Posted on 06/10/2013 8:40:01 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Neighbors say an eyesore is not only hurting their community's image, it's costing taxpayers money.
Lewis County says a so-called "hoarder's" properties are such a disaster that they're risking the health of neighbors.
Neighbors say they feel like they're living next to a junkyard, as there's rats and mice all over the place.
But this is actually the yard and home of Victor Bonagofski. According to court documents, Bonagofski's two properties near Centralia have been the subject of legal cases for about nine years.
The county put a lien on some of the land and a judge ruled the defendant must clean it up. It's been declared a fire, safety, sanitary and health hazard.
But now it seems, this property owner wants to fight back. Centralia's The Chronicle newspaper reports Bonagofski is filing a claim worth nearly $400 billion -- yes, billion -- against Lewis County claiming violation of his property rights. He figures it's for every vehicle, appliance, screw, nut, bolt, nail and piece of cardboard, scrap metal and lumber Lewis County has removed from his two Centralia properties over the last seven years, the Chronicle reported.
The prosecutor has no paperwork on that appeal yet, but says the case has already cost untold thousands of dollars.
This is not the first time Bonagofski has been told to tidy up -- he was forced to clean up 15 years ago.
"It's a mess down there," neighbor Phyllis Dalquist said.
A spokeswoman with Lewis County Sheriff's Department says deputies will provide security as needed, if the health department goes in to clean up the properties.
The State is now an HOA? WTH?
WA Ping
Oh great, now he wants to hoard money!
Funny! Don’t we all?
Hoarders in the family...I can not understand what pleasure it gives!
And how did the judge respond when the case was brought to trial?
Hoarder in the court! Hoarder in the court!
I was compelled to look at the pictures in the link, to see if my place is worse than his.
Whew! I’m off the hook... my junk area is pristine, by comparison.
I’ve lived next to a hoarder and it was a nightmare. We ended up moving because local officials were no help at all (also WA state). It wasn’t as bad as the property in this story...but our neighbor had over 20 cars...w/room for just 5 and had them parked all over the place, including on our property. We couldn’t even get local enforcement to force this jackass to move off of our property.
Toilets, wood debris, trash in bags and out of bags...littered his property. It was over a $400k house at the time and it looked like some place in central LA. It made for a horrendous view as our property looked right on to his and we shared a common driveway. (Won’t ever, EVER, buy a house that shares a drive. EVER).
The guy had been on drugs to control his manic behavior but went off of the drugs because it affected his ‘performance’...or so his wife told me. And I think his real personality was a whack job hoarder who thought he needed to buy stuff and never, ever throw anything away. So he just stacked up the cars and stacked up the junk.
Best day in the world was when we closed on that house and moved away from that situation. I so feel sorry for the neighbors of the guy in the KOMO story as they might not be in a position to move or may not want to. The people who bought our house saw what they were moving into and somehow still wanted our house and paid over asking.
In our case...we had to move or we would have been one of those news stories of neighbors who go to blows or shoot each other. This ‘man’ went after me several times in a physical way when my husband wasn’t around. I stood my ground against him, but he did scare the heck out of me. I didn’t tell my husband how bad it was until we moved. May not have been what I should have done...marriage wise...but I really did not want my husband to confront this whack job and have it escalate even farther. I didn’t need to have my husband go to jail because some loser didn’t take his meds.
That deserves a day in jail all by itself.
>> Hoarder in the court!
groan
Ok, I lol’d during the groan. But just a little.
He’ll lose, these have been fought out before.
Yeah, I’m feeling pretty good about my stash of misc. landscape/construction materials under the deck, now. Could they use some neatening-up, and a minor purge? Sure. Am I even 1% of that? HECK NO!
Its these extreme cases which lead to HOAs and oppressive govt. A pox on these people.
Well to be fair $400 Billion is probably only a few hundred thousand under 0’s hyperinflation economy and will only be useful to light fires and wipe your buttocks pretty soon...
>> I’m feeling pretty good about my stash of misc. landscape/construction materials...
I have a weakness for “construction materials” too. After all, “I might need that someday”. I do try to keep it sorted and organized. And I do end up using a significant percentage of it... eventually. I’m sure there’ll be enough left when I pass on to build one heckuva funeral pyre though. There’s probably an unassembled hearse in there too if you’re not picky about style.
Gonna bookmark this joker’s example for marital negotiation purposes, while I ponder how to use it:
a) For brownie points? “See, honey? Mine’s not near that bad!”
b) As an outright threat? “See, honey? Play your cards right and mine won’t get near that bad.”
:-)
> It wasn’t as bad as the property in this story...but our neighbor had over 20 cars...w/room for just 5 and had them parked all over the place, including on our property
I’d have sent him a bill for parking. If he didn’t pay it I’d have a nice camp out with a hot campfire right in front of his car. “Officer how was I to know that that car still had gas in it and that it would explode?”
They need to mind their own business-and pay...
I married someone who has become one. A lot of it is books, catalogs, and newspapers. There isn’t a flat surface anywhere that doesn’t have piles of stuff. 95% isn’t mine. My closet is fairly straight.
Probably used junk science to determine the guy’s mental health.
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