Has a suspicious car parked in front of your house? Before becoming overly concerned, it’s important to learn what to do in this situation. You may be considering calling the police or confronting the suspicious person.
If a suspicious car parks in front of your house, you should first secure your home’s doors and monitor the car. Call the police if you strongly believe they plan to target you or a neighbor’s home.
While it’s common to assume the worst, there may be a good reason why someone parks in front of your home. This article will cover the reasons for someone parking in front of your house and what you can do about it.
Why Would a Stranger Be Parked In Front of Someone’s House?
Before you call law enforcement or tell the person to leave, it’s important to consider some normal reasons for them pulling over. If someone briefly parks in front of your home during the day, they may be a real estate professional.
Many real estate companies require their employees to monitor the condition of neighborhoods and take photos of the area. While you may feel worried, there are many normal reasons for someone parking or taking a photo of your home.
However, if the person is parked in front of your home at night and hasn’t left–you should investigate further. A criminal may park in front of a house to learn a target’s schedule and find entry points to the home.
No matter the car, you should always trust your gut feeling about someone parked in front of your home. A false alarm is better than giving someone plenty of time to scope out your home for a burglary.
What Counts As Suspicious Activity?
Suspicious activity is anything that makes you feel in danger for your safety. Whether it’s a parked car or a car continuously driving around the neighborhood, these can all be suspicious activities.
However, it’s always a good idea to inform law enforcement of the situation. Waiting for the situation to escalate further may result in the police taking too long to respond to your location if something happens.
Suspicious cars can come in all types of forms. It could be an old rusted vehicle or a new luxury car. You should always have your guard up and remain cautious of those parked in front of your home.
What Can You Do About a Suspicious Car Parked In Front of a House?
When a suspicious car parks in front of your house, you should take action to ensure you remain safe. Below are the following things if you see a suspicious car parked in front of your house.
Call the Police
If you feel something bad could happen, you should trust your gut instinct and contact law enforcement. Keeping the police department informed on the situation will ensure they arrive to check out the suspicious car.
While making the call, you should clearly describe the car and other details, like the license plate number. These details will help law enforcement if the car speeds off when a police officer arrives.
The person may have parked in front of your home for a harmless reason, but you can confirm their intentions. Law enforcement will question the person and get to the bottom of someone parking in front of your house.
You should also include a description of the person you can see in the vehicle. However, it would be best if you refrained from drawing attention to yourself and leaving your home to get a closer look at the driver.
When making the call to 911, you should remain in your home and keep the doors locked. You never know the intentions of the person parked in front of your home, so you should never confront a potential criminal.
Report It On Neighborhood App
When you don’t think you are in immediate danger, you can report the suspicious car to various neighborhood apps. An app like the Neighbors App by Ring can be an excellent choice to identify the person.
A neighborhood app can help you connect with people nearby who also noticed the suspicious car. If you gather enough evidence of the car, you can send the information to your local police department.
You can document the evidence yourself or with the help of neighbors with security cameras. You can have video footage and photos of a potential suspect if a home invasion happens in your neighborhood.
Upgrade Your Home’s Security
When cars parking in front of your home is common, you should upgrade your home’s security. Security cameras and no parking signs can be excellent ways to deter people from parking on your property.
If you believe someone has malicious intentions, you should also improve the locks on your windows and doors. You can never be too prepared for an invasion and keep your home secure from intruders.
Once you make home security upgrades, you can feel more confident in your home’s protection against strangers on your property. At Serious Home Security, we offer a wide variety of articles that help you improve all aspects of your property’s security.
How Long Should You Let a Car Park In Front Of Your House?
Unfortunately, in most local jurisdictions, you must let a car park in front of your house for 72 hours. The roads in front of your home are public property, and it’s not illegal for someone to park on them.
Once three days have passed with no signs of a driver in the car, you can call law enforcement and tow the vehicle. A vehicle isn’t considered abandoned until 72 hours have passed without a sign of movement.
If you want to get rid of the vehicle from your property faster, you can try to locate the owner and ask them to move it. Some vehicle owners will have their contact details on their windows, or you can find them on a license plate lookup website.
Read More: How to Stop People From Parking in My Driveway
Frequently Asked Questions
Someone parking outside of your home isn’t illegal if they are not on your driveway or private property. The roads in front of your home are public and anyone can park on them for a short duration. However, if someone is parking in front of your house longer than 72 hours, you can tow the vehicle.
Unfortunately, you can’t reserve the road outside your house as private property. Anyone can park on the road outside of your house unless it blocks your car from leaving the driveway. If people parking outside your house is common, you can place no parking signs to deter drivers from the area.
A neighbor is allowed to park outside of your house on the road. While it can be frustrating, you can’t remove their vehicle by force and will need to confront them about their parking. However, if a neighbor uses your driveway for parking, you can tow their vehicle as that is private property.
Conclusion
Are you wondering, “what do I do about a suspicious car parked in front of my house?” When a suspicious car is parked in front of your house, you shouldn’t hesitate to take action and contact law enforcement.
If someone planned a home invasion, the police would stop them before it happened. When the person parks in front of your home for a mundane reason, they will be questioned and drive away from the area.
With the information in this article, you can now prepare yourself for a suspicious car parked in front of your house!
My question is they park then get out on a public rd speed limit 55 then speed away as fast as the car will go. And do this same thing 4 to 5 times in a row
This sounds like a street racing or reckless driving offense. You can let local law enforcement know the situation and identify the car if it’s a consistent problem with a car in your area.
There’s a random Hispanic or middle eastern woman who doesn’t live in the neighborhood and has started to park her 2016 white Mercedes Benz with IL tags once a month on my block. She meets up with a man in a black sedan with tinted windows and IL tags, and then they speed off. He then brings her back later to retrieve her car and they both take off quickly. Likely they are having an affair, but they need to take that garbage elsewhere. Cops are involved now due to ordinance violations. All recorded on camera. How stupid can they be? There is no privacy in public.