Is it a sin to tell on your neighbor?

[trying2baSaint]

My across-the-street neighbor sold their house and had not cut their lawn and it was extremely high (crazy high). We are selling our property and a realtor we were interviewing told us they have to maintain their property while it is under contract and if they don’t contact their realtor which I did (and another person did as well).

I realize (now) I should have gone over and asked if I could cut their lawn (hindsight 20-20, right). Another neighbor told me they were distressed about 2 people calling and finally someone cut their lawn. I felt terrible about it (I didn’t realize they sold their mower) so I went over to apologize and the husband was bothered by it but accepted my apology and we had a good chat and went our way.

His wife came over shortly and laid into to me, literally screaming, cursing and saying really nasty things. As she screamed and called me things, I didn’t say anything. She walked away.

Is what I did (calling their realtor) a sin? I get the fact I may have handled it incorrectly but this explosion was the reason why I called in the first place, I had it in my head this could happen. I just wanted them to maintain their property as it could potentially affect the sale of my home.

Thanks and Enjoy your Evening!

 

[MaryEstelle2]

I wouldn’t call it a sin but an oversight in being a good neighbor. My neighbor has a hayfield and is a hoarder which is affecting my property and health. He super sprayed his yard in the night which woke me up to the chemicals that sifted in. Yet I did not turn him in.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I’m not following this. Did you have some bad past relationship with the wife so you knew she would have a fit if you went over there and talked to them about their lawn?

This seems like something where if you had just gone over there, talked to the guy, learned he had sold the mower, then maybe you could have offered to cut it yourself or worked something out (like he pays you a little bit to cut it if you need money for gas for the mower). I’m sure you realize that in hindsight.

I wouldn’t say what you did is a sin, since the grass did need to be cut (in the cities where I live, they would have been cited by the city well before it got to the point of you needing to call a realtor) and you went to their realtor rather than reporting them to the city government who would cite or fine them. I do agree that maybe you could have handled it in a better way.

 

[Joe_5859]

No, this is not a sin. Maybe I’m just a bad neighbor, but I wouldn’t feel guilty about doing this. (Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

I’m getting close to doing this myself. I have a neighbor who hasn’t cut their grass yet this year and it’s about 4 feet high in the backyard. The house is vacant and I don’t even know who owns it at this point. It was foreclosed on, bought, fixed up, rented out, and now is recently empty. I normally wouldn’t care, but their backyard adjoins my own and my kids have bad pollen/grass related allergies. Not to mention the fact that I’m worried about wildlife making a home there.

Speaking with people directly before getting other entities involved is a good route to start with in general, though.