When you first move out on your own, you need to do many things for the first time, so you have to ask lots of questions.

What would you do if your housing manager emailed out about parking spots, but you had a question about your specific situation?

That is what happened to the tenant in this story, but the landlord implied that she was being rude, even though that wasn’t her intent.

AITA: For asking our Strata agent how vehicle registrations would impact homeowners who rent cars?

Context: Our strata council recently emailed everyone saying they are auditing all registered vehicles in the parkade and asking residents to fill out a Vehicle Registration Form on the community website.

This makes sense.

I do not own a personal car, but I sometimes rent from Budget, Avis, or Turo and park in my assigned underground stall.

Since this whole registration process is new to me, I emailed our strata manager (let’s call him Manager A) to ask how this affects people like me.

A fair question.

My email: “Hello, Regarding this, how about homeowners who don’t have personal vehicles and only rent one when needed? How are we going to be affected by not having the numerous different cars we get in the vehicle registration? Thank you. OP”

His response: “Hi OP, Out of 18 years of managing over 100 strata buildings, this is the first question I have been asked like this. I do not think residents are renting and parking vehicles in the parkade.

Why is he getting upset about this?

If you rent vehicles and park in the parkade, then send an email advising of the situation and details of the business operation so we have a heads up. I do not appreciate your ‘what if’ email but will assist with anything tangible and in line with helping building security. Regards, Manager A”

Yeah, it is really weird that he was rude like this.

I was really caught off guard because I thought my question was simple and respectful. I am a first-time homeowner and still learning how strata rules work.

I was not being hypothetical. I only wanted to understand the process. I replied with:

She is being very respectful.

“Hi, If my message came across the wrong way, I apologize. That was not my intention. I am genuinely asking because I am a first-time homeowner. I was not asking a ‘what if’ question.

I meant to ask how the vehicle registration rules affect homeowners like me, especially since I only rent cars, which I park in my assigned stall. I am just trying to understand the process and was hoping for some guidance, so I was surprised at your reaction. Thank you. OP”

No, the manager is just being weird.

Now I am wondering if my original message somehow sounded off or if Manager A just overreacted.

AITA?

Not at all, this is a weird situation, but it is all on the manager, not this tenant.

Read on to see what the people in the comments have to say about this.

He took more time writing the snarky email.

There was no need for him to get upset.

Yeah, she did nothing wrong.

This would be a good reply.

This commenter says the manager overreacted.

Maybe the manager was having a bad day.

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