Neighbor Wars
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Most people get along with their next door neighbors, but in West Houston a war has broken out between two families. A legal battle that has gone all the way to the Texas Supreme Court. It’s an investigation into allegations of perjury, and the curious conduct of a Houston judge.
Neighbor wars
“Neighborhood Wars” is not just a television show on A&E, but a reality for a lot of folks who find themselves at war with the folks next door.
Race is where this neighbor war really began.
Fleetwood is overwhelmingly white and well., as you can see, June Muehlner isn’t. And she recounts a shocking conversation with her new neighbor.
“She said to me, a black moving in next to me is going to bring down my property value. And i said, what do you mean? She says, well, you know, blacks are known for that. I can’t believe she says it. And I said, and she’s saying it to my face. I said, it’s so rude of her,” recalls June Muehlner.
Neighbor Yoland Convert denies ever saying such a horrible thing.
“Did you ever make any racial comments to her,” asked Brian Collister. Mrs. Convert replied, “No. Never.”
That may have started the battle, but not what set the stage for the legal battle these neighbors have been waging ever since.
Neighbor wars often erupt over property lines, not the color of your neighbor’s skin.
“I’m fighting to save my property,” expressed June Muehlner.
After their yard seemed to flood every single time it rained, the Muehler’s called a surveyor back in 2012 to check something weird out. It seemed like the fence was closer to their house than it should be.
And they were right, it was one foot closer than their property line said it should be.
So, the Muehlner’s gave a copy of the surveyor’s report to their neighbors. It didn’t go so well.
“She said she planned to keep our property. We’re paying taxes. You never paid a cent on it. We’ve paid all the taxes. We’ve done everything right. What gives you the right to steal someone else’s property,” expressed June.
The fight went downhill from there.
Look what kind of stuff the Muehlners surveillance cameras caught. Neighbor Yoland Convert throwing stuff on their lawn.
The Muehlners say they’ve even had their car tires slashed, but they can’t prove it was their neighbors.
It’s not a wall, but the neighbors even dug a trench and built this stone ledge on what they claimed was their version of the property line.
“She said, I’m not going to stop. She said, you don’t know me. I’m relentless. I’m going to keep fucking with your property. She said it just like that. And I was like, why is this lady doing this,” recalled June.
Yet it’s the Muehleners’ who have just lost a five-year legal battle to simply reclaim twelve inches of their own property.
“I’m so angry. I feel defrauded my by the neighbors as well as by the court systems,” expressed Edmond Muehlener.
It’s a neighbor war that went all the way to the Texas Supreme Court, more than a hundred fifty thousand dollars in legal fees, over twelve inches.
“Do you have any feeling like maybe you should give them that extra little foot of property from the fence line,” asked Brian Collister. Mrs. Convert replied, “hey look, the Texas Supreme Court decided everything.”
The Converts said they had the right to the new fence line and that piece of their neighbor’s property because of something called, adverse possession.
The Converts testified under oath that this pool equipment just on the other side of the fence is the original equipment they installed in the early eighties.
The fence built around it had been there so long they could legally claim ownership of the property.
Kind of like the way a squatter can take over someone else’s house and get away with it for months, even years.
Harris county district court judge Beau Miller agreed with them.
“I am so frustrated, and I think judge Beau Miller should not have been the judge in it. He knew nothing about property law,” expressed June.
We don’t know what beau miller knows about property law, but we do know he needs a crash course in geography and race.
“The judge kept calling me an African. He went to this whole spiel about having a set of Africans in his court and how loud they were and how disruptive. And I’m thinking if he wants to know where I’m from, he needs to ask me. I’m not an African,” recalled June.
June is from Guyana, judge. That’s in South America. Not Africa.
The judge wouldn’t talk to us about this neighbor war, but in looking at a transcript of a hearing we noticed another very odd and insensitive comment Judge Miller made.
“Like the war of the roses, but it’s the French versus the Germans. And we’re in the United States so we need to get along.” Read the court transcript.
Hey judge. Edmond Muehlner, Junes hubby, he’s not German. He’s Austrian.
Look at a map, but hey, they all sound sort of the same. Right judge?
“We are neither Africans, nor French, nor Germans. So, there’s obviously some prejudice in there,” expressed Edmond.
The Texas Supreme Court may have spoken in the case, but the Muehlners aren’t finished fighting and they came to Dolcefino Consulting for help.
“The public should know about these things. They should know that they’re electing judges that do nothing for them,” expressed Edmond.
And the Muehlners say they now have proof their neighbors not only cheated them out of their property, but allegedly lied doing it.
“They should be in jail because they lied,” stated June.
During their lawsuit a surveyor took a look at the property line and told Judge Miller that pool equipment wasn’t where it used to be.
“Appears to be new, for the most part.” read the surveyor report.
It wasn’t until after Judge Miller’s ruling that the Muehlners, they took a closer look at pictures of the pool equipment and using modern technology they looked closer and closer.
“We could actually zoom in and the serial number on the pool equipment. You can determine when it was fabricated, when it was manufactured,” said Edmond.
So, the pool equipment had been there since the 80s so, explain this.
When the Muehlners zoomed in on the pump, they spotted this serial number. They researched it on the manufacturer’s website and discovered the part wasn’t even made until 2017.
They also zoomed in on this other piece of pool equipment, got the model number and called the manufacturer.
Turns out it too wasn’t even manufactured until 2017.
“Can I ask you about the pool equipment that you say you put in,” asked Brian Collister. Mr. Convert replied, “No, I do not talk to any question. You see my lawyer if you want something.”
The Converts are sticking with their story.
Brian Collister asked the Converts, “Did you put that pool equipment in recently?”
Mr. Convert responded, “No, I put that in 82.”
Brian continues, “In 82? Well, how come the parts say they were made recently?”
Mr. Convert replied, “Hey, I don’t know what you want to do.”
The Muehlers have now filed a formal criminal complaint against their neighbors with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, claiming they defrauded the court, committed perjury in sworn testimony during the trial.
And like so many neighbor wars, this one goes on with no truce in sight.
“I feel so much anger. I feel so much disgust, so much anger. I reached the point where if they happened to fall down in their front yard in front of me, I wouldn’t even look to hand them any help,” concluded June.
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