Someone sued me for Nuisance-Weeds/Brush

[Vince W.]

Hi all

We purchased this investment property back in May of this year in Texas, we put it on market and kind of forget mowing the lawn for a couple weeks. Never got any notices from HOA regarding this. But, today I received a Summons from local court saying one individual ( I have the name) is suing me for not mowing the grass and Against the Peace and Dignity of the State of Texas. The Summons indicates that this individual did a private investigation and attached two picture of my out grown lawn and one of the picture is clearly showing this individual was standing in front of my main entry door taking pictures. I have to admit this is due to our negligence not mowing the lawn, I will probably just go to the court argue and pay minimum fine if the judge is reasonable. But, I am think about suing this "Good Samaritan" trespassing of my property since I have the pictures showing him standing in front of my door and he even sticked a shovel in my front yard just to compare how tall the grass was. Any legal advice on this? Any input is appreciated. Thanks.

[Mike McCarthy]

I find it hard to believe that they could win a suit. Like Matthew Paul , the city fining you against some ordinance, that would be much more likely.

Cut the grass, send the neighbor a nice letter thanking them for the reminder and that you'll keep it cut from now on (have a landscaper hired, whatever). Ask him to withdraw the suit.

If you have to go to court, you can show you've done the right thing and tried to resolve everything peacefully without getting the courts involved. Now your neighbor seems like the bad guy. :)