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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Someone has been using our garage...

27 replies

Pearlsofmadness · 20/06/2018 19:46

Just that really. We have a garage separate from our house that’s part of a block at the end of our street. We’ve hardly used it since we moved in 5 years ago but occasionally put the odd thing in there for storage.

Anyway, our house is currently on the market so I made DH go up to check on the garage today before the Estate Agent visits tomorrow. He hasn’t checked on it since Christmas & there’s currently nothing in there- or so we thought.

When he got up there, it was stacked full of cardboard boxes filled with someone else’s stuff from the front, to about halfway in! Turns out he hadn’t locked it at Christmas time!

As he was there, a bloke popped his head in from 2 streets over and said he hoped we ‘didn’t mind’ but he had no room in his garage & knew ours was empty as apparently the ‘door was up’ so he’d moved some stuff in there. He added that if it was a problem he’d move the stuff by the end of next week.

DH told him it was fine, keep his stuff there if he wanted to but that we’d be moving soon so he may need to get his stuff out before then.

AIBU to be pissed off? We still can’t lock our garage door because DH at least had enough sense not to give him the key but this guy now thinks he can come & go as he pleases. I want his stuff out asap- we’ve got our own stuff to sort out when we move, let alone worrying about some CF stuff. DH thinks I’m BU & should let him carry on as we haven’t got anything in there at the moment anyway.

OP posts:

SerenDippitty · 20/06/2018 19:49

YANBU, he’s a CF not to have asked.

missymayhemsmum · 20/06/2018 19:59

YANBU to be pissed off. It'd not unusual for garage door keys in this kind of block to work on other locks/ back doors.
When I left a flat (council)I arranged to keep the garage for a further month and locked it. I believed I had the only keys. When I came back all my stuff was being cleared by council workmen, and anything valuable/useful had disappeared. When I complained to my neighbour she said' well you do know all the door keys in the block open any garage back door, don't you?

mickeysminnie · 20/06/2018 20:06

I would be down there moving all the boxes outside myself and then locking the door.

Original poster

Pearlsofmadness · 20/06/2018 20:27

I feel like doing that @mickeysminnie but my DH is making me seem like I’m BU for being mad that he’s just decided to use our garage without asking. He’s not even our neighbour or anything ffs.

I suspect that he tried our door using his key because I can’t see how the door would have been left open, even if there was nothing in it.

OP posts:

littledrummergirl · 20/06/2018 20:33

A cf did this with my sil garage. She used it infrequently but had been storing some of a friends furniture while they were having work done.
They went to collect it and discovered that someone had changed the door, disposed of the furniture and moved their own stuff in.
The painted some very crude language on the walls telling sil what they thought of her for daring to evict him.

lozster · 20/06/2018 20:36

Apart from the fact that is super cheeky, you need to consider how this might effect your sale. When you sell you need to confirm that there is no sitting tenant or anyone else with a claim or right over the property. When I sold my house my DP who was living there had to write a letter to the solicitor confirming he had no legal claim on the property and that he would vacate. Ok, it’s boxes not an actual person living there but why create any ambiguity?

Original poster

Pearlsofmadness · 20/06/2018 20:54

@lozster another reason why I feel really uncomfortable with this. I think I’ll keep popping back and for until I see him or leave a note and tell him he needs to get rid of his stuff asap. Not going to look good to our potential buyers otherwise.

OP posts:

CloudCaptain · 20/06/2018 20:58

Put a poster up for a forthcoming garage sale at the weekend. Can't believe your dh said it was alright to continue.

emmyrose2000 · 21/06/2018 06:37

I'd have told him to get it out of my garage then and there, or else I'd just be throwing it out.

Eminado · 21/06/2018 06:43

Why did yourr DH say it was ok?!

The guy is a total CF!!!

Collaborate · 21/06/2018 07:11

Put a poster up for a forthcoming garage sale at the weekend.

This. Absolutely this.

Fflamingo · 21/06/2018 07:18

There's a risk neighbour decides that actually some of the stuff is junk and he won't bother moving it - you could be left to deal with whatever it is. It needs moved now imv.

shiklah · 21/06/2018 07:27

Go and see him do tell him it needs to be empty for Saturday afternoon or you’ll be emptying it.

FrequentFlyerRandomDent · 21/06/2018 07:35

YANBU. I anticipate a thread in a few months from hapless new buyers "Neighbours says he has storage rights in our garage from our previous owner"...

LipstickHandbagCoffee · 21/06/2018 07:36

NO it’s not fine you cannot let the neighbor use your garage
Give him a week to remove items and lock it

BeyondThePage · 21/06/2018 07:40

I'd be looking to see what the stuff is - is it legal? are they storing it there so they won't be caught holding shonky goods? Why else would you use someone else's property that way?

speakout · 21/06/2018 07:40

Lock the garage pronto.
Otherwise this person may put on a new lock.

Put a letter though the door saying he has 7 days to clear the stuff or it will be disposed of. Ask him to telephone or speak to you to arrange a time.

IsaidMrDarcynotArsey · 21/06/2018 07:42

From two streets over but he materialised at exactly the right time - how did he know ? I would tell him to shift it pronto - in case it adversely affects the sale.

LipstickHandbagCoffee · 21/06/2018 07:43

Also by habitually using the garage it sends him the message

You're not bothered

2.its his to use as he wishes

Seeline · 21/06/2018 07:47

Tell him the EA has told you to empty it before viewings start or this weekend. Also find out the weekly rent for a garage space in your area and give him a bill.

speakout · 21/06/2018 07:52

Tell him the EA has told you to empty it before viewings start or this weekend.

You don't need an excuse to assert your rights.

Simply tell him to get out.

BedtimeTea · 21/06/2018 07:55

Do you know which garage is his OP?

flippyfloppyflower · 21/06/2018 07:59

I agree with PP regarding the stuff actually being stored. If it is in anyway illegal you will be held responsible as it is in your property and you knew about it you will be held responsible. I would move the stuff out asap (speak from personal experience unfortunately)

BedtimeTea · 21/06/2018 08:01

Can you see the stuff in the cardboard boxes, are they sealed shut? I would look through and see if his address is on an envelope or something.

Calatonia · 21/06/2018 08:29

Another vote for telling him he has until the end of the day to shift his shit or you'll put it in the street.
Give a CF an inch and he'll take a mile.

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