desdinova, I’m pretty sure that my parents have a copy of the lease in the safe in the house, and the lawyer has one too. And the problem with selling just the mobile home is that in this area there is nowhere else to put it. Upstate New York isn’t exactly full of vacant-but-liveable plots of land, and we’re the only trailer park at all within a twenty-minute drive. Even if we would be technically able to do it, I dont’ think it’d really be feasible to assume we’d find a buyer willing to take just a double-wide mobile home with noplace to put it.
YOu want to know the real clincher here? The guy has purchased a farm field adjacent to the current trailer park and is razing trees from the forest along the edges of the park so he can put more lots in. Not only is he an Asshole Slumlord, he’s an asshole slumlord with an eye towards expansion. How the hell is he gonna take care of the new ones if he can’t even manage what he’s got competently?
racinchikki, you can put a stop to his expansion (or at least throw a wrench in the deal). If the city/county officials hear about what’s been going on at your place, they might just be inspired to make him jump through a few more hoops as far as his permits go (assuming he has the necessary permits), or at least keep a closer watch on the asshole. IAC, your parent’s might want to be looking for an exit strategy as far as their place goes. If the guy’s fucking up this bad now, it’s only going to get worse.
Just a thought, why don’t you see if there are any dealers who sell used trailers? I know there are in Kansas, maybe there are in New York too? Or, maybe someone from out of state would buy it? I don’t know if you’d be lucky enough to find such a deal that both sides would be willing to pay for, but heres to hoping.
They sometimes build trailers in one state, and transport them to the dealership in another state. I can recall seeing extra wide loads (trailers in this case) coming into Kansas from Oklahoma.
Great! That lease is most likely going to bite him in the ass. Cock-tards like this typically draw up rather sloppy leases, and his legal negligence will probably work out in your favor.
Don’t be too sure. I don’t know about upstate New York, but in Oklahoma there’s a huge market for just used trailers. In any event, I wouldn’t let such a thing stand in the way of handing this guys ass to him. Remember, he’s breaking the law. Health ordinances, building ordinances, intimidation, you name it. He’s the epitome of slumlordery.
This is yet another reason why local officials, and in particular, code enforcement and planning commission people, need to know about this waste of flesh. As Tuckerfan pointed out, these guys will be a lot more careful with building permits and such if they know of a past history of negligence on his part. Another possibility: he may need to have his new farm land rezoned to build or plat a mobile home park on it… yet another potential stumbling block on his road to slum expansion.
This is certainly an extremely shitty position to be in, but by making a stand you’re doing what is certainly ethically correct, and most likely legally correct. This guy is intimidating your folks because he knows damn well the law is on you all’s side, not his. He’s scared shitless because he knows he fucked up in a serious way, and he’s only digging himself in deeper into the fetid cesspool his negligence created.
Your parents had shit flowing into their yard for two months, and the only thing they did was bitch to the landlord? And then backed down because the landlord threatened to evict them?
I’m sorry, but that’s fucking stupid. Really. I can just picture the landlord trying to show off the property to someone else: That odor? Oh that’s just the lake of human sewage conveniently located out back.
There’s a difference between frivolous lawsuits and standing up for your basic rights.
Sounds like he confronted your parents so willingly because he’s gotten away with other things from them before.
It was mentioned in passing, but a city council person or local elected official would probably find the story interesting. The slumlord may be a contributor, but the residents are voters, so he/she’d likely look for votes.
Barbarian, although I, too, disapprove of my parents’ inaction (while also being afraid of taking action myself, as I fear their wrath), I feel the need to clarify the timeline. Two months ago, the septic tank had not yet leaked out water. The spot of our yard beneath which the pipes were buried had begun to be slightly muddy, which we took as a bad sign. We brought it to his attention in the full confidence that he would recognize it as a Bad Thing and fix it. A month later, it was still only slightly damp, and we reminded him. A week and a half ago, the dampness had expanded into a puddle of about six inches in diameter. It did not smell. It grew slightly over the next ten days, but at the time that the landlord sent the guy with the shovel it was still only a foot long by six inches wide. As soon as the guy put his shovel into the ground and lifted out some dirt (which was full of maggots, which, unfortunately, he buried before I could ready my camera), water gushed out and formed a half-inch-deep pond four feet wide that stretched about ten feet into the yard. Don’t be under the impression that we’ve been boating about on Shit Canal like some sort of septic-tank-impaired Venetians for the past two months.
In all seriousness, it looks like everything is on your side, and if (and I hope you do) you follow through, I wish you the best of luck. Who knows, this may end up being an episode of Law and Order soon!
As would anyone with a local talk-radio show. Hell, it doesn’t even have to be local, any host in an area with lots of trailers should be interested. I’m sure you could find some anti-Rush that would like to spend several minutes on the subject.
Before you go calling the dogs on this guy, I think you should consider what you want out of the situation.
If what you want is vengeance on a jerk, then by all means, do all the things mentioned above.
But, if what you really want is to stay in this location, have the septic tank fixed, and be treated with a deserving amount of respect by the landlord, then attacking isn’t really very wise. A better course is to stay rational, present him with the facts, tell him you’ve talked to a lawyer who is recommending you talk to various city entities and possibly the press (i.e. everything mentioned above), and let him sweat a bit. He’ll likely change his tune in a big way.
If you choose the calmer course, perhaps you can think of something extra he can throw in to make it up to you. If he owns the adjoining land, perhaps you could expand a bit. Or perhaps he could knock off a few months rent.
Yes, you’ve been wronged, and yes you can make his life hell. But this is potential energy that you can turn in your favor. If you unleash that potential energy, you’ll have nothing to show for it, and likely will end up having to move, or at least be on very bad terms with your landlord for the remainder of your stay, which could be decades, based on your history.
Before you go calling the dogs on this guy, I think you should consider what you want out of the situation.
If what you want is vengeance on a jerk, then by all means, do all the things mentioned above.
But, if what you really want is to stay in this location, have the septic tank fixed, and be treated with a deserving amount of respect by the landlord, then attacking isn’t really very wise. A better course is to stay rational, present him with the facts, tell him you’ve talked to a lawyer who is recommending you talk to various city entities and possibly the press (i.e. everything mentioned above), and let him sweat a bit. He’ll likely change his tune in a big way.
If you choose the calmer course, perhaps you can think of something extra he can throw in to make it up to you. If he owns the adjoining land, perhaps you could expand a bit. Or perhaps he could knock off a few months rent.
Yes, you’ve been wronged, and yes you can make his life hell. But this is potential energy that you can turn in your favor. If you unleash that potential energy, you’ll have nothing to show for it, and likely will end up having to move, or at least be on very bad terms with your landlord for the remainder of your stay, which could be decades, based on your history.
I dunno, personally, the idea of getting the media involved in situations like this terrifies me. The possibility of a civil lawsuit for slander/libel, even if it’s totally groundless, gives me the screaming heeby-jeebies.
Even not being a lawyer, I think the law is squarely on her family’s side. My own personal recommendation is to do everything in the open and through the normal processes: i.e., lawyers, health officers and code enforcement officers. Everything by the books, with assloads of documentation and evidence. Local health and building code enforcement types, unless totally corrupt or incompetent, will deal with this swiftly and entirely within the confines of the law. I mean, for god’s sake, it’s fucking raw sewage bubbling onto a residential lot. If that doesn’t get them moving, I don’t know what will. I honestly believe this will result in swifter action to fix the situation that the media route, and seems infinitely safer from a legal point of view.
Of course, if all else fails, local media exposes can certainly work wonders… “tell me, Mr. Slumlord, why do you hate children so much?”
On preview, Bill H.'s advice is even better if maintaining a relationship with this cocktard is important to your parents. And it may very well be. If not, health and building code enforcement will make short work of this shithead.
Getting the media involved should only be used as a last resort. Avoiding a lawsuit is easier by going to radio, especially if the station doesn’t keep tapes around. Even without tapes around, one should avoid saying things that might bring repercussions.
He brought the big machines into the back yard, made it stop leaking, and planted grass seed. My mom thinks the grass seed was a bit of kiss-ass because he probably mentioned his “foster kids = business” thing to somebody and found out he was wronger than a nine-sided cube.
Not a peep from him since. And it’s no longer leaking, so the status quo is being maintained.
