She's a cool chick (and mature)... she understood...

Good luck with this... I know some may think it is petty but when you are "living" it, it is not always so petty, and Yes, I do believe immature people will purposely do irritating things... so you are not crazy... or petty.

For me, I just deal with my situation as I choose my battles. Ironically, it ends up working out... I have two new neighbors now "who don't know the unwritten rules yet" but they will get it eventually...

Answer 2

Why is it a big deal to park in the third or fourth spot as opposed to the first one? I bet you're one of those people who will drive around a mall parking lot for 30 minutes until a space by the door opens up, only to go inside and walk through the mall for two hours. :)

Seriously, unless you're physically disabled and NEED to park close, I'd let it go. As long as they aren't taking up ALL the spots (and it sounds like they're not), just drop it. So you have to walk an extra 20 feet to get to the sidewalk/your front door. So what? Is it really worth becoming this upset over?

As for the barking dog--that one I have no advice for. I'm sorry. If it happens at night when they're home, call the police/animal control then. Have you asked your landlord about this? Some apartment buildings/complexes have rules regarding noise levels during certain times of the day and night.

Answer 3

Who owns the Parking Lot ?
We were told in a Development meeting that the parking spaces in front of our homes were Town Parking,
anyone could park there.
I thought that was crazy. One person had six cars and
was parking them in their Neighbors spaces.
I couldn't believe people could be so inconsiderate of
their Neighbors. I've seen Visitors come, park on my
side of the street, get in the car with my Neighbor across
the street, and be gone for the whole weekend. Crazy.

I suggested at a meeting, that the Residents have Parking
Permits, just like some of the Residence do in Town.
So that's what they did.
Each Resident gets ( 2 ) Resident Parking / and
( 1 ) Visitor Parking Pass.

How it's suppose to work is, each home has ( 2 ) parking
spaces, and if needed parking on the street.
The Visitors Pass Is used when the Residence gives up
his Parking Space in front of his/ her home, and parks
on the street, letting the Visitor have his Residential Parking Space.
Each Home can only have ( 2 ) vehicles parked In the
Resident Parking Area.
It works better than it used to, with a free for all.
Now the Police Dept. comes through to check.
Hope this helps.
Find out who owns the Lot.

Answer 4

First--see if your lease covers parking in any way. If so, then use what it says. Check with your landlord about assigning spaces if you do not feel able to discuss it directly with your neighbors. If the landlord sends out a generic message about having 2 spaces per tenant to everyone it can open a door--you could graciously let the neighbor know that you only have need of one and that they are welcome to the other but just leave one spot designated for you at all times so it will be easy not to get in their way. If you phrase it nicely you might solve it without hurt feelings. You certainly don't want nasty neighbors! Good luck!

Answer 5

Honey..... don't sweat the small stuff. They probably don't even realize what they are doing. They will move too someday and you will get your space back . And the walk from the street gives you a little extra exercise which we all need. Bake some brownies and take them over to them and bring up the parking problem if it bothers you that much!

Answer 6

I understand how your situation could be frustrating, I would initially feel the same way- Maybe for like a week. After that girl, you need to just focus on more important things in life- not about a parking stall. I could see pondering over this if you were in a wheel chair or if you frequently needed to carry heavy objects to and from your car everyday. Not trying to negate your feelings, just trying to encourage you focus your energy on the positive things in life...like saving up money in order to live in your very own house with your very own parking stall.

Answer 7

Sorry to say, but if there is no assigned parking then it's a free-for-all, and you can't really expect your new neighbors to be able to read your mind and park where you want them to. You can try to talk to them if you feel that strongly about it, but if you're only talking about parking down a few spots, how far can it be to walk anyway?

Answer 8

I guess you should buy a Parking Lot cone, and place it in the spot you want to use, like when your gone, you can put a cone over the spot you want, and when you go back, you take out the cone and park in that spot.

OR

You can also just kindly leave them a letter about your problem in the mail or at there door, and then maybe they would go to your house and say sorry.

I dunno what else.

Answer 9

as for people that live there, it is free parking. they have just as much right to it as you do. first come first served.

as for their friends staying over, then you have a legitimate complaint.

i would ask that the landlord add to the lease agreement that certain spots are reserved for certain house numbers. and post the reservations. then you ahve a clearly defined spot that is yours, and guananteed by your rent payment.

Answer 10

Call the police and say that those cars have been abandoned. They'll have them towed. That should teach them a lesson.