How a land dispute between Gov. Josh Shapiro and his neighbor is shaking up a sleepy Abington neighborhood — and why he says it’s a ‘political stunt’

When a messy land dispute between Gov. Josh Shapiro and his backyard neighbor poured into public view via federal court filings earlier this month, it jolted his sleepy Montgomery County neighborhood.

The picturesque suburban community tucked behind Penn State Abington is usually quiet and boring, current and former neighbors said, just the way they like it. It’s a great place to raise their kids, and where Shapiro’s four children have grown up. Among the biggest points of contention is when one neighbor fails to say hello to another. Many houses in the neighborhood sit a quarter-mile away from the main road, behind winding, tree-lined driveways. Some of the homes have been purchased in recent years for upwards of $1 million. In many ways, the neighbors said, it’s the perfect picture of the suburban American dream.

But this month, the neighborhood also became the battleground for dueling lawsuits between Shapiro and his neighbors, Jeremy and Simone Mock, bringing tension to a tranquil community.

What’s more: Shapiro’s office alleges the lawsuit against him is a political hit job to hurt him as he runs for reelection, citing the Mock family’s communications with the top Republican in the state Senate and his frequent sparring partner, President Pro Tempore Kim Ward. The family’s attorney in the lawsuit is also a local lawyer known to represent Republican causes, and whose former clients include the political campaigns of President Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick.

The Mocks, meanwhile, argue in their lawsuit — filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania — that Shapiro has used his powerful position as governor to infringe on their constitutional rights and take their land.

» READ MORE: A security fence has sparked dueling lawsuits between Gov. Josh Shapiro and his Abington neighbors

The disputed land — a 2,900-square-foot strip between Shapiro and his neighbor’s lawn — had not been an issue between them until security updates were proposed to Shapiro’s home after a Harrisburg man firebombed the state-owned governor’s residence last April while Shapiro and his family slept inside, both the Shapiros and Mocks said in court filings. The man, Cody Balmer, later pleaded guilty to attempted murder and related crimes for the attack, and was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison.

Afterward, state police proposed security upgrades to Shapiro’s personal residence and the state-owned governor’s mansion in Harrisburg, suggesting the installation of an eight-foot fence along the perimeter of Shapiro’s personal property, along with tree trimming, a new security system, and other landscaping efforts expected to cost more than $1 million, Spotlight PA reported. The proposed taxpayer-funded improvements to the Montgomery County home — criticized by the Republican-controlled state Senate — came in addition to the more than $32 million in security upgrades made to the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg, which included the replacement of an existing security fence there, among other upgrades.

» READ MORE: The arson at Gov. Josh Shapiro’s mansion erupted within minutes. The impact lingers.

The Shapiros allege in a countersuit that they believed the disputed piece of lawn was theirs, and that they had maintained it for 22 years. When a land surveyor hired by the state to help with the security upgrade projects found that the Shapiros did not own the disputed part of the land, the Shapiros approached the Mocks in July to purchase or lease it.

Ultimately, the talks fell apart, as the neighbors blamed one another for being unwilling to make a deal.

Any resolution is now likely to be decided in court.

The Mocks in their lawsuit — represented by Delaware County attorney Wally Zimolong, who describes himself on his website as the “‘go-to’ lawyer in Pennsylvania for conservative causes and candidates” — accused Shapiro in his official capacity as governor of an “outrageous abuse of power” by illegally occupying a part of their yard that they pay taxes on. The Shapiro family quickly filed a countersuit in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, arguing they have control of the land through adverse possession, a legal mechanism through which a person can gain ownership of a property they’ve actively used for at least 21 years.

The Mocks have asked a federal judge to find that Shapiro, as governor, violated their constitutional rights; as well as prohibit state officials from trespassing on their property moving forward; and to award them damages. Private attorneys representing Shapiro have asked the Common Pleas court to find they are the owners of the disputed part of the yard and refund attorneys fees.

Shapiro and his wife, Lori, have lived in the same home in the neighborhood for 22 years, purchasing the four bed, three-and-a-half bath property in June 2003 for $465,000 as the young couple wanted to move back to the Philadelphia suburbs after spending several years working as staffers on Capitol Hill. Shapiro ran for state House the following year and represented the area until 2011, in what was the beginning of his decades-long political career that has helped flip Montgomery County, the state’s third most populous county, from red to blue.

Several current and former neighbors in the Philadelphia suburb raced to defend the Shapiros as great neighbors, adding they don’t mind the additional state police presence as his star rises as a top Democrat and after the governor and his family were victims of political violence. Others said they’ve had a good relationship with the Mocks so far.

“We had nothing but pleasant experiences with Josh. I have nothing that I can say negative in any way, shape, or form,” said Eileen Simon, who used to live next door to Shapiro until 2020. Simon lived in the neighborhood for 48 years. She hasn’t spoken to the Shapiro family in a few years, but recalled that her grandchildren would often play on the Shapiro’s backyard swing set.

“We were all neighbors together, and everybody got along,” Simon added. “I’m devastated that this has happened.”

Cathy Keim, who moved out of the neighborhood seven years ago and shared a boundary line with the Shapiros for some of the nearly 40 years she lived there, also recalled a neighborhood where everyone got along. Keim said she believes the current dispute is petty, and added that when Shapiro first built his swing set behind her pool fence, he mistakenly put it on her property. When the Keims alerted him to it, Shapiro quickly moved it back onto his own backyard, she said.

“That area, it looked like it should be theirs because of the pool fence,” she said. “I had to tell them, ‘that’s our property’ and they very quickly moved it.”

Stephanie Berrong, whose backyard also abuts the Shapiro’s property, said in a text message that after the arson attack, the Shapiros asked if they could remove a tree on her property to build the security fence. Berrong and her husband agreed, and said the Shapiros were “respectful of our time and our property” throughout the tree removal process. She did not comment on the Mocks.

“We just felt it was the right thing to do, considering someone tried to burn down the governor’s mansion with them, and their kids, inside,” Berrong added.

State police never built the security fence that started the land feud, instead opting to surround Shapiro’s home with updated landscaping. That escalated the conflict with the Mocks. In their lawsuit, the Mocks allege that despite ongoing negotiations over the strip of land, the Shapiros began planting arborvitae-type trees and other plants on the Mocks’ property, flying drones over it, and threatening to remove healthy trees. The lawsuit also accuses state police of “chasing away” contractors who came to work in the Mocks’ yard.

The Shapiros, meanwhile, argue in court filings that the Mocks’ alleged harassment is causing them irreparable harm and further threatening their safety. According to a source briefed on the conflict, the Mocks at one point posted a series of signs on the land and a tree that read “Hippity hoppity, stay off my property” and “This is my property,” among other efforts to antagonize the Shapiros.

John Ginsberg grew up in the home now owned by the Mocks during the 1970s and ‘80s, and said he never thought of their property as stretching into the land now owned by the Shapiro family.

“It just wasn’t an area that was used,” said Ginsberg, who now works as an attorney in Washington. “It wasn’t maintained, and it was brambly.”

Another man, who requested anonymity to speak freely about his neighbors, said he lived next to the Shapiros for more than 21 years, and has for decades shared the upkeep on a portion of the property highlighted in the lawsuit with Shapiro, taking turns clearing and replanting the area.

“I don’t think either of us thought twice about that little strip of land,” he said.

The Shapiros have been great neighbors, he said, and the Mocks have been “good neighbors to us,” describing them as a “nice young family.”

Shapiro has faced ongoing scrutiny from the state Senate for implementing the $1 million in security upgrades to his personal home, in addition to $32 million in repairs and security upgrades to the governor’s mansion following the arson attack. All of the upgrades were implemented without legislative approval due to their urgent nature.

A Senate committee in December took the unprecedented step to subpoena Shapiro over the security upgrades to his personal home, arguing that his administration had not been transparent in previous inquiries about how state taxpayer dollars were being used to upgrade security at Shapiro’s personal home.

Ward, the top official in the state Senate, has been critical of the state spending on security upgrades, saying that taxpayer dollars should not be funding security upgrades to Shapiro’s private residence.

Shapiro’s office is quick to note that Ward has been in contact with the neighbors taking the governor to court — saying that helps show the land dispute lawsuit is politically motivated.

Ward, of Westmoreland County, told ABC27 earlier this month that she had had contact with the Mock family on two occasions. A person close to Ward said that the senator is an acquaintance of the Mocks’, but that the family had already obtained legal counsel by the time Ward reached out to them, and that the lawmaker did not encourage Shapiro’s neighbors to take any legal action against him.

Jeremy Mock has owned a small coffee business in Ward’s legislative district in Western Pennsylvania since 2022, according to public business filings. He and his wife moved to the Abington Township neighborhood in 2017, and have had no issues with the Shapiros until the fence feud, according to both parties’ lawsuits.

“This dispute over a small piece of the Shapiros’ backyard has been turned into a shameless political stunt by their neighbors and members of the Republican State Senate, who are now harassing, and exploiting the Shapiros,” said Rosie Lapowsky, a spokesperson for Shapiro, without directly naming Ward.

Zimolong, the Mocks’ attorney, said the fact that the couple was willing to work with the Shapiros to find a solution dispels any claim that their suit is politically motivated. The Mocks could have said “no” from the outset when the Shapiros approached them, he argued, but instead participated in negotiations.

“At base, this is a straightforward defense of the property rights of two innocent owners, who were living peacefully next to the Shapiros for over nine years,” Zimolong added in a statement.

“Even today, the Mocks remain open to resolving the dispute,” Zimolong said.

Zimolong says he has never discussed the lawsuit with Ward or coordinated with her staff over the issue, “and I have no intention of doing so.”

He said he is one of few attorneys in southeastern Pennsylvania who is “not afraid to hold a powerful governor accountable” and does not have work before the state that would present an ethical conflict.

Erica Clayton Wright, a spokesperson for Ward, noted that taxpayer funds have now been used to pay for security upgrades to Shapiro’s personal residence and the property of his neighbors, and argued that it’s “not the first time Gov. Shapiro’s team has been put in the awkward position of pointing fingers to distract from Gov. Shapiro’s questionable methods of operation.”

“It is important not to lose sight of the need to ensure the governor and his family are safe while also safeguarding the processes in place to manage taxpayer funds,” Clayton Wright said.

“Absolutely no one, but Gov. Shapiro himself, is responsible for trying to take his neighbor’s property via squatter rights which has resulted in federal and state lawsuits,” she said.

Staff writer Abraham Gutman contributed to this article.