Entitled neighbor repeatedly scratches resident’s car by slamming his gate open onto it, resident collects evidence for a full report: ‘Time to set up a camera’

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  • Woman crouching in front of a car
  • My neighbor keeps "accidentally" letting his gate slam into my car every single morning and I'm losing my mind

    So I've lived in this duplex for about two years and things were totally fine until the guy next door got a new truck last spring and started parking it right along the shared fence line between our driveways.
  • The fence has this old wooden gate that opens outward toward where I park and it has never been a problem because the previous tenants always just held it when they opened it.
    via salted_prelude
  • This new guy, Dave, just lets it swing. Every single morning between 6:30 and 7am I hear this bang and I look out and there it is, his gate just swung into the side of my car.
    via salted_prelude
  • I went over and talked to him about it twice already. The first time he apologized and seemed genuinely confused, like maybe he just never thought about it.
    via salted_prelude
  • Okay, fine. Second time I showed him an actual scratch along my door and he said "well I dont see how thats from my gate" and kind of shrugged me off.
    via salted_prelude
  • I started leaving earlier to move my car before he wakes up but that felt insane, like why am I rearranging my whole morning because he cant take two extra seconds to hold a gate.
    via salted_prelude
  • Last week I started keeping a note on my phone every time it happens with the time and a photo.
    via salted_prelude
  • I have 11 entries in nine days. I knocked again yesterday and this time he got a little aggresive about it, said I was being oversensitive and that old cars get scratches.
    via salted_prelude
  • My car is a 2021. I really dont want this to escalate into a full blown thing but I also dont know what my next step even is here, talked to my landlord and they just said "try to work it out between yourselves" which was spectacularly useless advice.
    via salted_prelude
  • Residential street with brick row houses
  • mreams99 Change the hinges on the gate so it opens the other way. I'm a problem-solver.
    via mreams99
  • nottherealpaulyshore We put a stake in the ground so our gate doesn't swing all the way
    via nottherealpaulyshore
  • QuietTwerp Make a police report. Show them your evidence. If it continues, continue to accumulate evidence with video. Complaints to your landlord also count as evidence, even if they told you to handle it yourself. Get a lawyer. Sue for damages. You might even be able to do this through your insurance without a lawyer or court system.
    via QuietTwerp
  • Jojosbees Put a rock down so the gate stops right before it hits your car.
    via Jojosbees
  • 88mistymage88 I need an MSPaint picture to understand why your neighbor is even opening the gate. Barring that get one of those stretchy metal things that attach to the gate (tension spring) so that the further the gate is opened the harder it is to push.
    via 88mistymage88
  • Druid-Flowers1 What do you mean you don't want to escalate, he's scratching your car. You're not the one escalating, get video.
    via Druid-Flowers1
  • velolove42 Time to set up a camera to document.
    via velolove42
  • bad_kiwi2020 File an insurance claim for the damage to your vehicle, video him letting the gate hitting your vehicle. The insurance assessors will eat him for breakfast
    via bad_kiwi2020
  • owlpellet Bump stop. Hammer a 4' piece of rebar 3' into the ground at the property line and pop a high viz pool noodle onto it. Let it clang. Don't tell landlord. Not everything has to be a negotiation.
    via owlpellet
  • ColoradoWeasel Old cars get scratched. So do new trucks.
    via ColoradoWeasel
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