Woman Goes to Jail for Not Mowing Lawn

[dmcowen674]

Woman Goes to Jail for Not Mowing Lawn

If you are a resident of Lenoir City, Tennessee, you might want to remember to mow your lawn — otherwise, you will be spending the night in jail.

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Why do you have thumbs down?

If they can't maintain the yard they shouldn't have a house.

That's what apartments are for.

 

[Darwin333]

I would think so. If you want to do that shit, move out in the sticks and then you can paint polka dots all over your house if you want to.

It's my property, so long as it isn't against code who the hell are you to tell me what I can and can not do with my property? YOU move out in the sticks if you don't want me affecting you. Sounds just as reasonable doesn't it? Or do you want the .gov dictating how you can paint your house, make your choice?

Lets get something straight real fast, my property is just that, my property. Your property is your property. So long as they are separate you shouldn't be that worried about me. The fact that you are is quite telling.

You people sit here and defend putting a woman in jail for not keeping her lawn kept up because it might affect your property value ONLY if you sell said property while the lawn is unkept. A few years back a bunch of elite assholes completely fucked over your property values and not a one of them spent a single hour in a jail cell, they rode off into the wild blue yonder with all of the riches they got from fucking you over. Funny how you put more effort into this dumb bitch than the people that actually robbed you, stole from your family, made you pay more, etc...

Yet here we are talking about some lady and her damn yard and its detriment to your property value. Do you really think that you have your priorities straight? One might take a few grand from you, the other DID take untold billions from your fellow countrymen but hey, if YOU didn't lose why should you care right? That bitch better mow her fucking grass or you'll sick the law after her.

 

[her209]

I don't own a house, no.

Can any of the house owners explain why they think they're entitled to a state-enforced value?

Exactly! What's next - neighbors who don't drive the latest model cars dragging down your property values? Because lets face it, a home buyer is going to want to live next to neighbors with newer cars.

 

[Matt1970]

You're not elaborating, merely repeating yourself.

Are you actively looking to sell your house at the moment? Because if you aren't, why the obsession with making sure lawns are mowed in order to keep the phantom value of your property up?

And trying to make a point about me not being a homeowner just goes to show how narrow your thinking is. A homeowner can only sell their house to future potential buyers... which is what non-homeowners are... and unless you think the housing market can be perpetually maintained by the current crop of existing homeowners buying and selling from each other, putting your fingers in your ears and refusing to listen is somewhat daft.

This obsession with houseprices is one of the reasons why the banks imploded a few years ago.

So you are going to tell me you would pay the exact same for a house in a well kept neighborhood as you would for one that isn't?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Why do you have thumbs down?

If they can't maintain the yard they shouldn't have a house.

That's what apartments are for.

Woah, Dave said something intelligent. I know I'm shocked.

Exactly! What's next - neighbors who don't drive the latest model cars dragging down your property values? Because lets face it, a home buyer is going to want to live next to neighbors with newer cars.

Why even buy a house if you aren't willing to take care of it? I'm not talking about people who occasionally let the lawn slip a few days or something like that. I'm talking about morons who let their grass grow 1 ft+ tall, let their paint fall off, gutters/shutters fall, plants grow out of their gutters because they never clean them, etc. In my old subdivision, we had a moron family move in that had like 7 kids. These idiots had plants growing out of their gutters and had a lawn that was at least 12" high with weeds growing 2+ ft tall. It is extremely selfish to your neighbors (not to mention not teaching your kids a damn thing) to live like that. There was NO excuse for it -- several of those kids were old enough to mow. They just refused to mow the lawn. Once the town was called on their property, it was amazing how they magically could mow the lawn.

Oh, and about the exceptionally lame "Why are you entitled to a high 'state-enforced' sales price?" statement -- there are so many things wrong with that statement that I don't even know where to begin. First of all, the "state" doesn't enforce these things to ensure you get high sales prices. I'll let you guys figure out why they do enforce these ordinances. Secondly, who DOESN'T want to get the best price possible on anything they sell, whether it is a house, car, motorcycle, etc?

Don't like the town ordinances or HOA rules? Fair enough -- buy a house outside of town or not in a subdivision in HOA and live in your own white trash hillbilly paradise. Some of us take pride in our homes and don't want to look at the eye sore you're too lazy to take care of.

 

[Matt1970]

Woah, Dave said something intelligent. I know I'm shocked.



Why even buy a house if you aren't willing to take care of it? I'm not talking about people who occasionally let the lawn slip a few days or something like that. I'm talking about morons who let their grass grow 1 ft+ tall, let their paint fall off, gutters/shutters fall, plants grow out of their gutters because they never clean them, etc. In my old subdivision, we had a moron family move in that had like 7 kids. These idiots had plants growing out of their gutters and has a lawn that was at least 12" high with weeds growing 2+ ft tall. It is extremely selfish to your neighbors (not to mention not teaching your kids a damn thing) to live like that. There was NO excuse for it -- several of those kids were old enough to mow. They just refused to mow the lawn. Once the town was called on their property, it was amazing how they magically could mow the lawn.

Oh, and about the exceptionally lame "Why are you entitled to a high 'state-enforced' sales price?" statement -- there are so many things wrong with that statement that I don't even know where to begin. First of all, the "state" doesn't enforce these things to ensure you get high sales prices. I'll let you guys figure out why they do enforce these ordinances. Secondly, who DOESN'T want to get the best price possible on anything they sell, whether it is a house, car, motorcycle, etc?

Don't like the town ordinances or HOA rules? Fair enough -- buy a house outside of town or not in a subdivision in HOA and live in your own white trash hillbilly paradise. Some of us take pride in our homes and don't want to look at the eye sore you're too lazy to take care of.

If these people think common municipality codes and ordinances are too strict, wait till they see what some of these HOAs or Homeowner associations are like.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

If these people think common municipality codes and ordinances are too strict, wait till they see what some of these HOAs or Homeowner associations are like.

My HOA requires that the lawn be properly trimmed/edged and watered to maintain a pristine appearance. Landscaping must be kept weed free and properly trimmed.

 

[Veliko]

So you are going to tell me you would pay the exact same for a house in a well kept neighborhood as you would for one that isn't?

I see you're back to ignoring things again.

 

[Veliko]

Oh, and about the exceptionally lame "Why are you entitled to a high 'state-enforced' sales price?" statement -- there are so many things wrong with that statement that I don't even know where to begin. First of all, the "state" doesn't enforce these things to ensure you get high sales prices. I'll let you guys figure out why they do enforce these ordinances.

Given that just about every person in this thread who has defended these ordinances has justified their stance with "it helps to keep property values up", I'm not sure how you can claim otherwise.

Secondly, who DOESN'T want to get the best price possible on anything they sell, whether it is a house, car, motorcycle, etc?

Are there state-enforced rules about washing your car or your motorcycle?

 

[Matt1970]

I see you're back to ignoring things again.

Your questions have been answered here multiple times. The fact that you can accept the answers shows the only one ignoring anything here is you ignoring reality.

 

[Veliko]

Your questions have been answered here multiple times. The fact that you can accept the answers shows the only one ignoring anything here is you ignoring reality.

The 'answers' have consisted of people repeating the same thing multiple times: "It might affect the value of my house"

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Given that just about every person in this thread who has defended these ordinances has justified their stance with "it helps to keep property values up", I'm not sure how you can claim otherwise.

Read much? I did not claim otherwise. I claimed the state's primary motivation isn't to ensure you get high sales prices and that is 100% true. I'll let you guess why towns have ordinances on these sorts of things.

Are there state-enforced rules about washing your car or your motorcycle?

This argument is complete nonsense. Your dirty car doesn't affect your neighbor's ability to sell his car. And even if it did, I can drive it down the road or to a lot to sell it. Am I able to move my house down the road to sell it? No? I thought not.

I'll spell it out for you once again since you can't seem to get it -- if you do not like local ordinances or HOA bylaws governing lawns, etc, then by all means, move somewhere where those sorts of things aren't on the books. Otherwise, have some respect for yourself and your neighbor and do the bare minimum to keep your house looking decent. You do not have the right to behave like a hillbilly and hurt your neighbor's selling prospects when there are rules on the books against it.

The 'answers' have consisted of people repeating the same thing multiple times: "It might affect the value of my house"

Yeah, most people have answered that, and it is 100% correct. There is nothing wrong with that. Many of us who take pride in our homes don't like seeing trashy dumps either.

 

[Veliko]

Read much? I did not claim otherwise. I claimed the state's primary motivation isn't to ensure you get high sales prices and that is 100% true. I'll let you guess why towns have ordinances on these sorts of things.

Towns have them because of busy-body people who think they're entitled to have state protection of the value of their homes.

This argument is complete nonsense. Your dirty car doesn't affect your neighbor's ability to sell his car. And even if it did, I can drive it down the road or to a lot to sell it. Am I able to move my house down the road to sell it? No? I thought not.

You were the one who brought the car example up.

Yeah, most people have answered that, and it is 100% correct. There is nothing wrong with that. Many of us who take pride in our homes don't like seeing trashy dumps either.

The fact that someone has been sent to jail for not mowing their lawn suggests that there really is something wrong with it. This obsession with house prices is also one of the contributing factors to the banks imploding, so again there is something wrong with all this.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Towns have them because of busy-body people who think they're entitled to have state protection of the value of their homes.

Nope, try again. I could save you the time and link you to a site or two explaining WHY towns have these ordinances, but I'll let you do the research.

You were the one who brought the car example up.

I did, but only in terms of trying to get the most money for anything you sell -- not in the context you were trying to use it in.

The fact that someone has been sent to jail for not mowing their lawn suggests that there really is something wrong with it. This obsession with house prices is also one of the contributing factors to the banks imploding, so again there is something wrong with all this.

Let me state that she should not have been sent to jail. Warned and then fined? Yes.

It isn't just about house prices. That's what you're not getting. It is about having pride in your property, respect for your neighbors and town, and respect for yourself. There are also reasons why towns enforce these ordinances that have nothing to do with sale prices.

I love these kinds of threads on AT. People (not you specifically) always pound their chests and say things like "I like putting cars up on blocks and working on them for a few weeks and I'll do what I want!" or "If I want my lawn to be 2 feet tall, screw my neighbors!" It's always easy to take that narrow view until you're the guy trying to sell your house and no one will even look at it (let alone worrying about sale price) because your neighbor's yards look like something straight off the set of Hee Haw. Again, I will never understand why people make such a huge purchase and then can't even be bothered to take care of it.

 

[Veliko]

It isn't just about house prices. That's what you're not getting. It is about having pride in your property, respect for your neighbors and town, and respect for yourself. There are also reasons why towns enforce these ordinances that have nothing to do with sale prices.

I love these kinds of threads on AT. People (not you specifically) always pound their chests and say things like "I like putting cars up on blocks and working on them for a few weeks and I'll do what I want!" or "If I want my lawn to be 2 feet tall, screw my neighbors!" It's always easy to take that narrow view until you're the guy trying to sell your house and no one will even look at it (let alone worrying about sale price) because your neighbor's yards look like something straight off the set of Hee Haw. Again, I will never understand why people make such a huge purchase and then can't even be bothered to take care of it.

And yet despite all your protestations to the contrary, here you are going on about house prices once again.

You just can't help yourself; all this guff about respect for your neighbours is little more than a smokescreen.

 

[NetWareHead]

What on earth is a "normally valued property

I called them "normally valued property" in response to you calling them inflated property values.

When a home is built to modern day spec and is comparable to other homes on the market, that IMO is a "normally valued property". This includes modern amenities in the kitchen & bathroom, newer flooring that is not worn down, siding on the outside of the house that is clean and freshly painted and etc... etc... etc... A house in clean working order. Now this also extends beyond the borders of the house and the lot it sits on to include the neighborhood. The view from the house's front windows. Are the neighbors keeping up their maintenance? Is the block tidy? You have to be delusional to think that your neighbors don;t affect your property value. I know when I was house shopping, I skipped past the houses that were located on blocks that had problematic sloppy neighbors. I don't want to deal with that or look at it.

and what makes you think you're entitled to a state-enforced value?

The state doesn;t set the value of my home. The market does. The market is determined by people like me who place more value on a tidy block. Therefore, those house will fetch higher prices. It is also determined by people like you who dont care about untidy neighborhoods; you are one of those buyers who sound like you will bid on a house that is built next to hillbillies.

The state/town/municipality uses these market prices to assess value of said real estate and assess taxes. When the market goes up (and down) you may get a re-assessment and corresponding change of taxes.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

And yet despite all your protestations to the contrary, here you are going on about house prices once again.

And despite all your protestations, you keep ignoring my call to research WHY towns have these ordinances and to post the results. I'll let you research that and get back to me, but here is a hint from one town explaining the reasons:

What is wrong with tall grass? Besides not being aesthetically pleasing, tall grass and weeds can become home for vermin, nuisance insects, and other undesirable animals. Allowing weeds to mature also increases their ability to spread to neighboring properties, causing undue expense for those property owners.

You just can't help yourself; all this guff about respect for your neighbours is little more than a smokescreen.

Keep telling yourself this if it helps justify your narrow (and incorrect) view. I don't plan on selling my house for at least 20 years, if ever. Using your logic, I shouldn't worry about keeping it up since housing prices really don't affect me since I have no plans on selling in the near future. But why do I? Because I have pride and respect for my neighbors. When I see dumpy houses, the first thing I think of is: I would hate to be that guy's neighbor -- he doesn't have any respect for himself or his neighbors.

There is nothing wrong with looking out for property values either. To not be concerned about property values is stupid.

 

[Anubis]

vid isn't working. any pics of her yard?

 

[NetWareHead]

You're not elaborating, merely repeating yourself.

Are you actively looking to sell your house at the moment? Because if you aren't, why the obsession with making sure lawns are mowed in order to keep the phantom value of your property up?

And trying to make a point about me not being a homeowner just goes to show how narrow your thinking is. A homeowner can only sell their house to future potential buyers... which is what non-homeowners are... and unless you think the housing market can be perpetually maintained by the current crop of existing homeowners buying and selling from each other, putting your fingers in your ears and refusing to listen is somewhat daft.

This obsession with houseprices is one of the reasons why the banks imploded a few years ago.

The value of my house is important to me even when it is not for sale. I borrow against my home and other investment properties to raise capital so I can make other investments. If I purchase an house that is valued at $400K, then lets say I can mortgage it and get $250K from the bank for this property. I can invest that $250K somewhere else. When I am in the process of obtaining a mortgage, the bank sends an appraiser to my property AND the neighborhood. The bank wants to see if that $400K valuation is true. Now if I am surrounded by hillbillies, my home may value for possibly $350K instead. That means I can't get as high of a loan from my investment. The devaluation of my property hurts me in this example.

Another example is the same home is again valued at $400K and the town assesses my property taxes at this valuation. Lets say hillbillies move in and I feel my home is now worth less. I have to now file for a re-assessment of property in an effort to lower my taxes. This filing my ultimately not be successful and I may be stuck paying taxes assessed on a $400K property that is really $350K.

When municipalities makes less in tax revenue, other services dependant on that revenue suffer accordingly, namely schools, roads etc...

 

[Veliko]

And despite all your protestations, you keep ignoring my call to research WHY towns have these ordinances and to post the results. I'll let you research that and get back to me, but here is a hint from one town explaining the reasons:

I haven't ignored it at all, I've been responding to the people in this thread who have repeated over and over again that their primary concern is the negative effect an untidy lawn might have on the value of their house.

Keep telling yourself this if it helps justify your narrow (and incorrect) view. I don't plan on selling my house for at least 20 years, if ever. Using your logic, I shouldn't worry about keeping it up since housing prices really don't affect me since I have no plans on selling in the near future. But why do I? Because I have pride and respect for my neighbors. When I see dumpy houses, the first thing I think of is: I would hate to be that guy's neighbor -- he doesn't have any respect for himself or his neighbors.

There is nothing wrong with looking out for property values either. To not be concerned about property values is stupid.

"Looking out for property values" isn't the issue here; busy bodies getting people sent to jail due to their obsession with property values is.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

The value of my house is important to me even when it is not for sale. I borrow against my home and other investment properties to raise capital so I can make other investments. If I purchase an house that is valued at $400K, then lets say I can mortgage it and get $250K from the bank for this property. I can invest that $250K somewhere else. When I am in the process of obtaining a mortgage, the bank sends an appraiser to my property AND the neighborhood. The bank wants to see if that $400K valuation is true. Now if I am surrounded by hillbillies, my home may value for possibly $350K instead. That means I can't get as high of a loan from my investment. The devaluation of my property hurts me in this example.

Another example is the same home is again valued at $400K and the town assesses my property taxes at this valuation. Lets say hillbillies move in and I feel my home is now worth less. I have to now file for a re-assessment of property in an effort to lower my taxes. This filing my ultimately not be successful and I may be stuck paying taxes assessed on a $400K property that is really $350K.

When municipalities makes less in tax revenue, other services dependant on that revenue suffer accordingly, namely schools, roads etc...

:thumbsup:

This is all true as well.

 

[NetWareHead]

Keep telling yourself this if it helps justify your narrow (and incorrect) view. I don't plan on selling my house for at least 20 years, if ever. Using your logic, I shouldn't worry about keeping it up since housing prices really don't affect me since I have no plans on selling in the near future. But why do I? Because I have pride and respect for my neighbors. When I see dumpy houses, the first thing I think of is: I would hate to be that guy's neighbor -- he doesn't have any respect for himself or his neighbors.

There is nothing wrong with looking out for property values either. To not be concerned about property values is stupid.

This. I dont put myself in the hole for 30 years (typical home mortgage) and the not pay attention to the financial health of my investment. This is boneheaded beyond belief.

And agree with what you said, a part of the "value" of the home is something that is not measured in dollars and cents. It is the value I place on the good feeling I get when I look outside and see order, when I walk around the neighborhood and I see tidy property that are owned by self respecting individuals who care about the image they are projecting who respect their neighbors.

 

[master_shake_]

as soon as i read the op and saw how STUPID this ruling was, i was certain there were people who were going to say it was apt...

thanks for not surprising me p&n...

 

[IndyColtsFan]

"Looking out for property values" isn't the issue here; busy bodies getting people sent to jail due to their obsession with property values is.

She should've just been fined and continued to be fined until the situation was remedied. Again, she chose to live there and even if she was ignorant of the ordinance when she moved in, she isn't now and can either keep her lawn up or move. And regarding HOAs, you are given a copy of their by-laws to read before you purchase your house so there is no excuse to being blindsided.

 

[Veliko]

The value of my house is important to me even when it is not for sale. I borrow against my home and other investment properties to raise capital so I can make other investments. If I purchase an house that is valued at $400K, then lets say I can mortgage it and get $250K from the bank for this property. I can invest that $250K somewhere else. When I am in the process of obtaining a mortgage, the bank sends an appraiser to my property AND the neighborhood. The bank wants to see if that $400K valuation is true. Now if I am surrounded by hillbillies, my home may value for possibly $350K instead. That means I can't get as high of a loan from my investment. The devaluation of my property hurts me in this example.

Another example is the same home is again valued at $400K and the town assesses my property taxes at this valuation. Lets say hillbillies move in and I feel my home is now worth less. I have to now file for a re-assessment of property in an effort to lower my taxes. This filing my ultimately not be successful and I may be stuck paying taxes assessed on a $400K property that is really $350K.

When municipalities makes less in tax revenue, other services dependant on that revenue suffer accordingly, namely schools, roads etc...

Good grief, you're justifying state-enforcement of lawn length because you want to make some investments.

It's akin to bullying your neighbour into washing his car because you want to put an extra tenner on the lottery this week.