[Superted187]

We regularly run out of parking spaces at work and as a consequence often have to park on the adjacent residential street.

One of my colleagues got a note on his car today basically saying that it was "disgusting" that he parked outside of a particular house. (I'll get the full body of the message tomorrow morning when I get back into work).

A few of us have had notes like this on our cars. We are aware that on a public highway with no abnormal parking controls (yellow lines, residents parking, etc), we can park where ever we like as long as our vehicles are road legal (taxed, insured, etc).

My question is:

Is it Illegal for this resident to have posted the note onto my colleague's car? Does it in someway constitute harassment?

Thanks in advance for any tips / pointers.

[The Masked Tulip]

Homeowners get very stressed about this kind of thing - imagine coming home and constantly being unable to park your car.

What if you have a disabled or elderly person in your home that you need to get the car close to the house in order to help them in and out?

I can't answer your legal question but I would personally park my car elsewhere. Might return one day to find the car damaged?

[Superted187]

The Masked Tulip, on 24 April 2012 - 09:14 PM, said:

Homeowners get very stressed about this kind of thing - imagine coming home and constantly being unable to park your car.

The homeowner has a driveway

The Masked Tulip, on 24 April 2012 - 09:14 PM, said:

What if you have a disabled or elderly person in your home that you need to get the car close to the house in order to help them in and out?

Get a disabled badge and have the council designate you a disabled spot.

The Masked Tulip, on 24 April 2012 - 09:14 PM, said:

I can't answer your legal question but I would personally park my car elsewhere. Might return one day to find the car damaged?

It's a public highway. So he should just park elsewhere because this person might decide that they have the right to damage this guys car just because they incorrectly believe they have the right to the spot of public highway outside of their home?

[Monkey]

As long as they don't damage the car, there is f##k all you can do. They can put as many notes like that on the cars as they are bothered to write. If they start to threaten in the notes, the by allk means take it to the police, but he can make your life harder than you can do to him.

[Ungeared]

The Masked Tulip, on 24 April 2012 - 09:14 PM, said:

Homeowners get very stressed about this kind of thing - imagine coming home and constantly being unable to park your car.

What if you have a disabled or elderly person in your home that you need to get the car close to the house in order to help them in and out?

I can't answer your legal question but I would personally park my car elsewhere. Might return one day to find the car damaged?

Disabled car driver around here get painted disabled parking bays, people get too sad about their rights to park outside their house, I once had a neighnour who used to put two cones outside his house, if there was no spaces left i'd remove his cones and park in the space, you're taxed to use the road not to own it.

[happy_renting]

You don't say that the note threatens damage. Howeverm, the homeowner is an arrogant **** if s/he can't leave a polite request, and acts like they own the road outside their house. If they want to do that, they can go live in a private road.

If I was asked politely, I would consider parking elsewhere. But if I got a rude note, i would be more inclined to park there again.

In fact I'd buy a tatty ugly old van just to park it outside their house. And leave a note saying that their house was disgusting and blighted the street.

[unfunded_liability]

Superted187, on 24 April 2012 - 09:08 PM, said:

We regularly run out of parking spaces at work and as a consequence often have to park on the adjacent residential street.

One of my colleagues got a note on his car today basically saying that it was "disgusting" that he parked outside of a particular house. (I'll get the full body of the message tomorrow morning when I get back into work).

A few of us have had notes like this on our cars. We are aware that on a public highway with no abnormal parking controls (yellow lines, residents parking, etc), we can park where ever we like as long as our vehicles are road legal (taxed, insured, etc).

My question is:

Is it Illegal for this resident to have posted the note onto my colleague's car? Does it in someway constitute harassment?

Thanks in advance for any tips / pointers.

Not sure about the legal aspect, but unless your colleague is able to monitor has car throughout the day it's a tussle he's unlikely to win. If he comes back one evening to find a tyre or two slashed there's nothing he can do about it or prove.This happened to me once and all I could do was not park there again.

Ed. In my case there was no prior note so I had no idea who had slashed the tyre.

This post has been edited by unfunded_liability: 24 April 2012 - 09:35 PM

[Superted187]

Monkey, on 24 April 2012 - 09:20 PM, said:

As long as they don't damage the car, there is f##k all you can do. They can put as many notes like that on the cars as they are bothered to write. If they start to threaten in the notes, the by allk means take it to the police, but he can make your life harder than you can do to him.

This is what I suspected. It's just not worth the risk. This stay at home tosser could go off at any point and damage the car. They've parked me in ridiculously tightly before. I hate these sad bastards. Just wish I could do something about it.

[The Ayatollah Buggeri]

Unacceptably selfish behaviour - they believe that owning (or occupying a house) includes the road alongside it. If most or all the homes in a given street have off-road parking, then there isn't any justification in imposing restrictions on the on-street parking (e.g. residents' permit scheme). If they don't then it can be justified, but it's a case of caveat emptor. In the street where I grew up, the resident busybodies waged a ten-year war to get a residents' permit scheme introduced thanks to commuters taking the roadside spaces before heading for the tube station. They eventually got their way, and then promptly started complaining like mad about the cost of the permits!

Your best bet is probably to stake out the car for a day with a video camera, and then when the phantom note-writer appears, make a note of the address from which he or she emerges, upload the video to YouTube and send the link to the local police together with a formal complaint of threatening behaviour.

This post has been edited by The Ayatollah Buggeri: 24 April 2012 - 09:35 PM

[ccc]

I really don't get this 'he may get his car done in' chat - this person knows where they park - but the other person knows where they live ffs !

[SeeYouNextTuesday]

The Masked Tulip, on 24 April 2012 - 09:14 PM, said:

Homeowners get very stressed about this kind of thing - imagine coming home and constantly being unable to park your car.

What if you have a disabled or elderly person in your home that you need to get the car close to the house in order to help them in and out?

I can't answer your legal question but I would personally park my car elsewhere. Might return one day to find the car damaged?

Apparently expecting a parking space near your house is unacceptably selfish but parking anywhere you like isn't

[Ungeared]

Superted187, on 24 April 2012 - 09:34 PM, said:

This is what I suspected. It's just not worth the risk. This stay at home tosser could go off at any point and damage the car. They've parked me in ridiculously tightly before. I hate these sad bastards. Just wish I could do something about it.

I'd put a note through his letterbox stating if you lift my windscreen wiper and put a note under it again i'll break your ****ing fingers, i did this once and believe me they didnt do it again, i seriously detest these sad curtain twitchers who have eff all to do but think they own the land outside their houses

[Superted187]

ccc, on 24 April 2012 - 09:38 PM, said:

I really don't get this 'he may get his car done in' chat - this person knows where they park - but the other person knows where they live ffs !

Yes but whilst this nimby ar5ehole might be criminally minded, my colleague is not!

[Ascii]

SeeYouNextTuesday, on 24 April 2012 - 09:44 PM, said:

Apparently expecting a parking space near your house is unacceptably selfish but parking anywhere you like isn't

There has to be a bit of give and take. By the sounds of things though it's just a territory dispute; by all accounts the resident appears to have off road parking and is complaining about the public using public road. That sounds a bit petty to me. I had a neighbour complain about me blocking his drive; I had to point out to him he didn't own a car.

[The Masked Tulip]

I am just pointing out that in these kinds of situations there is a possibility of returning to your car one day and finding it damaged. In that situation I would go and park elsewhere to save myself the worry and grief.