OP,
I agree with you on this one, but your only sensible option is to get the HOA involved if you really want to change things. They are breakling the HOA covenants, and you have every right to expect the HOA to enforce it's rules. If you can not do this, or are unwilling to do this, then you have no other viable options.

I would park in front of their house if they park in front of my house.

I know how you feel. I have a neighbor that would do the same thing. He's macho, and from a culture that doesn't respect women. I asked him not to park there, and he had a fit. After several other problems with him, I told him, "You have no boundaries." He tries to boss me around and control me. I avoid he and his family. what worked for me was getting a German shepherd who is very territorial. If they park there, I let her out. (My front yard is fenced.) She barks at them. It works. It also helped to make friends with some other neighbors. I see them when I walk my dogs, and I give them fruits and vegetables from my garden. I hope things get better for you.

"Entitled behavior, by people who are above the social niceties the rest of us grew up with."

Who has "entitled behavior" here?

You think you are entitled to a parking space on the public street at a place of your choosing?

Oh the horror of it all.

At the first hint of rain, snow, or bad weather all the residents on the steep pipe-stems around me move to the public street.
I often have to actually park the wife's smaller car in the garage (she uses it all the time anyway) and my larger truck in the driveway, blocking her in.

It is just terrible.
If she wants to go out with her car we have to move mine.

Maybe I should put some orange safety cones in front of my house to reserve 'MY' parking space.

"If you're this territorial, consider purchasing a home on some land where you have lots of space to claim next time, or a condo in an HOA where the rules are strict about what you can and can't do- not in a family friendly community like that. You're kinda ruining it for everyone."

Your remark about 'ruining it for others' is lame.

The OP has an HOA. The neighbors are violating the rules.

Do you considerate it appropriate for people to lay down like doormats when OTHERS are the ones breaking the rules? She TRIED approaching them. They were JERKS.

I just love it when people who have good neighbors want to cut down those who don't. Regardless of whose fault it is......

"The OP has an HOA. The neighbors are violating the rules. "

Then complain.

Failure to use the avenue available to you removes any right to complain.

"Failure to use the avenue available to you removes any right to complain."

Good grief.

In the real world, the one in which so many of us live, it's almost always preferable to work things out before resorting to "using the avenue available" if that avenue is likely to cause resentment or other ill feeling.

"In the real world, the one in which so many of us live, it's almost always preferable to work things out before resorting to "using the avenue available" if that avenue is likely to cause resentment or other ill feeling. "

Whining about it on a public board is not going to "work things out" now is it?

You either 'man up' nad have a talk with them, put up and shut up, or go to the HOA.
It is not all that complicated.

Your remark about 'ruining it for others' is lame.

The OP has an HOA. The neighbors are violating the rules.

Yeah, the OP has an HOA, but knows that there are other neighbors who are parking on the street (that aren't bothering her) that might be affected if there is a crackdown on people parking on the street.

so did you contact your HOA
have others become as tired of the neighbors off-set parking as you did

I was wondering the same thing loves2read. Now I am curious. TO OP - I would be so annoyed too. No other real help from me though. To RIP - OMG. I can not even imagine a neighbor putting a chair on my lawn to gaze at their house. I am cracking up. i guess I should be happy that the only thing that drives us nuts is usually barking dogs. That and the neighbors kids blasting music late in to the night while they are swimming. Luckily there is a for sale sign on both the houses with the dog and the late night swimmers.

Hi, I am here looking for advice. My situation is similar to Long's situation. We are new too. The neighbour is next door, has her garbage bins right under the ground floor level bedrooms (on our 2 foot strip of land), has her snow removal people move the snow from her driveway to right up against our house (again, on the 2 foot strip of land)...

She parks her giant SUV in front our house though she has room in front of hers and a long private driveway that is empty, or has their other giant SUV in it.

One day she ran across our lawn, back and forth from her house, to load her SUV up, so I went outside with the dog and introduced myself. She said "hi", but did not come over to shake hands, and kept running across my lawn to load her car up, ignoring me!!! While I stood on my lawn. Because she parks there lots, the dog goes nuts when she trespasses like that which is how I knew someone was there.

More than anything, its the sense of entitlement and how I feel about it because if you feel something is wrong, it is. Its respect and she lacks respect for others. She has a private drive, we have a mutual drive with 2 neighbours sharing, and both of us on the mutual side manage to park in our garages and be polite with each other and feel good about each other.

The neighbour on her other side came over to welcome us, and it transpired that he has issues with her too. Legal issues. She built outbuildings right up against his property without proper city permitting (supposed to be a set back), and a sunroom that is higher than what is permitted as well as fencing higher than is permitted.

Here's what we're going to do:
-- My husband went over to her house, she did not answer, but he will persist until he can meet and greet her and if there is a husband, him too. My husband will advise the that our basement is wet on that side, so we will be asking her not to have her snow piled there.
--- Also, could she please move her garbage shed from under the bedroom window, and off our property.
---The car I told my husband to let it go... perhaps park his car in front of her house for a while (passive aggressive, but gets the message across).

If you experience this sort of entitled neighbour, it will bother you. We choose to believe it is simply an oversight on her part, but once challenged, further action is being proactively thoughtless.

In which case, my husband who is a city building official will have to look into her building infractions ;) And that will be costly. Not everyone has this ace up their sleeve, so I will ensure she is proactively being thoughtless before we use it. Since we've met other neighbours who also feel this way, if she has a loud party we could coordinate a call to the police to shut it down. I view this as society's checks and balances in play against a rude neighbour.

The whole HOA thing has a decent chance of not working.

In many places the HOA does not own the streets, and if they do own the street they then become responsible for maintenance on the street.

Numerous HOAs in Virginia have found this out hard way.
They tried to assign parking spaces in front of townhouses.

ONLY if there is a divider (like a concrete sale in the roadbed between the parking and the street) and they assume all maintenance respsasability can they even assign spaces (essentially making them private).

One upscale community had all sorts of rules about an no boats on trailers or RVs parked on the streets.
They eventually grew tired of the cost of maintenance, including plowing and the liability.
The turned the main streets in the development over to the state (at a decent expanse to bring them up to the state's road requirements).
The restrictions instantly disappeared since the county had no such law, ad refused to pass one (this being the only group tat sought such a law).

All the boats and RVs moved from the garages (at least the ones tat had been able to even fit) to the now state owned streets.

Now you drive past the fancy entrance signage to streets lined with boats and and RVs.
Why pay for a large rental space for your RV in a private lot when the public street is available?

Please don't read this as a recommendation by any means but I was guilty of doing this to another neighbor once many, many years ago. When he complained to me, it only made me more aggressive about doing it...often going out of my way to park TWO cars in front of their home all weekend long while we used our driveway for get-togethers with our neighbors. Was I being a jerk? Absolutely. But so was the guy the way he demanded me to move mine in the first place....he threatened me with "civil action" when I didn't move it, rather than just nicely ask me to refrain from doing it. So, knowing my rights, I fought back.

Moral to this story is that being nice always wins, right? Ummmm, no.

In response to my jerkish behavior, someone (likely him, but I could never prove it), took the initiative one night to lean several long nails against the front sides of my tires. On both vehicles. I jumped in my car that morning, drove away, and didn't notice anything until I came out from my office later that afternoon to find 4 flat tires. The other car was left alone for the day thankfully so no damage, although I did find the nails there when I got home.

Now you tell me...what are the odds of hitting 4 nails all on the same day and all 4 hitting JUST RIGHT to deflate the tire fully? Yup....not a coincidence.

I started parking in front of my house thereafter.

Moral of the story is....there are ways to get a jerk to behave themselves. But sometimes, you have to be one yourself.

Don't be a jerk though. That's just....not right.

This post was edited by Tony2Toes on Wed, Feb 20, 13 at 16:57

If her trash can is on your property, move it OFF your properyt and onto the neighbor's property. You are allowed to do this. Just move it the 2 ft to the other side. do this every week if you must.

Place markers of some sort on the property line. 2' tall sticks with tight string between them that acts as a fence so she will know where the property line is. So she won't place the trash can there again.

Do same for the snow..something so the snow removal guys will see where he property line is. put a small sign up during the big snows tht says 'no snow piles here' and maybe a property line marker the snow guys wil see. take the sign down when they are done shoveling.

Well, a guy in a snow plow in the middle of a storm isn't going to see a sign or even a low fence.

What the poster needs to do is a) tell the other homeowner where the property line is and tell them that their snow needs to stay on their side of the property line. (In many cases, neighbors don't quibble too much about a little snow shoved over the property line, but when it's getting that close to a building and could cause damage, then something needs to be said.) Then b) wait for the next storm and meet the neighbor's plow guy when he comes. Point out the property line and ask nicely that he keep the snow off your property. A) might help, but I suspect B) is what will work.

It bears repeating that as annoying as someone else's car parked in front of your house is, in most areas, it is perfectly legal. Unless there are HOA regulations about it, you have no legal recourse for cars parked in front of your house. So the best thing to do is either accept the cars in the sake of neighborly harmony, or ask nicely for the cars to be moved elsewhere, or keep your own cars parked there. But making a neighbor feud out of something that isn't a legal issue, but just your own feelings about the matter, well, you can do it, but in the long run, it might be better to be on good terms with the neighbors.

Coming from a city neighborhood where no one has off-street parking and finding a parking spot on your own block is a big deal, having someone else's car in front of my house is a daily happening, not anything to get upset over.

Do you have HOA restrictions that address street parking? In many subdivisions there are restrictions that say that you can't park for an extended time or overnight in the street (even your own car in front of your house)

If not, do the city ordinances address RV parking? I would check into that.

I agree with nicely asking them to quit trespassing. If they continue to trespass you might consult with an attorney regarding options.

In some instances, the best way to prevent neighbors from trespassing is to put up your own fence

"In which case, my husband who is a city building official will have to look into her building infractions ;) Since we've met other neighbours who also feel this way, if she has a loud party we could coordinate a call to the police to shut it down."

Excellent. It is good that you have recourse for a rude neighbor as well as support from the others.

I dealt with something similar. We moved to Florida about 6 months ago. Our house was vacant for a few months. Shortly after moving in, we noticed a neighbor, across the street would blow their leaves onto our property. Their gardener would park his large truck in front of our house. I never met the neighbor, but would come home and find piles of leaves in front of our house.

We have a large oak tree on our property and actually thought it was our leaves. We'd rake and bag.

Long and short, I noticed this neighbor (who was not friendly) spending all day, from early morning to night sweeping leaves from his driveway. He'd pick up a leaf or two by hand.

The next week, I was home when their gardener was blowing. I could see the workers blowing the leaves across the street onto our property.

I walked out (I'm originally from NYC) stormed over to the homeowner and told him to tell his workers to not blow the leaves on my property. This smuck starts yelling at me, that he can't tell my leaves from his and my leaves were blowing on his property.

Anyway, a screaming match took place out in the street. The gardeners got nervous and started blowing the leaves off my property. I threatened to report the workers if they ever blew anything on my property and threatened the homeowner that I'd take him to court.

I'm now embarassed about how angry I got and how the whole thing turned out. But, what really worked was threatening the workers. They moved their truck and never park near our house, they are very careful to blow the leaves into large tarps and haul them away.

I had no intention of going to court as I didn't think it was possible. But I thought of installing cameras and going to the Town to see if they could help.

No more leaves or trucks. The neighbor stays far away from me and I ignore him. I think he thought I was a crazy lady!

Go after the snow plowers and tell them to never blow snow on your property. Take her garbage pails and move them each time she puts them there. Scare the snow-plowers with legal action. Believe me, they don't want trouble in a neighborhood.

Jane

Once they fall onto your land they are your problem (who's tree they come from does not matter).

You do not get to low them back.

Just like if a branch falls.

it is your problem if it falls on your land, no matter who's tree it came from.

You might get an exception if you had provided written notice to the tree owner the tree was diseased or weakened and should be removed, but that is about it.

But you cannot blow YOUR problem onto the neighbors land.

You are right brickeye. Furthermore, this neighbor lived across the street, one house to the left. He wasn't even directly across from me. The house directly across from him was a foreclosure and had been vacant for a long time. He didn't blow the leaves to that house because they'd blow back to his property. So, he blew them to ours. Our house is on a canopy street. There are oaks and Banyon trees at each house. Tons of leaves.

He had the nerve to tell me my leaves blew to his house. Jackass!

Jane

Shepards hook... Giant Bird feeder... only put out right by car, when they park in front of your house :)

You could just buy a cheap car and a steering lock to ensure it cant be broken into to be moved. leave it outside your house which will stop them having the luxury of parking in front of your house, appreciate its not an ideal solution and it will cost you money but at least it will inconvenience them enough as they will have to start parking outside their own house or a neighbours house (which will upset their friends) and it will be more bearable knowing its your vehicle your looking at. Just ensure its taxed and insured to avoid them reporting you and causing grief that way.

I haven't read all the responses, and I don't mean that in any aggressive way, but I don't understand WHY it is inconsiderate to park in front of someone else's house if one doesn't need the space. Does it block your entrance? Do you need that space? Do you have visitors who are inconvenienced? These are reasons I can understand.

So, I don't understand the suggestions to buy a cheap car (you still have a car parked in front of your house that way).

"Here's what we're going to do:
--My husband will advise the that our basement is wet on that side, so we will be asking her not to have her snow piled there.
--- Also, could she please move her garbage shed from under the bedroom window, and off our property."

Only an idiot for a neighbor would locate a smelly garbage shed on someone else's property. Did you get a survey when you purchased the house?

If this were me (and I was absolutely sure the shed was on my property), I would tell the neighbors to have it gone by sundown or have it razed and hauled away. Then I'd put up a board fence to prevent the snow plow from being able to dump snow there.

I like the idea about buying a cheap car and keeping it permanently parked out front.

Wow, so many responses!

I think that there is one in every neighborhood. Someone who doesn't have a sense of their boundary or respect for their neighbor's space.

Yes the car parking is a small annoyance but, in its small way, demonstrates that. It is legal, but it still violates our sense of *our* space. I bet that the OP's neighbor wouldn't like having it done to him.

My neighbor is the same way. Not just with the car, but with everything in respect to our closely situated houses. When he decided to do some remodeling in his house, he piled the tear-out debris in front of my house--not a thing in front of his.
Once when I had finished filling my yard waste can with trimmings and weeds from the side yard, I pulled the heavy can to the curb--on my side of the property line (my cans are typically set on the other side of my property). When I got home from work on trash collection day, the can had been thrown to the back of the space next to his garage. And, the next time I saw him, he complained that "someone" had left their can on "his" corner. Where he places all his cans, (including on my side of the line).

When he picks up the many branches that his maple drops, he tosses them into my shrubs.
His diaper-filled, odorous trash cans are placed on the 1 foot between his garage and the property line. He must actually walk in my yard to access them. They are only a few feet away from my dining, living, and bedroom windows: in summer I can't have open windows because of the smell (and I prefer open to AC on all but the hottest days). The local raccoon discovered his cans and tip them over several times a week. He would go days without cleaning them up, and always leave a diaper or two in my shrubs. Didn't go buy new raccoon proof cans either.

When I asked him if he couldn't keep the cans in the garage as the previous neighbors had done, he said no, because it would make his garage smell.

I garden, and when I was interrupted while digging a new bed in my back yard for a week or two, he complained about how it looked. Yet, he allows weeds to go to seed and blow into my space, and piles junk into that strip along his garage: the view out my DR and LR. But, it is out of his sight, so...

These are annoyances to be sure. And yet, I don't dislike the couple. We have had many friendly conversations. Plus, I don't keep my yard in perfectly neat and organized condition all the time (okay, most of the time). So, I tried to not let his "quirks" get to me (but they did a little). I haven't complained to other neighbors.

However, they wanted to build a second story onto that garage with an addition on the back that would actually touch the property line. When he asked for my approval of this, I told him that I was not sure if I would want that big blank wall 11 feet from my house, especially if it would put my LR/DR/BR windows in permanent shade. It is not the norm for our neighborhood (how close our houses are isn't, either) I told the zoning board the same thing. I didn't outright oppose, I just wasn't sure about it.

They did not get approved -- turns out the state fire laws wouldn't permit it. The old construction from the 1940s could stay inside the now-required setback, but they couldn't add more, and especially not vents, overhangs and windows.

But they blame me. They are no longer speaking to me. They have told the other young families on the block that I am the reason they can't stay where they hoped to raise their children. And, they are moving.

I am not sure that I am sorry...

Since my thread from a year ago was resurrected, I thought I'd provide an update. The neighbors most always park in front of their own property now. I mostly use my garage. The occasional guest of a neighbor, or very rarely, another neighbor, will park in front of my house. But that is certainly reasonable and doesn't bother me at all. The point is that no one considers my frontage their regular spot, and that's just what I wanted. There hasn't been a bit of fallout from the other neighbors, who are pretty friendly folks. As for the original parkers, we aren't friendly, but we haven't had any other issues at all. Life is pretty good!

I did enjoy hearing all the different points of view. Raee, your neighbor sounds awful - hope they have a fast sale.

I do not understand why anyone attacked you for your very reasonable feelings. As someone said, "just because it is legal does not make it the right thing to do". We recently moved to the country, where we have 3 acres, so no parking issues. Where we lived before, we were in a neighborhood. Generally, people only parked in front of other homes if they were having a garage sale, a party, or, when the school down the block was having an event. There were no laws which prohibited parking in front of someone else's home, it is just being a good neighbor to respect that. It is difficult to mow your lawn if someone is parked very close.i would be annoyed if someone did that, but, like you, I would try to deal with it in a non-combative way. Happy to hear the issue has largely been put to rest.

Yesterday's newspaper had an "Ask Amy" column reminiscent of this thread. I guess it's not a unique problem.

Dear Amy:
I wonder about the etiquette of parking. I live in a small town that does not have a lot of traffic.

My neighbor--who lives across the street from me--parks in front of my house all the time. She has only one vehicle, as well as a driveway, and there is never anyone parked in front of her house.

It annoys me that she is always there. I know this sounds petty, and I don't know why it bugs me so much, but when I sit out on my front porch, I don't want to have to stare at her car.

Should I mention to her that it bothers me, or will that make me seem like a weirdo?

Amy's response:
This annoys you because...it's annoying. Most of us would rather sit peacefully on our porch admiring the passing scene, rather than our neighbor's Chrysler LeBaron.

Your neighbor parks in front of your house because she doesn't enjoy the view (of her car) when she parks in front of her own. She may also find it challenging to back out of her driveway onto the street.

You are not a weirdo. Approach her, introduce yourself and say, "Could you park in your driveway or in front of your house? That way I could see more of the street from my porch. I appreciate it very much."

You cannot force her to comply, but you do have to be brave enough to ask for what you want.

scarletshouse, I am happy for you that things seemed to have had a peaceful and satisfactory outcome.

I, too, have been going through a similar situation in a neighborhood with street parking only. However, everyone respects each others space in front of their house. But it seems the front of my house was picked, by everyone, as the overflow parking for their excess cars--until I expressed how I felt about it. Most respected how I felt about it and made a true effort to not park in front of my house--especially if I was not home.

Parking became a real issue when next door neighbors' children began to drive and got their own cars. It started with the oldest parking in front of my house often enough that I'd be left out of parking in front of my house. Like you, scarletshouse, what bothered me was that they decided that I didn't deserve the consideration they gave everyone else by not parking in front of anyone else's house. Their friends have been trained to come and park in front of my house, even when there's space to park in front of theirs, or across the street, or anywhere closer to their house.

So, one day I told the oldest (17 at the time) to please park in front of her house. The parents decided to declare war by parking their full size van and pick-up truck in front of my house that very weekend and not move them.This started a sort of 1800's land claiming. Since the street is public and they have more cars, they figured they would claim it and bully me out of the space--the space in front of my house!!! They not only wanted to park in front of my house but wanted me to move over so that they can all park together close to their house (now 2 sedans, van and pick up truck). Everyone in the neighborhood can fit three sedans in front of their house, within property lines.

So what they did was use the space available in front of my house, the one closest to their house and stack their cars from there in a way that their car (in front of my house) closest to my car (brand new, really nice car) ends up with a total of, maybe, a foot of space to pull in and pull out of the spot, making it very possible to swipe my car every time they park it or pull out. I guess they figured this would break me and would make me cede the whole front of my house for them to park. At some point they'd left some deep scratches on the bumper of my car. I courteously asked the dad, since the culprit wasn't home, to ask her to be careful and keep her distance. I work from home, my car normally sits there, so they should be responsible for keeping proper distance when they come home and park.

I didn't move my car, as they would've hoped. To deter them from doing any more damage to my car, even had to get surveillance cameras. Their behavior just got worse and no amount of diplomacy improved things. In fact, every time I tried to, diplomatically, settle things, they would act out.

Now, four years later, I'd truly had it, so I installed a driveway to have peace of mind with my car and be able to come home to my own parking space, on my property. I installed the driveway right in the spot they had claimed. Logistically that was the best place for my driveway, so that I wouldn't disturb any underground pipes during excavation, and I certainly didn't feel bad that it was right where they preferred to park.

Their hostility is ongoing, as they truly believe I took "their" spot. They park on the other side of my driveway, directly in front of my house...and you might guess the behavior they've displayed to get back at me for taking "their" space. I've already called the cops twice.

I've changed the rules of their game but, sadly enough, I don't see this ending, they keep pushing the boundaries at every turn.

Most of the neighbors, including them, have lived here for over 20 years and even though it's clear who the aggressor is, they seem to be on their side, as everyone has stopped talking to me or even looking in my direction. So I guess, I'm being ostracized.

Someone here said something along the lines of "asking nicely will get you further" Well, that doesn't work with jerks. I repeatedly made attempts to keep things peaceful, even though I was the one being attacked, while they were still getting what they wanted. I must admit I could've moved back to give them more room but 1) they were nasty about the whole thing 2) no amount of room was enough for them 3) I, too, could park anywhere on the "public" street, but, at least, I chose to do it within the property boundaries of my house. I became as inconsiderate with them as they were with me--unlike them, without going beyond the boundaries of my property.

Every time I try to figure out why people behave this way, all I can think of is a statement I read in another forum:

"The freedom we have in the US allows us a TREMENDOUS ability to be jerks to other people."

Sorry for the long post. Just wanted to share my experience and encourage you to use your HOA. How I wish I had that recourse. HOA's, though sometimes a pain for being strict, normally are good at keeping everything nice and everyone in check.

scarletshouse, I am happy for you that things seemed to have had a peaceful and satisfactory outcome.

I, too, have been going through a similar situation in a neighborhood with street parking only. However, everyone respects each others space in front of their house. But it seems the front of my house was picked, by everyone, as the overflow parking for their excess cars--until I expressed how I felt about it. Most respected how I felt about it and made a true effort to not park in front of my house--especially if I was not home.

Parking became a real issue when next door neighbors' children began to drive and got their own cars. It started with the oldest parking in front of my house often enough that I'd be left out of parking in front of my house. Like you, scarletshouse, what bothered me was that they decided that I didn't deserve the consideration they gave everyone else by not parking in front of anyone else's house. Their friends have been trained to come and park in front of my house, even when there's space to park in front of theirs, or across the street, or anywhere closer to their house.

So, one day I told the oldest (17 at the time) to please park in front of her house. The parents decided to declare war by parking their full size van and pick-up truck in front of my house that very weekend and not move them.This started a sort of 1800's land claiming. Since the street is public and they have more cars, they figured they would claim it and bully me out of the space--the space in front of my house!!! They not only wanted to park in front of my house but wanted me to move over so that they can all park together close to their house (now 2 sedans, van and pick up truck). Everyone in the neighborhood can fit three sedans in front of their house, within property lines.

So what they did was use the space available in front of my house, the one closest to their house and stack their cars from there in a way that their car (in front of my house) closest to my car (brand new, really nice car) ends up with a total of, maybe, a foot of space to pull in and pull out of the spot, making it very possible to swipe my car every time they park it or pull out. I guess they figured this would break me and would make me cede the whole front of my house for them to park. At some point they'd left some deep scratches on the bumper of my car. I courteously asked the dad, since the culprit wasn't home, to ask her to be careful and keep her distance. I work from home, my car normally sits there, so they should be responsible for keeping proper distance when they come home and park.

I didn't move my car, as they would've hoped. To deter them from doing any more damage to my car, even had to get surveillance cameras. Their behavior just got worse and no amount of diplomacy improved things. In fact, every time I tried to, diplomatically, settle things, they would act out.

Now, four years later, I'd truly had it, so I installed a driveway to have peace of mind with my car and be able to come home to my own parking space, on my property. I installed the driveway right in the spot they had claimed. Logistically that was the best place for my driveway, so that I wouldn't disturb any underground pipes during excavation, and I certainly didn't feel bad that it was right where they preferred to park.

Their hostility is ongoing, as they truly believe I took "their" spot. They park on the other side of my driveway, directly in front of my house...and you might guess the behavior they've displayed to get back at me for taking "their" space. I've already called the cops twice.

I've changed the rules of their game but, sadly enough, I don't see this ending, they keep pushing the boundaries at every turn.

Most of the neighbors, including them, have lived here for over 20 years and even though it's clear who the aggressor is, they seem to be on their side, as everyone has stopped talking to me or even looking in my direction. So I guess, I'm being ostracized.

Someone here said something along the lines of "asking nicely will get you further" Well, that doesn't work with jerks. I repeatedly made attempts to keep things peaceful, even though I was the one being attacked, while they were still getting what they wanted. I must admit I could've moved back to give them more room but 1) they were nasty about the whole thing 2) no amount of room was enough for them 3) I, too, could park anywhere on the "public" street, but, at least, I chose to do it within the property boundaries of my house. I became as inconsiderate with them as they were with me--unlike them, without going beyond the boundaries of my property.

Every time I try to figure out why people behave this way, all I can think of is a statement I read in another forum:

"The freedom we have in the US allows us a TREMENDOUS ability to be jerks to other people."

Sorry for the long post. Just wanted to share my experience and encourage you to use your HOA. How I wish I had that recourse. HOA's, though sometimes a pain for being strict, normally are good at keeping everything nice and everyone in check.

This is a great old thread. I would never buy a house with parking on my side of the street. When I was a kid I was charged with cleaning up the trash that parkers threw on our tree lawn. Taught me a valuable lesson.

I realize that this is an old conversation and most people involved have probably moved on. I have been having a similar problem and got here through google while trying to decide what to do.

My situation is slightly different than the OP but similar enough that I read every post here and decided to post my own scenario.

I live in a subdivision on a dirt road where there are no curbs. I believe it is a public road and we have no HOA. My next door neighbor is a single mom renter with 4 kids and I live alone. I bought my house a little over a year ago and this new renter moved in about 6 months ago. Her kids range from diapers to about 10 years old and run through my yard leaving toys and garbage behind as well as pulling out flowers. This drives me crazy but I have always let this go because most of my neighbors are young families with kids and I don't want to be the mean single guy.

Anyways, now a boyfriend moved in about a month ago and the real trouble has started. It has been nothing but trouble since he moved in. Most of the driveways in our neighborhood are only wide enough for one car. Instead of blocking the other one in he always parks on the road. The problem is that their driveway is at the border of our property lines and he chooses to park in front of my house instead of the side of the driveway that would be in front of their house. It's an unsightly rust bucket but that isn't my major concern.

He parks so his inside two wheels are in my yard and uses this as his every day parking spot. This is what really bothers me. He is unemployed so his car often sits here for 2 to 3 days without being moved. I now have muddy ruts in my yard and his car is always in the way so I can't mow that front left corner of my property.

They are the last house on our street before the cul-de-sac where people often turn around. I asked him if he could park in their own yard instead of mine. He said no their mailbox is on the other side of their driveway. This means its not a simple drive through my yard. He would have to go around the cul-de-sac when he arrives instead of when he leaves.

Well I asked nicely and he shot me down so I picked up a big rock that was by my driveway and moved it to that corner along our property border right in the part of my yard he drives through to park. He parked in the yard of the house his girlfriend rents after I did this.

That is until I left town that weekend. When I came back the rock was in the middle of my yard and he was parked in my grass again. I moved it back the first time I came home when he wasn't there and he parked in their yard again.

That is until I left town again the following weekend. This time when I got home the big rock was moved onto my front porch blocking my door.

I knocked on their door and confronted him about it this time. He told me that the side of the road is public right of way and I have no legal right to put the rock there even though it's part of my property. He also told me that he can legally park there if he wants to. After doing some research I'm afraid he's right even though he is damaging my property.

I didn't bother to put the rock back in the corner again because I felt that he was sending a message by blocking my door with it. I don't want to come home one weekend and find that he has thrown it through my bay window and I wouldn't be able to prove it was him if he did. Instead I just put it back in it's original place near my driveway. When my neighbor on the opposite side of my house saw me move it back she actually gave him a high five so it's clear that both sides of my property are against me. The girl who did this frequently comes over to the offenders house to drink and have bonfires. I can't complain about this too much because even though they are regularly out there drinking until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning on weeknights when I have to work they are typically quiet.

We are all in our late 20's but I find this extremely immature and disrespectful. When my neighbors across the street saw this high five they came over and told me they see what's going on and they are on my side. They intentionally said it loud enough that the jerks on both sides of my house who were outside could hear it. I told them that I appreciate the support but I'd rather not have a neighborhood war zone.

I don't see any legal ways to stop this and everything I can think of seems too petty. I could report their weekday fires that last into the middle of the night because I doubt they have the required permit. I could stop throwing their kids toys back into their yard and keep them but that would only hurt the kids instead of this jerk. I'm not going to do these things because I'm sure that would only escalate the problem. I frequently go out of town for the weekend and every time I do I already have to worry about them vandalizing my property out of spite during one of their drunken stupors.

I have strongly considered putting up security cameras so I would at least have proof if they damage my property while I'm gone. They are pricey and complicated to wire though.

I don't know what else to do. My only hope is that they will be gone soon since they are renters. We are young enough that we could be neighbors for the next 50 years! I would appreciate any advice.

This post was edited by king3pj on Tue, Jul 8, 14 at 16:04

My take--
1 option--sell your house for the max price you can get and move to a neighborhood that has an HOA that will keep people from doing stuff like that...

2--contact the owner of the house with some of your concerns--
You know if they are acting like that --running through your yard, dropping toys and other debris--they are being even worse inside the house they are renting...plus he may be worried about their love of having a fire in a rural area where the fire dept is likely volunteer and not fully equipped--
Does the owner know how they are behaving?
Have you seen him come to the house?
I bet he might not let her renew if he knew their behavior.
. 3--Build a fence around the property you own...low fence in front...
IF they break the fence that is an offense that you can report to the authorities...

4--get a camera to document intrusions
if you don't want to sell or maybe can't sell because of their behavior then you are likely going to be in adveserial position with these people until they move...

If they are renters have you contacted the landlord yet? Let him know that there is now a boyfriend living there(is the boyfriend on the lease?) and he is parking on your yard and damaging it. Let him know you have tried to handle the parking situation neighborly but he is just being a jerk about it. You are tired of the boyfriend coming onto your property(moving the rock)and damaging your property. Maybe the landlord will tell him to stop parking there for fear of having to pay to fix your lawn. Couldn't hurt. My best friend did this with a non-stop barking dog of their neighbors. They were getting no where with asking the neighbors to stop the dog from barking, so they called the landlord at 2am after listening to the dog bark for hours. They were not nice about it either when they talked to the landlord. The dog was gone in a week and the rest of the neighborhood could sleep at night. NancyLouise

Thanks for the advice. I would rather not sell because I love my house except for these renter neighbors that moved in about 6 months after I bought it. I wasn't aware that the house next door was a rental when I bought it. The fact that they are renters means they could be gone within a year or two. If so, this would be minor inconvenience if I stay here for years like I plan to.

I do like the idea of contacting the owner but I have never met him/her. I suppose that would be as simple as checking the property tax records and then looking for him/her in the phone book. I doubt the landlord knows about the boyfriend because he was not living there during the first 6 months she was renting.

The single mom and I never had any issues before he moved in so I think many of my problems would be solved either by a breakup or the landlord kicking him out. Yes, her kids frequently left toys and garbage in my yard as they ran through but we never had any confrontations about it. I just threw the garbage away and tossed the toys into her yard.

The only thing that worries me about ratting them out to the landlord is the possible repercussions that could come to my house or my brand new (3 week old) car. These people have shown willingness to go onto my property and mess with my stuff during their little parties so I wouldn't put it past them.

I guess that's where the security camera comes in. At least then I could have proof to give to the police if the boyfriend or his friends vandalize my property. I live in a rural subdivision in a very safe area so it seems silly to need a security camera here. The fact that I have renters like this next door and could again in the future when they move out might make that necessary though.

Have a female friend call and ask for him a few times from a blocked phone number. That should help him move out!

Love it Otter!

I would do a search on that address and see if you can find an old ad. You would know who owns it and what they were looking for like rental lease terms and length.

We have some wonderful renters next door, not going in to all the details, but we are adding cameras and new no trespassing signs. Sad because it is a friendly neighborhood but some one jumped our fence and killed some animals. Next time I will know who it was.

FYI some good thorny roses as a hedge sure would look pretty :)

Since the thread is full I thought I would edit and add:

It seems that using the weedwacker to mow the lawn when people park too close for the mower throws little bits of grass everywhere and those that park their car by the strip are not fond of the grass bits stuck and dried on....or at least that might be part of the reason I don't have all the neighborhood parking in front of our house any more

This post was edited by Kippy-the-Hippy on Thu, Jul 10, 14 at 22:28

Others have told you to contact the landlord. That is your best option. I'm certain the landlord would be interested in knowing that the BF is now living in the home also. I'm going to guess that he is not on the lease.

Actually, there is right of way, which is crossing someone else's property to access one's own. This requires an easement.
Then there's public right of way, which is usually several feet along public roads (distance depends) for pedestrians to walk along or to get out of a car, etc. In some counties, your property, as per survey, will not even go all the way to the road. It may be more complicated as it may depend on whether there's a curb, a sidewalk, or nothing.

Are you sure that your property extends all the way to the road? And if yes, if you wanted to build a fence, how far to the road could you go? The county should be able to tell you.

Also, even if there's public ROW, it doesn't mean that anyone you uses it can damage your property. So, yes, he can park on the road and get out, but he can't park on your property.

I'm pretty much positive he's not on the lease. I appreciate all the advice about contacting the landlord. I am going to try to do this.

Kippy the Hippy's idea of a rose hedge sounds pretty good to me too. I'm going to look into bushes or trees that grow tall fast to plant as a barrier between my yard and theirs. If I can't get rid of them completely it would be nice to at least limit my view of them and hopefully keep them off my property.

It's not unusual for me to find half full beer cans leaning against trees in my yard near that side of the property when I wake up in the morning. If I planted some thick pine trees or a line of bushes at least him and his friends would have to make a conscious effort to go through or around them and into my property. I'm guessing they just do this because my trees are closer than theirs when they hang out in the driveway more than an intentional effort to leave them in my yard.

nosoccermom I appreciate your knowledge on the right of way laws. I tried to research them myself but couldn't find anything specifically for my township and the general rules I did find were confusing.

There is no curb or sidewalk. If there was a sidewalk his tires would be planted firmly in the middle of it. I still wouldn't like his car in front of my house but I would be a little more accepting if he would at least keep all 4 tires on the road.

We are at the end of a subdivision near the cul-de-sac. Their is virtually zero traffic at our part of the street except for the 3 of us who live on the end. The road is wide enough for him to park on and still leave plenty of room for other cars to safely get by. He insists on parking halfway in the road and halfway in the grass in front of my house though.

No, I'm not sure whether my property extends all the way to the edge of the road or not. I do know that the only person in our neighborhood who has a fence in their front yard put it up just before the ditch leaving 4 or 5 feet before the road. Many of us who have big trees near the road seem to have them a similar distance from the road as their fence.

I suspect the rude neighbor who parks in my grass was right when he said I couldn't put the rock where I had it about 3 feet from the road because no one else really has anything that close to the road.

I don't know if that means that the grass up to the edge of our dirt road subdivision is our property or not. I do know that he is making muddy ruts through the grass in front of my house as he pull in and out of "his parking spot". I also have to mow around his car leaving a corner uncut because he won't move. I work hard to make sure my lawn looks nice and neat. Those ruts and longer grass where he parks don't help.

Re your lot/property line
Didnt u have a survey done showing your property dimensions when u bought your house?
In Tx--my state--even in a generic subdivision where fences and sidewalks generally mark each lot people slways get a survey of property lines.
You have to show one when u replace a fence or if u have questions about thr phone or cable easements...
Sounds like there is an easement next to the road that might be yours but might prevent u building a fence or making "improvements" because there are sewer/water/cable lines there or for future expansion.

Take videos on your phone or photos to show landlord in case they try to lie their way out of him living there

Get a survelliance camera w good night ability
There are some inexpensive ones
Put it in your car and park so you film her housecoming/going

i was currently in the same situation tried being a adult with no success with ignorant neibors so i bought a hoopty parked in front of there house and widened my apron on my driveway and had them towed we all have our breaking point looking at 3000 and problem solved

Old Thread.

My neighbor exhibits the same behavior. Our CC&R's also state that garages are to be used for parking cars and any others should be parked in the driveway. Therefore, if someone is not using their garage or driveway, they are in violation. On-street parking decreases property values, blocks emergency access, and makes it difficult for mail delivery and trash pick-up. While the street may be public, City Ordinances prohibit abandoning cars on the street for specific lengths of time and those cars can be towed. Property managers are not efficient at enforcing the CC&R's. Perhaps you could at least ask that the Board print a reminder in the next newsletter. Neighbors should not have to confront each other regarding violations. That is the job of the HOA manager.

My neighbours daughters boyfriend parks in front of my house I live on a hill her father parks in front of his house but up my end so I asked the boy can he move down so I can get out easier and not park there on bin nights got sworn at and abused the father came over agreed to move down and move on bin night since he's a cheeky 18 year old still parks there I'm too busy seeing if I hit his car instead of watching for safety reasons there's plenty if room down further I don't think it was much to ask but they have lived here longer and I feel like they have no respect when people visit me they park on my grass I've put my bins there now so they can't park there its the lack of respect that gets to me I respect my neighbors

It took an accident to train the folks who lived across from my parents' house to stop parking their car in front of OUR house.

They did have a garage, but it was for their other car. Apparently they didn't want to move cars in and out of the garage playing vehicular jockey, so they parked in front of our house.

This blocked our mailbox. The post office is under no obligation to deliver mail if a car or anything is blocking access to the box - they don't need to get out of their own vehicle to deliver. So... they didn't.

My parents kindly asked them to park elsewhere. That didn't work.

The road at this juncture curves about 45 degrees, a smooth curve, nothing angular. The bend is off to the left as you are driving from one direction. On our side of the road, there were actually two houses with a shared looping driveway (and thus two mailboxes being blocked). [The original owners were brothers.]

One early hour of morning, some drunk teen came barreling down that road and didn't see the curve. Vector analysis showed he continued on in a straight line, straight through the neighbor's car, through the mailboxes, and down the driveway we shared with our neighbors to our right, where he stopped, upside down, after having totaled two cars, and having brought that second car parked at that bend down there with him.

We replaced the mailboxes a lot more inexpensively than the guy across the road replaced his car, which from then on out he parked in his driveway. The kid walked away with a broken arm (and I hope a huge fine and revoked license).

(PS, I was the only one at home at the time. My parents were off on some business trip or another, and my brother was away at college. One advantage of being in a bedroom in a walkout basement solidly under the house is you don't hear any of this happening. I got up at the usual time in the morning, to all sorts of remnant debris - apparently, police, ambulances and tow trucks had come by all without me hearing a thing! I am not really THAT solid a sleeper! It probably didn't look like anyone was at home, or they'd be out investigating, so no one rang the bell -- which would have also rung downstairs. But there's loads of car window glass, shards of metal, and a cracked bottle of Smirnoff's with what looked like orange juice inside, and the mailboxes were smashed hither and yon, with some outgoing mail I salvaged scattered in damp grass. I'm like... "whattha?".)

commenting on starter topic. buy old cargo or box van and park in front of their house :)