Pexels/Reddit

A good neighbor should respect other people’s parking spaces.

This woman lives in an apartment complex where each unit is assigned its own parking space. Since she doesn’t currently own a car, one of her neighbors gradually started using her empty space without asking. What seemed like a minor inconvenience soon turned into a serious argument when her mother-in-law visited and couldn’t find a place to park her car.

This story is one of those common neighbor disputes where entitlement and limited parking spaces are involved. Have you encountered such a scenario? Read the full story below.

AITA for telling my neighbour to stop parking in my parking space?

I live in a block of flats in the UK that has one allocated parking space per plot number.

They are numbered with the plot number accordingly.

I don’t actually have a car, so my space is empty most of the time.

However, there was an incident a few days ago that I’d like an opinion on.

This woman noticed how the neighbor “steals” her parking spot just because it’s always empty.

My neighbour and her husband both have a car, but only the one space between them.

Her husband seems to have their allocated spot, and she seems to just park wherever she can.

She had been parking in a different neighbours space until about 2 weeks ago, when they got a car themselves.

They understandably asked her to stop parking there so they could have it.

So now, she has taken it upon herself to just take mine instead as it’s mostly empty.

Her mother-in-law visited and had to park in someone else’s parking space.

This was frustrating, but I let it slide.

Until my MIL came to drop my son home and found my space taken up by the neighbour’s car.

She ended up parking in another neighbour’s space while they happened to be out because there was nowhere else available.

I was worried it would cause issues to someone else when they returned home, but my MIL only stayed briefly before leaving.

She left a note on the neighbor’s car.

This was when I had enough.

So I wrote a note on some paper and put it on the neighbour’s windscreen under the wiper blade.

I explained the situation and asked her to stop parking there as I may need it for any guests I may have over.

I also wrote my door number and plot number as it’s not immediately obvious.

I thought that would be the end of it. But yesterday, I woke up to that some bit of paper on my doorstep with her writing on the back.

The neighbor responded with a note, too, saying her MIL should have parked in the visitor’s bay.

Her response was along the lines of her and her husband are finding it difficult to both park here overnight.

And they’re usually both gone during the day at work. She also said my MIL should have parked in the visitor bays instead.

She’s completely missed the point. whether my MIL should have used visitors bay is irrelevant.

It’s MY space, and if I want my guests to park in MY space, they should be able to.

Also, if I went out and bought a car tomorrow, what would she do then?

It’s not really my responsibility that both her and her husband have a car each, regardless if they are parked there during the day or not.

Now, she’s infuriated by how petty the neighbor was.

She shouldn’t just assume that because mine is empty, then it’s ok for her to park in without even asking!

Now, she’s making me feel petty because “I don’t even have a car,” but that’s not the point.

If anything, I think she is being petty arguing with me on a piece of paper and leaving it on my doorstep!

AITA?

Having an unused parking space doesn’t mean someone else is automatically entitled to it. While the neighbor’s parking situation may be difficult, OP still has every right to keep her paid parking spot, whether she has a car or not. Some people can really be so entitled.

Let’s read the comments of other online users on this story.

Here’s some useful advice.

This person suggests asking her to pay for the spot.

Here’s a valid point.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a barn owner who wants to evict a tenant who promised to build stalls but never did.

Another one chimes in.

And lastly, an honest take.

Just because it’s empty doesn’t mean it’s available for everyone.