That may be true for where you live, and half the battle is finding the lawyer... I sued a large company for ADA rights, pro se, and won in federal civil court. I spent a year trying to find an attorney and no attorney would take the case because the DAMAGES were deemed too small. So I took my own case to court and won my minimal amount of damages.

And we are assuming I will be alive long enough to even see the court date.

I was so stressed that I was at the office all night last night because I could not sleep. I came home at about 8am this morning to find the support beams for my small back porch chopped apart.

Then my dog nibbled on something that was laying among the leaves in the front yard. He had a massive vomiting fit.

Amazing timing, I tellya.

After I blew the whistle on HAMP fraud committed by one of the largest banks in the USA, every single vehicle I bought broke down really quickly. My first car's brake line showed no signs of failure or leaks or damage but was bone dry when I was trying to get off the interstate. I had to perform a controlled collision into the guardrail to save my own life. Then both a car + van failed at the same time and would not start up - a mechanic said the engines had been destroyed. After that, another vehicle I bought was found with flattened tires and dog poo smeared on the windshield.

If I die, I did not commit suicide. I am determined to survive out of spite.

An investment company bought what was originally an easement along with all the other parcels of land inside the circle. So it's all owned by the same company.

20 years in GA. I have like five MORE years to go.

I've been telling them about the fact that I am not the owner of this strip of land for fifteen years now. Finally now it's come to a head over an abandoned truck that I could not get any tow company to remove... this whoooooole issue is going to be litigated.

I am trying. It's extremely difficult to get a lawyer that is willing to go to bat against one of the largest and most powerful county governments in the state.

I can't even get the feds to go after a former county agency head who bilked half a million dollars from the federal COVID relief funds... what does that tellya?

It, and all the parcels of land in the center of the neighborhood, are owned by an investment company. The parcel is in fact owned by a company. It may be an easement, but the land itself is actually owned by an investor.

They are citing grass and property maintenance regulations... nothing when it comes to forcing neighbors to maintain the land of others. They just say "you're responsible now. Do the work or go to jail for a citation."

What is it called when someone is required by force to work for a third party's benefit without pay?

I am the homeowner in the story. Kinda wanted to keep my account relatively anon but here we are, so screw it.

Code Enforcement officials have literally told me for fifteen years that if I do not clean and mow that front yard that I DO NOT OWN, then I will go to jail. I do not own that property. My patience has run out, and I am now fighting this in court.

The land next to mine is owned by a house-flipping company that the county cannot serve process to, so they demand that I maintain it.

Cobb county is forcing other people in the county living next to these properties to maintain them or face jail + fines in code enforcement court. So it's not just me.

Two of my up-street neighbors were being harassed for years to keep up a whole house next to them or they would go to jail. Eventually they refused to the point it went to court and the house was torn down.

"The county says even though the adjacent property is not hers, she is legally responsible for making sure the grass is trimmed in front of that property."

The Thirteenth Amendment (against slavery) states:

"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

The County says to a reporter:

"The county says even though the adjacent property is not hers, she is legally responsible for making sure the grass is trimmed in front of that property."

The Thirteenth Amendment (against slavery) states:

"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

The skinny on this is that individuals living next to land owned by hedge funds / REITs are legally required to maintain that land. Literally slavery. They do this because people do not know their rights and the county cannot serve process upon these absentee owners who let the property go to seed.

This is not a one-day thing. This county has required FOR FIFTEEN YEARS that this land be maintained / mowed / trimmed / cleaned by the homeowner next door or she GOES TO JAIL.