After neighbors complained that the retired couple was becoming a nuisance, the homeowners’ association filed a lawsuit against them.
Due to the lawsuit, Kathleen Rowe, 65, and her husband George may soon have to leave their $439,900 house in Cypress, Texas.
They moved into the house following the passing of their only child and discovered that taking care of the ducks helped them cope with the loss of their grown daughter.
The pair has lived in the neighborhood for eleven years, and Kathleen looks after her multiple sclerosis-suffering 72-year-old husband.
However, the Lakeland Community Homeowners Associated initiated a campaign to stop the couple from feeding the birds, and as a result, they are now being forced to sell their property to pay for legal bills and probable damages.
The Rowes were feeding the ducks despite “multiple warnings,” according to the HOA, who filed the lawsuit in June.
In the lawsuit, which was filed in Harris County Civil Court, the defendants are being ordered to stop feeding any wildlife in the area by way of a “permanent mandatory injunction.”
Before adding, “me, I just adore ’em,” Kathleen told Fox 26 Houston that the association is made up of “just a lot of extremely vicious type folks who do not like ducks.”
The HOA is requesting $250,000 in monetary damages, reimbursement for the costs of the HOA’s attorneys, and a lifetime ban on the Rowes’ feeding the ducks.
We didn’t have the $250,000, so we need to be ready in case that’s what it ends up costing, Kathleen told the Houston Chronicle.
I feel like I’m simply jumping in since they have never had a mother. I’m really going to miss them.
George, her husband, remarked, “I’m going to miss them more than badly.”
In their lawsuit, the HOA wants permission to foreclose on the property if the Rowes continue to feed the ducks, claiming that doing so will bring “imminent harm and irreparable injury” to the Plaintiff.
The homeowner’s association has been approached by DailyMail.com for a response.
According to Katheen, who spoke with Fox 26 Houston, “We just watch ’em and they’re absolutely gorgeous.”
I tried to avoid the ducks for three days straight by not feeding them, but they kept coming into my yard from across the street and seemed to be inconsolable.
They were the ones that folks had simply dropped off and were starving.
There are simply a lot of people who are quite hateful and do not like ducks, whereas I simply adore them.
Nothing in their bylaws prohibits feeding the ducks, according to the claim. They never abandon any corn.
I’ve loved these particular ducks for years, and if there is any way I can catch a few of them and take them with me, I would. It hurts, it just aches.
The couple’s attorney, Richard Weaver, has referred to the case as the “silliest” lawsuit he has “ever seen.”
The neighborhood, which has a stream running through it, is known for having ducks, and the feathery creatures can even be seen on street view in front of the couple’s home, he continued.
Weaver stated: “This case is genuinely the silliest litigation I’ve ever seen in my career. I’m a board-certified real estate attorney.
“I believe that’s an unbelievable statement,” the lawyer said, “to say that feeding ducks is either poisonous or insulting.”
They were reportedly abandoned in the wild after being born and raised in pet stores or by families for Easter celebrations, which is why Kathleen decided to start feeding the ducks.
The Rowes are charged with breaking four HOA regulations in the case, including one that forbids “any noxious or unpleasant conduct” that would annoy other homeowners and another that forbids any action that might “materially disrupt or destroy” wildlife in the neighborhood.
Weaver threatened to “hold the HOA accountable” and make it show that the Rowes are breaking the regulations by feeding the ducks.
“I understand that maybe some neighbors don’t want these ducks in their area, but just from a human viewpoint, we have worse things going on in the world,” he continued.
The Washington Post quoted Matt Hill as saying that he didn’t think the family should have been sued.
He continued, “They’re tearing up everyone’s yard,” feeling that the feeding was an issue.
However, Weaver filed a petition to dismiss the complaint since she is sure the Rowes won’t be compelled to leave their house.
He claimed that Kathleen wanted to list their property for sale solely in case the danger of foreclosure “frightened” her.
She resolved to sell her house quickly in order to beat the HOA to the punch, before anything unpleasant could happen to her, Weaver continued.
Weaver asserted that if the couple prevails in court, he thinks they would like to remain in the house.
“I believe she would like to stay there and care for these ducks,”