Senior citizen sent to jail for not keeping his lawn green
RolandTD20Kdrummer
Posts: 13,066
Ok the legal system, and level of compassion for your neighbor in Florida is quite simply f-ed hard in the head.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/article847365.ece
" On Friday morning, Joseph Prudente put on a pair of shorts and his "Grandpa Gone Wild" T-shirt. He took off his wedding band and put his heart medication in a plastic Wal-Mart bag.
Then his daughter drove him to jail. Grandpa had time to do.
His crime? He had disobeyed a court order that he sod the lawn at his Beacon Woods home.
His bail? Zero.
Prudente, 66, must stay in the Pasco County jail in Land O'Lakes until the required sod work is completed, under a September court order signed by Circuit Judge W. Lowell Bray.
"He's in prison for God knows how long because we can't afford to sod the lawn," said his sobbing daughter, Jennifer Lehr.
Prudente has owned a home in the deed restricted community since 1998. The covenants require homeowners to keep their lawns covered with grass.
Earlier this year, the Beacon Woods Civic Association took Prudente to court after he failed to install new sod on his browning lawn, which had withered after his sprinklers broke. The association had already sent letters telling him to resod his front and back yards by certain dates.
In an interview at the jail Friday evening, Prudente said he thought he had made a good financial hardship case to the association: His adjustable rate mortgage went up an extra $600 a month. Wachovia repossessed his Toyota Scion. His daughter and her two young children, who had fallen on hard times, moved in with him and his wife, Pat.
"To me, keeping the house is more important than the grass," said Prudente, a retired registered nurse from New York. "I just ignored them."
He ignored them, too, after the association filed a complaint in court. He ignored a court order in May, signed by Bray, giving Prudente 30 days to sod the yard.
In June, the court also awarded the association $795 in fees, which included a $645 attorney's fees and a $150 fee for "an expert witness."
By September, there was still no sod. Bray found Prudente in contempt of court, but said in his order that Prudente could "purge himself of this contempt" by doing the required work within the next 30 days. That time expired Friday.
"It is clear to the Court that the ability to avoid incarceration is well within the Defendant's grasp," Bray wrote.
Representatives of the Beacon Woods association expressed regret Prudente had landed in jail. But they said it was his own fault.
"It's a sad situation," said board president Bob Ryan, who added that the association had followed all the correct procedures. "But in the end, I have to say he brought it upon himself."
Lawyer Thomas Gurran, who represents the association, said in a statement that the association had "just wanted Mr. Prudente to comply with the lawn restriction." He added that the contempt power of judges is essential to the system.
"Many orders and judgements … would be absolutely meaningless if they could not be enforced by a judge's contempt power," he said. "This case is an example of what happens when someone defies an order entered by a judge in our country."
Prudente's family said the case had gone too far. Pat Prudente said she and her husband knew they had chosen to live in a community with restrictions. "But they shouldn't have this much power," she said.
Back at the jail — where the population is 1,132, well above the 782 capacity — Parente said he was being treated well. He has no criminal record in Florida and said his stay in Land O'Lakes was his first time ever in a slammer.
What comes next? He doesn't know. "Should I go out and rob a bank? Then I'd be back here," he said. "But then I'd get out on bail."
http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/article847365.ece
" On Friday morning, Joseph Prudente put on a pair of shorts and his "Grandpa Gone Wild" T-shirt. He took off his wedding band and put his heart medication in a plastic Wal-Mart bag.
Then his daughter drove him to jail. Grandpa had time to do.
His crime? He had disobeyed a court order that he sod the lawn at his Beacon Woods home.
His bail? Zero.
Prudente, 66, must stay in the Pasco County jail in Land O'Lakes until the required sod work is completed, under a September court order signed by Circuit Judge W. Lowell Bray.
"He's in prison for God knows how long because we can't afford to sod the lawn," said his sobbing daughter, Jennifer Lehr.
Prudente has owned a home in the deed restricted community since 1998. The covenants require homeowners to keep their lawns covered with grass.
Earlier this year, the Beacon Woods Civic Association took Prudente to court after he failed to install new sod on his browning lawn, which had withered after his sprinklers broke. The association had already sent letters telling him to resod his front and back yards by certain dates.
In an interview at the jail Friday evening, Prudente said he thought he had made a good financial hardship case to the association: His adjustable rate mortgage went up an extra $600 a month. Wachovia repossessed his Toyota Scion. His daughter and her two young children, who had fallen on hard times, moved in with him and his wife, Pat.
"To me, keeping the house is more important than the grass," said Prudente, a retired registered nurse from New York. "I just ignored them."
He ignored them, too, after the association filed a complaint in court. He ignored a court order in May, signed by Bray, giving Prudente 30 days to sod the yard.
In June, the court also awarded the association $795 in fees, which included a $645 attorney's fees and a $150 fee for "an expert witness."
By September, there was still no sod. Bray found Prudente in contempt of court, but said in his order that Prudente could "purge himself of this contempt" by doing the required work within the next 30 days. That time expired Friday.
"It is clear to the Court that the ability to avoid incarceration is well within the Defendant's grasp," Bray wrote.
Representatives of the Beacon Woods association expressed regret Prudente had landed in jail. But they said it was his own fault.
"It's a sad situation," said board president Bob Ryan, who added that the association had followed all the correct procedures. "But in the end, I have to say he brought it upon himself."
Lawyer Thomas Gurran, who represents the association, said in a statement that the association had "just wanted Mr. Prudente to comply with the lawn restriction." He added that the contempt power of judges is essential to the system.
"Many orders and judgements … would be absolutely meaningless if they could not be enforced by a judge's contempt power," he said. "This case is an example of what happens when someone defies an order entered by a judge in our country."
Prudente's family said the case had gone too far. Pat Prudente said she and her husband knew they had chosen to live in a community with restrictions. "But they shouldn't have this much power," she said.
Back at the jail — where the population is 1,132, well above the 782 capacity — Parente said he was being treated well. He has no criminal record in Florida and said his stay in Land O'Lakes was his first time ever in a slammer.
What comes next? He doesn't know. "Should I go out and rob a bank? Then I'd be back here," he said. "But then I'd get out on bail."
Progress is not made by everyone joining some new fad,
and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
over specific principles, goals, and policies.
http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg
(\__/)
( o.O)
(")_(")
and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
over specific principles, goals, and policies.
http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg
(\__/)
( o.O)
(")_(")
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
HOA's should be made illegal. And if I ever have the time to fight a good battle, it will be against the existence of HOA's.
People should not be buying homes as a portfolio enhancement. If a crappy house in your neighborhood is bringing values down, then so what...deal with it.
http://forums.pearljam.com/showthread.php?t=272825
The fact that this is punishable by jail time is pretty lame...
But how does it get to that point? I mean, sod costs like 50 cents for 2 s.f.
It's easy to install (just drop and water). Do these people have NO friends?
other relatives?
I have to believe this has more to do with defiance than hardship. I suspect a stay in jail will inspire him to find a way.
I dunno, but the timing of this is insane, so many people are going through financial hardships right now. Could be an ongoing trist with a neighbor, but for brown lawn? In my neighborhood, everyone's lawn goes brown pretty much every summer....no biggie....save water. anyhow wow....just wow...crazy neighbors...
and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
over specific principles, goals, and policies.
http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg
(\__/)
( o.O)
(")_(")
http://forums.pearljam.com/showthread.php?t=272825
At that age, that's a pretty hard hit to the finances, especially if he's seeing his life savings dwindle to record levels.
Pretty heartless HOA.
brutal
and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
over specific principles, goals, and policies.
http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg
(\__/)
( o.O)
(")_(")
R.i.p. My Dad - May 28, 2007
R.i.p. Black Tail (cat) - Sept. 20, 2008
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/feb/13/local/me-lopez13
The yard cops will not be deterred
February 13, 2008 in print edition B-1
You’d think that after fining a family $347,000 last year for trimming some overgrown trees on their property, the city of Glendale could rest on its laurels. But there is no end to the zeal of City Hall bureaucrats, who are as determined as ever to let no good deed go unpunished.
A couple of years ago, Pete Anderson and Sally Browder decided to do something about a nagging bout of guilt. Like most people in water-challenged California, they were pouring gallons of H2O into their yard, feeding a nice green lawn like every other resident of their block.
“It’s the principle of the thing,” said Browder, a recording engineer and the mother of a little girl who happens to be one of my daughter’s buddies.
“Even if I had all the money in the world,” said Anderson, a musician, endlessly running the sprinklers “would be wrong from an ecological point of view.”
So they decided to starve their lawn.
While they waited for it to die, Browder began researching drought-resistant plants and making trips to the Theodore Payne Native Plant Nursery in Sun Valley. Last August, she and Anderson removed the dead grass, ripped out the irrigation system, built a decorative dry creek bed, and paved an area along the driveway with used brick.
In rich dark soil next to that, they neatly placed incensia, sage, blue-eyed grass, monkey flowers, Pt. Reyes manzanita and woolly blue curls, taking care not to squeeze the plants too close together.
“I like it a lot,” said next-door neighbor Rachel Stull, who helped with some of the planting. “I think it adds character” on a block that otherwise looks like “a planned community.”
But a City Hall emissary, working for the same Neighborhood Services department that was involved in the infamous tree-trimming fiasco, did not share this enthusiasm. He cited Anderson and Browder on Aug. 29 for having too much paving material and too few plants.
Anderson and Browder were dumbfounded. Until they got the violation notice, they had been unaware of a city ordinance requiring that 40% of their lot be fully landscaped. They thought they’d done a pretty nice job, so when two months went by without more contact from the city, they assumed the matter had been dropped.
Reader alert: No one living in Glendale should ever assume that City Hall has backed off. If your fence, flagpole, trees or anything else is the least bit out of conformity, the city’s good soldiers will always keep coming.
Anderson says a mix-up led to a missed appointment with an inspector. And then, before the year was out, he and his wife were slapped with another, completely unrelated violation.
“Pursuant to BSC V5.1001.8.2,” said the notice, “the paint on the exterior windows, frames, sills, doors is peeling/flaking, a substandard condition.”
What next, they wondered? Would their daughter be cited for riding a tricycle on the brick pavers? They had already intended to paint the house, but it was more than a little strange having City Hall order them to.
Then came Anderson’s call to a City Hall employee who mentioned “the photos.”
“What photos?” Anderson asked.
“We took some pictures of the house,” came the response.
Anderson’s reaction?
“It really creeped me out.”
He said the man told him he had “too much brick on his setback.”
“I want to comply,” Anderson told him, “but what am I supposed to do?”
At this point, it would have been easier to move to Burbank. But Anderson and Browder, who had now been billed $148 for city inspections, were too ticked off to back off. On Jan. 31, they went to City Hall for a meeting with Suzana Delis, a Neighborhood Services administrative analyst.
Anderson brought photos he had taken of other houses in Glendale with lots of paving out front and wondered why only his house was being targeted. He said the city asked for the photos as evidence, presumably so they could bust some more hardened criminals, but he refused to turn them over.
Browder, meanwhile, said Delis wagged a finger at them, saying she wanted their yard to have “no brown, all green” within 90 days. Browder tried to argue that the drought-tolerant plants would take some time to fill in. She says Delis told her there was no such thing as drought-tolerant plants, and Browder did her honest best not to pull out someone’s hair.
Delis was out of the office Tuesday and did not call back to give me her version of events. She might have been too busy researching this crazy rumor of drought-resistant vegetation.
The upshot?
Anderson and Browder have been given until April 30 to paint any rough surfaces on their house, to remove “excess paving” and to “fully landscape with live plant materials, and maintain at all times.”
And what if they don’t?
The notice is clear on that: “Failure to make the required corrections … may result in criminal charges being filed against you.”
Yahoo for Glendale, the city that never disappoints.
Joy Gaines of the city’s water and power department told me what I already knew: that water availability in California is always a concern. Her department encourages residents to use drought-resistant plants, and she said she would be meeting with city officials to make sure everyone’s on the same page.
At City Hall, Sam Engel, the head of Neighborhood Services, said Anderson and Browder should have checked with City Hall before doing anything in their yard. I told him I didn’t think people should need permission to do a socially responsible thing like conserve water.
Rather than harass Anderson and Browder, I told him, the city should make them a poster family for living in harmony with the environment. All his department can do, Engel insisted, is enforce existing ordinances. If citizens want them to be changed, that’s the business of the City Council.
When Engel looked at the landscaping photo I borrowed from Anderson and Browder, he said he thought their plants were too small.
“That’s dirt,” he said of the area between the native plants. “Is it not dirt?”
Well, he’s got me. There is indeed some dirt between the plants.
Anderson kissed his wife before leaving for work Tuesday morning and suggested she do her best to keep the gendarmes at bay. The family has already decided to make a concession and dig up some of the bricks. But if that doesn’t satisfy City Hall, Anderson is prepared to do hard time.
He should rob the bank that gave him that mortgage!
R.i.p. My Dad - May 28, 2007
R.i.p. Black Tail (cat) - Sept. 20, 2008
To be honest it's revoltingly neurotic to the point it makes me feel ill...there are children starving in dried up dirt fields covered in flies, and some unprecedented tit is whimpering like this about somebody's lawn...and their backyard lawn to boot!
There should be a mental institution for people like this, where they drugged then quietly euthanized, and used as lawn fertilizer.
Justice served!
and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
over specific principles, goals, and policies.
http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg
(\__/)
( o.O)
(")_(")
moving into home that are not in deed restricted communities.
I would never beach at my neighbor, nor do I expect receiving any, but I selected my home accordingly.
I just can't cry too hard for a guy who knew the rules before he willfully bought, defied the court more than once, and had ample time to make a cheap repair.
I do feel bad for the ol guy, but there are more crappy things going on than that.
The only thing missing from the story is background, and how long he kept his property in order before all this global money meltdown started happening, that, and his mortgage shot up $600 a month....big ouch at 66 yrs old. I think when he says he'd rather keep the house and has no cash he might not be joking. Then again he might be multi millionaire with a bone to pick, but having his family living with him and having his car repossessed leads me to believe he can't make ends meet, and green grass is less important than food and shelter to the point he took the jail time.
and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
over specific principles, goals, and policies.
http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg
(\__/)
( o.O)
(")_(")
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/10/31/water.murder.ap/index.html
"A 66-year-old man was bashed to death while watering his lawn"
omg lol what's with the 66 yr old men and their lawns these days?
I think I'm going to mow mine tomorrow just to play it safe!
and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
over specific principles, goals, and policies.
http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg
(\__/)
( o.O)
(")_(")
Like any attempt to personally explain to the neightbor the hardship, or an attempt by the ol feller to move his kids' arses in gear to help out and not act like a bunch of freeloaders.
And the fact that, if you bought in 1998 in Florida, you'd STILL be well ahead of the game in terms of todays market. I would know, I own a home here. So if the guy IS broke, it seems more likely that he re-financed and spent himself out of his home in the same reckless manner as everyone else who helped us get to this point.
We have people in this country literally living off of their equity lines of credit because they can't give up their expensive cars, restaurants and wal-mart addictions.
Home ownership is a responsibility and not necessarily for everyone, you
gotta be prepared for a lot of shiite.
Your global crisis really only sucks for those of us who do it right, becasue of course, we have no "hardship"
"Prudente said he thought he had made a good financial hardship case to the association: His adjustable rate mortgage went up an extra $600 a month. Wachovia repossessed his Toyota Scion. His daughter and her two young children, who had fallen on hard times, moved in with him and his wife, Pat."
You can't fault the guy for not "doing it right" he's old and going through hard times with his family, and it's only a lawn.
and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
over specific principles, goals, and policies.
http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg
(\__/)
( o.O)
(")_(")
You're telling me that neither the Pops or the daughter could muster up the stuff to get a job a McDonalds for a week or so to pay for some sod?
We can spin this all you want, but the point is personal accountability.
You gotta problem, you find a way to solve it. Man up. 66 is not dead, for pete's sake
Maybe we can get Obama's community organzation to lay down some gub'ment sod on that and solve his problem for him....then we can all give a big cheer for ol' timer and pat ourselves on the back. Way to go us!
Some people have problems. Assuming all is well, I'm sure they are trying to find work and live somehow, as they had to move in with their father/grandfather. One could assume all is not well for that to take place. Putting them in jail for a brown lawn at that point in their lives is simply insane. Heartless actually.
and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
over specific principles, goals, and policies.
http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg
(\__/)
( o.O)
(")_(")
http://forums.pearljam.com/showthread.php?t=272825
But he wasn't put in jail for the lawn, he was put in jail for defiance of a court order he never bothered to show up to contest...two times.
Was he also too broke to go to court?
I've had code violations on rental property, dealt with the city on this or that. I was even thrown in jail a time or two for being stupid when I was a kid, dealt with the courts. I am a homeowner who bought at the height. take it from someone who's seen these things: the story don't wash. simple.
average lot size 50 x 100 @ 25 cents per sq foot of sod is $1,250 dollars. Take into account the size of the house and he's looking at $600+ if he can get it at that price.
not exactly free...if his lot was bigger...well...
Who thinks they are actually going to get thrown in jail for grass being brown?
it's a sick reality in my books.....dude...it's grass not building code violations...
give me a break...
and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
over specific principles, goals, and policies.
http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg
(\__/)
( o.O)
(")_(")
again, for ingnoring a court order, if you dont know you can be thrown in jail,
then we're just wasting time.
But I'm trying to help the future homowners of America here, not the guy who refused to perform his due diligence:
When you buy low and prices go through the roof, don't act like you hit the lottery. You did not make a jump in class. Improve your home, renegotiate your mortgage into a better position.
DO NOT refi to cash out, then buy a bunch of crap on credit. Pay cash for your crap and live within your monthly income. Because ups come down, your a poor student of history if you don't know that.
Expect repairs that will cost you THOUSANDS....air conditioners break, roofs leak, water pipes burst, and yes, grass dies.
Know your local CITY CODE ORDINANCES, not the building codes. Also know your deed restrictions. If you don't like the rules, don't buy.
And lastly, most courts think you don't respect them when you don't show, so it's probably a good idea to do so. If you are seen to be making an effort, you will be met more than halfway.
I'm glad I don't live in Florida...
water your lawn or you go to jail...
looney toons...
Where live and let live is for suckers and whimps....
and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
over specific principles, goals, and policies.
http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg
(\__/)
( o.O)
(")_(")
well, you're right. As a cali native I can honestly say I've lived in better places.
But I'd like to think that at 66 I'd still be able to conquer a sodding challenge like a man. I dunno.
I suck at gardening and i've been threatened with a lawsuit from my HOA for pathway lights! WTF!
Depends what kind of time frame you're living in, and what you consider necessities in life. In this guys day, this type of hard balling around over such trivial matters was totally unheard of. This man grew up in a different world, so I don't blame him for not snapping in line like a good little soldier. It's a sad sign of the times imo...
and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
over specific principles, goals, and policies.
http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg
(\__/)
( o.O)
(")_(")