A parking space dispute may seem trivial, but when a repeat offender refuses to see their fault in parking in a space not meant for them, it can quickly evolve into a far bigger problem. In this thread, a frustrated tenant and his faithful landlord put an unsuspecting couple in their place after they refuse to take a hint!
How It All Began
This incident happened in the summer of 2018.
It’s common in my country to have apartment buildings next to houses. I live in a building with ten apartments. There are two on each of the first four floors, one on the ground floor and one on the top floor.
The top floor is used by the landlord when he and his family come for vacations. He lives abroad. The rest of the units are rentals. We also have a small backyard with a side entrance.
Next to the building is an empty lot that also belongs to the landlord. We use it as a private parking space. There are even signs that visibly say it’s private. The space can hold ten cars and has a side entrance as well.
Now at the time of the incident, I had been a tenant longer than anyone else. Because of this, I had been given the role of superintendent. My job was to be the spokesperson between the tenants and the landlord and communicate any problems and concerns to him.
The problem started when the house across the street from us was sold. A lovely old lady used to live there, but when she passed away, the house fell into disarray, especially the large yard.
The new owners were Ken and Karen. They immediately began major renovations, which was expected. The issue was that they also started to park their cars in our two empty spots that were meant for the landlord and for the lady on the ground floor that didn’t own a car.
When we first told the couple they could not park in the spots because they were reserved spots, they would move their cars with no problems. But when they noticed the spots remained empty, they started parking there permanently.
I notified the landlord and he told me to take pictures, log every incident and always notify the police. Because Ken and Karen were persistent, they started doing that every day.
One Thing Leads To Another
Ken was a hotshot local businessman. Every time we called the cops, he would cause a scene about us being jerks. Each time we got the police involved, Ken always got a fine. He lost every time, but Ken would blatantly proclaim he would not pay the fines because he ‘didn’t have to.’
The worst encounter happened about a month before the landlord’s annual visit. Ken and Karen stopped using one of their cars and left it permanently in front of the side entrance, thus blocking it. That was a huge issue because the lady living on the ground floor was a renal dialysis patient. Three times a week she had to go for a session at the local hospital.
After her treatment, the ambulance brought her back and usually parked next to the side entrance because she was exhausted after each session. With Karen’s parked car blocking the entrance, my neighbor’s normal routine wasn’t possible anymore.
Ken and Karen stopped cooperating completely and refused to move their car even when the police were called. I notified the landlord and had to keep the peace within our community because everyone was tired of them. After talking one of the other residents out of slashing Ken’s tires, I decided to push for our landlord to pay a visit.
Here Comes A Taste of Justice
Finally, our landlord decided to swoop in to see what the fuss was about. I handed him the photos and the logs. After looking everything over, the landlord called Ken over to hash things out.
The landlord calmly explained they are not allowed to park in our space and to move the cars. Ken’s response was, ‘Who the hell do you think you are? I can park anywhere I want!’
Now, Ken thought of himself as a ‘big fish’ in our small town. But our landlord was a ‘big fish’ in a major foreign city. Our landlord was very creative when plotting revenge on somebody who pissed him off.
After Ken marched off, the landlord turned to us and said to leave the spot next to the side entrance open for the weekend and he ‘would take care of things.’
We did just that and Ken parked his car next to his wife’s. Sunday evening, a tow truck arrived and unloaded an old Citroen DS, blocking both of their cars.
Monday morning I woke up to my buzzer going off like crazy. When I came downstairs, Ken and Karen were there. They were both livid and throwing their hands in the air because they couldn’t move their cars.
My landlord heard the commotion and joined me with a huge smile on his face. Ken saw him grinning and blows a casket. He started shouting and cursing at my landlord, but all he does is smile as a grown man had a temper tantrum right in front of him.
‘I don’t see a problem. My car is legally parked. What are YOU going to do about it?’
That’s when Ken stormed toward his parked car. Nothing could have prepared us for what he did next.
Hot Head
Ken angrily got into his car and reversed right into the DS, crushing them both. The landlord’s smile became more malicious in nature. He immediately called the police and pressed charges against Ken.
My landlord legally bought the DS from his cousin that owned a car repair and restoration shop. The car was a restoration project and was insured, so my landlord wasn’t all that concerned about the damages.
The court found Ken liable for the damage done. They also found out Ken was true to his word and hadn’t paid for any of the citations he received about his failure to park legally. The fines for the tickets alone were almost two thousand euros.
Ken also leased both his cars and they dropped him as a client immediately for purposefully causing an accident and damaging the leased car.
In the end, Ken got another car but learned his lesson.
He and his wife haven’t parked in our spots ever since.
