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Remember that thread about litter at my apartment complex I posted a few months back?  Well, they cleaned it up right after that and the place looks great!

Now there's another problem.

During the winter months, there were tons of vacant apartments around me and parking wasn't a problem.  I never had to worry about not being able to find a parking space relatively close to my building.

Not anymore.

In recent months, the management has filled up every apartment in my building and all of the surrounding ones, too.  The result of that are all of the additional cars that came with the new tenants, many of which have two cars. 

Parking has become a serious issue where I live. 
If I get home anytime after 7 pm, I can forget about finding a spot.  I’ve had to park in the grass twice.  The second time I got a slip of paper under my wiper blade that said I’d be fined $30 by management if I did it again.  I didn’t want to park there but I had no choice.  It’s become so bad, there have been a few times when I wanted to run to the store but didn’t for fear that there wouldn't be a place to park my car when I came back.

Which brings me to my point…

About a month ago, one of my neighbors parked his oversized pickup truck in the “number 1 spot”.  The number 1 spot is the best spot, closest to my building.
It doesn’t bother me that he took that spot. (Lord knows I’ve parked in it many times)  What bothers me is that his truck hasn’t moved at all. 
That’s right.  He parked his truck and is essentially “storing” it there.  If parking wasn’t already so much of a problem, I wouldn’t take issue with it.  But he’s keeping his truck there on purpose and doesn’t seem to care. 
At first I thought it was a new tenant but that turned out not to be the case.  It’s a guy who’s lived here for over a year.  He didn’t have the truck before, but now he does.  I know the truck hasn’t been moved because of the crooked angle it’s parked in.  It’s been parked at that same angle all this time.

I’ve tried talking to the management about it and they simply do not care.  They tell me that it’s not their problem and that’s where I disagree.  I feel that if tenants are being forced to park far away from their building because of a parking shortage, it’s the management's responsibility to somehow rectify the situation.  They either need to start doing something about derelict cars (cars that haven’t moved in over 2 weeks) or implement an assigned parking system.

It’s come down to one of two things:  Either I approach him directly.  Or I write a message on paper and tape it to the driver’s side window.
I don’t want to talk to him directly because the parking issue has really gotten under my skin and I’m afraid I won’t be able to contain my stress and anger.  I fear the situation will escalate and I don’t want that to happen.  I also wish to remain anonymous and don’t want him to specifically know that it’s me who has the problem with him parking his truck there, even though I know the other tenants are probably ticked off about it, too.

If you were to write him a note, what would you say in it?
I already have a good idea of what I’ll write, but I wanted your input before I did.

I'm with you on this one, Ash.

I hate it when people think that parking a vehicle in a place and then not using that vehicle makes them think that they are somehow above you in some weird way. The management says that it's not their problem? Bull. It is their problem because it's their building.

In my old place, we had a way of dealing with people who parked in your space illegally ~ we deflated their tyres and after that, you saw many wobbly-looking cars making their way out of the building, riding on all four flats.  :teddyr:

I would just ask him to kindly move his truck once in a while so that others can have access to that parking or failing that, ask the management to allocate parking to everyone, if possible.

My note would read:  "Dear sir:  Since you're not using this vehicle, could you park it in a spot farther from the building so others could use this space?  Thanks."

Karma for the advice.   :thumbup:
I was wondering if the simplest answer was the best...or if I should go into detail in my note.
The owner of this truck is young...somewhere in his mid to late 20's.  I've lived here since last November and just spoke to him for the first time 2 days ago.
I was actually thinking about mentioning the truck situation to him right then and there but didn't because he appeared to be intoxicated...and because he wouldn't look me in the eyes.  He kept looking to the right or the left.
That struck me as being a bit strange.

At the risk of sounding paranoid, this sounds like the kind of person who, if they find out who left the note, will make it their daily duty to make you miserable, just because you don't think they are super wonderful and everything they do is peachy keen. I've grown up with people like this, and they won't stop short of a bullet in the head. Jail won't stop them as they can't remember to wipe properly after using the loo, but they'll remember who you are, where you live and every frigging detail about you they can pick up. And anything you do to stop their nonsense is just fuel for the fire.

Some people need to be roadkill.

At the risk of being a non-coformist, does the apartment lease mention anything about parking spaces?  I mean, the guy DOES live there and so he's entitled (or at least allowed) to park there.  If he doesn't move his truck, that's his business.  Sure, someone that had any compassion for his neighbors wouldn't hog a good parking space with a truck he doesn't intend to move.  But that's more of a character issue rather than whether he's allowed to park there.  He pays his rent (I assume) just like anyone else and if the spaces are there for tenants, and aren't reserved (I assume there are no apartment numbers attached to the spaces), then I suppose he can park there as long as he wants.  I think you have bigger fish to fry and this probably isn't worth starting a tenant battle over that will probably cause him to either do ADDITIONAL spiteful things, or punch you in the nose, or both.  Can't we all just hold hands and love each other?  (Disclaimer - If I lived there, I'd be p**sed off at this guy  - - but what I say and what I do are two different things). 

Go down and covertly cover the car in bird feed every day for two months.  Eventually having a truck out front coated in bird droppings will cut into the landlord's business and they'll do something about it.

Disclaimer: Don't listen to me.

Very good.... Nasty without actually doing property damage. I like it!

Now Ash, I have absolutely no good advice whatsoever. BUT, if things do go the way of the pear, or get hairy do this:

Put a fish covered in chunks of stilton under the hood.  :teddyr:

After meeting the guy, I firmly believe that is exactly the reason he parked it there.
To feel superior.

I actually like the tire deflating and birdseed ideas!   :smile:  :thumbup:
The only problem with the tire deflating is that I could get into trouble if I'm caught.  That, and I don't want to resort to anything illegal.

I was at the Dollar Tree yesterday and what do I see when I walk in?
Silly String!

I was so tempted to buy a few cans of it and go to town on his truck late at night...but I didn't.   :teddyr:
I'm still thinking about it, though.

The bird seed idea is the best one.  And you can do it one little handful at a time and no one would be the wiser.  Just make sure this jackass doesn't live in an apartment that gives him a good view of the truck. As I've said, these kind of folks can't be bothered to wipe their butts, but they'll watch their vehicles for hours to catch anyone even looking at it for too long.

Perhaps Andrew can get you a manual on demilitarizing vehicles and equipment. The specs for how to do the most damage to a HMMWV with the least amount of effort should almost completely apply to a standard pickup truck. How much thermite and C-4 do you have access to? Regular copper tubing can be used with the C-4 to make some very effective cutting/jetting charges if used properly.

If you're gonna go that route, find a book on eco-terrorism. The one I have tells you all sorts of ways to disable and destroy heavy equipment, and all on a poor man's budget.

Then there is always the cup of raw egg applied on a regular basis.  He'll have to move the damned thing to save the paint job.  But from what you've said, that may not matter to this guy.

Wait until some day when it's 80 degrees and sunny, then dump a gallon of milk all over the interior of the truck  :teddyr:  Make sure to get some down the defroster vents and stuff.