'AITA for having my neighbor’s cars towed from my garage?' 'It cost almost $1,000.'
"AITA for having my neighbor’s cars towed from my garage?"
My house is being built in a neighborhood that’s a few years old. My lot is one of the few remaining lots and there are occupied houses surrounding mine. The exterior is basically complete and the contractors are in the process of putting up the drywall. After work the other night, I decided to drive out to inspect the work.
Everything looked fine until I decided to check out my garage. When I opened the door, I saw 2 cars and a minivan parked INSIDE my garage. I called the contractor to see if he knew anything about them and he was as perplexed as I was.
My guess is that one of the neighbors decided to park their cars inside my garage because there was a slight chance of hail that night. At first I was just going to leave it alone but the more I thought about it the angrier I got. By the time I got to my car, I was steaming mad. So much so that I called a tow company and had them tow all three vehicles away.
The next morning my contractor called and told me the police was there to investigate the theft of the vehicles. I had them put the police on the phone and explained that I was the owner of the property, had the vehicles towed, and gave them the tow company information.
My contractor told me later that the owners of those vehicles were shouting and cussing them out until the police made them leave. I went by after work and a guy confronted me about being as a#$ for having their vehicles towed. He was shouting about how I ruined their day because they missed work and their kids were late to school because.
He also said it cost almost $1,000 to get all 3 vehicles back and that I’ll be covering the cost. I told him good luck with that and that he’s the ass for parking in my garage without my permission. We went back and forth until his wife came and pulled him home.
Some of the other neighbors came out to watch our argument and afterwards some of them told me I was starting off on the wrong foot and should apologize to that guy. They said that I should be more neighborly and understand that neighbors help each other out.
One said that I should have left a note instead of having them towed. It seems all my neighbors are against me. I can see their point so maybe I overreacted? I’m not sure.
Here's what top commenters had to say about this one:
Glowurm1942 said:
NTA. Who the eff feels so entitled as to park their vehicles in someone else’s garage even if the house isn’t yet occupied?!?!? Starting off on the wrong foot? That’s what the neighbor did by putting his things where they didn’t belong.
What if your contractor came back in the morning and they were still inside and that’s where your contractor had to do work or stage materials? That’s potentially money out of his pocket or yours. What if this neighbor damaged something pulling in or out and just left without telling you? I’m certain they wouldn’t have let you know or offered to pay to fix it.
MajorFox2720 said:
NTA. The audacity of your neighbor here is unconscionable. He trespassed on your property, then got mad when he had to pay the consequences? And the next time your other neighbors say to forgive him, ask them why they didn't offer THEIR garage to those neighbors?
MerelyWhelmed1 daid:
They used your property without permission. These are the type of people who would turn around and sue you if something happened to their car on your property. Turn it around on them. Tell them neighbors don't take advantage of each other, and they are supposed to make new people feel welcome, not exploited.
Ask them how they would feel if they came to their home and found strangers trying to occupy their space. Because you haven't even been introduced yet, and they decided to use your new home as their own. How in the world is that "neighborly." NTA.
Paronowitz83 said:
NTA. Put cameras up immediately.
GCM005476 said:
NTA. Their angry reaction says it all. If they were apologetic and nicely asking for permission for the future it might be different.
Chance-Contract-1290 said:
NTA. How someone feels entitled to use someone else’s garage without permission is beyond me.
mikkolukas said:
ESH. You could have contacted your neighbor first, asked him to remove the cars. If he refused you could have them towed. Instead you chose to start a war in your new neighborhood. Was you in your right to get them towed? Sure. Was it a smart move? No.