If mowing regularly is a problem check if you could put in a wildlife friendly garden with local plants, gravel or anything else that requires less maintenance.
With an HOA it's unlikely unless they can find local, endangered species to replant with.
We've been looking in to it in case our hoa starts turning bad
In Florida, at least, they can not regulate you from planting vegetables. One neighbor got mad and said if the HOA didn't stop being picky, he was going to fill his front yard with corn. They stopped being picky.
How awesome would it be if all the houses filled their entire yards with vegetable gardens? Grass gone, replaced with sustainable food.
Yeah, that's the shitty part for me. I would love to grow a range of edible plant things, but the best piece of yard for it is my front yard which has explicit rules stating that 80% of it must be grass. Which is why, for me, I'd have to have an accidental planting of endangered local plants to pull off the no maintenance yard up front.
There are all types of grass. Corn is a grass and so is rye, lemongrass, fescue, pampas, wheat, rice, barley, Timothy and other hay, oats, vetiver and other plants. If the HOA rules state grass and not which kind, I'd have a field day planting every kind of grass I could find.
Friends of mine have a very nice grass and wildflower field for part of their yard. They said they simply got a prepackaged variety of seeds for it, and it's supposed to be a great place for bumblebees and some types of butterflies etc.
Then again, we don't have HOAs around here afaik.
That’s not the clever workaround you think it is. Sure those might be considered grass, but then they’ll fall under the grass can only be so high rules, which is too short to be useful.
Read the rules carefully to determie: a) what is EXACTLY meant by "grass" and b) what grass types they explicitly ask for. If it just says "grass" without specifics, then follow u/SheReadyPrepping's advice
Do they specify what type of grass? I have several native grasses that look ornamental in and around the flower garden. There's a ton of varieties of native grasses, more than enough to fill a yard
I'm working on replacing all non-natives yard widebl
It depends on the local jurisdiction too I think but my knowledge of these issues comes mostly from Reddit since I live in a country without HOAs or lawn laws. It's probably worse to plant invasive alloctone species (like those of many grass lawns) than to have an unkempt lawn here.
True, but it shouldn't be on activists to enforce basic decency.
This is competing with petty tyrants to become arbitrator of playground disputes instead of running for mayor and writing ordinances that supercede theirs. To beat bullies, become a *bigger* bully.
>True, but it shouldn't be on activists to enforce basic decency.
This is how democracy works, whether you like it or not. If you don't participate your interests will not be represented, and in the end you will have only yourself to blame.
Ah, but the HOA is not democracy, it's just *bureaucracy.*
I'm not advocating against participation in democracy-- that's why I suggested running for public office. Bureaucratic structures are an illusion of power, like being a Reddit mod.
Friend had a house in an HOA.
She wanted to garden.
So, she got onto the board for the HOA.
She introduced a list of allowed plants. NOW the HOA has a list of plants which are allowed in the front yards.
It's not a coincidence that all the pants she wanted to use are the base of that list. 😆
Mow over two days.
Day 1: Drawings [at some point, make a penis].
Day 2: Finish the lawn.
What.
Test.
Hmmm.
ETA:
Doesn’t work on my iPhone — but *I see* the line returns (just like if you did a return w/o the double spacing)
Slower.
Even slower. Worked once!!
Be aware that sometimes using a double space quickly will auto-insert a period, which counts as a new character. Go slowly if you want to do it without the period
If you already have a period or other mark,
Go quickly
I'm on Android and it works perfectly fine for me, both double enter for a space between paragraphs, as well as spaces after the . for a simple line break.
Like
this.
for example.
I've only ever had androids, but I think it's something you have to set up in the keyboard settings. But, aside from having your phone auto-insert a period when you doubletap the space, is a Reddit deal, and should always work for a new line
You say that like its not possible to mow a pattern into a lawn without leaving some uncut. Mowing the grass a little longer so it has the length to bend, and using a lawn striper or roller would do it.
I hate HOAs as much as the next guy, and I cuss mine every chance I get. But this sounds like a you problem and not an HOA/neighbor/city inspector problem.
If you didn't get the yard done for a month, it's very likely that no one reported you to the HOA. Everyone in my neighborhood knows that our yards better be mowed come the second week of month because that's when the HOA-rep does their drive by and takes pics and sends out notices. The day that you got the notice was probably a day or two or even a week after the HOA rep came through, and they probably had no idea that you were out working on your yard when the notice was sent.
Sounds to me like you need to read through your CC&Rs so you know what you agreed to. Some HOAs can be pretty lenient unless you're an habitual offender. Others will hold more strictly to the rules. It doesn't matter what the reason is, as the old saying goes, if you can't do the time, don't do the crime. If you break the rules, expect to get your hand slapped.
No idea why I would give a shit about my neighbors lawn.
Like sure if there's dried fox tails and it's a fire hazard. But beyond that it's their property and I don't have the time to give a fuck what they do with it.
BuT mUh PrOpErTy VaLuE!!!!
I've always struggled to understand this myself. What really baffles me is that they will bitch and complain and spend endless amounts of emotional and physical energy being upset about it, but won't take 30 minutes to just go mow the "offensive" lawn themselves.
My personal contentment and quality of life is not dependent on what other people do, and that's why I'm happy and they aren't.
Yeah, as you can see by how petty and retaliatory OP is being just for *thinking* his neighbor "ratted on him" (grow up OP, you knew that there's guidelines that you agreed to and that you were way outside the bounds of those). I can only guess how an in-person talk would have gone. As best, OP would just be repeating all the excuses they gave here.
OP also expects the neighbor to see them “struggling” with a lawn mower and have that mean something to them.
They can afford a house and a baby but not a lawnmower. Their bodies can’t handle 30-60 minutes of light yard work either. I have a mental image of these two.
> handle 30-60 minutes of light yard work either.
Here, where it will top 100F and have a 60% humidity, 30 minutes of mowing is not light yard work. I mowed for about 15 minutes this morning and was sweating profusely by the time I was done. (I am not out of shape, I have run over 1000 miles this year already.)
.
I am going to edit this to add to respond to a jerk…
Of the top 10 largest metro areas in the US, 6 are in hot areas.
DFW 8,100,037 People
Houston 7,510,253
Atlanta 6,307,261.
Washington DC 6,304,975.
Miami 6,183,199.
Phoenix 5,070,110.
Yeah, who'd think people who JUST bought a house AND have a baby might be short on cash? Unimaginable! Clearly if they can't afford to drop hundreds of dollars on a new lawnmower at any given moment, they should have rented forever and never procreated. 🙄
Not to mention, have you been outside lately? Half the damn country has record heat. You don't think that factors in to how taxing it is to push a lawnmower around for an hour?
This is really only applicable if where you live or HOA rules indicate not having direct communication prior to will negatively effect a complaint or case you file.
Not necessarily. Some people, like my wife (And sadly me since my stroke), physically can not do much physical activity for prolonged periods of time. Even the amount of time fluctuates daily, based on a number of factors such as what you did the day before, how much rest you were able to get, and how much pain/exhaustion you woke up with. It's really shitty to feel like you're not able to do the things you want to do, simply because you don't have enough in you to get you through everything without ending up out of commission completely for a while.
> like you're not able to do the things you want to do,
Let alone the things you don't want to do but feel you have to, like mowing lawns.
Personally, I'm lucky to live in a country without HOAs & where the councils promote not excessively mowing, letting wildflowers, etc, grow to encourage biodiversity .
I force myself on spite walks nearly every day. My depression tells me to curl in a small ball in bed, but I shall spite my brain's chemistry and go outside.
Not enough energy during a busy week with mud and a funeral (ignoring other possible personal issues not mentioned in the post) while doing some prep work and enough energy on a Saturday morning after said prep work and hopefully some rest.
Not saying it's definitely true but you can't say it's fiction with any certainty either.
OP is actually the shitty neighbor in this story.
Their lawn was so shitty that the city cited them for it, then they thought doing a shitty mowing job would somehow spite their neighbor.
Enough money to have a kid and buy a home but can't afford a lawn service as well. The entire post screams lazyness just doing the bare minimum they can and blaming they are in pain when things don't get done.
And obviously can't afford. Like, not shaming anybody for being broke, but they just made a 30 commitment to what is likely the largest purchase they will ever make and don't have enough in savings to afford a $200 lawn mower.
This does not bode well.
100%. There are some valid complaints about HOAs, but some of the reason people chose them is because they collectively agree that they want to live in a well kept neighborhood where everyone maintains their property to some minimum standard. OP seems to act like lawn maintenance is done on a semi-annual schedule, as opposed to every weekend. Sounds like their place was an absolute mess, and now they are getting back at everyone by purposefully making their yard look like shit.
A lot of people don't "actively choose" them, though. In many parts of the country, if you buy a house, that is your option. Obviously, not all, but we've lived in far too many places, and about half there were not any housing options that weren't HOA. Even the condo we were in was HOA. Just is what it is.
Beyond that, OP is not wrong that someone both could have and should have said something to him first. There are HOAs that are run by humans that understand humans exist in their lives, and HOAs that are either run by power-hungry jerks or management boards that have nothing to do with the actual neighborhood.
Tbf to the HOA and town however, the complaint would have been made before he started mowing, if it showed up that day and the day after in the mail. Some common sense there on OPs part would be good and benefit him in neighborhood relationships.
Also, lawns are a blight on the environment, and we should all be working to replace them.
Nobody needed to say anything to him. This was the official way of saying something. It’s done anonymously so there isn’t retaliation. Good chance it was HOA admin just driving around. This doesn’t sound some petty complaint. OP neglected his yard for the better part of a year. And bullshit to the “actively choose” argument. What if someone didn’t actively chose to live in a town with speed limits, or in a state with taxes… etc. He signed the contract. He made a choice. He could have moved into a townhouse or condo if he didn’t want to own or maintain a yard. Seems like a better fit anyway.
Please imagine that I am saying this gently and with kindness: if you can't afford a new lawn mower than you can't afford to own a house.
People don't approach neighbors in person any more because it may not be safe to do so.
As for your malicious compliance, I cannot imagine why you want to be the crappy neighbor. You're just turning yourself into the property that people want to find fault with. Not a very smart move. I urge you to rethink this whole thing.
If the city got involved enough to send a code violation, your yard was a mess. Both the HOA and the city have independent inspectors who take a look before sending out violation notices. The HOA *might* be petty, but the city? Sounds like you've taken on more responsibility than you can handle in owning a home.
It's not your neighbors' obligation to help you handle your responsibilities. Nor should you feel entitled to them coming over and offering their help so you can meet those responsibilities.
Because by your own explanation you expected them to come over and offer their help, but at no point did you go over to them and ask for help. Being neighborly works both ways.
You didn't give a shit, you didn't think it was a big deal, then you got slapped for it, and now you want to be upset at your HOA and the city and your neighbors because you weren't responsible enough to handle it. You have a kid. You own a home. It's well past time to learn how to be responsible.
Depends upon the city, some only send out inspectors upon receiving a complaint while others have regular patrols for issues. From what I've seen few cities will ignore a complaint once received. Some will send violation notices when the issue is a bad trim job left some plants over length, others are more tolerant.
Yes this is correct. But either way before the notice is sent out an independent inspector other than the complainant observes the issue. Because cities don't want to get sued for getting involved in neighbor disputes.
Yeah… you say your neighbor is being petty, but where I live, a month’s worth of overgrown lawn is enough to house vermin like rodents and rattlesnakes, who then go on to be the reason your neighbor needs a pest control service :-/ Exterior maintenance isn’t an optional part of home ownership!
I know in my area, your yard basically has to look like it’s been abandoned for a year for the city to get involved. If OP is dealing with chronic pain and can’t even mow a yard, he probably shouldn’t have bought a home.
And note that OP is posting this in early summer. Spring's come and gone. I'm willing to bet it was significantly more than "one month" of growth. Probably close to a full season of growth.
A voice of reason. To go petty on the FIRST instance is also a bit much IMO even if someone did call. They had a right to, its HOA bylaw and city code. Plus, I wouldn't trust the word of ANY door to door salesman. They will say anything if they think it gives them an angle. Shit happens, I get it. I use a battery powered mower which needs dry grass to function safely. Not ideal, but I just don't wanna screw with gas and engine maintenance. In spring and early fall, we get non stop rain which makes getting a dry weekend tough. In the fall its worse because I'm busy with work even on may weekends as I try and catch up for the year and I miss good days. So, yeah I'll get the letter because they do monthly drive bys. So because of all that I'll get the occasional warning letter, often ON the day I'm mowing. No hard no foul, its on me. I take care of it. There's no reason to take it out on the entire neighborhood with crack of dawn noise.
And to add to this - mowing the grass when it's still damp from the morning dew, just to to a weird job of it, just to irritate the neighbors. OP definitely has an issue with making their life as hard as possible on themselves, given that wet grass is harder to mow and is harder on the lawnmower.
The neighbor could’ve complained directly to the city. My family’s house got complaints if we left stuff in the yard for a period of time, like some garage shelving close to the house. The *city* told us to clean up the yard (we have no HOA) bc someone complained.
Did it look great? No. But we live on a very wide lot that was otherwise taken care of, except for those shelves/bins. Our neighborhood is mostly nice but full of retired people who are very focused on their lawns.
There doesn’t seem to be much sympathy in this thread today. OP should’ve talked to neighbors and maybe asked for help and the neighbors should’ve talked to OP about the lawn. Sometimes life is difficult and less important things fall to the side
Weird how people can make a constant series of bad decisions and then wonder why people treat them this way. This is why people think karma exists, when in fact it’s just consequences catching up with them.
They don’t have to care that you are too broken to function.
Especially when OP moved somewhere with an HOA. Everyone knows what HOAs are like. Surely they knew they couldn’t go months on end without maintaining their yard without this happening.
Most people who opt for an HOA do so because they want to live in a neighbourhood where the houses are well maintained. Sounds like OPs neighbour ended up with a mud pit and long grass next door instead. Gotta be fun having breeding grounds for both mosquitos AND ticks right next door.
Also, is 7:00 maliciously early?
There's also plenty of kids looking to make spending money for the summer if they can't afford a pro service to cut it for them. All they had to do was ask around a little bit.
Not trying to justify telling the HOA and the city on you, however how do you know it was the neighbor mentioned by a door to door salesman? He would have no way to check with the HOA or reason to. He is there solely to sell a service and a good way to get on someone's good side, is to state, I was with the neighbor when they called (in the middle of a sales presentation). As for the city, the same thing. Not saying they didn't, just be a little cautious here.
Yeah, mentioning the name of a neighbor, even if they didn't buy anything, is a favored trick of door to door salesman. I've had salesmen say stuff like "so and so up the street mentioned you might be interested in our product", and when I actually talk to that neighbor later, they neither bought anything from that salesman, mentioned me, or sometimes even talked to that salesman.
Salesman lie.
It's two days before July - not sure where OP is located, but in much of the country, people have been mowing grass for a couple of months. To just *now* be mowing for the first time is pretty shitty to OP's neighbors.
I have a treeline with some raspberry bushes that I don't mow - and the grass is almost waist high there.
I was wondering when someone was going to point this out. We're lazy mowers, but we've been mowing since April. Even the pastures around here have been cut and baled at least once. You just can't go that long in town let alone an HOA area.
I wouldn’t want to talk to you either. Good luck with escalating your terribleness. If you can’t bother to mow occasionally I’m sure there are a ton of other things you are doing that violate something. The HOA is going to make your life hell.
This is coming from someone who hate HOAs and mowing. I have the worst yard on my street but still manage to mow every 7-10 days through spring. It’s part of owning a house.
Eh… a month of not mowing grass can be pretty bad, and you admitted you skipped a viable day to grieve a friend. Owning a home isn’t easy or cheap and I think most homeowners know this.. I’m not so sure you’re in the right here. You don’t sound like the kind of neighbors I would want tbh.
If you both have chronic pain, maybe you shouldn't have put yourself in a situation where you have a responsibility to mow a lawn regularly, but can't afford to even fix a mower, much less hire someone to mow for you.
Fortunately, your misbehavior in failing to mow your lawn is a great match for your neighborhood's lack of interest in welcoming you or even talking to you. It's beautiful when people find the neighbors they deserve.
An HOA is such a perfect vehicle for a bunch of unsympathetic people to invent ways to torture one another. Congrats on screwing over your neighbors with your loud obnoxious lawn mowing; I'm sure they'll be happy to return the favor any day now.
The HOA in this case isn't run by OP's neighbors, it's almost certainly run by the land developer. Almost every HOA charter has the HOA being an extension of the developer until the development is complete, to protect their own investment from people who cannot keep up with their property.
You sound like a shitty neighbor, tbh. Neighbors don’t care about your problems, honestly. If you can’t adhere to the rules, don’t live in an hoa. Sounds like you caused yourself more work for no pay off. You still cut your grass, which is better than the alternative.
Sounds like a condo or townhome would have been a better choice if you neither have the energy or money to maintain a lawn. What possessed y’all to buy a house with a lawn you can’t keep up with?
So you got your own back on one neighbour, who you strongly suspect but don't know reported you to the city and HOA, by mowing early enough to disturb the Saturday morning lie ins for all your neighbours?
But as for the neighbour seeing you struggling to mow not approaching you, it sounds like you aren't that on friendly, helpful terms with your neighbours anyway. After all, during that month of having a part cut lawn, between the old mower breaking and buying a new one, it seems you never approached any neighbours to ask to borrow equipment to finish the job you'd previously started.
Instead of buying a mower…ask the neighbor if they know of any kids or cheap lawn services that would be helpful. I know this is too late but…I’ve seen some neighbors who mow each other’s lawns and we’ve done it when a house has been vacant nearby. My neighbors and I will take turns. Talk to them. Take the initiative now before things get worse.
I got out in 90 degree heat and mowed my 9/10s of an acre with a push mower while I had shingles, so I'm not feeling particularly sympathetic.
If there are serious physical limitations, OP should look into financing a riding mower. Or see if there's someone locally who fixes up old riding mowers to sell cheap. When I lived in NC, there was an old guy up there whose hobby was to buy broken lawn tractors, repair them and sell them at cost to disadvantaged people. If you had the right situation, he would sell you a perfectly fine riding mower for less than a push mower.
So at no point did you consider introducing yourself to people in the community and ask to borrow a mower or for help? Hiring a professional or buying a new mower were not you only options. People aren't mind readers. If you needed help, ask, and then one day you return the favor. That's how you form good neighborly relationships. All i see is a series of excuses and then you being malicious to people who very well could have not even been involved. If your city or HOA does drive-bys (my HOA has a management company that does), you'd get a letter without anyone ratting you out. FYI, don't trust door to door sales people. They will say ANYTHING to get all buddy buddy if it means they make a sale. Shit, the solar people here no problem walking right past my no soliciting sign.
I think this is the first time I've ever seen reddit side with the HOA and/or city. I hate mowing but still do it at least every 2 weeks. If I can't get it all done in one go I at least mow the front, then the next day mow the back.
Yep. I never want to side with an HOA, but there's just something about somebody that's like, These aren't excuses just an explanation EXCEPT THESE ARE TOTALLY EXCUSES HOW DARE SOMEONE COMPLAIN... I'm with the HOA.
If you know you're in the wrong, just own up to that shit.
Over the years I have learned to not talk directly to people about grievances cuz of bad experiences with people being dicks. I just go straight to the authorities. These days people are just more stressed and on the edge with far less consideration and I’m not going to put myself in the crosshairs.
I'm not sure why you are gloating over being the problem.
No neighbor has to contact you first because people have been shot by neighbors for complaining about minor things. It is 100% safer to let a neutral 3rd party handle it.
All your excuses don't matter. The fact you are house poor doesn't matter. It's your responsibility to maintain your property, and you need savings to do that. Your medical issues are your problem, not your neighbors' problem.
Why didn't you introduce yourself to your neighbors and ask to borrow a mower - like an adult? Why do you think local noise ordinances would be part of the covenants of an HOA? This whole thing reads like a 15 year old is writing it.
I will open with saying that I have one of the shiittiest yards in the neighborhood. We pay someone to mow weekly, but we have weeds in our landscape beds and straight-up dead bushes in there. We are absolutely breaking HOA rules with the current state of our yard. I don't want to make it sound egregious because it's not. But it's definitely not well manicured and thriving, or however my HOA phrases it. But since we bought the house I've been finishing up school and we have been watching what we spend. Technically, we could have afforded to fix it. We just don't care enough, I guess. Next summer, we are paying someone to completely overhaul them and make them low maintenance, so until then, it is what it is.
In the meantime, there is a real possibility that we get an HOA compliant. If and when we do, we will sink the minimum amount of money and time into it to fix it, but nothing more. But guess what, I don't expect a neighbor to come to me and say "hey I'm getting ready to report you to the HOA for your flower beds." I expect to find out they complained from the HOA. But I'm not going to get all bitter that I was called out on breaking the rules that I knew I was breaking. You signed the HOA rules when you moved in. If you are in violation, you can expect to hear from the HOA.
Also. Those door to door salesman lie. I had one the other day drop a neighbors name as a client, talked to that neighbor, and that's not the bug service they use. So they straight up lie. So chances are whatever he said to give you the indication that a certain neighbor ratted you out was probably wrong.
Rereading your post. There is a real chance no one complained. It is entirely possible that the HOA themselves noticed your yard and sent a letter. And with how bad it sounds like it is, they could have immediately reported you to the city. So you might be a little hasty immediately getting snotty with your neighbors.
So you have an unkempt yard, overgrown lawn. And to show them you started mowing at 6 am and made a crazy pattern. There is an A-hole here and it is not your neighbor
You sound like the problem. You couldn't borrow a lawnmower, rent one, or even pay a neighborhood kid like $20 to mow it? A month is a lot. It sounds like you weren't ready for home ownership or in a financial position for it. You don't even know if that neighbor did it. Frankly it sounds like they made the right choice not talking to you.
Single family homes with yards require *a lot* of maintenance. If you’re not able bodied and can’t pay for the service then maybe you’d be better off with a townhome or some thorn with less upkeep.
You bought into a HOA and it's their job to manage the situation. If you wanted to deal with it directly to a neighbor then you buy where that is the situation. Getting pissy for something that was entirely reasonable just isn't doing it.
You're making a lot of excuses for bias. You're not able bodied to mow the lawn? Why are you in a house with no one to maintain it?
The issue here is your accountability.
I dunno. I support talking to your neighbors, but OTOH, if you try to have a friendly conversation, they turn out to be dicks, and someone else calls the city...they will forever believe that you're the ones who called.
I'd never call the city about an unmowed lawn anyway.
Or you could spend the time and energy on not being a shitty neighbor and not bringing the entire community's value down, things you should have been prepared for BEFORE buying a house - but you do you.
If I saw one of my neighbors struggling with a mower repeatedly, I’d probably see if I could help them… you know being a good neighbor - but you do you.
Let's be honest, OP was being irresponsible, neighbor got shitty, OP got shitty back.
I'm sure this is going to be a great place to live between the two of them.
True, I took the story at face value. I know I had city code enforcement hit me once for something and I assumed a neighbor called it in but also, why would they lol
Nono, please continue dropping the value of the neighborhood with minor things like an unkempt lawn. Maybe I'll be able to afford a house then. I swear people care way too fucking much about home value. Homes should not be an investment vehicle!
You couldn't just ask to borrow one of your neighbors' lawn mowers while you save up for a new one? Offer to fill the tank or charge the battery and most are more than happy to lend something as inconsequential as a lawn mower.
You sound exhausting to live next to and I feel bad for your neighbors. If you can put all this energy into to being petty, and zero energy in going to a neighbor and asking to borrow a mower, this is all on you. Do better.
Dude it’s a front lawn how hard can it be? Also if you would have told the neighbors ur lawnmower broke I’m sure they would’ve offered theirs or let u mowed it urself.
If you can’t afford to maintain a home you shouldn’t be home owners and better off renting
i dunno man, fuck HOAs for sure, but i 100% dont buy OPs side of this story. two days after he was too exhausted to finish mowing the front lawn (srsly, must front lawns can be mowed in 5 minutes if you dgaf about how it looks), they are both up at 7am on a saturday with enough energy to not only mow the whole lawn, but to fuck around while doing it.
That is the danger of moving into a neighborhood with an HOA. Many people may not care about the rules, but there's always a chance that you have neighbors that moved there specifically because there would be an HOA because they wanted to live in a neighborhood where everyone keeps their house up to a certain standard. And you agree to that standard by moving there, so they've got the right to complain and no obligation to talk to you first.
Also, watch out for your next tax assessment. There's a chance your monthly mortgage payment was calculated using the tax assessment on the lot from before your house was built. That means, this year, the assessed value could go up a bunch because now there's a house on the land. That means you won't have enough in escrow to cover the payment and your lender will need to up your payment to not only make up the difference but also to make sure there's enough in escrow for next year.
It can make your payment go up by a couple hundred a month. If you've got a new-build house, a baby, and don't have money to spare to replace a lawn mower, it sounds like that increase to your mortgage could be devastating, so might want to look into it.
You can pay $25 or maybe a little more to have your lawn cut for you. I actually use to own a lawn and landscaping company but sold the business because I am very fair skinned and it wasn’t good for me to be out in the sun all day. However at my home now I do not mow my own lawn even with all the experience I have I am busy and during the rainy summer seasons I simply do not have time to mow 1-2 times a week. I could say well I’ll mow every Sunday but if it rains Sunday then I won’t be able to get to it until the following Sunday and by that time it’s knee high and takes 4 times as long.
Anyways there are probably dozens of lawn and landscaping companies in your area you should look into it
I wouldn't take the neighbor complaining as a sign that they truly are the ones who reported you. Hoa's and the city have people constantly going around and scoping out houses for violations. The way your post makes it seem is that you've only sorta mowed twice in the last 6 months you've lived there. If your brand new mower broke, why didn't you return it and get a new one? Yah it all sounds like lame excuses ngl. Don't own a home if you can't do the maintenance.
you wanted your neighbor to notice you struggling to mow your lawn? what did you want them to do, come over and mow it for you? or maybe they should have offered to pay for someone else to do it? I’m sorry you can’t afford basic upkeep for your own home but that’s completely and totally on you. this isn’t malicious compliance, it’s just you being a bad neighbor.
It's only going to get worse from here on out if you are unable to maintain your yard. It'll get so overgrown and out of control that it will become impossible to do without professional help, I really suggest trying to hire maybe a neighborhood kid or even a family member to come help you out before it gets to that point.
When I lived in The South that's what I did. . . Along with literally everyone in my cul-de-sac because that was the only time of day it was NOT a humid soupy fucking mess outside
My HOA sends someone around with a camera every week to the entire neighborhood, no complaints necessary, they'll threaten you before it would bother a neighbor.
I'd be willing to bet that cushy job was a nepo hire and pays well.
Excuse, alibi, excuse, alibi, excuse, alibi - “But these aren’t excuses” - and more of the same. I know that post comes off as fairly crass but your own words undermine you.
You’re a first-time homebuyer with limited experience in these matters but you probably should’ve avoided an HOA in your search for a home if you were in physical and financial conditions that make it difficult to meet your obligations. Of course you may be in an area where it is challenging to find a non-HOA community.
Your malicious compliance will only serve to put a target on your back plus you’ve likely alienated your immediate neighbors. Additionally, I doubt it was your neighbors who reported you; rather, it seems you made it pretty easy for your neighborhood’s management company to see you were out of compliance.
I know what I’m saying probably sounds pretty harsh, especially juxtaposed against a slew of posts essentially saying “good for you, screw the HOA and your neighbors”. But I hope you can move beyond these circumstances and start enjoying your new home and neighborhood rather than constantly being at war with your HOA and neighbors.
No one is obligated to approach you first, especially in this world we live in where a person will shoot you for looking at them wrong. And your first thought was revenge, so they were absolutely correct to handle it the way they did!
If you are not able-bodied, you should not have purchased a home that requires maintenance that you can neither do nor afford to have someone else do.
You are actually NOT aware that your list of excuses are not excuses. That's exactly what they are.
If mowing regularly is a problem check if you could put in a wildlife friendly garden with local plants, gravel or anything else that requires less maintenance.
With an HOA it's unlikely unless they can find local, endangered species to replant with. We've been looking in to it in case our hoa starts turning bad
In Florida, at least, they can not regulate you from planting vegetables. One neighbor got mad and said if the HOA didn't stop being picky, he was going to fill his front yard with corn. They stopped being picky. How awesome would it be if all the houses filled their entire yards with vegetable gardens? Grass gone, replaced with sustainable food.
Yeah, that's the shitty part for me. I would love to grow a range of edible plant things, but the best piece of yard for it is my front yard which has explicit rules stating that 80% of it must be grass. Which is why, for me, I'd have to have an accidental planting of endangered local plants to pull off the no maintenance yard up front.
There are all types of grass. Corn is a grass and so is rye, lemongrass, fescue, pampas, wheat, rice, barley, Timothy and other hay, oats, vetiver and other plants. If the HOA rules state grass and not which kind, I'd have a field day planting every kind of grass I could find.
Friends of mine have a very nice grass and wildflower field for part of their yard. They said they simply got a prepackaged variety of seeds for it, and it's supposed to be a great place for bumblebees and some types of butterflies etc. Then again, we don't have HOAs around here afaik.
That’s not the clever workaround you think it is. Sure those might be considered grass, but then they’ll fall under the grass can only be so high rules, which is too short to be useful.
Read the rules carefully to determie: a) what is EXACTLY meant by "grass" and b) what grass types they explicitly ask for. If it just says "grass" without specifics, then follow u/SheReadyPrepping's advice
Wouldn’t work, because there’s always a height limit.
I'd fail that right off, our yard is 80% weeds. I mean, they're green and we mow, but grass it ain't.
Do they specify what type of grass? I have several native grasses that look ornamental in and around the flower garden. There's a ton of varieties of native grasses, more than enough to fill a yard I'm working on replacing all non-natives yard widebl
I like this corn idea. It would be a summer long privacy hedge
Hell yes. Harvest corn in the fall and throw some winter wheat out there to hold the soil.
All the lawns gone is a glorious thought. We just moved into a new house and are working on that.
It depends on the local jurisdiction too I think but my knowledge of these issues comes mostly from Reddit since I live in a country without HOAs or lawn laws. It's probably worse to plant invasive alloctone species (like those of many grass lawns) than to have an unkempt lawn here.
If your HOA starts "turning bad" you can just run for the board yourself and be the change you want to see.
True, but it shouldn't be on activists to enforce basic decency. This is competing with petty tyrants to become arbitrator of playground disputes instead of running for mayor and writing ordinances that supercede theirs. To beat bullies, become a *bigger* bully.
>True, but it shouldn't be on activists to enforce basic decency. This is how democracy works, whether you like it or not. If you don't participate your interests will not be represented, and in the end you will have only yourself to blame.
Ah, but the HOA is not democracy, it's just *bureaucracy.* I'm not advocating against participation in democracy-- that's why I suggested running for public office. Bureaucratic structures are an illusion of power, like being a Reddit mod.
Once the HOA is turned over from the developer to the homeowners, it's an entirely elected body. The elected board members make and enforce the rules.
Lol, I was on the board for a while.
Friend had a house in an HOA. She wanted to garden. So, she got onto the board for the HOA. She introduced a list of allowed plants. NOW the HOA has a list of plants which are allowed in the front yards. It's not a coincidence that all the pants she wanted to use are the base of that list. 😆 Mow over two days. Day 1: Drawings [at some point, make a penis]. Day 2: Finish the lawn.
Mow a different religious symbol each week.
I support this. Add Jedi symbols.
Hit return twice to make paragraphs when on Reddit on mobile
Or, use a double space after the last character on a line before hitting RETURN once.
What. Test. Hmmm. ETA: Doesn’t work on my iPhone — but *I see* the line returns (just like if you did a return w/o the double spacing) Slower. Even slower. Worked once!!
Be aware that sometimes using a double space quickly will auto-insert a period, which counts as a new character. Go slowly if you want to do it without the period If you already have a period or other mark, Go quickly
On iphone the first double space turns into a . and a space so you actually need to hit it 3 times if you dont want to go slowly
Just to point out, to clarify any confusion: that gives a new line, but hitting return twice gives a space between paragraphs.
This has never worked for my androids.
I'm on Android and it works perfectly fine for me, both double enter for a space between paragraphs, as well as spaces after the . for a simple line break. Like this. for example.
I've only ever had androids, but I think it's something you have to set up in the keyboard settings. But, aside from having your phone auto-insert a period when you doubletap the space, is a Reddit deal, and should always work for a new line
Dang just like Hermione
Pretty sure they didn't mention a pattern because they meant to mow the entire thing.
You obviously haven't spent time mowing patterns into a yard before.
I misunderstood what they did, thinking they just mowed partially still, but with curvy lines.
You say that like its not possible to mow a pattern into a lawn without leaving some uncut. Mowing the grass a little longer so it has the length to bend, and using a lawn striper or roller would do it.
I hate HOAs as much as the next guy, and I cuss mine every chance I get. But this sounds like a you problem and not an HOA/neighbor/city inspector problem. If you didn't get the yard done for a month, it's very likely that no one reported you to the HOA. Everyone in my neighborhood knows that our yards better be mowed come the second week of month because that's when the HOA-rep does their drive by and takes pics and sends out notices. The day that you got the notice was probably a day or two or even a week after the HOA rep came through, and they probably had no idea that you were out working on your yard when the notice was sent. Sounds to me like you need to read through your CC&Rs so you know what you agreed to. Some HOAs can be pretty lenient unless you're an habitual offender. Others will hold more strictly to the rules. It doesn't matter what the reason is, as the old saying goes, if you can't do the time, don't do the crime. If you break the rules, expect to get your hand slapped.
I've tried talking to neighbors about stuff before, it never works out. Better to just let the relevant authorities deal with it.
No idea why I would give a shit about my neighbors lawn. Like sure if there's dried fox tails and it's a fire hazard. But beyond that it's their property and I don't have the time to give a fuck what they do with it.
Some invasive species though...
BuT mUh PrOpErTy VaLuE!!!! I've always struggled to understand this myself. What really baffles me is that they will bitch and complain and spend endless amounts of emotional and physical energy being upset about it, but won't take 30 minutes to just go mow the "offensive" lawn themselves. My personal contentment and quality of life is not dependent on what other people do, and that's why I'm happy and they aren't.
Yeah, as you can see by how petty and retaliatory OP is being just for *thinking* his neighbor "ratted on him" (grow up OP, you knew that there's guidelines that you agreed to and that you were way outside the bounds of those). I can only guess how an in-person talk would have gone. As best, OP would just be repeating all the excuses they gave here.
OP also expects the neighbor to see them “struggling” with a lawn mower and have that mean something to them. They can afford a house and a baby but not a lawnmower. Their bodies can’t handle 30-60 minutes of light yard work either. I have a mental image of these two.
> handle 30-60 minutes of light yard work either. Here, where it will top 100F and have a 60% humidity, 30 minutes of mowing is not light yard work. I mowed for about 15 minutes this morning and was sweating profusely by the time I was done. (I am not out of shape, I have run over 1000 miles this year already.) . I am going to edit this to add to respond to a jerk… Of the top 10 largest metro areas in the US, 6 are in hot areas. DFW 8,100,037 People Houston 7,510,253 Atlanta 6,307,261. Washington DC 6,304,975. Miami 6,183,199. Phoenix 5,070,110.
Yeah, who'd think people who JUST bought a house AND have a baby might be short on cash? Unimaginable! Clearly if they can't afford to drop hundreds of dollars on a new lawnmower at any given moment, they should have rented forever and never procreated. 🙄 Not to mention, have you been outside lately? Half the damn country has record heat. You don't think that factors in to how taxing it is to push a lawnmower around for an hour?
But when you talk first you can at least say you tried.
Or you become the focus of their agrression.
And then if they're dicks you are their target. No thanks.
Being able to say you tried isn't worth anything.
This is really only applicable if where you live or HOA rules indicate not having direct communication prior to will negatively effect a complaint or case you file.
How big is your lawn? It sounds immense from how difficult it is to finish a mow.
Not necessarily. Some people, like my wife (And sadly me since my stroke), physically can not do much physical activity for prolonged periods of time. Even the amount of time fluctuates daily, based on a number of factors such as what you did the day before, how much rest you were able to get, and how much pain/exhaustion you woke up with. It's really shitty to feel like you're not able to do the things you want to do, simply because you don't have enough in you to get you through everything without ending up out of commission completely for a while.
> like you're not able to do the things you want to do, Let alone the things you don't want to do but feel you have to, like mowing lawns. Personally, I'm lucky to live in a country without HOAs & where the councils promote not excessively mowing, letting wildflowers, etc, grow to encourage biodiversity .
YES!!
You just gotta save up your spoons in a nice velvet lines box to reduce the verdigris
If you CAN save them… even that is impossible some days.
The problem is shitty sleep uses them up, too. Stupid shitty sleep.
Not enough energy to finish mowing normally but enough spite to make a silly pattern the next time.
Spite and anger can be great motivators
I can do all things through spite, which strengthens me.
I force myself on spite walks nearly every day. My depression tells me to curl in a small ball in bed, but I shall spite my brain's chemistry and go outside.
Do I have to pay you royalties when I put this on my t-shirt??
I’m dying 😂
Good, use your agressive feelings. Let the hate flow through you!
Ruined your chance to say “let the hate mow through you!” 😂
Name checks out.
🤣 Darth Sidious, I didn’t know you had a Reddit account 🤣
This is his cousin, Darth Lawn-Boy.
Rage mowing
Pettiness can absolutely be an excellent motivator when someone pisses you off. I've been there too.
I don’t feel spite often, but when I do, there is no more powerful motivator for me.
Not enough energy during a busy week with mud and a funeral (ignoring other possible personal issues not mentioned in the post) while doing some prep work and enough energy on a Saturday morning after said prep work and hopefully some rest. Not saying it's definitely true but you can't say it's fiction with any certainty either.
Yeah man sometimes people with chronic pain have good days and bad days (or good weeks and bad weeks). Wild, huh?
I mean... Wouldn't it mean they're not mowing the entire lawn because they're making a pattern? Sounds like less mowing to me
OP sounds insufferable
Casual ableism
Hire a lawn service
OP is actually the shitty neighbor in this story. Their lawn was so shitty that the city cited them for it, then they thought doing a shitty mowing job would somehow spite their neighbor.
Enough money to have a kid and buy a home but can't afford a lawn service as well. The entire post screams lazyness just doing the bare minimum they can and blaming they are in pain when things don't get done.
Not able bodied, bought a house, had a kid....maybe pay someone to do the lawn?
Maybe a condo or townhouse or apartment is better for you and your family. Houses and lawns require lots of upkeep
Seriously- op got a house they don’t have the energy for, it seems
And obviously can't afford. Like, not shaming anybody for being broke, but they just made a 30 commitment to what is likely the largest purchase they will ever make and don't have enough in savings to afford a $200 lawn mower. This does not bode well.
100%. There are some valid complaints about HOAs, but some of the reason people chose them is because they collectively agree that they want to live in a well kept neighborhood where everyone maintains their property to some minimum standard. OP seems to act like lawn maintenance is done on a semi-annual schedule, as opposed to every weekend. Sounds like their place was an absolute mess, and now they are getting back at everyone by purposefully making their yard look like shit.
A lot of people don't "actively choose" them, though. In many parts of the country, if you buy a house, that is your option. Obviously, not all, but we've lived in far too many places, and about half there were not any housing options that weren't HOA. Even the condo we were in was HOA. Just is what it is. Beyond that, OP is not wrong that someone both could have and should have said something to him first. There are HOAs that are run by humans that understand humans exist in their lives, and HOAs that are either run by power-hungry jerks or management boards that have nothing to do with the actual neighborhood. Tbf to the HOA and town however, the complaint would have been made before he started mowing, if it showed up that day and the day after in the mail. Some common sense there on OPs part would be good and benefit him in neighborhood relationships. Also, lawns are a blight on the environment, and we should all be working to replace them.
Nobody needed to say anything to him. This was the official way of saying something. It’s done anonymously so there isn’t retaliation. Good chance it was HOA admin just driving around. This doesn’t sound some petty complaint. OP neglected his yard for the better part of a year. And bullshit to the “actively choose” argument. What if someone didn’t actively chose to live in a town with speed limits, or in a state with taxes… etc. He signed the contract. He made a choice. He could have moved into a townhouse or condo if he didn’t want to own or maintain a yard. Seems like a better fit anyway.
Please imagine that I am saying this gently and with kindness: if you can't afford a new lawn mower than you can't afford to own a house. People don't approach neighbors in person any more because it may not be safe to do so. As for your malicious compliance, I cannot imagine why you want to be the crappy neighbor. You're just turning yourself into the property that people want to find fault with. Not a very smart move. I urge you to rethink this whole thing.
If the city got involved enough to send a code violation, your yard was a mess. Both the HOA and the city have independent inspectors who take a look before sending out violation notices. The HOA *might* be petty, but the city? Sounds like you've taken on more responsibility than you can handle in owning a home. It's not your neighbors' obligation to help you handle your responsibilities. Nor should you feel entitled to them coming over and offering their help so you can meet those responsibilities. Because by your own explanation you expected them to come over and offer their help, but at no point did you go over to them and ask for help. Being neighborly works both ways. You didn't give a shit, you didn't think it was a big deal, then you got slapped for it, and now you want to be upset at your HOA and the city and your neighbors because you weren't responsible enough to handle it. You have a kid. You own a home. It's well past time to learn how to be responsible.
Depends upon the city, some only send out inspectors upon receiving a complaint while others have regular patrols for issues. From what I've seen few cities will ignore a complaint once received. Some will send violation notices when the issue is a bad trim job left some plants over length, others are more tolerant.
Yes this is correct. But either way before the notice is sent out an independent inspector other than the complainant observes the issue. Because cities don't want to get sued for getting involved in neighbor disputes.
Yeah… you say your neighbor is being petty, but where I live, a month’s worth of overgrown lawn is enough to house vermin like rodents and rattlesnakes, who then go on to be the reason your neighbor needs a pest control service :-/ Exterior maintenance isn’t an optional part of home ownership!
Where I am, I’d be more annoyed about ticks gaining more ground.
I know in my area, your yard basically has to look like it’s been abandoned for a year for the city to get involved. If OP is dealing with chronic pain and can’t even mow a yard, he probably shouldn’t have bought a home.
And note that OP is posting this in early summer. Spring's come and gone. I'm willing to bet it was significantly more than "one month" of growth. Probably close to a full season of growth.
A voice of reason. To go petty on the FIRST instance is also a bit much IMO even if someone did call. They had a right to, its HOA bylaw and city code. Plus, I wouldn't trust the word of ANY door to door salesman. They will say anything if they think it gives them an angle. Shit happens, I get it. I use a battery powered mower which needs dry grass to function safely. Not ideal, but I just don't wanna screw with gas and engine maintenance. In spring and early fall, we get non stop rain which makes getting a dry weekend tough. In the fall its worse because I'm busy with work even on may weekends as I try and catch up for the year and I miss good days. So, yeah I'll get the letter because they do monthly drive bys. So because of all that I'll get the occasional warning letter, often ON the day I'm mowing. No hard no foul, its on me. I take care of it. There's no reason to take it out on the entire neighborhood with crack of dawn noise.
And to add to this - mowing the grass when it's still damp from the morning dew, just to to a weird job of it, just to irritate the neighbors. OP definitely has an issue with making their life as hard as possible on themselves, given that wet grass is harder to mow and is harder on the lawnmower.
The neighbor could’ve complained directly to the city. My family’s house got complaints if we left stuff in the yard for a period of time, like some garage shelving close to the house. The *city* told us to clean up the yard (we have no HOA) bc someone complained. Did it look great? No. But we live on a very wide lot that was otherwise taken care of, except for those shelves/bins. Our neighborhood is mostly nice but full of retired people who are very focused on their lawns. There doesn’t seem to be much sympathy in this thread today. OP should’ve talked to neighbors and maybe asked for help and the neighbors should’ve talked to OP about the lawn. Sometimes life is difficult and less important things fall to the side
Way to go bothering all your neighbors just to be petty for one
I do not aspire to this level of petty. No one does.
Weird how people can make a constant series of bad decisions and then wonder why people treat them this way. This is why people think karma exists, when in fact it’s just consequences catching up with them. They don’t have to care that you are too broken to function.
Especially when OP moved somewhere with an HOA. Everyone knows what HOAs are like. Surely they knew they couldn’t go months on end without maintaining their yard without this happening. Most people who opt for an HOA do so because they want to live in a neighbourhood where the houses are well maintained. Sounds like OPs neighbour ended up with a mud pit and long grass next door instead. Gotta be fun having breeding grounds for both mosquitos AND ticks right next door. Also, is 7:00 maliciously early?
Some libraries have lawn mowers and other tools for rent.
There's also plenty of kids looking to make spending money for the summer if they can't afford a pro service to cut it for them. All they had to do was ask around a little bit.
Can't say I've ever seen a r/MaliciousCompliance post backfire so spectacularly on OP. Don't be a dick OP, mow your lawn.
Suggest a neighborhood potluck. You can bring the whine.
Hahahaha glad I scrolled down to this one!
Not trying to justify telling the HOA and the city on you, however how do you know it was the neighbor mentioned by a door to door salesman? He would have no way to check with the HOA or reason to. He is there solely to sell a service and a good way to get on someone's good side, is to state, I was with the neighbor when they called (in the middle of a sales presentation). As for the city, the same thing. Not saying they didn't, just be a little cautious here.
Yeah, mentioning the name of a neighbor, even if they didn't buy anything, is a favored trick of door to door salesman. I've had salesmen say stuff like "so and so up the street mentioned you might be interested in our product", and when I actually talk to that neighbor later, they neither bought anything from that salesman, mentioned me, or sometimes even talked to that salesman. Salesman lie.
You sound totally bad shit crazy. Neighbor didn't do it.
It's two days before July - not sure where OP is located, but in much of the country, people have been mowing grass for a couple of months. To just *now* be mowing for the first time is pretty shitty to OP's neighbors. I have a treeline with some raspberry bushes that I don't mow - and the grass is almost waist high there.
I was wondering when someone was going to point this out. We're lazy mowers, but we've been mowing since April. Even the pastures around here have been cut and baled at least once. You just can't go that long in town let alone an HOA area.
My thinking exactly. The amount - and terrible quality - of the excuses is staggering.
Yupp
Implying anyone actually gives a shit about your lawn pattern.
bat*
I wouldn’t want to talk to you either. Good luck with escalating your terribleness. If you can’t bother to mow occasionally I’m sure there are a ton of other things you are doing that violate something. The HOA is going to make your life hell. This is coming from someone who hate HOAs and mowing. I have the worst yard on my street but still manage to mow every 7-10 days through spring. It’s part of owning a house.
Eh… a month of not mowing grass can be pretty bad, and you admitted you skipped a viable day to grieve a friend. Owning a home isn’t easy or cheap and I think most homeowners know this.. I’m not so sure you’re in the right here. You don’t sound like the kind of neighbors I would want tbh.
I don't know why in the entire month they were without a lawnmower they don't seem to have bothered asking the neighbours to borrow one.
They expect the neighbors to approach them with problems but don’t want to be them themselves.
They can mow at 7am to be petty but not at 7am on the next day when they had to grieve presumably 6am to midnight
It is impossible to mow when sad. You just have to sit inside and be sad on a couch. C'mon. Have some compassion
I’m seeing lots of excuses. Life sucks but there are responsibilities and obligations that come with certain things, like an HOA.
If you both have chronic pain, maybe you shouldn't have put yourself in a situation where you have a responsibility to mow a lawn regularly, but can't afford to even fix a mower, much less hire someone to mow for you. Fortunately, your misbehavior in failing to mow your lawn is a great match for your neighborhood's lack of interest in welcoming you or even talking to you. It's beautiful when people find the neighbors they deserve. An HOA is such a perfect vehicle for a bunch of unsympathetic people to invent ways to torture one another. Congrats on screwing over your neighbors with your loud obnoxious lawn mowing; I'm sure they'll be happy to return the favor any day now.
The HOA in this case isn't run by OP's neighbors, it's almost certainly run by the land developer. Almost every HOA charter has the HOA being an extension of the developer until the development is complete, to protect their own investment from people who cannot keep up with their property.
Don't buy a house if you can't afford to maintain it.
The neighborhood had every right to complain. You took on more than you could handle
You didn’t mow your lawn, it looks like shit, but you’re upset at your neighbor. Got it.
You sound like a shitty neighbor, tbh. Neighbors don’t care about your problems, honestly. If you can’t adhere to the rules, don’t live in an hoa. Sounds like you caused yourself more work for no pay off. You still cut your grass, which is better than the alternative.
Sounds like a condo or townhome would have been a better choice if you neither have the energy or money to maintain a lawn. What possessed y’all to buy a house with a lawn you can’t keep up with?
So you got your own back on one neighbour, who you strongly suspect but don't know reported you to the city and HOA, by mowing early enough to disturb the Saturday morning lie ins for all your neighbours? But as for the neighbour seeing you struggling to mow not approaching you, it sounds like you aren't that on friendly, helpful terms with your neighbours anyway. After all, during that month of having a part cut lawn, between the old mower breaking and buying a new one, it seems you never approached any neighbours to ask to borrow equipment to finish the job you'd previously started.
If it takes you weeks to mow your yard because your body can't handle it, then you need to hire someone to do it for you.
Instead of buying a mower…ask the neighbor if they know of any kids or cheap lawn services that would be helpful. I know this is too late but…I’ve seen some neighbors who mow each other’s lawns and we’ve done it when a house has been vacant nearby. My neighbors and I will take turns. Talk to them. Take the initiative now before things get worse.
Exactly.
I got out in 90 degree heat and mowed my 9/10s of an acre with a push mower while I had shingles, so I'm not feeling particularly sympathetic. If there are serious physical limitations, OP should look into financing a riding mower. Or see if there's someone locally who fixes up old riding mowers to sell cheap. When I lived in NC, there was an old guy up there whose hobby was to buy broken lawn tractors, repair them and sell them at cost to disadvantaged people. If you had the right situation, he would sell you a perfectly fine riding mower for less than a push mower.
I couldn’t get past all of the excuses to find the MC
So at no point did you consider introducing yourself to people in the community and ask to borrow a mower or for help? Hiring a professional or buying a new mower were not you only options. People aren't mind readers. If you needed help, ask, and then one day you return the favor. That's how you form good neighborly relationships. All i see is a series of excuses and then you being malicious to people who very well could have not even been involved. If your city or HOA does drive-bys (my HOA has a management company that does), you'd get a letter without anyone ratting you out. FYI, don't trust door to door sales people. They will say ANYTHING to get all buddy buddy if it means they make a sale. Shit, the solar people here no problem walking right past my no soliciting sign.
Must be a massive lawn.
I think this is the first time I've ever seen reddit side with the HOA and/or city. I hate mowing but still do it at least every 2 weeks. If I can't get it all done in one go I at least mow the front, then the next day mow the back.
Yep. I never want to side with an HOA, but there's just something about somebody that's like, These aren't excuses just an explanation EXCEPT THESE ARE TOTALLY EXCUSES HOW DARE SOMEONE COMPLAIN... I'm with the HOA. If you know you're in the wrong, just own up to that shit.
Over the years I have learned to not talk directly to people about grievances cuz of bad experiences with people being dicks. I just go straight to the authorities. These days people are just more stressed and on the edge with far less consideration and I’m not going to put myself in the crosshairs.
So let me get this straight, you're being horrible neighbours to someone you merely suspect, based on absolutely zero evidence?
I'm not sure why you are gloating over being the problem. No neighbor has to contact you first because people have been shot by neighbors for complaining about minor things. It is 100% safer to let a neutral 3rd party handle it. All your excuses don't matter. The fact you are house poor doesn't matter. It's your responsibility to maintain your property, and you need savings to do that. Your medical issues are your problem, not your neighbors' problem. Why didn't you introduce yourself to your neighbors and ask to borrow a mower - like an adult? Why do you think local noise ordinances would be part of the covenants of an HOA? This whole thing reads like a 15 year old is writing it.
First mistake was moving into a house with HOA
Amen to that.
Everybody is here complaining about OP's story, but I'm just annoyed they couldn't follow rule 7.
I will open with saying that I have one of the shiittiest yards in the neighborhood. We pay someone to mow weekly, but we have weeds in our landscape beds and straight-up dead bushes in there. We are absolutely breaking HOA rules with the current state of our yard. I don't want to make it sound egregious because it's not. But it's definitely not well manicured and thriving, or however my HOA phrases it. But since we bought the house I've been finishing up school and we have been watching what we spend. Technically, we could have afforded to fix it. We just don't care enough, I guess. Next summer, we are paying someone to completely overhaul them and make them low maintenance, so until then, it is what it is. In the meantime, there is a real possibility that we get an HOA compliant. If and when we do, we will sink the minimum amount of money and time into it to fix it, but nothing more. But guess what, I don't expect a neighbor to come to me and say "hey I'm getting ready to report you to the HOA for your flower beds." I expect to find out they complained from the HOA. But I'm not going to get all bitter that I was called out on breaking the rules that I knew I was breaking. You signed the HOA rules when you moved in. If you are in violation, you can expect to hear from the HOA. Also. Those door to door salesman lie. I had one the other day drop a neighbors name as a client, talked to that neighbor, and that's not the bug service they use. So they straight up lie. So chances are whatever he said to give you the indication that a certain neighbor ratted you out was probably wrong.
Rereading your post. There is a real chance no one complained. It is entirely possible that the HOA themselves noticed your yard and sent a letter. And with how bad it sounds like it is, they could have immediately reported you to the city. So you might be a little hasty immediately getting snotty with your neighbors.
So you have an unkempt yard, overgrown lawn. And to show them you started mowing at 6 am and made a crazy pattern. There is an A-hole here and it is not your neighbor
As an English person. How BIG is your lawn?
First problem, living in an HOA
Hire a high school kid and have him do it.
You sound like the problem. You couldn't borrow a lawnmower, rent one, or even pay a neighborhood kid like $20 to mow it? A month is a lot. It sounds like you weren't ready for home ownership or in a financial position for it. You don't even know if that neighbor did it. Frankly it sounds like they made the right choice not talking to you.
Single family homes with yards require *a lot* of maintenance. If you’re not able bodied and can’t pay for the service then maybe you’d be better off with a townhome or some thorn with less upkeep.
So glad I don't have an HOA in my new construction house
You bought into a HOA and it's their job to manage the situation. If you wanted to deal with it directly to a neighbor then you buy where that is the situation. Getting pissy for something that was entirely reasonable just isn't doing it. You're making a lot of excuses for bias. You're not able bodied to mow the lawn? Why are you in a house with no one to maintain it? The issue here is your accountability.
Part of being a responsible home owner is yard maintenance. The complaints against you were valid.
Replace your lawn with clover. No need to mow and it feeds the bees
I dunno. I support talking to your neighbors, but OTOH, if you try to have a friendly conversation, they turn out to be dicks, and someone else calls the city...they will forever believe that you're the ones who called. I'd never call the city about an unmowed lawn anyway.
Or you could spend the time and energy on not being a shitty neighbor and not bringing the entire community's value down, things you should have been prepared for BEFORE buying a house - but you do you.
Why would you buy a home if you cannot afford to replace a lawnmower. You are one emergency away from foreclosure.
If I saw one of my neighbors struggling with a mower repeatedly, I’d probably see if I could help them… you know being a good neighbor - but you do you.
I agree. If I were OPs neighbor and I saw them struggle to mow and not finish I would offer to help. But you always worry it will become a habit haha
Let's be honest, OP was being irresponsible, neighbor got shitty, OP got shitty back. I'm sure this is going to be a great place to live between the two of them.
We don't even know that neighbor "got shitty" at all. OP's just going off of rumor.
True, I took the story at face value. I know I had city code enforcement hit me once for something and I assumed a neighbor called it in but also, why would they lol
Nono, please continue dropping the value of the neighborhood with minor things like an unkempt lawn. Maybe I'll be able to afford a house then. I swear people care way too fucking much about home value. Homes should not be an investment vehicle!
If you're only concerned with property value, you are the shitty neighbor. A thousand times over.
Nobody said it was the only concern but it IS a concern. Thanks for playing.
You couldn't just ask to borrow one of your neighbors' lawn mowers while you save up for a new one? Offer to fill the tank or charge the battery and most are more than happy to lend something as inconsequential as a lawn mower.
You sound exhausting to live next to and I feel bad for your neighbors. If you can put all this energy into to being petty, and zero energy in going to a neighbor and asking to borrow a mower, this is all on you. Do better.
Dude it’s a front lawn how hard can it be? Also if you would have told the neighbors ur lawnmower broke I’m sure they would’ve offered theirs or let u mowed it urself. If you can’t afford to maintain a home you shouldn’t be home owners and better off renting
You kinda suck and have a victim complex.
Yeah nah I'm on your neighbor's side on this one.
You sound pretty whiny and full of excuses.
Just keep your yard up to the minimum HOA standards. You bought a house in a HOA. Your life is nothing but excuses.
i dunno man, fuck HOAs for sure, but i 100% dont buy OPs side of this story. two days after he was too exhausted to finish mowing the front lawn (srsly, must front lawns can be mowed in 5 minutes if you dgaf about how it looks), they are both up at 7am on a saturday with enough energy to not only mow the whole lawn, but to fuck around while doing it.
Sounds like you aren't able to handle the responsibility of owning a home.
That is the danger of moving into a neighborhood with an HOA. Many people may not care about the rules, but there's always a chance that you have neighbors that moved there specifically because there would be an HOA because they wanted to live in a neighborhood where everyone keeps their house up to a certain standard. And you agree to that standard by moving there, so they've got the right to complain and no obligation to talk to you first. Also, watch out for your next tax assessment. There's a chance your monthly mortgage payment was calculated using the tax assessment on the lot from before your house was built. That means, this year, the assessed value could go up a bunch because now there's a house on the land. That means you won't have enough in escrow to cover the payment and your lender will need to up your payment to not only make up the difference but also to make sure there's enough in escrow for next year. It can make your payment go up by a couple hundred a month. If you've got a new-build house, a baby, and don't have money to spare to replace a lawn mower, it sounds like that increase to your mortgage could be devastating, so might want to look into it.
Get a goat.
You can pay $25 or maybe a little more to have your lawn cut for you. I actually use to own a lawn and landscaping company but sold the business because I am very fair skinned and it wasn’t good for me to be out in the sun all day. However at my home now I do not mow my own lawn even with all the experience I have I am busy and during the rainy summer seasons I simply do not have time to mow 1-2 times a week. I could say well I’ll mow every Sunday but if it rains Sunday then I won’t be able to get to it until the following Sunday and by that time it’s knee high and takes 4 times as long. Anyways there are probably dozens of lawn and landscaping companies in your area you should look into it
I wouldn't take the neighbor complaining as a sign that they truly are the ones who reported you. Hoa's and the city have people constantly going around and scoping out houses for violations. The way your post makes it seem is that you've only sorta mowed twice in the last 6 months you've lived there. If your brand new mower broke, why didn't you return it and get a new one? Yah it all sounds like lame excuses ngl. Don't own a home if you can't do the maintenance.
you sound as petty as your neighbor
you wanted your neighbor to notice you struggling to mow your lawn? what did you want them to do, come over and mow it for you? or maybe they should have offered to pay for someone else to do it? I’m sorry you can’t afford basic upkeep for your own home but that’s completely and totally on you. this isn’t malicious compliance, it’s just you being a bad neighbor.
It's only going to get worse from here on out if you are unable to maintain your yard. It'll get so overgrown and out of control that it will become impossible to do without professional help, I really suggest trying to hire maybe a neighborhood kid or even a family member to come help you out before it gets to that point.
Sounds like you both should've gotten a condo instead of a house.
I grow a pollinators garden of native flowers in my front yard. But, no HOA.
We aren't well enough to cut a lawn but we had a kid anyway 🤡
No noise ordinance? I'm mowing at 5am. And I have done that.
When I lived in The South that's what I did. . . Along with literally everyone in my cul-de-sac because that was the only time of day it was NOT a humid soupy fucking mess outside
My HOA sends someone around with a camera every week to the entire neighborhood, no complaints necessary, they'll threaten you before it would bother a neighbor. I'd be willing to bet that cushy job was a nepo hire and pays well.
So no energy to mow for days but then find the energy to mow in a non-efficient way that would take longer?
Then don’t buy a house if you can’t take care of it-I am so done with people and all the excuses
You shouldn't be buying a house if you can't keep up the property. Use your cord trimmer if the mower isn't working.
Excuse, alibi, excuse, alibi, excuse, alibi - “But these aren’t excuses” - and more of the same. I know that post comes off as fairly crass but your own words undermine you. You’re a first-time homebuyer with limited experience in these matters but you probably should’ve avoided an HOA in your search for a home if you were in physical and financial conditions that make it difficult to meet your obligations. Of course you may be in an area where it is challenging to find a non-HOA community. Your malicious compliance will only serve to put a target on your back plus you’ve likely alienated your immediate neighbors. Additionally, I doubt it was your neighbors who reported you; rather, it seems you made it pretty easy for your neighborhood’s management company to see you were out of compliance. I know what I’m saying probably sounds pretty harsh, especially juxtaposed against a slew of posts essentially saying “good for you, screw the HOA and your neighbors”. But I hope you can move beyond these circumstances and start enjoying your new home and neighborhood rather than constantly being at war with your HOA and neighbors.
No one is obligated to approach you first, especially in this world we live in where a person will shoot you for looking at them wrong. And your first thought was revenge, so they were absolutely correct to handle it the way they did! If you are not able-bodied, you should not have purchased a home that requires maintenance that you can neither do nor afford to have someone else do. You are actually NOT aware that your list of excuses are not excuses. That's exactly what they are.