Unkempt neighbor, ideas?

I live on a decent street between really crappy and really nice areas. The street is all duplexes on both sides. Some people own their units and keep them up nicely, some people rent from agencies and they aren't as fastidious but not bad either.

Except the woman across the street and two houses up. She owns both halves and lives in one, the other is vacant. I've spoken with her a couple of times now and I'm pretty sure she has a significant mental disability. It seems her father bought the unit many years ago so she'd have a place to live but he passed away more than a decade ago. Since then she hasn't touched the outside of the house. Trees are taking over (one has grown behind the gutter and another 10' up onto the roof) to the point that if they haven't done significant structural damage to the structure, it's coming soon.

I offered to clean it up a couple years ago and she told me she didn't have any money. This year I told her I was just going to start clearing it on my own dime. She was happy for it but still broke.

A thought I had was to ask her for the property management of the place and clean it up, rent the vacant side and in exchange for maintaining the place, keep some amount of the rent. She's get a couple hundred bucks a month. So would I, and the street would have fewer eyesores to contend with.

Just calling the city to harass her about the condition of the place wouldn't help, she simply doesn't have the mental tools to cope with anything outside her "zone".

Any other ideas/suggestions?

I wouldn't put the screws to her. It's clear that she doesn't have the capacity or cash to deal with lawn work. I would put word out to the neighborhood and see if you can get some volunteers to help her out. Try the management companies too. They might like the publicity.

I would do it as a good neighbor, but I wouldn't pursue the rental side for your own benefit.

Does she go to church? I'd bet you could get a large group of people to come out for a day or afternoon and get the place looking respectable.

Also, habitat for humanity has great exterior/landscaping programs. Homeowner still has to pay them, but only for materials (not labor), and they have really great financing plans.

EDIT - BTW, we have a house like this on our street too. About once a year it gets cleaned up, so I don't know if there is out of town family involved or another group, but the house does get cleaned about once a year. Almost the exact situation you describe.

Robbie wrote: Does she go to church? I'd bet you could get a large group of people to come out for a day or afternoon and get the place looking respectable. Also, habitat for humanity has great exterior/landscaping programs. Homeowner still has to pay them, but only for materials (not labor), and they have really great financing plans.

Good call. Churches are famous for this.

I thought maybe you were my neighbor in reality we have a house like this on either end of our block, both owned by the same guy. Hes over 90 but unsure how much because he doesnt remember what year he was born, he cant physically do the upkeep and refuses all help. The city has condemned 3 of his 4 propertys at this point.

It sucks but depending on the person and your city/township laws you might not be able to do anything except try to volunteer your time.

In reply to KyAllroad:

I think your offer of cleaning up the exterior for her is awesome. But is the interior of either unit in any better condition than the exterior?

If I were serious about pursuing it, I think my first step would be to peruse the county tax records and find out if she's really the owner. Presuming she is, and based on her mental state, I think your only safe choice would be an offer to buy it from her. You don't want to get into a long-term contract if there's a chance it could become voided based on her state.

You could also present your offer & not bother with any formal agreement - as long as it's a strictly cash deal - but I wouldn't count on it ending well.

i am that "unkempt" neighbor on my street. i'm renting and looking for something cheaper to move into, so i don't want to spend a lot of time or effort making the place look good... i mow the lawn every week, even trimmed the stupid trees in the front yard. i've rearranged some of the stupid rocks that someone used for stupid landscaping just so i could actually mow, but it still looks like crap. the dead engineless Neon by the side of the garage and driveway full of running cars that are no newer than 1999 model year just adds value.. and if the neighbors ever were to complain about any of it i'd just remind them that their proclivity towards launching fireworks at each other over and around my house at 3am almost every weekend offsets the eyesore factor of the house that i live in..

Is it bad that I clicked on this wondering if it was me?

dropstep wrote: I thought maybe you were my neighbor in reality we have a house like this on either end of our block, both owned by the same guy. Hes over 90 but unsure how much because he doesnt remember what year he was born, he cant physically do the upkeep and refuses all help. The city has condemned 3 of his 4 propertys at this point. It sucks but depending on the person and your city/township laws you might not be able to do anything except try to volunteer your time.

From info gathered Last time I went antiquing in Van Wert 65% of the town seems to match his description.

Were neighbors? Who knew!?

In reply to Robbie:

I spent over a decade with Habitat for Humanity.

FWIW, they don't have an "exterior landscape program", though some local affiliates may have such a thing. It's actually against their guidelines, and Millard Fuller would roll over in his grave. Lots of reasons- I won't go into them here.

They also don't have "financing plans", although that is most certainly up for interpretation at the local level as well.

You can't just walk into HfH and say, "Hey, I'm poor. Would you fix my house?" You have to qualify to be a HfH homeowner.

Qualifications include many things, but basically it is a balance between being needy, and being able to pay. But there is always a requirement to work on someone else's property as well, which has posed many very big challenges over the years dealing with people with mental disabilities. If she can't understand she is an owner not a renter, that she has a debt she has to pay back, and that she is part of a community and is expected to contribute, she probably won't qualify. It's also almost always a pretty long application process- sometimes years.

But I like the suggestion. It is most definitely worth checking with the local affiliate.

Maybe a local boyscout troop could help out. Some kind of helping the elderly/disabled, or landscaping badge or whatever they're using these days. Be a good way for them to give something back to the area. Hell if there's a local well anything club, soliciting for volunteers could raise some public opinion of them.

Just go cut the grass already.

That might be all you get at first, but it can't help to try. I've cut my neighbors grass before (not in those terms former/current military folks) but simply because it needed to be done and couldn't do it.

Plus then I get to have an extra brew for doing yard work in 2 different yards....

Is there any family left at all? If she's on her own, and isn't capable of looking after the place, she will either appreciate the offer of help, not really care, or tell you to berkeley off.

If you have your offer of help accepted, be aware that it could easily turn into a very long term deal.

I would feel nervous about the rental idea, unless she wants to do it, and understands the ramifications. Again, it could turn into a long term deal.

Maybe she just needs someone to show her what a lawnmower is...

All of the above could go very sideways when the long lost nephew shows up with power of attorney.

Having said all that, helping her out is the right thing to do. Who knows, it may get you out of a few centuries of purgatory, or balance your karma, or maybe it will just make you feel good because you have done a good thing for no personal worldly gain.

Have you considered minding your own business?

Remember, no good deed goes unpunished. This will bite you in the ass before it's over.

Trans_Maro wrote: Have you considered minding your own business? Remember, no good deed goes unpunished. This will bite you in the ass before it's over.

I thought Canadians were nicer than that.

Nothing un-nice about it, just another option that the O.P. may not have considered.

chandlerGTi wrote:

dropstep wrote: I thought maybe you were my neighbor in reality we have a house like this on either end of our block, both owned by the same guy. Hes over 90 but unsure how much because he doesnt remember what year he was born, he cant physically do the upkeep and refuses all help. The city has condemned 3 of his 4 propertys at this point. It sucks but depending on the person and your city/township laws you might not be able to do anything except try to volunteer your time.

From info gathered Last time I went antiquing in Van Wert 65% of the town seems to match his description.

Its a town thats slowly collapsing, i picked a house in a decent place but theres a few whole blocks of houses like this!

spitfirebill wrote:

Trans_Maro wrote: Have you considered minding your own business? Remember, no good deed goes unpunished. This will bite you in the ass before it's over.

I thought Canadians were nicer than that.

We are. That was going to be my suggestion, as well. If somebody wants to live like that, that's their choice. If you don't like it, that's too bad. Don't be a busybody. Mind your own business.