Senior citizen sent to jail for not keeping his lawn green

bootlegger10

So what can the HOA do in this situation? I agree that sending someone to jail is ridiculous, but fines certainly won't work (since he apparently does not have enough money for a sprinkler). If you think HOA's suck, well they do exist here, and are meant to protect people's investments. Watering does not seem a ridiculous request. So what is the HOA to do?

How many family members are living in this house? If they are working, there should be money for a new sprinkler. If they are not working, then they have plenty of time to water the damn lawn with a hose and some seed.

Edit: Seems everything worked out. Great.

Skitch Patterson

I love the A 1+1= JAIL ???(OMGGNFUW!!!!! ZOUNDS@!!@!! Mentality of the people here.

Yes, the guy is in jail for his grass being brown.

if you ignore the months and months of missed court dates and entire lack of response to the legal system.

Guy buys house agreeing to rules.
Guy Doesnt Follow Rules.
Guy Given Countless Chances to resolve the problem, does not. Ignores it.
Guy Given opportunity to defend himself in court. Ignores it.
Guy blames everything else when he gets put in jail?

Regardless of this mans situation, he was ignoring his responsibility. He was given every chance to fix it. Hell, he was given enough time for grass to grow from seed. If he wasnt going to fix it, and blantently ignored court orders... why shouldnt he go to jail?

prytoj

skitch and bootlegger,
thanks so much, for a second I thought we were all
a bunch of commies.

Skitch Patterson

I equate this, in a lot of ways to people saying...

CLINTON WAS IMPEACHED FOR GETTING A BLOW JOB.

No, he was impeached for perjury. When you make the dramatic proclamation you are ignoring the actual legal steps, and the actual law broken for no reason other than to make it sound far more sensational than it is.

Strangest Tribe

IMO this guy could have avoided this.

It's called responsibility.

RolandTD20Kdrummer

Skitch Patterson wrote:

I love the A 1+1= JAIL ???(OMGGNFUW!!!!! ZOUNDS@!!@!! Mentality of the people here.

Yes, the guy is in jail for his grass being brown.

if you ignore the months and months of missed court dates and entire lack of response to the legal system.

Guy buys house agreeing to rules.
Guy Doesnt Follow Rules.
Guy Given Countless Chances to resolve the problem, does not. Ignores it.
Guy Given opportunity to defend himself in court. Ignores it.
Guy blames everything else when he gets put in jail?

Regardless of this mans situation, he was ignoring his responsibility. He was given every chance to fix it. Hell, he was given enough time for grass to grow from seed. If he wasnt going to fix it, and blantently ignored court orders... why shouldnt he go to jail?

Because he is going to jail over his lawn. What's wrong with fining him? All jail did was produce the opposite result of what some are claiming should have taken place in the first place.

The guy had 5 acres which is a lot of grass to take care of. He could afford to handle the situation originally when he moved in but fell on hard times as indicated.

In any event...5 acres of grass is hardly casual, it's almost like farming.

jeffbr

Strangest Tribe wrote:

IMO this guy could have avoided this.

It's called responsibility.

Exactly! It is amazing how quick people are with excuses. This is a very simple issue. Responsibility and accountability are a bitch. The old man put himself in jail with the help of his family and friends.

jeffbr

RolandTD20Kdrummer wrote:

In any event...5 acres of grass is hardly casual, it's almost like farming.

I agree. That is a lot of work and a big committment. Perhaps he would have been better suited to a condo where the grounds are taken care of for him. Why would he purchase a piece of property he was unwilling or unable to maintain?

RolandTD20Kdrummer

jeffbr wrote:

I agree. That is a lot of work and a big committment. Perhaps he would have been better suited to a condo where the grounds are taken care of for him. Why would he purchase a piece of property he was unwilling or unable to maintain?

Agree. In his present financial situation, yes, a condo, or more manageable plot of land would have been much better situation for him. With a functioning sprinkler system, and adequate cash on hand (originally) that situation was manageable. When his sprinkler system pooched out, and his funds dried up, now he has a lot more more than he can deal with. When this guy was saying keeping the house payments rolling was more important than the thousands he would have dole out to get the lawn irrigation system, I beleive it's a bit more complicated than a simple case of lack of responsibility. In any event it's nice to see people help out like that, and I think he should probably sell and downsize. His property tax payments alone will probably end up doing him in.

prytoj

RolandTD20Kdrummer wrote:

Agree. In his present financial situation, yes, a condo, or more manageable plot of land would have been much better situation for him. With a functioning sprinkler system, and adequate cash on hand (originally) that situation was manageable. When his sprinkler system pooched out, and his funds dried up, now he has a lot more more than he can deal with. When this guy was saying keeping the house payments rolling was more important than the thousands he would have dole out to get the lawn irrigation system, I beleive it's a bit more complicated than a simple case of lack of responsibility. In any event it's nice to see people help out like that, and I think he should probably sell and downsize. His property tax payments alone will probably end up doing him in.

I live in florida and i run my sprinklers MAYBE 10 times a year. It's just CRAP to make excuses for this guy. It rains ALL THE FREAKING TIME here.

It is a simple case of lack of foresight/responsibility at best.

At worst and, more realistically, he was plain lazy and defiant.

RolandTD20Kdrummer

prytoj wrote:

I live in florida and i run my sprinklers MAYBE 10 times a year. It's just CRAP to make excuses for this guy. It rains ALL THE FREAKING TIME here.

It is a simple case of lack of foresight/responsibility at best.

At worst and, more realistically, he was plain lazy and defiant.

It didn't rain enough to keep the lawn green apparently. The guy simply doesn't have the funds to keep up with that situation anymore (but he did at one point), and he knew what the courts were going to tell him: sod the lawn and keep it watered, or fix the irrigation system anyways and seed it. No cashola. He knew what he had to do, but had to choose to keep his mortgage payments going over his other problems. He was going to lose the house over it. Either way he just couldn't afford his current situation, and hoped it would just go away. It didn't go away, so ultimately he went away. A simple case of putting belongings, and objects, over people.

prytoj

RolandTD20Kdrummer wrote:

It didn't rain enough to keep the lawn green apparently. The guy simply doesn't have the funds to keep up with that situation anymore (but he did at one point), and he knew what the courts were going to tell him anyway: sod the lawn and keep it watered, or fix the irrigation system and seed it. He knew what he had to do, but had to choose to keep his mortgage payments going over his other problems. He was going to lose the house over it. Either way he just couldn't afford his current situation, and hoped it would just go away. It didn't go away, so ultimately he went away. A simple case of putting belongings, and objects, over people.

Please

Guys like dunkman, kann, yield, roland are like those parents in Southpark, you know, that episode where they move to San Francisco and inhale their own farts so as to not pollute the environment?

get real.

The guy put HIMSELF before his community and the law. And he got exactly what he deserved.

We are supposed to enact laws that provide opportunity for ALL, not excuses for SOME.

unsung

sponger wrote:

Fuck Home Owner's Associations. I hate them so goddamn much. They are like the gestapo in my neighborhood. It's unamerican. We're supposed to be able to live however the hell we want.

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.

So because some ass doesn't want to maintain his house the rest should suffer? Brilliant.

Skitch Patterson

RolandTD20Kdrummer wrote:

Because he is going to jail over his lawn. What's wrong with fining him? All jail did was produce the opposite result of what some are claiming should have taken place in the first place.

The guy had 5 acres which is a lot of grass to take care of. He could afford to handle the situation originally when he moved in but fell on hard times as indicated.

In any event...5 acres of grass is hardly casual, it's almost like farming.

No he is not going to jail over his lawn, he is going to jail over violation of a court order. You think if he had answered the court they would have found him in contempt and put him in jail? Doubtful.

Fining him? didnt they try that and it didnt work anyways?
If he cant handle the 5 acres, he should sell the property, or file bankruptcy and let the property go. He signed an agreement to do a certain thing, when he was no longer able to live up to that responsibility, its on him, and him alone to do something to resolve things.

and i dont feel bad about his ARM adjusting. He agreed to it. Its what ADJUSTABLE rate mortgages do. They adjust.

prytoj

the guy owns 5 acres of Tampa real estate and you're bemoaning HIS hardship?

rediculous.

RolandTD20Kdrummer

Skitch Patterson wrote:

No he is not going to jail over his lawn, he is going to jail over violation of a court order. You think if he had answered the court they would have found him in contempt and put him in jail? Doubtful.

Fining him? didnt they try that and it didnt work anyways?
If he cant handle the 5 acres, he should sell the property, or file bankruptcy and let the property go. He signed an agreement to do a certain thing, when he was no longer able to live up to that responsibility, its on him, and him alone to do something to resolve things.

and i dont feel bad about his ARM adjusting. He agreed to it. Its what ADJUSTABLE rate mortgages do. They adjust.

So he goes to court, and they tell him to do something he is unable to do anyways, so he winds up back in court delaying the inevitable. Basically he went to jail for not downsizing and living within his means. I suppose that is a crime in itself these days, it seems that is what it's coming to.

RolandTD20Kdrummer

prytoj wrote:

the guy owns 5 acres of Tampa real estate and you're bemoaning HIS hardship?

rediculous.

I'm not bemoaning his hardship, just pointing out that it's not a simple case of he's lazy, and has no concept of responsibility. He was faced with a seemingly trivial problem, and had his hand forced to the point that he was put behind bars over it despite making his case to the HOA. I guess they decided to fast track this guy regardless. With the largest prison population in the world, if jail is going to be the solution to every problem in the future, then I suppose it's not exactly working out so well.

Skitch Patterson

RolandTD20Kdrummer wrote:

So he goes to court, and they tell him to do something he is unable to do anyways, so he winds up back in court delaying the inevitable. Basically he went to jail for not downsizing and living within his means. I suppose that is a crime in itself these days, it seems that is what it's coming to.

I bet if he had responded to any of the court requests he would not be put in jail.

but this is just another case of Roland creating a spectacular thread title that does not tell the whole story, just to sensationalize the story.

I dont blame the man for being too broke to fix his yard.
I do blame him for being a coward and not getting in touch with the court.

RolandTD20Kdrummer

Skitch Patterson wrote:

I bet if he had responded to any of the court requests he would not be put in jail.

but this is just another case of Roland creating a spectacular thread title that does not tell the whole story, just to sensationalize the story.

I dont blame the man for being too broke to fix his yard.
I do blame him for being a coward and not getting in touch with the court.

So he goes to court. They tell him to fix his irrigation system and repair his lawn. He can't. They heap a bunch of fines which he also can't pay, so eventually he winds up in jail anyways, or perhaps they just financially ruin the guy with additional fines and interest, and ongoing court fees etc.., for living outside of his means. Hard times call for hard measures eh? You bet.

Does anyone think they will ever go to jail over a lawn? Apparently some demand it. It is just a lawn in the end isn't it....well yes it is....just a lawn.

prytoj

RolandTD20Kdrummer wrote:

I'm not bemoaning his hardship, just pointing out that it's not a simple case of he's lazy, and has no concept of responsibility. He was faced with a seemingly trivial problem, and had his hand forced to the point that he was put behind bars over it despite making his case to the HOA. I guess they decided to fast track this guy regardless. With the largest prison population in the world, if jail is going to be the solution to every problem in the future, then I suppose it's not exactly working out so well.

Had his hand forced?

Dude, you have absolutely no knowledge of how the system works. Do you just like to be angry at stuff?
It took MONTHS for this problem to get to this point.
An HOA order,
An order from the city,
A referral to the court,
no less than TWO court motions to get this guy to even answer the charge!

It takes time to get to this point and he ignored everyone at every turn. He shit on his neighbors, gave THEM the bird.

It is a simple case of Lazy Ignorant Defiance, got what he deserved.
If you owned property you'd know better than to run it like this.

Okay, next subject, its old now.