Fed up with their neighbor parking in front of their home, one Coral Springs couple had enough and decided to give him a taste of his own medicine.
Andrea and Matthew Banzin live in the Glen Walk development with their newborn son and have been harassed for two years by their neighbor, Paul Dematteis who doesn’t park in his own driveway, or in front of his own home, but instead, choosing to park in front of Andrea and Matt’s.
Dematteis parks there everyday, even blocking the Banzin’s mailbox. He has seemed to have gotten a great deal of satisfaction out of annoying the couple even after he was interviewed with WSVN and “Help Me Howard.”
The Coral Springs Police can’t do anything, nor can the Mayor. They said that it was an HOA issue.
Dematteis has threatened to sue WSVN for airing the “Help me Howard” segment, which they have since pulled from their website. Dematteis was also allegedly bragging to friends that he won the ordeal and has continued to park his car in front of their home.
Until this week.
Little did Dematteis know that the Banzin’s were raising money online to buy a third vehicle to park in front of his house so he would have to go to the post office to pick up his mail just like he is making them do. They received over $550 in donations from friends and supporters which allowed them to buy a car.
‘We tried to solve it peacefully but they don’t want to. It’s a game to them.” Said Andrea Banzin. “We were able to get a 3rd vehicle today that will remain parked in front of our neighbor’s house until he moves his Explorer from the front of ours. Our new addition is a beautiful Mazda Millennia that we have named “Mama Lucia.”
Surprised by the new car in front of his house, Dematteis called the HOA causing an uproar that someone had parked in front of his home. He tried to get the car towed but the police said the car was legally parked and registered with plates, so it can stay.
Dematteis went to the Jets game on Sunday and took his Explorer that was in front of the Banzin’s home, so the Banzin’s moved their car to the front of their own house. According to Matt, upon returning, Paul Dematteis’ wasn’t too pleased, having to now park down the street – still not parking in front of his own home.
This morning, after a lot of huffing and puffing, our neighbors finally moved their car that had been parked out in front of our house for a week straight. So we moved “Mama” out in front of our house.” – Andrea Banzin on her Facebook page.
Matt believes they are trying to get other neighbors to complain about the decals on the car, “We aren’t doing anything illegal and the car is legally parked in front of our house.”
Now that their “new” car is in front of their home, they positioned it so that the mail carrier can access their mailbox and they can get in and out of their driveway with plenty of room.
So does this mean that this is the end of Paul Dematteis parking in front of their home?
Matt Banzin doesn’t think so.
“If he sees the opportunity he’ll try to grab the spot again.”
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