Business owner lets customers park in neighbor's driveway, gets annoyed when he starts charging $10 for parking: 'I'd asked him to stop several times'

Ally Perry • Writer and Editor

Oct 29, 2026 12:30 PM EDT

Nothing is bound to cause a rift between neighbors like vehicles not being parked where they should be.

It is a concept that is so simple, yet apparently so hard to grasp for so many people who live near others: you should only be parking your car on your own property, or another place where you have express permission to do so. It is an unfortunate truth that the average home only has so much space for vehicles, but that is a problem that you have to work out for yourself if you end up with more cars than driveway space.

Millions across the country rely on their cars as their main form of transportation. It is no surprise that any block in their ability to drive and store their vehicles comfortably is going to feel like a major issue. Even if they don't have a car at all, it is very presumptuous for somebody to use their neighbor's property without even getting the proper permission.

Things get really ugly when the person dealing with this transgression tries to find a way to fix it. If somebody thinks that this is OK to do, they are likely to take issue with any attempt to stop it, no matter how mild. This can often be a situation in which subtlety is not your friend, and strong action needs to be taken. Sending the right message is half of the battle when neighbors are not willing to respect the normal boundaries.

*_{Two cars parked in a driveway in front of the porch of a yellow house. Scene shown is a visual representation.}*

A homeowner had grown frustrated with their neighbor, who was running a car detailing business from home. He was allowing his clients to park on their driveway, and it kept happening despite several conversations telling him that they needed it to stop.

Eventually, they decided that stronger action needed to be taken. They decided that making people pay for the space might slow down the stream of strangers who were putting their vehicles in their space. The neighbor wasn't happy about this, and reasoned that a no parking sign would have worked just as well.

A or B: My neighbor kept letting his car detailing customers park in my driveway, so I put up a $10 parking sign. Now he says I'm out of line

My neighbor runs a small car detailing business out of his garage. When he first started, he'd occasionally have a customer leave their car in my driveway while he worked on another car. I didn't make a big deal out of it at first because it wasn't happening very often, and he always said the car would only be there temporarily.

As his business picked up, though, it became a regular thing, especially on weekends. I'd come home and find a customer's car in my usual spot, or I'd be ready to leave and have to wait for someone to move. The cars weren't always there for long, but it was my driveway, and I was getting tired of having to work around his business.

I talked to my neighbor about it several times. He'd apologize and say he'd remind his customers not to park there, but it kept happening. Eventually, I told him directly that I didn't want his customers using my driveway anymore. He said, "Yeah, I get it. I'll take care of it."

He had been given fair warning.

Another customer parked there, so I went over and told my neighbor that I'd already asked him to stop, and if his customers kept using my driveway, I'd put up a sign charging $10 per car per day. He didn't seem happy about that, but he said he'd handle it.

I eventually decided I'd had enough and put up a sign at the end of my driveway that read, "Customer Parking: $10 per car per day." I figured that if he wasn't going to keep his customers off my property, I'd make it clear that parking there wasn't free.

Since I put up the sign, his customers haven't parked in my driveway. But my neighbor came over and said the sign was out of line. He told me I was making his customers uncomfortable and making his business look bad. He also said it was ridiculous to try to charge people for parking when they were only leaving their cars there temporarily.

It wasn't like it came out of nowhere.

I reminded him that I'd asked him to stop several times and had even warned him about the sign before putting it up. He said that didn't make the sign reasonable, and that I could have just put up a no-parking sign instead.

I understand what he means. I could have made it clear that the driveway was off-limits without putting a price on it. But I'd already tried talking to him, and those conversations hadn't changed anything. The sign seems to have solved the parking problem, but now we're on bad terms.

A: My neighbor was wrong to keep letting his customers park in my driveway, but putting up a sign charging them $10 was going too far. I should have used a no-parking sign instead.

B: I'd already asked him to stop several times and warned him what I'd do if it continued. If a clear request wasn't enough to get him to deal with his customers, I don't think I'm wrong for taking a firmer approach.

It's not like the neighbor hadn't been warned, but also, it was a pretty drastic action to take. There may be another way to work out the problem.

*_{A black car parked in front of a fence and beside a cream-colored building. Stock photography for depiction only.}*

Perhaps it was time to raise the prices.

Outside-Bend-5575 Option C: charge $25 instead. $10 is pretty cheap for all day parking!

Your neighbor is an a hole. People shouldnt be parking in your driveway period, and you could just tow them. Putting up a sign to charge them is probably the nicest option you could take here. Legitimately cannot understand what your neighbor thinks is "out of line"

This was a problem he should have figured out before.

siamonsez B. If he didn't want his business to look bad he should have addressed the problem himself instead of forcing you to.

I don't see how $10 makes him look worse than a no parking sign would unless he's been telling people to park there. It wouldn't reflect on him unless his customers are under the impression the parking is his and he's charging for parking on top of charging for the service.

This might not be the only area where he was bending the rules.

Call_Me_Chewie Does the neighbor have a license to run his business out of his home? Might want to look into that...

It was time to make amends.

Mammoth-Count-9395 Go over with a six pack of beer and tell him you'll just get a no parking sign. If you're on good terms with your neighbor then don't assist it in going bad. A bad neighbor is the worst with awkward tension or neighborhood gossip of you becoming the local . Couple of beers and a few laughs and it'll be good.

Only serious action would prevent it from happening again.

asbestoswasframed C: Just put up a sign that says you'll have them towed. Check if his business is properly permitted. If not, report him to city and the IRS.

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