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Hello everyone. First thing is that this issue just happened this week and I am so mad that I am shaking as I type this. I am going to apologize up front if I ramble but I honestly can’t believe this actually happened. I’ve tried to condense this weeks activity into a single story but sadly, it turned out to be super long – sorry in advance. I think I have to put TLDR?
Backstory: I’m a single mother of 2 teenage boys and I live in a nice, quiet neighborhood at the end of a cul-de-sac. Every house on this street has a garage and I’m the only one that has a single car ***and*** parks in my garage. Almost every house on this street is a family home with at least 3 cars, but most have more. Some will park in their drive-way and some will park on the street. It’s never been a problem since everyone is considerate on how they park and no one has ever had an issue with getting in and out of the street. In addition, I tend to keep to myself. I’m not antisocial and I wave and say hello to my neighbors when I come and go from my home but usually when I get home – I stay home. So, I say all of this to give you an idea that I’m a homebody and my neighbors pretty much know that when I get home – I stay home. About 6 months ago, the house to my right was sold to a larger family that consisted of Dad, Mom, and 3 teenagers. The day they started moving in, I made a point to go over to the edge of the property to wave and greet them in order to welcome them to the neighborhood. They were friendly and I was happy to have such nice people to move in next door. Also note, this family used their garage for storage and thus parked their 4 cars in their driveway. I didn’t know it at the time, but their youngest son was just months away from his 16th birthday. Now that you have a little information, onto the story.
The players: Me is me, ND is entitled Neighbor Dad, NS is entitled neighbor son, and NM is entitled Neighbor Mom, and NP is the poor nice police officer.
Today is Monday afternoon and this story began last Tuesday. Around 6PM on Tuesday, I received a knock on the door and it was ND. Following is our conversation:
ND: Good evening, how are you?
Me (talking through the screen door): We’re okay. I’m sorry I can’t open the door but my youngest came home from school with a sore throat today and so I’m not sure what’s going on with him. How are you and how can I help?
ND: I’m sorry to hear that – I hope it isn’t anything serious. We are okay. My son just turned 16 a few weeks ago and I’m sure you saw the new truck we bought him.
Me: Yes, I did. It’s such a pretty truck and big! Does he like it?
ND: Yes, he does! It’s what he wanted so we got it for him. It *is* very big and that’s what I wanted to talk to you about
(Let’s take a brief pause here and understand that when I say this truck is very big – it is VERY big. It is an F350! I personally think its too much of a vehicle for a kid learning to drive, but it’s not my money so to each their own)
Me: I don’t understand?
ND: We have been having complaints from some of the other neighbors that his truck is so big that they can’t get around it when they are driving through and we’re afraid that it might get side swiped if he continues to park it in the street.
Me: Yeah, I’ve had some intense moments trying to get around it myself, but I’m sure he will get better at parking as he gets more experienced. I’m not sure what this has to do with me – I haven’t complained.
ND: Oh, I know you haven’t complained, which is why I was going to ask if he could use your drive-way to park since you don’t use it.
Me (very stunned at this): Um, I do use my driveway when I leave and come home. I can’t get to my garage without using my driveway. Besides, I have issues with depth perception and your son’s truck is so big it will take up most of my driveway and I don’t want to be responsible for any damage that might happen while it is on my property.
ND: Well, we will make sure that he parks so that it will allow you to come and go without any issues.
Me: That isn’t possible. The only way he can park to allow me to get around him is if he parks halfway on my lawn and that wouldn’t work because then he would damage my lawn. If you are concerned about his truck getting damaged then why don’t you let him park in your drive-way and then one of your other smaller cars can park in the street.
ND: We’ve already discussed that and we would have to park 2 cars in the street in order for him to use the driveway. It would be very easy for him to park in your driveway and I can assure you that it will not be an inconvenience to you. You don’t even use your driveway.
Me: I’m sorry, but the answer is no. I’m not going to be responsible for his vehicle on my property and I need to be able to come and go without worrying about someone else’s property.
ND (very upset at this point): You are not being very neighborly. I thought you were a nice woman. You don’t use your driveway and this would benefit the whole neighborhood.
Me (losing my temper at this point): Listen, I told you no and I ***DO*** use my driveway every time I pull into my garage and every time I leave. I’m sorry you don’t have enough parking for all your vehicles, I’m sure its frustrating, but its not my problem that you decided to buy a vehicle that didn’t fit your property. Now, while I also find it irritating to try to navigate the road with that truck in the way, it is public parking and so I deal with it. I will not have anyone else’s vehicle parking on my property. Now, if you don’t mind, I have a sick kid and need to get back to him! Have a good day.
With that I closed the door and then looked out the peep hole and saw him give me the bird before he turned to leave. I just shook my head and had to take a moment to understand that I actually just had that conversation. I then loaded my son up in the car and left to take him to minor emergency to get him checked out. All tests came back negative and I was told he probably had a run of the mill virus and to keep him home and do self-care. Was told to bring him in if he got worse but not to worry.
I went to work the next day and told my co-workers the story of my neighbor’s request and they were shocked. I had one co-worker suggest that I send an email to my HOA to explain what happened just to get it on record because it was such an odd request. I took her advice and typed up an email that day when I was at lunch and sent it. For those who want to know, it was just an FYI email – not a complaint email. It basically stated that my neighbor made a request to park on my property and when I declined, he got mad at me and I wanted it on record just in case anything ever happens. (so very glad I did!)
So, Friday comes and my youngest son has been home sick since Tuesday afternoon. When I got home Friday evening, I checked him and he had begun to run a fever and was complaining of several other things. I had been doing self-care with him since Tuesday and he didn’t appear to be getting any better. Around 7 PM, I decided to take him back to minor emergency and loaded him up in the car. I opened my garage door and I was absolutely shocked to see that very big F350 sitting in my driveway – BLOCKING me! I can’t describe to you how angry I was to see that vehicle sitting there.
(Now before anyone starts asking me how I didn’t know it was in my driveway, its because my street is very busy and cars are coming and going all the time and unless someone knocks on my door – I don’t bother watching every vehicle that drives up and down the street. The only window that can see my driveway are the ones in my Kitchen and I keep those curtains drawn and never look out of them).
So, I get out of my car and stomp over to my neighbor’s house and bang on their door. NM answers the door and this is the conversation:
NM (irritated and kind of angry): Can I help you? You are interrupting our dinner!
Me: Your son is parked in my driveway after I told your husband he couldn’t. I need to take my son to minor emergency and that truck is blocking me in!
[Its at this time that ND walks up behind NM and proceeds to talk]
ND: He isn’t blocking you in, you can get around him.
Me: No I can’t. You need to move that truck or I’m going to call the police AND a tow truck! I need to get my son in to see a doctor!
ND (turning to call for his son and then turning back to me): He’s not blocking you but I will have him move it.
Me: It doesn’t matter whether you believe he is blocking me in or not. He is not allowed to park in my driveway. No one is allowed to park in my driveway and if I find an unauthorized vehicle parked in my drive-way again – I’m not going to bother to knock on your door – I’m going to have it towed!
It was at this time I saw the son arrive at the door with his keys in his hands and I turned to leave and head to my car to wait for him to move it and I heard him call me that famous “B” word every woman has heard at least once in her life! I ignored him and headed to my car and watched as he got in and after some effort finally was able to back out of my driveway and parked his truck in the street a little way down the road. I was able to leave and take my son to minor emergency where, as we waited for several hours to be seen, I shot off another email to my HOA about what had just happened.
I want to advise, the HOA had already responded the day before that they received my email, made a note of it, and advised my property was my own and I could give or deny access to it as I wish. It was this email string that I responded to while waiting for my kid to be seen. Again, all tests administered to my son came back negative and I was told it was a run of the mill virus and he would be fine, the virus just had to run its course. I took him home and called it a day.
Saturday evening, my oldest started complaining of a soar throat and I was starting to feel poorly myself. My youngest appeared to be getting better so I figured that whatever he had, that we were getting so we stayed in all day Saturday and Sunday. Sunday evening at about 5:30 my oldest son spiked a fever and while it came down a little, it didn’t come down enough so I loaded him in the car and off to minor emergency we went. The only one I could find that was open on Sunday at this time was on the other side of town so I had to drive 20 minutes just to get there and we ended up waiting for 3 hours to just get in the door and then another 45 minutes till we saw the doctor. After a few more hours and all of his tests come back negative the doctor did state that she could hear some wheezing in his lungs and so she prescribed an inhaler for him to help him but basically told me the same thing that he has a run of the mill virus and to let it run it course. I had to drive even further to the only 24-hour pharmacy available to pick up the inhaler and we did not get back to the house until almost midnight.
Let me set the scene for you. My son is half asleep in the passenger seat and complaining that he just wants to go home and I am exhausted and feeling drained and having coughing fits myself and I’m just looking forward to going to bed when I rounded the corner and saw that truck sitting in my driveway. I couldn’t even pull in because he was blocking me and I also noticed that he was parked partially on my lawn. I was so mad I could hardly see straight. I googled and found a 24-hour tow truck service and explained that I had an unauthorized vehicle on my property that I needed towing. The woman said it would be about 30 minutes before they could get a truck there and I said that was fine. In the meantime, I walked my kid to the house and put him to bed and then quickly went outside and took a picture from the street to show how much of the driveway he was taking and that he was also parked on my lawn. I couldn’t understand why they would park in my driveway again after I had told them no and the only thing I could come up with is that since there had been no activity at my house for hours that my neighbors probably assumed I was in for the night and wouldn’t notice the truck in my driveway (this is pure speculation but its normal for me to be in for the night especially after 6PM). I don’t know if they missed me leaving or just saw me leave but figured I was home but it really doesn’t matter because I told them they couldn’t park on my property. It was about 12:30 AM when the tow truck arrived and I half expected my neighbors to come running but there wasn’t any activity from them and the driver left with the truck without incident. I went in, shot off another email to my HOA along with pictures and an explanation that I had towed the vehicle and then went to bed.
At 6:00 AM, this morning I woke up to someone banging loudly and rapidly on my door. I didn’t have to look; I knew who it was. I grabbed my phone, hit the video record button. Before I opened the door, I looked through the peep hole and saw ND and his son at my door. I opened the door and following is the conversation:
ND(very angry and yelling): Where is the truck?!!!
Me (as calmly as I could state while coughing). It was towed. You can call Such and Such Company to make arrangements to get it back.
ND: You didn’t have the right to tow it. You’re going to pay to get it back!
Me: I had every right to tow an unauthorized vehicle on my property. I told you not to park on my property and you did it anyways. It blocked me from getting in my driveway last night. I told you I was going to have it towed after the last time you parked without my permission. And I won’t be paying anything to get it back.
ND: You stole my truck “you f’n B” and I’m calling the police. I’m going to sue you!
Me (having enough of this): Go ahead. In the meantime, I’m sick and I’m going back to bed.
I closed the door and stood there for a moment. I looked out the peep hole and they were still there. ND started banging and was also ringing my doorbell non-stop. He knocked and rang my doorbell for another 4 minutes before he gave up. I am still recording all of this and I didn’t turn off the video he was gone. I turned and saw my kids standing there. The noise had gotten them up and I just advised that if they were still feeling ill, to just go back to bed because that was where I was going. Now I will honestly say that I didn’t think he would call the police, but he DID! It was about a half hour (I really wasn’t looking at the clock) that I heard the doorbell ring. I got up and looked through the peep hole and a police officer was there. I opened the door and had the following conversation.
NP: Good morning ma’am. Sorry to bother you, but we had a report from your neighbor. He is stating that you “stole” his son’s truck by having it towed from the street and we need to talk to you about this issue.
Me: Good morning officer. My neighbor is only telling you half the story. I had his truck towed this morning from MY driveway when I returned home from minor emergency. I couldn’t get into my driveway and I have already told him twice that him and his family can’t park on my property. This issue started last week and I have emails to my HOA, pictures of his truck parked in my driveway this morning, and a video of my neighbor’s visit this morning where he called me names and told me he was going to sue me and call the police. I can show you if you would like?
NP: Yes. So, you are saying that the truck in question was on your property without your permission and that you had it towed?
Me: Yes. Last Tuesday he asked if I would allow his son to park in my driveway. I told him no and he got mad at me and flipped me off before leaving. Then Friday evening, when I was leaving, I discovered his son had parked in my driveway and I couldn’t leave my garage. I went over and demanded they remove the vehicle and I told them at that time that I would have the truck towed if they parked on my property again. I came home late this morning and the truck was in my driveway – so I had it towed.
NP: I just want to confirm, you are saying that it wasn’t parked on the street but in your driveway. And you have proof of this?
Me: Yes sir. If you will give me a minute, I will print off the emails that I sent to the HOA that documents the issues and I will also show you the picture and video as well.
With this, the police officer said that he would wait for me to print everything off. Once I got the emails printed, I then returned to the door. Opened my photos app to the officer to show the truck in my driveway, timestamped. Handed my phone and printed emails to him. After looking at the photo where you could clearly see my house in the background, the truck blocking the entrance and that it was partially on the lawn, the officer then read the printouts. He handed my phone back to me and asked me to open the video that I had referenced while he went over to the lawn to look. I watched him look at the area and then take a few photos. I could see my neighbor and his whole family standing in their driveway watching me and the NP. NP returned and I handed him back my phone with the video ready and he watched it. After he finished watching the video, we had the following exchange:
NP: I am going to need a copy of that photo and video for my file. If I provided you with an email, would you be able to send it to me?
Me : Yes sir. No problem.
NP: I have enough information for my files to determine that the vehicle was not on public property and was in fact on your property. I’ve made a note that you did not give permission for the vehicle to be parked on the property. Based on the emails you gave me with dates and time, it appears you did in fact advise your neighbor not to park on your property. Would you like to file a trespassing report for this incident?
Me: Oh, absolutely.
NP: I can see you are not feeling well. You can either file with me now or you can go online. [getting business card out, writing on it, and then handing it to me]. Here is my business card with my email address that you need to use to send me your photo and video and the case # is on the card as well. Do you want to file with me now?
Me: Honestly, I’m exhausted and would prefer to file online later.
NP: Okay. Reference this case # when you email your evidence and file the online report. Also reference my name in the report. One more thing – I saw in the video where ND stated he was going to sue you for having the truck towed. He can sue you if he wants and I would advise that you keep all of the evidence you provided me with today along with the case # I just gave you. Give it a few days and you can request a copy of the report and you will want to keep that as well. If you decide to file an online report, you will need to keep a copy of that as well. I’m going to go talk to ND now and sorry to have bothered you.
Me: Thank you officer. I’m sorry you had to come out.
NP: Have a good day ma’am. Get some rest.
With that, I closed the door and went back to bed. However, I am so mad that I didn’t get any sleep. A few hours ago, I sent off my photo, video, and another copy of the HOA emails to the email address the police officer gave me and then saved all of that information just in case. I also filed a trespassing report online. I then sat down and started typing this story. Not sure where this is going to go, but I am going to see it through.
I know that I’m going to get a lot of pushback from people saying that I should have just knocked on their door and had them move the truck but I feel that I was right to have the truck towed. I had already told them twice not to park on my property and it didn’t stop – so this was the consequence. I will post an update later if there is anything that comes of my report or if ND does actually follow up on his threat and sue me.
If you read all of this, thank you and again, I’m sorry for the length.
Update: OMG, this thing blew up and I’m just amazed. Thank you everyone for your comments and awards. I had posted this because I was second guessing myself and thought maybe I had let my sickness and anger outweigh my judgement but your comments have made me feel more secure with the decision I made. I have so many comments that I can’t respond to everyone so I wanted to address a few repeating comments that I saw:
#1. This is a real story and if you don’t believe it, then that’s on you.
#2. Yes, I live in a quiet neighborhood and my specific road is busy. There are 12 houses on my street. Busy road doesn’t mean noisy. I guess I caused confusion when I said I was at the end of the the Cul-de-sac. I’m the last house right before the cul-de-sac starts, so I consider myself at the end. Cul-de-sac doesn’t mean no traffic, I still have neighbors and guests drive by and the cul-de-sac is used as a place to turn around. As I previously stated, I’m the only one on with a single car. This is a family neighborhood and there are lots of cars that drive in our area and on our street. They are residents and guests.
#3. Cameras. I don’t have any cameras and I will have to save up to get some and based on the comments I will make that a priority. I have to budget to get extra stuff. My neighbor across the street have cameras and I’m almost certain the front of my house is covered by them. There is no way they can cover the front of their property without getting the street and my front yard covered. This doesn’t bother me and when I’m feeling better, I will go ask them about the coverage.
#4. I did take a look at my HOA paperwork and it does mention that street parking is acceptable but only if it doesn’t impede traffic. I’m assuming that since some of the neighbors made a complaint about the truck, that the HOA must have said something to him which is why he was trying to use my driveway. This is purely an assumption.
#5. For those telling me I should have damaged the truck in some way – I just can’t do that. Was it wrong for them to park on my property – yes, but that doesn’t mean I have to be like them. I’m satisfied with just towing the truck and the report I filed. If things don’t escalate then I will call it a win. If they do, then I will certainly respond. Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not a push-over. I will not start anything or escalate anything unnecessarily – but if they escalate I will stand my ground.
#6. Yes, myself and my oldest are still sick but getting better every day. My youngest was able to return to school this morning.
Thank you all again for your support and I will certainly update you when I know anything else.
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