Parking in front of your house

abcd1234

New member
Maybe those Montecito alley courts (or whichever TIC WBE collection it is) isn't so bad after all.  They wouldn't be dealing with what seems to be a silly parking situation to many, but it is bugging the crap out of me.

Here's my situation:
A new neighbor recently moved into their house after months of rehabbing.  They have a 2-car garage, yard in front of their house to park one car, and the full driveway to park the other car.

When I moved into my house, I had 2 situations happen to me.  First, we were having work on our house, and a neighbor passive-aggressively told me not to have the construction people park in front of their house.  No problem- I understand- and I have plenty of frontage to park 3 cars in front of my house.

The other situation occurred when a second neighbor asked me if it was ok to park their son?s  car(home from college) for one night in front of my house.  Very courteous to ask me.  I had no problem with it.

So I see there is definitely a ?territorial? aspect to parking your cars in front of your own house.  I respect that.

Yet- this new neighbor decides to park BOTH of their cars in front of my house.  It's bugging the crap out of me.  This is a non-Mello Roos, easy HOA area.  So, there aren't any particular formal rules, but isn't there somewhat of a tacit mutual understanding (or just being curtious) to not park your cars in front of your neighbor's house when you just as easily do it in front of your own house and on your driveway, or gasp, inside your garage?

What would you do?
 
this may sound obvious, but have you approached them to let them know it bothers you?  it's possible they're not aware that it's offensive in general and especially to you in particular.

when my sister and i lived at home with my parents, we both parked on the street (since my mom parked in the garage and my dad on the driveway).  my sis took the spot in front of my parents' home and i took the spot in front of our neighbor's house...  every single day.  i honestly never thought twice about it since i considered all street parking to be open, but what we were doing was effectively surrounding his house and precluding any of his guests from parking there, which would definitely be annoying to some if it happened on a regular basis.  but my point is, if my mom hadn't pointed that out to me, it probably wouldn't have crossed my mind! 

 
Park in front of their house.

Are they to the left or right of you or in front of you?

I would probably just ask them why they park in front of your house if their curb is open, driveway and garage are open.
 
abcd1234 said:
This is a non-Mello Roos, easy HOA area.

To each his own, but this is why I like Mello Roos strict HOA communities.  Weeds out the ghetto illegal aliens taking advantage of everyone around them.
 
If you want to have some fun, at night put chalk marks on their tires like parking control does. That tends to motivate people. The other is to change a sprinklerhead to spray the street in the AM. Unfortunately unthinking neighbors sometimes requires a less than ideal pushback solution. I live in an area where every home has a 3CG yet of the 25 odd homes on the street, only about 5 use their garage as intended so this is a sore subject. The home owners also have driveway space deep enough to hold an additional 3 cars, yet somehow street parking is always tied up. ?!?

You pay HOA dues. There's a reason why you bought a property with an Association. They are the tool you need to use to get early bad behavior changed into long term good behavior. Approach the board with proposals to first remind owners that their two car garage is just for that - parking cars - and not tanning beds or unused exercise equiptment. Some sort of universal parking rules should be created early on so that these kinds of things don't continue. I'm sure you're not the only owner with parking issues which is why a global area solution will help all owners.
 
Missed the HOA part... I agree with SGIP you should contact them first since it's more anonymous and that's what you pay them for.

I just don't know if your HOA has anything regarding rules of conduct when it comes to parking... whether it be curbside, driveway or garage. I don't think mine does.
 
While I can see why it's annoying, my thinking is the same as irvinefan.  It's a public street right, so technically isn't it free for all?  Is it an unspoken rule?  Let's say if I am the one that's doing it and you confronted me.  First of all I wouldn't think it's a problem.  So I would be kind of upset being confronted for something that is not a problem (not saying your problem is not a problem).  Yes I would be a jerk for not parking in front of my own house but my argument would be it's a public street there is no rule on where I can park right?
 
Do they move their cars?  If they don't and you really don't like your neighbors, you can call the police because I believe you are not allowed to park on the street for more than 72 hours straight.  You can also try what my old neighbor used to do - place cones that marked his territory.  Technically, he wasn't allowed to do it, but he was the kind of guy you didn't want to argue with.

Of course, Irvinefan's suggestion is the best.  If it bugs you, just tell them.  Most people will understand.
 
So this is what steps I would take:

1. Contact the HOA and tell them the situation and get their opinion. Even if they say there is nothing they can do, they have been notified of the situation if other neighbors complain and they may end up addressing it in the future. Maybe even go so far as if it's possible to put something in their HOA monthly briefing (if yours has one) to "suggest" that residents use their driveways, garage and areas in front of their home for parking.

2. If you have no luck with the HOA (likely), just talk to your neighbor. Don't tell them that you think their cars are ugly but maybe something innocuous like you had some guests over and they mentioned the lack of parking in front of your home.

3 (Optional) If you have trees over your curbs, hang bird feeders so that the curb area becomes infested with birds. Nature will take care of the rest.
 
if he parks in front of your house, you start parking in front of his house. i don't see any issue doing it. As he doesn't like to park his own car in front of his house. he may get a message.
 
octrends said:
if he parks in front of your house, you start parking in front of his house. i don't see any issue doing it. As he doesn't like to park his own car in front of his house. he may get a message.

And the neighbor with an uglier car wins!!!
 
Give the neighbor the benefit of doubt. Let him know that it's an inconvenience for you. Guests at your home would need to park further from your home when he parks in front of your home. If you are doing some work in your garage, then it would be more convenient for you to park in front of your home, etc.

The sooner you do this the better. Otherwise you are causing yourself unnecessary aggravation everyday whenever you see his truck parked outside your home.

If after talking to him he still parks in front of your home you could opt for a tit-for-tat response. Or your family could try being extra nice to them and eventually he will do the right thing :)
 
I know this have been a while since the last post but what happened?  I just read this and wanted to say 'be careful' since some people don't have their heads screwed on right.  Many years ago, my old high school math teacher got into an argument with another homeowner about parking in front of his house.  To make a long story short, he ended up being taken to the hospital with two gunshot wounds (one to the chest and one to the arm) and the shooter neighbor took off (left the country) all over a parking spot on the street that neither of them owned or had rights to control.
 
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