AITA for getting my roommate’s car towed and her parking pass revoked?
A Redditor shared a frustrating conflict with their roommate over parking arrangements in their apartment complex. Despite repeated requests to stick to the designated parking system, their roommate continued to park in the Redditor’s spot, leaving them without access to the parking space they paid extra for.
After months of failed conversations, the Redditor reported the issue to management, which resulted in their roommate’s car being towed and her parking pass revoked. Now, the roommate is furious, accusing the Redditor of overreacting and trying to ruin her life. Read the full story below.
‘ AITA for getting my roommate’s car towed and her parking pass revoked?’
I (23f) have three roommates: Sarah (22f), Jenny (24f), and Lucy (20f). Our apartment complex has a really bad parking situation at the moment. We used to have two garages (the main deck, which was bigger, and the second deck, which is smaller) we could park in.
Currently, the main deck is under construction, so the only option is to park on the second deck or to park in a different parking two blocks away. (the lot is owned by the same people who own our apartment) When we moved in, we all paid for parking. I paid extra to have the last spot so I didn’t have to call people to move their cars when I got home.
Since the main deck is closed, we have to park in an odd arrangement. We have four spots designated for our apartment. The only issue is the first two spots get blocked in by the second two spots.
We had a system that worked perfectly for a couple of weeks. Since Jenny and I often left the earliest and came home the latest, Sarah and Lucy would park in the first two spots, and we would park behind them.
Recently, Lucy has started parking in my spot instead of pulling forward to her spot. This meant I would often get home from a long day of work or school and have to either call Lucy to come down and move her car, or I would have to park two blocks away and walk back home.
I confronted Lucy about this many times, and she always used the same excuses that she was tired, busy, had somewhere to go later, etc. I have emphasized to her many times that I currently work two jobs, one of which I don’t get home until very late, and that I need to be able to park at the apartment. She just apologizes and promises to remember.
Well, she hasn’t it’s been going on for months now. Lucy recently went home for Thanksgiving and left her car parked in my spot for a week and a half. I got fed up with it and decided to go speak to our complex manager. She was super sweet and said she would immediately deal with the issue since multiple other people had complained about Lucy already.
Well, the complex manager towed Lucy’s car and revoked her parking pass for the building. Since she wasn’t following the rules (parking in her own designated spot, and I guess she was parking in handicapped spots and guest spots without a pass) and because she hadn’t paid to park for that month.
Lucy came back and was furious with me for reporting her. She was screaming and calling me an a**hole. And saying I was intentionally trying to ruin her life and get her evicted or kicked out of college. I apologized and said I didn’t know they would tow her, but she didn’t care and is now telling everyone how much of an a**hole I am.
Jenny and Sarah agree with me that I did the right thing by reporting her. A couple of our other friends agree with me, too. But Lucy and a few others think I took it too far and are a major a**hole for this. Am I the a**hole for getting my roommate’s car towed?
Here’s what the community had to contribute:
_mmiggs_ − So wait – Lucy would come home, see two empty parking spots oriented nose to tail, drive in to the first one, and just stop, leaving an inaccessible parking spot in front of her?. NTA. This is absurd. It doesn’t matter how tired Lucy is – it takes exactly the same effort to stop in the first spot vs stop in the second spot.
1962Michael − NTA. Lucy has shown zero regard for you. Especially by leaving her car parked in your spot for 10 days! That’s ridiculous. Frankly if I left my car for 10 days I would 100% have LEFT MY KEYS WITH MY ROOMMATES.
Personally I would harden up and get Jenny and Sarah to agree. Lucy needs to leave a spare set of keys in the apartment any time she doesn’t park in her own spot, AT MINIMUM.
toosheeptheorist − NTA – the apartment manager had already received numerous complaints about Lucy’s parking. You had also talked to her multiple times but she never rectified her mistakes. She is now in the “find out” phase of FAFO. But I’m trying to figure out how her parking could affect her standing at uni.
mdthomas − she wasn’t following the rules (parking in her own designated spot, and I guess she was parking in handicapped spots and guest spots without a pass) and because she hadn’t paid to park for that month. This would have led to the same result even if you hadn’t reported her.. NTA
No-Possibility-5207 − Girl you are NTA at all. you confronted Lucy multiple times to which she gave you fake promises and basically just ignored what you were saying. Your frustrations are valid and it isn’t fair for her to have that sense of entitlement.
She hasn’t paid her parking fees, isn’t parking in her spot, even parking in handicapped spots! what else did she expect? If anything i’d give her a smile and say, “you should’ve listened.” She’s in the finding out phase of f**k around.
[Reddit User] − NTA. \ Well, the complex manager towed Lucy’s car and revoked her parking pass for the building. Since she wasn’t following the rules (parking in her own designated spot, and I guess she was parking in handicapped spots and guest spots without a pass) and because she hadn’t paid to park for that month. Lucy is the reason why Lucy got towed. She was not following the rules that everyone else was following. She FAFO in royal fashion.
Binky_kitty − NTA. The reason she kept doing it and didn’t think it was a big deal is because she wasn’t the one being inconvenienced. Now she is and it’s due to her own actions. You are also not to blame for this, it sounds like other occupants have made complaints about her along with her misusing disabled spaces and crucially, had not even paid for her parking for that month.
That alone justifies the tow but the rest is just the consequences of her own actions. Time for her to learn that she’s not the main character, and just because she’s tired/busy/having a bad day, does not entitle her to make life harder for those around her. She’s only 20 so she’s going to have to start learning this soon and how to deal with others in a respectful manner, consider yourself as contributing to her education.
Salt_Interaction_0 − Lucy sounds like an entitled mess. I’m wondering if she parked in your spot (also) because she had not paid for her spot. She was using your paid spot and letting you walk 2 blocks because she didn’t pay for hers. Otherwise, her logic makes no sense. Was tired? Makes no sense. Forgot? Makes no sense.
Had somewhere to go later? Easy problem to solve. It makes zero sense to block a parking spot (other than if that spot wasnt paid for, which it wasn’t) I say this because it was intentional. She is getting the benefit of the doubt that it was an oopsie (over and over and over for months?) when it seems like it was very conscious, if not intentional.
If some of her friends like to let her play the victim, fine. Sounds like you and your roommates (aside from Lucy) are on the same page. Lucy has never faced the consequences of her own actions and it shows. Stand strong and Lucy will likely move out soon or need to be kicked out.
Jenos00 − NTA. Lucy refused to respect the rules of society so society handled it.
VeronicaLake007 − How did Lucy know it was YOU?
Was reporting the roommate’s behavior the right course of action, or could the Redditor have handled the situation differently? How would you deal with a shared living situation where one person disregards agreed-upon rules? Share your thoughts in the comments below!