View Full Version : You think your landlord is a piece of $#!*?
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008231428_reservist06m.html
KENNEWICK — Burke Jensen moved to Kennewick about a year ago, bought a nice house in the country south of the city and began to settle into a new job at Energy Northwest.
Then came the call five months ago to serve his country in Kuwait.
So Jensen, who says he is an involuntarily mobilized reservist, headed off, leaving behind a pregnant wife, a young son and a 2.5-acre lot with not a spot of landscaping.
Now, Lt. Jensen is being told to get an irrigation system and landscaping on his property as soon as possible or face legal action from the Oak Hill Country Estates Homeowners' Association.
"I really don't give a [expletive] where he is or what his problem is," said Chick Edwards, owner and developer of the 47-lot subdivision at the south end of Oak Street in Kennewick.
"It doesn't matter to me," said Edwards, who insists Jensen has violated terms of the homeowners-association covenants requiring that landscaping be completed within one year after an occupancy permit is issued for a home.
"[Jensen] doesn't have the right to walk away from his obligation," said Edwards, who as the developer is the only member of the homeowners association. "I have most of the property still, so I am the homeowners association," he said.
This guy needs to be put in his place. What a sack of bulls#!t!
Remington Raidr
10-07-2008, 22:34
Not really a landlord, but assholes like this are why I never considered condominium living. Just another level of government you don't need.
The Developer still owns the HOA and as he states in the article he still owns property (unsold lots) in the development and until it's sold out "he is the HOA".
The guy wants to sell all of his lots and get them developed. Hard to do that when a buyer turns into the development and sees a yard in poor condition. The owner had 7 +/- months to get his yard in shape. You're looking at 47 total lots. I wonder how many are sold?
On the other hand, as the developer, he could have worked with the owner and done most of the work with his crews, got a little positiive propaganda in the local paper, wrote off most of the expensie in taxes and maybe sold out a little faster.
The owner is at fault but the developer handled it all wrong.
Peregrino
10-08-2008, 10:00
The LT should have read the fine print. I doubt he has a leg to stand on. This is just one example of why I will never live in a development (or anyplace else) with a HOA again. Having had personal experience with unscrupulous developers, they can all GTH.
uboat509
10-08-2008, 10:11
It sounds like the homeowner tried to meet the terms of the HOA but the guy he hired bailed without finishing the work, presumably after the homeowner deployed. The thing about renting the property is a little shady also. I'm not sure that a HOA can prevent you from renting your property.
Something else that just occured to me is that it says he deployed five months ago or so but that probably doesn't include any of the predeployment stuff that the homeowner may have had to do. That might very well mean even less time that he had.
SFC W
It sounds like the homeowner tried to meet the terms of the HOA but the guy he hired bailed without finishing the work, presumably after the homeowner deployed. .....
The time line is a bit fuzzy but reads that he moved to the area about a year ago and bought the house. He got orders to deploy about 5 months ago. It does not really say when he departed - or his wife either.
That's where I got the 7 +/- months for him to get his landscaping done.
Sounds like the owner was dragging his feet and then got called up. It don't take that long to lay sod, plant some bushes and put an irrigation system in.
Owner occupied homes do not like renters in the subdivision. In well kept neighborhoods you can spot them, generally, by the lack of yard care.
By nature, I instinctively tend to side against HOAs (I have little love for organizations that tell me what to do with my own property... the actual government does that enough already, thank you), but the more I think about this situation, the more it sounds like both are at fault. The developer is obnoxious and not someone I would ever care to meet, but the soldier is at just as much, if not more, fault. He chose to buy a property that falls under the covenants of the HOA, and so explicitly endorsed those covenants; he then ignored them, shirking his freely-chosen obligation. Not much love for those who obligate themselves and then complain about how hard it is.
There's a lesson here. Read the fine print, always. It's kind of like how you should always read the stickies. :D
Doesn't read like the soldier ignored the terms. The HOA term is landscaping be completed within one year after an occupancy permit is issued for a home. The soldier hired a landscaper who, while the soldier is deployed and no one is living on the property, failed to complete the work. His wife is living with family in the East during her pregnancy. Seems likely the soldier was unaware the work wasn't being done until he received notice from the HOA.
Also the soldiers lawyer states the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protection against civil legal action during overseas deployment. The lawyer also states that the soldier can't be stopped from renting the property.
I don't see where the soldier or his family complained or commented at all.
Seems his co-workers, neighbor and local citizens have stepped in though.
Dozens want to help landscape reservist's vacant home
Oct. 6--Dozens of people have offered to help a Kennewick resident get his new home landscaped while he is away on military duty in Kuwait.
The offers began coming soon after the Herald published a story Sunday about Burke Jensen being told by the developer of his subdivision that the home in the Oak Hills Country Estates south of Kennewick was an eyesore without the landscaping that was supposed to be in place within a year after Burke and his wife moved in.
Burke, who was involuntarily assigned as a reservist last May, paid a landscaper to do the irrigation and seeding on the 2.5-acre property this summer, but the landscaper apparently skipped out without finishing the job.
More than a dozen people called the newspaper Sunday, and many more included comments on the Herald's website, criticizing the developer, Chick Edwards, who said he alone represented the homeowners' association because he owns the largest amount of land in the project.
"This to me this is very unpatriotic not to understand that (Jensen) is doing his duty as a soldier," Jose Salazar said in an e-mail.
Steve Sutter, manager of Hertz Equipment Rental in Kennewick, said he wants to help "mobilize folks to get the landscaping done to satisfy Mr. Edwards."
Other offers have come from a contractor, a plumber, the Home Depot stores in Kennewick and West Richland, the First Christian Church in Pasco and many individuals, including some military reservists and the ACES organization in the Tri-Cities.
Jensen's wife, who is pregnant, chose to move in with family in another state while her husband is assigned in Kuwait, leaving their home unoccupied.
But some of Jensen's co-workers at Energy Northwest have been keeping an eye on the property and helping with weed maintenance.
Comments in reaction to the story can be reviewed at www.tricityherald.com. Select the story "Reservist faces landscape woes," published Sunday.
To see more of the Tri-City Herald, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.tri-cityherald.com.
greenberetTFS
10-08-2008, 15:15
Doesn't read like the soldier ignored the terms. The HOA term is landscaping be completed within one year after an occupancy permit is issued for a home. The soldier hired a landscaper who, while the soldier is deployed and no one is living on the property, failed to complete the work. His wife is living with family in the East during her pregnancy. Seems likely the soldier was unaware the work wasn't being done until he received notice from the HOA.
Also the soldiers lawyer states the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protection against civil legal action during overseas deployment. The lawyer also states that the soldier can't be stopped from renting the property.
I don't see where the soldier or his family complained or commented at all.
Seems his co-workers, neighbor and local citizens have stepped in though.
sf11b_p,
You point is well taken, thank God we still have patriotic neighbors that have taken up his situation......:D
GB TFS :munchin
Sounds like the head of the HOA was the kid that never got picked in the neighborhood games. I agree with him that if the contract says something, then said person should be expected to comply...but this is unique and, personally, i think the guy is just got an attitude and wants it his way.
I also have to say, that if one of my fellow Guard Soldiers is deploying and resides relatively close and i see a pregnant wife, elderly parent, etc... left behind and limited on what they can get done, then it is time to get a group of folks from the Guard in the rear and make it happen, much like the neigbors did.
Definitely. I think we can all agree that of all the parties involved, it's the community that is truly doing the right thing.