Neighbor keeps inviting people to park in my gated drive-way. What happens if I lock the gate and refuse to let neighbor's guests access their cars?
You know how the old saying goes… “Some people are very generous with their things; some people are very generous with other people's things, and some people are even very generous with other people's things that they're not entitled to offer.”
I may or may not have just made that up, but the point stands. All too often, when it comes to people testing boundaries with their neighbors or otherwise trying to lay claim to something that isn't theirs, it's usually because they somehow have justified that behavior to themselves with “They weren't using it anyway," being a justification that is all too common.
In the case of this neighborhood parking dispute, this neighbor has been testing property boundaries and personal ones by repeatedly allowing his guests to park in this California homeowner's driveway. Why the homeowner himself didn't just call and get the cars towed right away is anyone's guess… but the way things played out is undoubtedly more entertaining.
A homeowner shared how their neighbor repeatedly told guests to park in the homeowner's own private gated driveway. His neighbor kept telling people to park there even though there was plenty of parking on the neighbor's own property and on the street.
I have a gated drive way I leave open during the day for a multitude of reasons.
My neighbor keeps telling people they can park in my driveway even though there is ample street parking and he has his own driveway with extra spaces. I have asked him many times to not have his guests park on my property but he just tells me I have lots of space so he doesn't see what the problem is.
The homeowner posted this information, wondering whether or not he could just lock his own private gate the next time it happened. Except his gate was broken, so he could not simply close and open it on his own, as one of his neighbor's guests would soon find out.
The next time this happens, if I just lock my gate with his guest's cars in there and go on vacation for a few days, or just flat out tell them they're not welcome onto my property, what would happen? Could I get in any legal trouble?
Yes, I'm aware calling to get the cars towed is an option, but I'm feeling really petty right now and want to make them wait a few hours or days to get their cars.
The frustrated homeowner shared this mock-up drawing of how his and his neighbor's properties were arranged next to each other, setting the stage for the second part of his story.
[Update] Neighbor keeps inviting people to park in my gated drive-way. What happens if I lock the gate and refuse to let neighbor's guests access their cars?
A sliding gate to a large rural property like in the story.
The homeowner returned in an update soon after his first post to share how the problem had fixed itself without him needing to intervene.
I'm glad to report the neighbor's guests parking in my driveway are no longer a problem.
The reason I always left the gate open was because it was busted. The gate will slide close, but will not open without extreme force (basically a bunch of people pulling/pushing at the same time.) There was something preventing it from just rolling back open after being closed and I was too broke/mechanically challenged to get it fixed so I had no idea what the problem was.
When the neighbor had another party, he again allowed guests to park in the homeowner's driveway again. Trying to avoid his car being double-parked in by other guests, one guest parked in the homeowner's driveway and even closed the homeowner's gate behind his car to secure his private spot.
A few nights ago neighbor has a party and invited a bunch of people over. Last time this happened, neighbor had a bunch of people park in my driveway of course and I guess some people got double parked in because some genius decided to solve this problem by parking in my driveway and closing my gate.
When he came back later that evening, he realized the gate wouldn't budge. This forced the distressed car owner to abandon his car overnight and come back with a repairman to repair the gate so that he could get his car out the next morning.
Well, come time to leave he realizes he can't get the gate to open. He asks me for help, but I tell him two people ain't going to cut it, I'm injured anyways, and that I'm going to call the police and report him for trespassing if he can't open the gate and get his car off my property. He can't open it, and it's too late at night to call anyone so I tell him I won't call the police if he promises to come back bright and early the next day with enough people to get the gate open again.
He showed up the next day with a repair man who fixed my gate and paid the full cost himself.
This left the homeowner with a working gate that he could now close to prevent people from parking in the driveway going forward.
All's well that ends well. Right?
I now have a working gate that I can close so [expletive] neighbor can't tell anyone to park here. Or at least he still can, but f* him, my driveway is CLOSED.
The Top Responses
Angel_Eirene
Never expected the problem to quite literally solve itself and pay for itself but take the W.Still would've loved the "Private property trespassers will be towed" and then going absolutely wild with it
CaptDeliciousPants
I’ll never understand people who think “but I want ____ and you have ____ and aren’t using it right now, so I’m taking it” is a valid response to being told no. How hard do someone’s parents have to fail for an adult to be like that?
beachpellini
I’m turning into an unskippable cutscene in therapy
Profile Badge for the Achievement Top 1% Commenter Top 1% Commenter
I'm flabbergasted at how entitled some people are. The thought of being that guy who had to pay for fixing it? Mortifying.
Chance_Vegetable_780
OOP is extremely patient imo. If my neighbor did that I would have lost my s**t at him off the top due to the disrespect "...he just tells me I have lots of space so he doesn't see what the problem is."
Infinite-Worm
First time this happens."Knock knock, hey move this f**ng car or I'm getting it towed"
That's it. A neighbour that does this in the first place doesn't deserve any respect or courtesy.
[What] is wrong with people to be such doormats.
“The gate that can't be opened”
“The gate that can't be opened” sounds like a profound metaphor for something.
Really, a lot of decisions in life are like this. You make a decision, stepping through a proverbial doorway that is open before you. Sometimes, without even realizing it, the door is going to slam shut behind you, no longer able to be opened. You can't go back through; you're committed to the choice you have made, whether you like it or not. Not realizing that you're closing a door behind you that you can't go back through. Other options you might have had before no longer exist to you.
It's like in older video games when you go past a certain point of the story and realize that you have been hard locked out of visiting earlier areas. This is called the “point of no return,” and there's even a TV Tropes entry on the phenomenon, and once you're past it, there's no need for backwards glances. There might have been side quests you meant to do at some point or collectibles, both with potentially game-altering consequences. But they're now out of reach, and you can't go back to them without starting over with a new game and trying not to make the same mistake on the next playthrough.
Whereas this used to happen in video games often without the player being informed or even aware that they were approaching a crucial cutscene, now there is usually some sort of giant immersion-breaking disclaimer displayed that informs you that you're about to commit to entering a point of the story where you can't turn back. This will usually be displayed with some sort of “Are you sure you want to [commit action]?" type of message.
Wouldn't it be great if that happened in real life?
Even better, what if, in real life, when you discovered an earlier decision was the wrong one and landed you with a bad ending, you could just go back to an earlier save state?
In this case, the guest had no idea that, by parking in someone else's driveway and closing the gate, he was committing to a point of no return with serious consequences. But he was stuck with that choice all the same.
Keep reading to see some of the top responses below.
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