Harassment or paranoia?

[Sras]

I'm currently having a dispute with a neighbour over a parking situation. There is a lane behind both of our houses and several people park there, including him. About a month ago he pulled up next to me while I was in my car and told me that I couldn't park there and if I continued to do so his neighbour "who works for the council" was going to have me towed. My car does not block the lane (it's a suzuki mighty boy), cars could easily fit through a smaller gap and none of the other residents who park beyond me have complained. I couldn't find any information on parking requirements so continued to park there every now and then, and he continued to park there every day. When loading a car with furniture to move stuff out of the apartment that a previous tennant had left the guy came in through my storage room, through the private building right to my apartment door to tell me to move the car. This time the car was blocking the road a bit as it was bigger to carry everything but considering there had been 4 people in and out all day he could have waited until one came back down instead of trespassing - I wouldn't walk through his backyard to knock on his back door. After this I received a note tellling me to stop parking there and I replied stating that he didn't harrass anyone else who parked their and he also parked in the same area. This was followed by another note telling me not to "embarrass" myself further attached to a map of the area with a 2 yr old document stating that cars were not allowed to obstruct the laneway/driveways/doorways, which my car does not. It's probably worth noting that I'd parked there for a couple of months before he first spoke to me and this was shortly after someone hit my car, the paint left on my car is very similar to his car colour.

I spoke to another neighbour who parks there and he told me that there was no problem and he had not been contacted in any way regarding this issue. I'm going to the council today to try to organise a meeting to discuss the matter so that I can at least get my facts straight for the next time he bothers me. So having been singled out, threatened, had him enter my property without permission, and had on going harassment for more than a month I'm wondering if it is valid for me to seek advice from the police or if I'm just being paranoid? Paranoia is a problem for me, especially when dealing with other people so I can't always trust my own judgement.

[bpladybug]

You are not paranoid. He definitely sounds like an asshole.

We had a slightly similar situation once.

Our neighbor, who was also an asshole was complaining about the electric wheel chair lift on the back of my honey's truck. He said it stuck out. Which it did but it was very well marked. After the second or third time he gave us bullshit about it we called the police.

The officer was very helpful and clearly and loudly stated that we were not in violation of any laws and that the lift was legal and very clearly marked.

Our asshole neighbor was hiding out on his patio listening to the conversation with the police officer.

We have learned the hard way that bullies get worse if you do not stand up to them. They become empowered. So you need to nip this in the bud with this guy and clearly establish your legal rights.

[AnneMarie]

What did your council say? Is there a way they could provide info saying it was okay to park there? Just trying to think of something you point at while telling him to bugger off... or drop in his mail box if you prefer.

[Sras]

Thanks ladybug, sadly you're right about them getting empowered.

The council said that I was right but they wouldn't put anything in writing for me and told me to go to the police. The police told me to mention to him that I'd spoken to both council and police and see if that got him to back off. If it doesn't then they're going to go have a chat to him. So now I just have to wait until he approaches me, which is quite unsettling.