When the homeowners’ association in George and Kathleen Rowe’s Texas neighborhood filed a claim against them, they were living their finest existence. When the couple began feeding the ducks in their backyard, they were living a peaceful existence in their Texas neighborhood. The Rowes’ neighbors were unhappy about the ducks and filed a lawsuit against them, which is now being fought in court.
After their adult daughter died, Kathleen, 65, and her 72-year-old spouse moved into the Cypress house as a form of therapy. They found feeding the ducks in the neighborhood to be therapeutic in coping with their only child’s death. Kathleen also looks after George, who has multiple sclerosis. The Rowes have lived in the neighborhood for eleven years and were previously regarded as excellent neighbors until the ducks started returning for more food.
The Rowes may be forced to sell their Cypress property to pay their litigation costs if they are sued by their HOA. They also risk paying any potential damages to the Lakeland Homeowners’ Association as a result of feeding ducks in their backyard, which resulted in the development of a duck pond.
According to the HOA, it notified the Rowes to cease feeding the ducks. The couple was given “repeated warnings,” but they rejected them and kept feeding the ducks regardless. In June, Harris County Civil Court was where the lawsuit originated. The action asks the Texas court for a “permanent mandatory injunction requiring Defendants to cease from feeding any wildlife,” on the property.
Kathleen has a difficult time getting along with the board of directors at her homeowners’ association. She referred to the HOA as “just a lot of very hateful type people who do not like ducks.”
Kathleen claimed that she feeds the ducks because she “I just love ’em.”
If the HOA wins the case, it will be reimbursed for legal fees as well as up to $250,000 in damages through monetary compensation. The Rowes are also being ordered to stop feeding wildlife by the Texas court.
“We didn’t have the $250,000, so we have to be prepared in case that’s what it’s going to cost,” Kathleen said to Houston Chronicle. “They’ve never had a mother. I feel like I’m just stepping in. I’m going to miss them terribly.”
Kathleen’s husband, George, stated: “I’m going to more than miss them terribly.”
Meanwhile, the Lakeland Community Homeowners Association claims that the Rowes are putting their neighborhood in risk by feeding the ducks. They say that by feeding the ducks, the Rowes have created an “imminent harm and irreparable injury” to their community. If they continue to feed the duck despite being enjoined, the suit also seeks permission for the HOA to foreclose on their home.
Kathleen said to Fox 26 Houston, “We just watch ’em, and they’re just beautiful. I tried, I went three whole days of not feeding them, just trying to stay away from the ducks, but they started coming across the street from the waterway into my yard and basically crying. They were starving. These were the ones that people just dropped them off. They’re just a lot of very hateful type people who do not like ducks, and me, I just love ’em.”
