Our Neighbors Own Dog Bit Him And I’m Afraid Of Losing My Home.

Location: Anne Arundel County, Maryland

Note: We currently live in Georgia.

We moved to Maryland in 2023 and upon arriving found that our next door neighbor had a dog that did not get along with ours. They are both large breed dogs, ours a pit mix and his a boxer. If outside at the same time, the two dogs would run the chain link fence (owned by the neighbor) that separated our yards, barking at each other. However, we were all amicable with each other on the issue and lived there for over a year without incident.

Then, in 2024, my husband decided to install a privacy tarp on the fence to deter the dogs from barking at each other. He took our dogs (we have two but my second dog isn't part of the incident) out into the backyard, which is enclosed, to let them run around and go to the bathroom etc. while he installed it. At that point, our neighbor came outside with his dog to chat with my husband while his dog and ours ran the fence line barking at each other as they had done so many times.

Suddenly, my dog slipped under the chain link fence, something he had never done before in the 8 years we owned him, and the two dogs fought. Our dog bit the neighbor's dog on the shoulder and did minimal damage (she needed a couple stitches). However, during the altercation, while my husband and the neighbor were trying to break the dogs up, our neighbor tried to grab his dogs collar and his own dog reached back and bit his hand. The dogs were then separated and my husband brought our dog home.

We told our neighbor that we would pay for his dog's injuries, and we gave our insurance info. He never responded, except for one text the next day that was seemingly meant for his attorney, asking “is there anything I shouldn't say?” with a screenshot of my husband's insurance info. That was the last we heard from him, with no visits from animal control, no word from the neighbor, and no further incidents for the remainder of us living there. Until December of 2025, over a year later, we were served, the suit claiming liability and negligence for the injuries to his hand. A couple things of note; the lawsuit does explicitly state his own dog bit him, so that is not in question. I am also named as a defendant in the suit despite not being present for the incident (I was in the house).

We just did mediation and are towards the end of discovery with a pre-trial scheduled for some time in September. My main concern and reason I am here is to ask about my house (in GA). Their initial demand was 75k and, after mediation, they are officially demanding 15k. Our insurance has formally denied coverage in this case and we are paying out of pocket for an attorney. My main concern is that the mediator said they can potentially force us to sell our house to cover a judgment. I can handle most of the possible outcomes, but we have two small children and I am extremely scared that our home is on the line. My question is, what are the grounds for him to try to put a lien or even force a sale of our home? Is there any kind of protection? Is that a typical avenue for a civil case like this?