Is my neighbor as crazy as I think he is?

[Anonymous]

I live in a very suburban area of DC where there is no zoned parking and parking is plentiful. We (and all our neighbors) have a driveway and at least a place for one car directly in front of the house. Some houses have 2 spots in front of the house. Whether there is one spot or two is dependent on driveway placement. We have two cars, one we park in the driveway and one in the spot directly in front of our house (we only have one spot directly in front of our house). Friends, the nanny, and our parents generally park in front of the house next door, which until recently has been vacant. It was recently rented to a single man. The gentleman usually parks his car in the driveway but sometimes parks his car in front of the house.

The other day he came over and confronted me for parking my car in one of the two spots in front of his house (we had a friend over who had parked in the spot I usually park my car). He said those were his spots and we were not allowed to park there. He said we were infringing on his enjoyment of his property. I told him the spots are DC public parking and we had every right to park there. He would not back down. I really don't understand his problem. Our visitors never take up more than one spot in front of his house, so there is ALWAYS at least one open parking space, plus his driveway. He only has one car.

Is he crazy or are we being bad neighbors? BTW- one of the spots that he claims is his isn't really in front of his house, its half on my property and half on his. Also my nanny isn't the issue, she leaves before he gets home from work. Its really our parking there or any guests on the weekend.

Also, if he (or any of our other neighbors for that matter) has guests over and they park in our spot when we aren't home we don't care. Worst case scenario is that we have to park a few houses down.

[Anonymous]

Yes, he is a controlling jackass. See what you can find online about the ownership of street parking, print it out, and keep it on hand for the next confrontation.

[Anonymous]

Yea, sounds a bit nuts. BUT, it is not relevant how many cars he has or the fact that he has a driveway since you dont know if that could ever change or if he might have people come stay with him, visit, etc....Your other argument about the fact that it is DC parking and nobody owns the places in front of their house is valid and you should stick with that as your reasoning IMO. We have no driveway, we live in zone 5 Bloomingdale and if caused a fuss every time someone parked on the street in front of our house it would become a part time job to fuss. It happens literally every day and I dont give a flying fig about it. It just means I have to find a parking spot which is fairly annoying but I know what city I chose to buy a house in and this is something people know ahead of time I would think. Parking here is difficult. Having a driveway doesnt solve it all but it makes it a bit better for sure. Still, having people over can be tricky - driveway or no driveway depending on the numbers.
Are you sure he isnt also pissed about something else and isnt just warming up on the parking issue? I would wonder about that if I were in your shoes. What are your previous interactions with him if any? Are you in a rowhouse, connected to him or a single family home?

[Anonymous]

I agree with pp. But I'd probably park somewhere else. No fun to have a feud with the neighbor. Or, do you know the owner? Can the owner explain to the man? Or maybe the owner is the one who misinformed him!

[Anonymous]

16:29 - NO. NO. NO.

16:29 is working on her "how to p*ss off your neighbor and invite retaliation from the street smart" guide. Please excuse her naivete.

We have this problem in our neighborhood. We have controlling neighbor (A) and neighbor who just wants his space (B). Simple, right? Nope. (A) INSISTS on parking in front of (B)'s house. Something about (A) being there first. Where are we, grade school? Believe me when I tell you this has NOTHING to do with parking spaces, at all. (A) *continually* makes an issue out of it, especially knowing that (B) doesn't like (A)'s behavior. (A) keeps at it, whatever (A)'s issue is. And (get this) (A) has plenty of room and great parking in front of their own house. WTH?

I know both parties and I also know that (B) is not as nice as he seems, so (A) is in for some surprises that I feel (but do not have) an obligation to report. Suffice it to say it is going to be really, really bad and (A) will never see it coming. (B) has already been pushed. If (A) only knew when to stop and LET IT GO, (A) would have put themselves (!) in a much better position. Besides it buying goodwill between neighbors, the moral of the story is do NOT antagonize. Use your OWN space and everyone will be happy. I never understood the need for minding others spaces? It only brings problems. Don't assume the one you are antagonizing will not be residing there as long or whatever, you never know. And it could be really bad.

If your parents taught you anything, it should be to choose your battles extremely carefully (don't pick on the wrong person)!

This case is in the suburbs, where there is more implied understanding.

[Anonymous]

I have seen people with plenty of parking try to have their guests park on a particular neighbors lawn. Antagonism at its best! This is not how to make good neighbors, BTW.

[Anonymous]

Yes, he is crazy. I would also give him a copy of the laws pertaining to street parking and/or talk to his landlord. If he threatens you in any way, call the police.

[Anonymous]

17:51 - how is common courtesy crazy? You sound like you are deflecting. Rather poorly, at that. You can turn it into a p*ssing contest, or you can do the right thing. You know how your neighbor feels, why escalate things? Do you make every molehill into a mountain? Wow, how does your husband do it? I commend him.

[Anonymous]

He's nuts. He's wrong. That said, have your evening and weekend guests park in other spots. That's the easiest solution.

[Anonymous]

he's insane

[Anonymous]

PP has got to be the same poster. And probably guilty of parking on his neighbors spots! I would be wary of anyone willing to overuse "insane" as here, but why not play nice OP? [Isn't that part of what the judge would consider? Lawyers are a dime a dozen here, and I suspect judges are really, really tired of entitled lawyers, should your PITA neighbor be a lawyer and/or "insane". Are they the same? Also, if it escalates, the judge will see it has nothing to do with cars.] Anyway, wanting ones own space does not make one insane, but I am reasonably wondering about PPs

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't try to reason with him. You are doing nothing wrong. I would say, "What I am doing is legal. You can look it up if you don't believe me. I feel like you are harassing me. DON'T talk to me again."

I did this with a neighbor who used to freak out because a tree in my yard obstructed his view of "the neighborhood." Occasionally he tries to bring it up again, but I always respond with, "I SAID I didn't want you to talk to me anymore," and it mostly has put an end to his bullshit.

[Anonymous]

OP, videotape any of your neighbors craziness to give the judge an idea of what you have had to deal with. Also, do everything in writing. Talk to your lawyer if you have more run ins. Serve everyone involved if necessary. They will have to incur the time and expense. GL.

Do you by chance live in a nicer house? Are they paying less taxes than they should be? Backtaxes could force them out of the neighborhood. Just a thought.

If it were me, I wouldn't risk messing with you don't know who, but that is my common sense speaking.

[Anonymous]

OP here. No antagonism before this. Really no interaction. He asked us for our lawn guy, we gave him the name. Same for other random questions such as trash day, etc. We are quiet, we have two small children, so wild parties. I didn't mention this before but he is European, just moved here to work for the world bank, maybe property rights are different where he grew up? I do generally tell friends to park elsewhere but I refuse to tell my parents or inlays to do so. Especially when we aren't stopping him from parking in front if his house.

[Anonymous]

Maintaining good relations with neighbors is important to the Europeans I've known here in America and when I've lived in Europe. Who knows what's going on with your neighbor. His reaction about the parking space doesn't make sense to me. Maybe this is happening because he knows he's only in that house temporarily, and he's unhappy about life in general or about something specific, so he's going to take it out on you. Whatever. But he's your neighbor, and in the interests of maintaining your peace of mind about the place where you, your husband and two small children live, PPs suggestion about contacting the owner of the house he rents sounds like a great way to start figuring out how to resolve this situation as constructively as possible.