I have a difficult situation regarding my SFH rental property. Here is some background:
I have owned this SFH rental property in a working middle class neighborhood (no HOA) and have rented it out for several years. I self-manage from about 250 miles away and the tenants have agreed to basic seasonal exterior maintenance (lawn-mowing, trimming, weeding). My tenants (who are excellent btw, take great care of my home, pay rent on time, have expressed interest in renewing the lease and possibly buying my property some day) have complained about the dilapidated exterior condition of the property next door, which has peeling paint, overgrown grass, and weeds taking over flowerbeds. This property is still owned by a resident and not bank owned/foreclosed, but no one has lived there in 5+ years. Someone comes by this house about every 2 months to cut the grass, poorly, but nothing else. In the past, I have trimmed branches of trees on this property that overhang onto mine and done light trimming of weeds on the side nearest my house. After these efforts, I received an anonymous letter (who i am sure are from members of the family who own the property) warning me to stay off the property. I reported this activity to the police. My current tenants have commented that they are disappointed when they willingly spend time maintaining the exterior of my property when the one next door is such an eyesore.
I have reported this house to the city who have promised to investigate, but have a feeling that since it is not a health or safety hazard, there may be little that they can do.
How can I best proceed to remedy this situation quickly in a lawful manner and keep the morale of my tenants high?