Don't mess with the parents of a spiteful kid.
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So, my parents retired and live in a condo. They are extremely type A people. It's hard for them to take it easy.
Across the way from their place, they're... I dunno, installing a sign or something. So, there's a hole they dug to install the sign. The hole's small but a couple of feet deep. It's been that way for about 3-4 months now. My dad called up the maintenance people several times to fill it, finish the work, whatever they need to do, but they've never responded. So allegedly, one day he walked over there and filled the hole in. The dirt was right there, and it was just a shovel or two's worth. It's the kind of thing that would take a minute.
He gets this shit in the mail a couple days later:
This is part of the first page. The letter is 3 pages long. Sent by a law firm, certified mail. I think those of us who aren't a little touched realize how ridiculous this is. For whatever reason, they felt it necessary to try to scare my parents.
They laughed it off and asked me if I could help them with this situation. So, pro bono, I drafted a response deserving of the seriousness of the matter:
If the font doesn't give it away, my intent here is not to have anything meaningful to say. This isn't, "I found a quirky legal loophole, I'm smarter than you, ha ha! " What I hope is that they'll find it necessary to respond, thus costing the Association more legal fees (or, if they have their lawyers on retainer, costing them time at the very least). My goal is just to troll them for as long as I can.
We'll see what happens.
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"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@George-K said in Don't mess with the parents of a spiteful kid.:
That's the most Aqua thing I've seen in weeks.
Love it.
Me too!!
Go get ‘em @Aqua-Letifer
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"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@George-K said in Don't mess with the parents of a spiteful kid.:
This hole, is it a tripping, falling hazard?
Asking for a friend.
It is!
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Aqua,
Another possible avenue for your rabbit hole:
“Regarding material alterations to the common elements of condominiums in Florida, section 718.113(2), Florida Statutes, provides that unless a different procedure is provided for in the Declaration of Condominium, then a vote of 75 percent of all owners is required in order to alter the use, function or appearance of the common elements.”
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@Loki said in Don't mess with the parents of a spiteful kid.:
Aqua,
Another possible avenue for your rabbit hole:
“Regarding material alterations to the common elements of condominiums in Florida, section 718.113(2), Florida Statutes, provides that unless a different procedure is provided for in the Declaration of Condominium, then a vote of 75 percent of all owners is required in order to alter the use, function or appearance of the common elements.”
That is very much appreciated, good sir.
I'll add it to the file. -
@jodi said in Don't mess with the parents of a spiteful kid.:
The tripping and falling part would be my worry. I’ve fallen in a random hole in a sidewalk and it’s not fun. Was the hole protected in some way before he filled it in?
Nope.
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@Aqua-Letifer said in Don't mess with the parents of a spiteful kid.:
@jodi said in Don't mess with the parents of a spiteful kid.:
The tripping and falling part would be my worry. I’ve fallen in a random hole in a sidewalk and it’s not fun. Was the hole protected in some way before he filled it in?
Nope.
Lock 'em up!
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@Aqua-Letifer said in Don't mess with the parents of a spiteful kid.:
@jodi said in Don't mess with the parents of a spiteful kid.:
The tripping and falling part would be my worry. I’ve fallen in a random hole in a sidewalk and it’s not fun. Was the hole protected in some way before he filled it in?
Nope.
Was there signage indicating potential hazards?
This hole was unprotected for weeks and weeks, eh?
Probably all kinds of code violations there.
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@George-K It was about a foot in diameter? Maybe less? And about 2-3 feet deep.
I also need to be a little careful; actual complaints I'm going to reserve for when they get serious. But they sent in some bullshit, so I responded in kind, and for now we can just keep it stupid.
Very good to know the possibilities, though. I'm thinking this is just going to turn into a back-and-forth with the lawyers, but if they start to get pushy we can start to respond in kind.
Please love yourself.
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@Aqua-Letifer said in Don't mess with the parents of a spiteful kid.:
It was about a foot in diameter? Maybe less? And about 2-3 feet deep.
Serious hazard, to be sure.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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When there is to be any excavation at a property of more than a foot or so, it's usually required to make contact with the utility companies to inform them and have them place markers for utility locations, called a locate. Here in Minnesooooota, we contact Gopher One State to have all the local utility companies notified. They place their little flags of various colors, so the property owner/manager can safely dig.
This locate service is provided for free and is required. If any damage to utilities occurs, the digger is in deep doo doo.
The other requirement is that once the locate process is complete, the work on the property must be completed in a certain amount of time.
If this does get serious, you may want to find out what the locate service requirements are in that location.
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@George-K said in Don't mess with the parents of a spiteful kid.:
@Aqua-Letifer said in Don't mess with the parents of a spiteful kid.:
It was about a foot in diameter? Maybe less? And about 2-3 feet deep.
Serious hazard, to be sure.
+1
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Good points all! Keeping them on the back burner for the follow-up.
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You may be more patient than I am, Aqua. Okay, I'm quite sure you are. LOL
If it were me, I would be in their face with all of this in a freaking long letter demanding they provide all the above information. If not provided within a specific and rather short time period that I chose, I would then make it clear they had no case and that they were simply trying to intimidate people for no good reason other than to charge fees to the HOA, of which the parents are paying members. I would further make it clear that it would be no problem to notify all the related authorities of the safety violations (open , unmarked, empty hole), lack of utility locates (evidenced by lack of little flags), and failure to complete in a timely manner (witnessed by the adjacent property owners, such as said parents).
Make'm work, and give them some pressure. They really don't want to have this get media attention, do they? Yeah, you may want to ask them about that, too. LOL
