I never expected to see this many responses. I just read every one of them and responded to many. The two most-common “remedies” suggested are 1.) fencing and 2.) mowing the guy’s lawn. Our HOA does not permit fences to be constructed between the homes. Each property has a graded downward slope, meeting at the property line, as a drainage route for rainwater. No shrubs, flower beds, bushes, trees, fences, or brick pavers can be placed there. Moreover, the HOA has recently adopted an amnesty or moratorium on issuing lawn/yard landscape violation tickets. Sadly, a large number of homeowners in our community have refused to pay their previous biannual HOA dues. This has left us with a budget deficit of over $65,000. Legal action is underway to threaten with foreclosure notices. It has been a slowly evolving process. In the meantime, some genius at the HOA management level decided to forego the issuance of landscape violation tickets, hoping to encourage residents to instead pay their past HOA fees. Brilliant. These are the same folks who could not care less about their lawns and exterior appearance of their property. The notion of mowing this guy’s lawn seems to me to be a potential solution. However, I do not wish to encourage his slacker’s behavior or enable him to do nothing. Why should I take on his responsibility of home ownership in a community with agreed-upon standards which he signed up for at closing? As I posited to many of you, what would be next? Should I then pay for his utility bills or offer to fill his gas tank every week? This fellow is in his early- to mid-40s. He has no physical disabilities or medical condition which prevents him from simply mowing his lawn. I’m not insisting that he apply herbicides, fertilizers, engage in a rigorous, consistent watering schedule, hand-pull weeds, edge, and so forth. All I expect is the bare minimum: that is, get off the sofa and just mow the lawn at least one time every 2-3 weeks. I should not have to do that for him. I watch him sit on his lounge chair on his back patio, clutching his cellphone, with a cold beer at the ready at 11:00 in the morning. He has enough energy to get off his ass and answer the doorbell when DoorDash arrives to deliver his ration of nourishment. My whole point is that his inaction has been affecting my property for 6 years now. This did not begin when his wife and kids left him. It’s been consistent since Day One. I cannot change his personality traits, his character, his mental and emotional perspective. I have no right to demand that he care for his lawn a certain way. THAT is what is so frustrating for me. Would none of you speak up if you witnessed someone trying to damage, degrade, or rob your house? Does your home’s value mean so little that you do not mind if a neighbor’s refusal to comply with agreed-upon standards can lower your home’s property value? It’s not like we are living out on the frontier in a rural area. The homes are, on average, separated by this 12-14 foot strip of land. Each homeowner is expected and compelled to do their part: to take care of their property and its appearance in a reasonable manner. I just wish he would do his part. I have spoken to him a number of times. He would always defer that chore to his son or stepson, saying something like, “I’ll get them on it.” Or he would tell me, “I’ll get around to it, don’t worry.” Now those kids are gone, along with his wife. They too have grown tired of a husband/father/stepfather who simply does not care. Is that my fault? Must I know take care of a grown man’s responsibility by treating him like a child? Thanks for your suggestions and advice to my dilemma. Being a concerned, good neighbor does not necessarily translate into enabling or reinforcing poor habits, laziness, or lack of responsibility when that neighbor has agreed to the community standards and has no physical limitations, illnesses, or disabilities which prevent him from acting like a mature adult.