When moving into a new home, you’re bound to have a few unexpected surprises. Unfortunately, for one new resident of an Oregon neighborhood, an old-timer next door was under the notion that he had the right to park right in front of the new homeowner’s driveway. After being unable to leave for work due to this issue, the new neighbor paid this man a visit, telling him that what he was doing was unacceptable. To the new neighbor’s surprise, the man said it was his legal right to park in front of the driveway, and he would sue if he couldn’t.
According to the new neighbor, this older fellow with so-called parking rights had a “handwritten contract” that he had made with the home’s previous owner. It stated that it was okay for him to block the driveway from 8 pm to 8 am every day of the week. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that it is not only very unreasonable to push this contract onto the house’s new owner but very illegal as well.
Posting to Reddit, the new neighbor in Oregon wondered how they’re supposed to deal with this person, as they’ll likely be living next door to him for the next several years. A grand majority of the comments state that the new homeowner should stick up for themselves and not stand for such rude behavior. “Have his car towed. Every single time,” remarks a top commenter. “If you don’t, then he’s just going to bully you,” they continue. Almost three thousand users agree that the previous owner’s contract should have nothing to do with the newcomer. Not to mention, what the man is doing is most definitely illegal, according to Oregon law.
Fortunately, this story has a good ending to it, even though the start of the homeowner’s life in the new neighborhood was a bit soured. The man who blocked the driveway under his “contract” ended up speaking to a lawyer, who told him that the state prohibits such behavior. He even came over and apologized in person, along with cookies as a gift and a formal letter of apology. While he may have made a poor first impression, he turned out to be reasonable once a lawyer put some sense back into him.
