June 22, 2009 -- When Mikhail Mazo of Buffalo Grove, Ill., came home last week, he discovered an uneven but fresh trim of his backyard. Not only did Mazo not want his lawn cut, but now he will be billed $125 for the unsolicited cut, he said.

Apparently, mowing the lawn isn't just a job for neighborhood kids anymore.

Mazo was caught up in a recession-related trend that usually involves properties that -- unlike Mazo's home -- are still in foreclosure or are bank-owned.

As many towns face an increase in foreclosed or abandoned homes, local governments are taking action to maintain overgrown green -- and charging property owners dearly to do so.

"I was outraged by the way they did it," Mazo said. "In my opinion, I have the right to the quiet enjoyment associated with the ownership of my property."

Buffalo Grove officials notified Mazo, 52, in the beginning of June that the grass on his property violated height restrictions. Mazo, who bought the house in November through a bank foreclosure process, cut the grass in his front lawn, but left alone the grass in his fenced backyard. Although a village official said private residents are given time to comply, Mazo plans to contest the fee.

"We never like to get to that point," said Ghida Neukirch, Buffalo Grove's deputy village manager.

The problem of unwanted weeds has been exacerbated by the number of homes left uncared for as a result of foreclosure – a trend that is not unique to Buffalo Grove.

"We have a difficult time tracking down the ownership of an abandoned property," Neukirch said. "We've got the renter's name, then the renter leaves. We're looking at a registration program that will help our efforts a little."

In neighboring Northbrook, Ill., village officials will send its own workforce to mow overgrown lawns after multiple notifications -- at the homeowner's expense.

The cost: typically $136 an hour, said Kelly Hamill, Northbook's assistant director of public works.

In just the last month, the village has already mowed the lawns of 13 homes, a high figure that Hamill attributes to the number of foreclosures in the area.

Nationwide, the housing crisis may be far from over—in May, the number of homes filed for foreclosure was up 18 percent from the previous year, according to RealtyTrac.

"The city certainly does not want to be in the lawn mowing business," said Greg Hawk, a Canton, Ohio, city councilman. "It's the responsibility of the property owner or holder of the mortgage to maintain the lawn."

Hawk said grass cutting may be "the last thing we want to do," but that's exactly what Canton spent a quarter-of-a-million dollars doing last year.

In June, the town passed an ordinance to fine property holders liable for maintaining lawns up to $250 if the grass is not cut. On mowed properties, the bill includes fees to cover the cost of city labor to groom the green.

Most of the time, homeowners are long gone and the bills end up going to the bank.

"Since we passed the ordinance, we've gotten a lot more cooperation from banks and lending institutions mowing at their expense as opposed to us billing them," Hawk said. "If you don't remind the lending institution or holder of the property of their responsibility, they tend to ignore it if there's no penalty and no incentive for them."

Banks, however, can't do work on the property until it has been vacated by residents.

"There is often a very protracted process before we have the authority and ability to access the property," said Mark Rodgers, vice president of public affairs at Citigroup, one of the nation's largest mortgage holders. "As a result, the property may have sustained significant deterioration or damage before and during that process. Once we are in control of the premises, we move quickly to address repairs and maintenance issues in order to market the property quickly and obtain the best sale price."

As the owner of Cut-All Weed Mowing, Troy Grandt has contracts with three municipalities in the Chicago area to cut the grass of private homes when the property owner fails to do so. He doesn't know ahead of time which homes have been foreclosed on, but he said it's not uncommon, especially this year, to arrive at a lot with grass between two and four feet tall, sometimes even higher.

"It's a jungle out there," said Glen Kelman, the president and CEO of RedFin, an online brokerage site for buying and selling homes. "There's all sorts of land in disrepair and spores from weeds blown over -- people get huffy about it."

There's a list of other consequences that come with an unruly lawn -- possible mosquito infestation, health and fire hazards, tired eyes.

"We don't go by the number of inches or feet; if it appears to be an eyesore, we're going to take action on it," said Leslie Milks, the code enforcement manager in Escondido, Calif. California has the second highest foreclosure rate in the country, with one in every 144 homes in the state receiving a foreclosure notice.

The maintenance of foreclosed properties is a priority for Escondido officials, Milks said, adding that the city also looks out for houses with broken windows or graffiti.

"We're pro-active with that, and we attempt to identify any foreclosed properties in need of repair and get in touch with the bank or any property management right away," she said.

Many banks and lending institutions have established divisions dedicated to the maintenance of foreclosed properties, Milks said. But curb appeal matters not only to banks, but to neighbors, realtors and house hunters as well.

"It's the broken window theory -- if something's not taken care of immediately, it will continue to add to further decay and can lead to other issues in the neighborhood," Milks said.

Local governments, however, don't have the resources to cover everything, Kelman said.

"What you're seeing is a degradation of the civic environment -- there just ain't no money," he said.

The looming housing crisis must also deal with the declining quality of homes, Kelman said.

"The lawn is just a prelude to the house itself," he said. "Five seconds within walking in the door, you already have an image of the property. If you have to hack your way to the door, then you're not going to be in a good frame of mind when you turn in the key."