Moved in 16 days ago, HOA called the cops yesterday. (Houston: buying, theatre)

[piyf]

Park where ever you want. Hell, go park in front of your neighbors house. I could careless if someone parked in front of my house so long as their tires weren't on my grass or blocking my driveway. You shouldn't have to make sure you park in a different spot every time you come home.


People complain about the dumbest sh*t ever. God forbid they ever had a real problem.

[jtothemak]

If you have room in your driveway then park in your driveway. That is what I like about my HOA, it states that parking on the street is only allowed if your driveway is full. This helps keep the narrow streets clear for getting threw the neighborhood.

I hate parked cars on the street just for a safety point that kids can easily dart out from behind a parked car and get hit. For curb appeal also a clear street just looks better. When looking for a home I always stayed away from cars everywhere, it gives the appearance that the neighborhood is overloaded and 20 people are living in every house.

[texas7]

My brother-in-law was parking his car on the street in front of the section of grass btwn his house and the neighbors. Neighbor left a nasty note that if he continued to park there, they would have it towed (which they can't). But he woke up one day to a badly keyed side of car. Can't prove who did it - but one can only guess.

Driveways - they are a good thing and serve a purpose - use 'em.

[elnina]

What's in the HOA regulation?? Did you checked on it?? Did you talked with anyone from the Association?
When I looked to buy a house I steered away from neighborhoods where people were parking on a street - this kind of behavior is usually a beginning of things going worse. There's no quicker way to give your neighborhood that ghetto look. Next things I would expect is a boombox music from the garage, front lawn parties, not keeping up with the lawn and house maintenance, parking on the lawn, hillbilly yards with an abundance of crap out front, untagged junk cars etc.
Obviously your HOA try to keep their neighborhood up to standards and your neighbor is just oversensitive to such things. Maybe he lived in a place where the property values went down because people started not to care?
Most HOA do not allow to park campers/RV's/boats on the driveway either.

[piyf]

Originally Posted by elnina

What's in the HOA regulation?? Did you checked on it?? Did you talked with anyone from the Association?
When I looked to buy a house I steered away from neighborhoods where people were parking on a street - this kind of behavior is usually a beginning of things going worse. There's no quicker way to give your neighborhood that ghetto look. Next things I would expect is a boombox music from the garage, front lawn parties, not keeping up with the lawn and house maintenance, parking on the lawn, hillbilly yards with an abundance of crap out front, untagged junk cars etc.
Obviously your HOA try to keep their neighborhood up to standards and your neighbor is just oversensitive to such things. Maybe he lived in a place where the property values went down because people started not to care?
Most HOA do not allow to park campers/RV's/boats on the driveway either.

OP already stated what it says.

But here you go

Originally Posted by jwtomt2day

First I want to say thanks to everyone who gave me great ideas about what to do.

I have good news.

First what I've found out is that I was right about the HOA rules. They do not specifically forbid parking on streets but do say its a nuisance. The City of Houston Police Department enforces this rule if a resident calls about a car that has not moved in 24 hours.

In our case, the friend's car was definitely moved within 24 hours and we can prove it. But since any resident can call the cops if *they* think a car has not been moved the situation is ripe for abuse. We think that's what happened in our case because our friend was careful to park in the same spot each time she came back. Someone looking out their window might think she had never left---and that's probably what happened.

The good news is that in this neighborhood, where the deed restriction committee meets ONCE PER MONTH!, the official first step for handing a 'parking problem' is calling the cops. That means that although this behavior was rude and unneighborly (if that's a word), it does not look like they singled us out to get extreme and different treatment. That's what I was worried about.

My guess is that the other people who park on the street have already had this battle and just make sure their cars are in very different positions each time they return.

When everyone gets home tonight we'll have a discussion about either continuing to play musical cars in the wee hours of the morning or my friend just going back to parking on the street, which is much more convenient for everyone.

Thanks again!

[piyf]

Originally Posted by texas7

My brother-in-law was parking his car on the street in front of the section of grass btwn his house and the neighbors. Neighbor left a nasty note that if he continued to park there, they would have it towed (which they can't). But he woke up one day to a badly keyed side of car. Can't prove who did it - but one can only guess.

Driveways - they are a good thing and serve a purpose - use 'em.

Yes they are but if the HOA doesn't have anything against it then or it is a public road then you can park on it. Most new driveways in a lot of neighborhoods can't handle more than 2 cars. Some people even have 1 car garages and parking more than 1 car in the driveway is not convenient.

[MIBS98]

Originally Posted by elnina

Neighborhoods where people park on the streets always look a little trashy...

All in where you come from I guess. Live in a true urban environment like Chicago and both sides of every street are wall-to-wall cars. I don't think twice about it when I see cars on the street.

[elnina]

^^^ I agree. In urban settings cars parked on the street is a normal view. Most condominiums do not have parking garage or designed parking lot, but in a neighborhood where people have own garage and driveways, there is no reason to park the car on the street.

[Trae713]

Originally Posted by texas7

My brother-in-law was parking his car on the street in front of the section of grass btwn his house and the neighbors. Neighbor left a nasty note that if he continued to park there, they would have it towed (which they can't). But he woke up one day to a badly keyed side of car. Can't prove who did it - but one can only guess.

Driveways - they are a good thing and serve a purpose - use 'em.

You can't leave it at a cliffhanger....

What happened next?

[elnina]

Originally Posted by danieloneil01

Yes they are but if the HOA doesn't have anything against it then or it is a public road then you can park on it. Most new driveways in a lot of neighborhoods can't handle more than 2 cars. Some people even have 1 car garages and parking more than 1 car in the driveway is not convenient.

Normally you park on the street when your garage and driveway is already occupied by cars, and you don't have other choice.
I guess, you can park on the street in areas ( neighborhoods ) where it does not create problem and animosities. Obviously, the neighborhood where OP lives, do not have a kind eye for such behavior.
And... what is the big deal with refusing to park in an own driveway??? something with being stubborn, perhaps??

Here are more threads about this topic:
Rude neighbor telling us to not park in front of their house