Correct/safest way to deal with unauthorized parking that blocks a residential garage (Houston: apartment complex, leasing)

[andrewmillichamp]

Hello chaps,

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the weather. I am back again with another question related to an issue I am facing in my rental apartment community. Here are some pertinent background facts:

1) I am a legal tenant, without any issue in the 3 years I have resided here, of an upscale apartment rental community near Spring, it is within Harris Country and the City of Houston limits.

I pay a fair amount of rent, about 25-30% more than other properties in the area, and maybe 15% more than newer, comparable quality properties which have opened in the area.

2) My apartment has an attached garage, which is part of the apartment and only for the use of the tenant of the apartment.

3) There is an apartment located above mine, they have their own exclusive garage. The tenant of that apartment has two vehicles, of which one is parked outside and blocks part of the walkway to my apartment. I have not complained about this issue.

Last night, i.e. Saturday night a visitor to the apartment above parked their car (see black colored car in the photo below) completely blocking my garage for several hours.

[IMG][/IMG]

After being unaware of the car for several hours, I had to use my car and noticed that it was blocked. It was 130am. I called the after hours calling service who informed the on site after hours guard. The guard came by in due time and witnessed the incident and said that he needs to call the property manager to get permission to have the vehicle towed.

By the time all this transpired the vehicle drove off, that too was witnessed by me and the guard. He said he was not a police officer and could not confront the driver of the car or the tenant of the apartment which the driver of the car was visiting. He said he would notify the leasing office.

I too took photos and have emailed the leasing office. However, my question is:

1) Is this my only reasonable/safe course of action? What if I had to use my car to go to work? or even worse to attend to an emergency situation of any kind?

2) Do I have any other recourse, if this happens in the future. I do not plan to slash tires, block the culprit vehicle etc. I want to do everything with sanity and within legal boundaries.

3) Can I go and ring the doorbell or knock at the apartment of the tenant where the driver of the car is when the situation is active? If so, can they retaliate and injure me for trying to 'intrude' into their apartment and even harm me? I do not wish to take any action where my physical well being is at risk.

I appreciate your advice.

Thanks you!
Andrew

[elnina]

Talk with apartment management.
Ask if you can call towing company in the future.

Can I go and ring the doorbell or knock at the apartment of the tenant where the driver of the car is when the situation is active? If so, can they retaliate and injure me for trying to 'intrude' into their apartment and even harm me? I do not wish to take any action where my physical well being is at risk.

Why you suspect this could happen? are you living in a highly unsafe area? Ghetto apartment? From your description - I don't think so.
If you engage in a civil conversation, none of this should happen. Try to knock on their door in the evening, not at 1 AM.
Politely explain your situation. Do NOT "intrude into their apartment" - stay outside, except they invite you in.

Put a sign: Amazon.com: My Parking Sign K-9461 Heavy Duty Aluminum Rectangle No Parking Sign, Header "No Parking Sign", Legend "No Parking Do Not Block Garage", Red On White: Industrial & Scientific

Call towing company.

[timtemtym]

Talk to you neighbor, but this may be one of those cases where you have to do the hard thing and have the vehicles towed. I'm not sure why the security guard told you he had to have the property manager's OK to have the vehicle towed. It was parked illegally and blocking access to your garage.

Talk to the leasing office and get the number of the towing service they use so you can call them directly next time this happens. Where I live in LA, parking is a nightmare and these scenarios occur regularly. I have had to get several vehicles towed when they were parked in my designated spot. There is no guest parking in my complex and street parking is always insane so this is something I have to do to use my spot.

You could also put a sign on your garage warning that vehicles blocking it are on camera and will be towed. Also put the number of the towing company there. Houston parking issues are nowhere near as bad so I'm assuming there is another place for them to put their car or their visitors. But talk to your neighbor! They may not know they are bringing jerks into the area.

[andrewmillichamp]

Hi friends,

Thank you for your replies, I appreciate them. The apartment community is largely populated by well meaning and well behaved members of the community, however, I have observed less considerate individuals moving in over the past months.

1) I have never interacted with my neighbor in question, although I have lived here longer than they have. I am not keen to do so, because there other actions are also inconsiderate, e.g. noise during the late night on occasion, and daily parking of their car that temporarily blocks the walkway to my apartment without any bother. There are plenty of unassigned parking spots (not garages) around the community property.

Maybe I am wrong, but I feel that the management has an obligation to deal with such issues, based on the tenant-landlord relationship? I pay rent and have certain rights associated with it I presume?

2) Do I need permission from the management office to put up a no parking sign on my garage door?

3) If the management does not give me the number of a towing company, for whatever reason, can I call the nearest towing company myself the next time this happens? I am unclear whether this is permissible legally.

4) Hypothetically, how does one deal with such a situation where there is a more pressing need, e.g. a flight to catch, a work appointment, or even, I hope not, a medical situation? Do I just need to wait for the towing company or try and identify the culprit or else take an alternate form of transportation. If so, is the culprit liable for my expenses in any way?

Thank you for your advice!

Andrew

[Oildog]

I have knocked on my neighbors door if they block me in. Never had issue with them moving it.

[timtemtym]

I'd also check to see what they are charging new prospective tenants for rent. I noticed in Houston that my rent would try to go up every year when often rents for new leases were slightly below what I was currently paying. This isn't really true right now as Houston rents are going up everywhere, but I used issues like this and the ones you mentioned when renegotiating my lease.

The management should be enforcing the rules of the complex and I'm sure there is something there about parking issues. Talk to your neighbor first, but let the office know you expect parking regulations and noise codes to be enforced.

[andrewmillichamp]

Thanks for your consistent help Oildog. I have informed the leasing office, as I prefer to route issues through them.

I am still keen to know how to deal with this in the future, especially if the driver of the vehicle is unknown/unreachable. Can I call a towing company on my own or do I have to go through the after hours security, which will inevitably delay the resolution due to them having to visit the site, get permissions then call the towing company etc.

[gentlearts]

I would need to be pretty desperate before I would have a neighbor's guest's car towed. It seems like overkill, and a way of asking for an escalation of conflict. Next, you'll find a dead rat nailed to your front door.
Hopefully, the HOA can put out a memo reminding the residents that their guests should avoid parking in front of their neighbor's garage.
I would try to foster a cordial relationship with my neighbor, in your situation, so that I could ask him to tell his guests not to park there. It's a perfectly reasonable request.

[trbstang]

Generally an apartment complex or any business will have a contact with a certain towing company, That is so they will know where a vehicle is towed to, if it is towed. If you called any company, no telling what lot the car would be towed to. And would you want to give them the tow company's card so they can retrieve their car?

I would just follow up with the management and make sure they let the tenants know that parking illegally and blocking a garage will subject them to an immediate tow. If it did happen again and you needed to move your car, there is no problem knocking on someone's door and asking them to move it. They are the ones in the wrong, and they shouldn't have any reason to be mad about it. Be friendly, and they should be also. But I would just talk to them next time you see them and nicely mention that their guest probably didn't know, but you had to leave while they were blocking your garage and the security was in the process of towing their car when they came out and left. The tenant might not have even known about it.

Good luck with it!

[gentlearts]

I will just share a story that I think is a bit analogous. We live in a single family house. Our property goes up to the neighbors driveway. The previous owners installed a privacy fence about 6 feet from the drive way (property line) so that the neighbor would have more room to navigate from his driveway into his garage.
This winter, the neighbor's kids went off the driveway and made big, deep trenches in our lawn, adjacent to the driveway. My husband waited to see if the neighbor would repair the damage, before the grass needed cutting, but he did not. We could have knocked on the door and asked him to repair it. We could have accosted him in the driveway and asked him if he intended to repair it. Instead, my husband repaired the damage.
We feel a great deal of glee in the fact that we laid a huge guilt trip on the guy. Karma's a *****.