Neighbor parks on my lawn without my consent (homeowners association, crime)

[carmarblu]

I just purchased a home in a beautiful gated community in Broward County. I noticed that my next door neighbor has too many cars and since he is not permitted to park on the street, he parks one of his cars completely on the lawn, perpendicular to our houses. The problem is that part of the lawn he parks on (approximately half) is right in front of my living room window and belongs to me-I have the original survey to prove it. I don't know what arrangement he had with the prior owner, but it is now MY house. Not once has he had the class to come over and introduce himself and welcome us to the neighborhood, yet he has the nerve to park on my lawn. There are tire tracks and dead spots on the grass, and it looks terrible. I called the association and was told that a letter went out two months ago telling the homeowners to not park on the grass. Obviously, this guy thinks he can just do whatever he wants. The woman at the association offered to send him another letter, personally, however, he will obviously know that we were the ones who complained since we just moved in. I don't want problems with the neighbors. I am thinking of just doing some creative landscaping - extend the garden a few feet by putting in decorative rocks, plants, etc. What do you think?

[vsmoove]

Just tell him you don't want him parking on the lawn. Why spend money if you don't want/have to?

[SouthAfrica75]

Have the association's attorney send him a letter.....

[nphomeowner]

Maybe talk to the neighbor? He may have had an agreement with the previous owner and is just assuming it is ok. Invite him over for a beer then bring up the subject in a nice way. You may get good results and make a new friend. If he doesn't see it your way then you have no other choice but to report him to the association.

[Nolefan34]

I'm afraid you are in for a long legal battle my friend. I had a relative who had the same exact situation. Your neighbor is going to argue that it is his property, not yours. He probably has his own survey which is different than your survey. If you fight it, he'll dispute whether any of the property he parks on is yours. In fact, he may try to claim a bigger chunk of your property than you imagined.
The homeowners association can only tell him not to park on his grass. They cannot litigate who the grass belongs to or who's property it is on.

I would carefully research if he had this same dispute with the previous people who lived in your house and what the outcome was. Maybe that's why they moved out? Try to contact the previous owners to see if there were any prior disputes. My relative spent years in court battling a neighbor over this. It resulted in a fist fight and an arrest, then more court battles. Good luck!

[JimboUSMC17]

I'd ask him nicely and show him the dead spots on the grass. if he claims it is his property I'd show him my survey. Also, isn't that public record? I know at least the Property Appraiser site shows the bounderies. Although they may not be accurate to the inch, they still have a good general layout of the bounderies.

We had a similar issue but on our back yard. For some reason the way the property line is, my part of the back yard extends to what would be theirs. but the other side of their back yard also extends into what would be considered their neighbors as well. I showed them the survey and they apologized.

[CSD610]

I would get my own attorney and provide him with the survey and have him send the letter to the neighbor along with a copy of the survey and have it delivered so the neighbor has to sign for it. If the parking situation continues I would report it to the police and have the vehicle towed by the police if that is something you can do legally.

Anything you do though put it in writing so you have all the documentation to show that you notified the association etc. or put an extention on your fence so he cannot park there and be sure it is on your properly only.

[Momma_bear]

Why not just ask him to stop? You can take more drastic measures later, but why not just ask first?

If you have a problem with someone you have to be man enough to tell them.

[theredsnowman]

Originally Posted by Momma_bear

Why not just ask him to stop? You can take more drastic measures later, but why not just ask first?

If you have a problem with someone you have to be man enough to tell them.

Carmarblu: “Hey neighbor could you please not park in the yard in front of my house.”
Neighbor: “Sure, no trouble my dawgy dawg, I did not even know, I'm such a fool, Carmarblu. I will now commit suicide because I cannot bear the shame I’ve brought upon my family for the horrible crime I’ve committed against you. My death will restore order. Thank you"

[BrowardPB]

If they aren't receptive when you bring it to their attention, you could always contact a towing company and have it removed at no charge to you. Let the vehicle owner pay for it.