A parking spot may seem like a small issue in the grand scheme of things.
That is, until you add a heap of snow and new, inconsiderate neighbors to the mix.
A pregnant tenant finds herself having to walk further in treacherous conditions when a new tenant steals her spot.
When a disagreement erupts, they find themselves in an icy standoff.
Read on for all the details!
AITA for calling my landlord to complain because a neighbor took an unassigned parking spot?
For context, my husband and I have lived in this apartment building for 5 years now.
Most of our neighbors were here before we moved in. There at 15 apartments total.
Half of the apartments have a parking spot directly in front of their door (ours being one of them).
Things have worked out well enough on their own to this point.
The neighbors whose apartments do not have a spot right in front of the door all park on the opposite side of the lot directly across.
Since we have been here, we were told we can take the spot directly in front of our apartment door just as everyone else on our side of the building.
For 5 years, the parking situation has been peaceful. We all have our spots, no one takes anyone else’s spot, everyone keeps the peace.
Here’s where the problem comes in.
Fast forward to 6 days ago, it snows overnight.
Our landlord is notoriously awful with snow removal so we do most of it ourselves.
With a little elbow grease, they get it done.
We go out and clear out our spot, the walkway, our elderly neighbors spot right next to us, and an open spot on the opposite side to leave room for any guests any neighbors may have.
We purchase our own ice melt that we sprinkle every few hours in those same spots. Because of this, our area is ice free and safe while the rest of the lot is icy.
But it seems an uninvited party has been benefiting from their hard work.
Every night since that day, a woman (new neighbor that moved in a week ago) has parked in our spot directly in front of our door, and other neighbors usual spots have been taken by other family members of theirs.
This has thrown our usual peaceful parking situation into a complete mess.
The tenants immediately feel the consequences of the parking equilibrium being thrown off, so they try to make it right.
I’m pregnant and now having to park in the icy parking spot 30 feet away after spending our time and money to keep out usual area safe.
Last night was the first night I was able to go out and talk to them.
I explained everything to them that I typed above here.
But the neighbor thinks they lay fair claim to the spot for their own reasons.
All they would tell me is that the other side is icy and they will not put their kids in danger by parking on that side and that the landlord did not say the parking was assigned.
I kept the conversation friendly, but at the end I mentioned I would be calling the landlord to get this sorted out.
She said to let her know what the outcome is and we left it at that.
The tenant is left wondering if they made the right decision.
Now my question is, AITA for calling the landlord over a technically unassigned parking spot that I was told was mine 5 years ago?
I personally would be mortified if someone told me I was in their usual spot and I would move right away.
If the spot that I was to park in was icy, I’d be calling the landlord to take care of it or taking care of it myself (like we did) because the landlord does a half*** job.
They both really want that spot.
What did Reddit think?
Instead of being against each other, the two neighbors should work together to get their real problem solved.
With the tenant being pregnant, this user thinks her needs should take priority.
It’s about more than a spot at this point.
Maybe if there actually was assigned parking, these types of situations could be avoided.
After all, they might get more done as a team than they do as adversaries.
Will the landlord help out or leave them both in the cold?
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