# Is there anything I can do about the guy who parks in front of my house? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 26, 2007, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151 "2007-10-26T19:43:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/21 "2007-10-26T21:16:45Z")
[QUOTE=Tristan] gasoline+matches=problem solved [/QUOTE] If arson weren’t such a great solution to so many problems, they wouldn’t have had to outlaw it. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/22 "2007-10-26T21:27:40Z")
'Twould be a talented dog that could leave a turd on the windshield, 'twould. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/23 "2007-10-26T21:28:04Z")
[QUOTE=Autumn Almanac] He must be telling his guests not to park in front of his house; I can’t come up with any other explanation. It’s annoying but not a big enough deal to confront him over. [/QUOTE] Go park in front of his house when it happens. OP, call the cops, easy as that. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/24 "2007-10-26T21:37:40Z")
For a long while I parked completely legally on surface streets in a San Jose suburb. I had, on two occations, returned to my car after work to find vaseline applied to the inside of my door handle. It did not cause me to park anywhere else. The best you can do is ask the cops to check if he’s parked legally. If he is, you’re up a creek as long as he ignores the slips of paper requests. If he’s on the sidewalk as you say (when the cops show up), you’re golden. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/25 "2007-10-26T21:42:55Z")
It may be a pain-in-the-ass to do but if he always shows up at the same time every morning you could always thrown on a robe and slippers and go park your car there before he arrives. Then just put your car back in the garage after he’s gone. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/26 "2007-10-26T21:44:31Z")
[QUOTE=Projammer] Preemptive parking? [/QUOTE] That’s what I would try. Park your own car in that spot for a few days. Maybe he’ll get in the habit of parking somewhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/27 "2007-10-26T21:50:16Z")
Paint the curb one of those colors that menas you can’t park there legally- red perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/28 "2007-10-26T21:53:52Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] Paint the curb one of those colors that menas you can’t park there legally- red perhaps? [/QUOTE] That may be illegal, too. I have hear of people getting the spaces in front of their house designated as handicapped parking, though. I don’t know if the resident has to have a placard first or not. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/29 "2007-10-26T21:54:52Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] Paint the curb one of those colors that menas you can’t park there legally- red perhaps? [/QUOTE] Which would be illegally installing a trafifc control device on a municipal street. Don’t do this. If he’s parking on the sidewalk, call the cops. That’s illegal most everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/30 "2007-10-26T21:58:28Z")
[QUOTE=garygnu] That may be illegal, too. I have hear of people getting the spaces in front of their house designated as handicapped parking, though. I don’t know if the resident has to have a placard first or not. [/QUOTE] Anything like that has to be obtained through the city. Most cities dislike making traffic regulations specific to a particular house because the regualtions have a tendancy to stick around longer than the homeowner lives there. But they might do it if there’s some political pressure. Anytime you’re controlling traffic (or parking) on a city street, it needs to be part of the city’s traffic regulations. Otherwise, it’s illegal and unenforceable. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/31 "2007-10-26T22:19:21Z")
The ghost of my father is saying let the air out of his tires. Do not do this. Dad wouldn’t have done it either (I hope) he’d just have thought about it. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/32 "2007-10-26T22:46:43Z")
[QUOTE=Eleanor of Aquitaine] That’s what I would try. Park your own car in that spot for a few days. Maybe he’ll get in the habit of parking somewhere else. [/QUOTE] That’s what the folks across the street did. Our neighbors on our side have far too many cars for their property to contain, and our HOA rules forbid parking overnight on the street. So the neighbors park their massive SUV across our street, in front of the other folks’ house (they live in another HOA neighborhood). The folks got annoyed after awhile and started parking their own two trucks in front of their own house, and SUVboy neighbor now has to park his SUV a good block or two away. The solution of making room by emptying his garage of junk and nonworking cars is too simple, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/33 "2007-10-26T23:02:23Z")
Another vote for the preemptive parking. Perhaps a letter in an envelope (or slipped through the window if he leaves a crack open) threatening to have it towed “tomorrow”. I don’t think ‘predatory towing’ applies in this case (as it just recently did in New Jersey), and I don’t think a threat or a follow-through with that threat is illegal. Bad karma? Who cares. I’m in that kind of mood do to have done that to my neighbors if they still were. Tripler I should have, I really should have. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/34 "2007-10-26T23:11:06Z")
A vote for calling the cops to make sure he is not illegally parked. Other than that, you are out of luck. Here in my street, most homes have their garages either full of crap or turned into rooms. That means most people park on the street. We are all used to seeing cars parked in front of our houses. Some are dicks about it, but the fact remains that the street is not theirs. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/35 "2007-10-26T23:33:24Z")
[QUOTE=MTRG] If you lived in Pittsburgh, you could put a few chairs out in front of your house to stake your claim at the space [respect the chair](http://www.parkingchair.com/) [/QUOTE] Dude, I was JUST coming to post something like that. I was going to say “Pull a Carson Street\* Crate or a Car Cone.” You get the idea- stick a milk crate in your trunk or a construction cone. Leave it in your spot when you leave. Slightly easier than the chair. \*Carson Street being Pittsburgh’s Bourbon St. All the streets touching it are packed after 6 p.m…except where there’s cones and crates. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/36 "2007-10-26T23:48:14Z")
[QUOTE=Yllaria] That’s an ADA infringement. Another vote for checking into getting him ticketed. [/QUOTE] Individuals can’t violate the ADA. :rolleyes: At least, not in this sense… [/end obligatory weasel words] ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2007, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/37 "2007-10-27T00:11:18Z")
We did the handicapped parking thing (legally eligible for it, due to **supervenusfreak’s** Parkinson’s-suffering mother living here) and haven’t had (many) problems with it since. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2007, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/38 "2007-10-27T00:20:06Z")
[QUOTE=IntelSoldier] Dude, I was JUST coming to post something like that. I was going to say “Pull a Carson Street\* Crate or a Car Cone.” You get the idea- stick a milk crate in your trunk or a construction cone. Leave it in your spot when you leave. Slightly easier than the chair. \*Carson Street being Pittsburgh’s Bourbon St. All the streets touching it are packed after 6 p.m…except where there’s cones and crates. [/QUOTE] What prevents people from sandwiching the chair between two cars? Wouldn’t you need at least two chairs or cones to mark a spot? ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2007, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/39 "2007-10-27T00:22:48Z")
Ooh! A creative thought came to mind. Place a large bird feeder on a pole with crossarm to overhang the offending vehicle. Visitors to the feeder should result in windshield deposits of sufficient quantity to discourage (the vehicle’s) return. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2007, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151/40 "2007-10-27T01:00:18Z")
I really don’t understand the tone of most of these messages. Fundamentally, all the parking spaces on the street belong to the public at large, first-come-first-served. They don’t belong to the house they are in front of. At least if this is a public street we’re talking about. So annoying as the situation might be, all this talk about tricks and schemes to get the guy to park elsewhere strikes me as underhanded. That is, of course, that he is otherwise parked legally. Ed [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-i-can-do-about-the-guy-who-parks-in-front-of-my-house/424151.md?page=3)