abandoned house next to mine - trespassing?

Yes, you would be trespassing. The city often is in charge of maintaining abadoned properties so you could call them, see if they will cut the grass. There is a liability issue which is why you shouldn't do it yourself.

Squatter's rights. Just move in quietly and stay for a while.

"Property law and the state have traditionally favored the property owner. However, in many cases where squatters had de facto ownership, laws have been changed to legitimize their status. Squatters often claim rights over the spaces they have squatted by virtue of occupation, rather than ownership; in this sense, squatting is similar to (and potentially a necessary condition of) adverse possession, by which a possessor of real property without title may eventually gain legal title to the real property.

Thanks - I looked it up, and a lawn longer than 12" in my county is considered a housing code violation. I'll file a complaint...in some ways I'm worried that the old man that used to live there is dead inside or something.

Have you knocked on the door?

Just go mow the lawn if you want. Over the years I have mowed many properties until they went through the foreclosure process to make the area look nicer where I own other properties. I am currently trying to buy a house that is next to a foreclosure. The foreclosure has a few bags of trash on the porch and grass over a foot high. When I close on my property, I will clean that other property up some too.

The city will eventually get around to mowing the property and assessing the cost but they normally do a quick job that doesn't look much better than the tall grass. They will only mow it a couple times a summer also.

Right now we are mowing a whole lot and a half lot next to some rental houses we own and have been doing it for 3 years now. The city tore houses down on those lots and I doubt anybody will buy and build in my lifetime.

If the property is in foreclosure, the servicing company the banks hire will eventually have somebody out to mow but that may not be until after a sheriffs sale which could take months or years.

At the height of the foreclosure wave, we had 2 houses on our cul de sac. I mowed both and ran the weed whacker on both. One had Canadian Thistle in the back yard and was growing through / over the fence into our yard. Anyhow, it is trespassing but no one cared ... especially the bank that owned the property ... in another state and they certainly were not maintaining the property.

I agree to just mow it if you want; see if you can buy it first though.

Just feckn cut the grass, don't stress.

I'd ask the police to do a well being check. If the guy is dead inside, I'm sure it would need to be taken care of.

Two updates:

1) I looked up property tax records, and the 12/31/2012 payment wasn't made, so way overdue.

2) Was shooting the bull with neighbors down on the street, and asked if they knew anything about the house. Guess he was taken away by ambulance quite a while ago, so they figured he's either dead or in a hospital/home.

I'll probably just keep doing what I've been doing, and cut a little further beyond my property line each time I mow my lawn and gradually cut the lawn next door.

Could you please water it too. Thanks

Buy a sheep and encourage if onto your neighboring land

That way only this sheep will be in trouble, as long as it doesn't grass you up

coachgirl wrote:

Yes, you would be trespassing. The city often is in charge of maintaining abadoned properties so you could call them, see if they will cut the grass. There is a liability issue which is why you shouldn't do it yourself.

Trespassing? Yes, but nobody will care, in fact your neighbors would probably appreciate it. Maybe you and a few others can take turns.

City cutting it? Hahahaha. I kinda doubt the city will do squat, may be cut it twice over the course of the summer (as mentioned by another poster) if you are lucky. Muni budgets are tight these days.

Liability issue? What the hell are you talking about? Like if he scalps the lawn and it gets burnt? He takes out some hostas by accident? Does not leave a nice criss-cross patern?

Do not listen to this wuss. If it bothers you cut it. From a safety perspective you don't want it to be overly obvious that the home is abandoned. It is in you best interest to make it look like it is lived it.

Just tell them I asked you to cut it for me. Thanks

the dead guy wrote:

Just tell them I asked you to cut it for me. Thanks

I don't know who you think you are but quit impersonating me.

I'm not dead yet!!

(and thanks Joe if you cut my lawn for me)

the comatose guy wrote:

I'm not dead yet!!

Well that's news to me!

Hope they didn't leave their dogs in the house and move out. Seen so much of this lately.

I'd mow a penis in the yard. The city would get a few more calls, and are more likely to come out a keep up with maintenance.

Went ahead and mowed most of it. Was a little scared when I was mowing closer to the house that someone was going to come out with a shotgun and say "what are you doing to my lawn?"

And I said 12-18" high, but there was stuff literally 3' tall.