Do you feel you have the right to ask/expect/demand that your neighbors keep their home and lawn maintained in order to keep the overall neighborhood looking up to a certain level? If they refuse, do you feel that the neighborhood has the right to take action?

Not unless you move into a community that has that rule as a condition of living there. Other than that...no. that's not your property.

Nystyle709 wrote:

Not unless you move into a community that has that rule as a condition of living there. Other than that...no. that's not your property.

Yes I feel I have the right to complain and yes I have the right to take action. Having grass and weeds overgrown draws mosquitos and other bugs. You have to be a homeowner to understand when you work hard to keep your property maintained you don't want a sloppy neighbor living next door to you.

I expect them to follow the rules and laws of the area.

Have the "right"? I can understand a homeowner complaining or taking some kind of action in an extreme case such as where their neighbors keep their property looking like an abandoned crack house or used car lot and it drives down property values but otherwise, no.

I think it's an unspoken common courtesy that should be in place everywhere, not just gated communities, that people should take a little pride in their property and keep it up. Some don't realize (or don't care...) that they're the talk of the neighborhood for having a pigsty. A few years back, the people living right next to me, moved out, but left the teenage sons living there to complete high school. (not a good idea, and I was calling the police every weekend to break up the parties.) So of course, the property was not maintained and the grass was at least 2 feet high, and since the father in the situation was a realtor, I went on his webpage and left him a curt message that since he is a realtor and has his own for sale sign on his lawn, he should know without being told that curb appeal is most of what sells a house, so he might want to mow his grass, since it was spilling weeds into my yard. The lawn got mowed the next day. Loser.

They sure do, and if said neighbor refuses to tidy up then they can go over their heads and file a complaint with the city, who will then make them tidy up and impose fines. As a homeowner I shouldn't have to live next to, or across from, someone whose yard was a constant eyesore because they decided to turn it into a junk-heap, or because are too lazy to mow their lawn. If you can't be a decent neighbor, then move to a secluded country side where yours is the only property for miles.