Most property disputes involve fences. This one involves a lawn mower that just won’t stay off someone else’s land.
For years, one homeowner has watched a man from down the street repeatedly mow a strip of land that doesn’t belong to him, despite multiple conversations asking him to stop. After newly planted privacy trees were cut down and even a no-trespassing sign failed to deter him, the frustrated couple is wondering whether legal action is their only option.
First, I want to say how stunned I am when I read stories like this, and how common it is for people to trespass and to mow someone else’s land. This should not be this normal, and why do people keep doing it? But, besides my own personal thoughts, this case seems to be more intense than others that I’ve read on Reddit, for many reasons.
There are more than two families involved, and also, the land is uneven, so there’re hills that change the way the landscape is, so the lines that separate properties are not so easy to identify. This is important because maybe one of the families could be mowing and fixing what they thought was their own land, when in reality they are trespassing and cutting others’ plants and trees.
But the homeowner already thought about this and put up a sign that says “No trespassing” in the exact limit of both properties; for some reason, the neighbor still finds a way of cutting every single plant that creates a separation and a natural fence between their two houses. And, since the neighbors are uphill, they can see their home and even listen to everything they say, so it feels like an intentional invasion of privacy.
Eventually, the family started to report this to the police, but they couldn’t do much about it because they didn’t see the neighbor mow the lawn, so there’s nothing they can do at the moment. This leaves the homeowner with no other option but to file a lawsuit and press charges, and although this is going to create a major conflict with the neighbor, it’s okay for him to defend his land.


