Is your neighbor always parking in front of your house? Well, I can understand how confused, challenged and angry you feel right now. If it were to be your lawn or driveway, such wouldn’t have happened.
Your lawn and driveway are private areas and thus, belong to you. So, any neighbor that parks there is asking for trouble. And legal trouble they might get themselves into. But know that if it is in front of your house, and a public area, anyone can park there.
Yes, it’s the front of your property. Unfortunately, it doesn’t belong to you. However, we have identified several ways you can keep your inconsiderate neighbors from parking their cars in front of your house.
Are you ready? Alright, let’s dive in deeper.
5 Amazing Ways To Keep Neighbors From Parking in Front of the House
Here are simple techniques to keep your annoying neighbors from leaving their cars in front of your house. Read on!
1. Have a chit-chat with the neighbor
Firstly, approach the neighbor. But before you leave your home for such a mission, calm yourself down and wear a smiling face. You’re not going to fight a war, so there’s no need to put on a sad face. You’ll only infuriate your neighbor and end up not achieving your goal.
Talk to the neighbor with a calm voice. If possible, state how their parking in front of your house makes you and your family uncomfortable. Just ensure your points are valid and reasonable. Otherwise, you might end up upsetting your neighbor and cause serious disagreement between you both.
A Pro Tip: An easy way to get your neighbors to agree to your request is to suggest a place where they can park their vehicles. If your neighbors are cool with it, then they’ll leave the front of your house alone.
2. Unleash your creative side
Let’s assume you have approached your neighbors in a friendly manner, asking them to stop parking in front of your house. But to your greatest surprise, they keep repeating the same thing.
Well, if that’s the case, then it’s time to get super creative. By the way, what’s this next step about? It involves putting your art skills to work. Using spray paint (water-based), mark an area outside your house, which you think your neighbors shouldn’t be parking their cars.
However, it’s best that you should do this if your neighbors’ parked cars were blocking your view or driveway. Using your spray paint, consider marking the area on the street that leads to your driveway. And remember to make the markings wide, so you won’t have issues or damage other people’s cars when backing out.
A Pro Tip: You can do the painting yourself. But think about it; wouldn’t it be nice to get your city’s parking department involved? Let them know you want to mark a particular area outside your house and state the reason.
If your reasons are compelling, the authorities might even come around and do the painting work for you.
3. Erect a fence
If you want people to stop parking too close to your house, please consider installing a fence. Additionally, you can even beautify the front of your home with anything you deem fit.
Know that you can’t mount a fence on public property. You can only do so if it’s private property, which belongs to you. The fence height should also be as per the fencing laws in your locality.
4. Put a note on their windshield
If you had an agreement with your neighbor where they promised not to park at the front of your house but faltered, be so kind to remind them. They might not have parked there intentionally. So, please give them the benefit of the doubt.
What’s the best way to remind such a neighbor? Write a friendly note, and place it on their windshield. You don’t have to say anything or go to the person’s house for the second time.
If your neighbors continue to park their cars at the front of your house forgetfully, continue dropping the friendly notes. But if you discover they’re intentionally doing it, then consider trying other methods.
A Pro Tip: If you notice the neighbor coming for the car, stand in front of your house and exchange pleasantries with the person. Just don’t remind them of the last discussion you both had about not parking cars in front of your home.
If your neighbors parked there forgetfully, they’ll smile back at you and show how sorry they are for parking there. If they did it intentionally, you would determine so via the response you’ll get when you wave at or greet the person.
5. Install security cameras
Here’s another easy way to stop people from parking their cars in front of your house, for good. Place the surveillance camera where people usually park their cars and block your driveway.
Additionally, the surveillance camera will serve two purposes. It will help prevent theft and ensure people don’t park their cars in front of your property or block your driveway.
You may also choose to place a visible sign, such as “24/7 surveillance here.” Whoever decides to park their car in front of your house illegally wouldn’t leave you with enough evidence to drag them to court.
Can I Put a “No Parking” Sign Outside My House?
You want to save the space in front of your house so bad. Thus, placing a no-parking sign there would have been a better way to achieve the aim.
Most people may go for a DIY no-parking sign, while others may choose a more professional-looking sign. But the truth of the matter is, whether it’s a professional-looking or DIY no-parking sign, you can’t place a no-parking sign outside your house.
You can only place such a sign on your private property, not on the street. The street belongs to the government, not you, nor any individual. So, putting a no parking sign there is illegal and could land you in trouble.
The neighbors parking in front of your house knows that your sign is illegal and may likely flaunt your order or have you reported. They are also within their rights to park in front of your house. So, it would be best if you quit being aggressive to them.
Who can place a no-parking sign in front of your house legally? Only the township highway commissioner and county sheriff have the power and right to do that. No one else does.
So, if you’re looking to place a no-parking sign outside your house, consider approaching the authorities. If you have a compelling reason and the officers saw a need, they might honor your request.
5 Reasons To Keep Neighbors From Parking Outside of Your House
Here are reasons you should do anything within your power to prevent your neighbors from parking in front of your house.
1. Noise from the car could be disturbing
Nobody enjoys living in a noisy neighborhood. But with your neighbors’ cars parked outside your home, you have to brace yourself up for unusual and provocative noises from their vehicles at odd hours of the day.
Your neighbors may want to warm their cars early in the morning before leaving for work. And they won’t mind that you and your family are still asleep while doing so. When they start warming up the car, the noise can be a problem for you and your family.
2. The car owners could blame you for any damages to their cars
It’s not impossible for your neighbors’ cars parked outside your house to get damaged by other moving vehicles or intentionally by human beings. But since the car owners aren’t around to see how it happened, they could blame you.
You could face legal action for damaging your neighbors’ cars and may even lose the case. Everything is possible, so don’t think such can’t happen. The police may treat you as the suspect until proven guilty.
So, ensure your neighbors stop parking outside your house.
3. Car owners could blame you for car theft
Did you know that 200 vehicles get stolen every day? And that’s roughly a vehicle per 7.2 minutes. California boasts the highest number of auto theft cases in the United States of America.
So, there’s a chance that your neighbors’ cars parked outside your home are a target. And when the cars get stolen, you can expect your neighbors to lay shocking allegations against you.
Another tiring thing about finding oneself in such circumstances is the police. They would likely come around and ask you a series of questions regarding the incident, even though you don’t know anything about it.
4. Your neighbors might make the outside of your home a mess
If your neighbors park their cars outside your home and decide to wash or do some maintenance on the vehicle, the front of your house would end up being a mess.
So, before that happens, make sure your neighbors stop parking in front of your house.
5. The parked cars might block your driveway or door entrance
It hurts to come back home from work after a hectic day, only to find that you can’t go through your driveway. And if you confront anyone for parking in front of your house, it might result in a fight.
So, the best thing is to stop them from parking there before the worst happens.
What Can I Do If My Neighbor Keeps Parking in Front of My House?
Coming back to work or waking up in the morning to find your neighbors’ cars parked outside your property can be very annoying. But as you get very annoyed at the sight of their vehicles, please ensure you don’t do any regrettably.
What is that regrettable thing you should avoid? Please don’t go to your neighbors’ house and pick up a fight with them. Additionally, don’t destroy your neighbors’ cars. If you do any of these, you’ll land yourself in bigger trouble.
Please note that it’s your neighbors’ right to park their cars there. Yes, it’s at the front of your house, but is it on your property? If they parked on the street and not your property, then you might not win any legal battle against them.
So, what can you do if your neighbor keeps parking there?
- Ask them why they keep doing what they’re doing. And please, be ready to listen to your neighbors’ reasons. If you can suggest or offer a place where they can park their cars, go ahead and do so.
- Report your neighbor’s anti-social behavior to the police. You can state how their parking in front of your house makes life unbearable for you and your family. But please note that the police won’t resolve such issues immediately, since the car is in poor condition or abandoned.
- A legal claim that your neighbor’s intention to park in front of your house constitutes a nuisance is also possible.
Conclusion
So, you have read how you can keep neighbors from parking in front of your house. Now is the time to take action. Put the tips shared in this post into practice and see how things play out.
But you must be ready to deploy several strategies and ensure you don’t get into a fight with the neighbor. You could land in serious trouble by doing that. And remember that it’s legal for your neighbors to park in front of your house on the street.