Posted on 12/20/2013 12:17:05 PM PST by Responsibility2nd
KENNER, La. —A Louisiana homeowner watched in horror as city workers in Kenner, La. tore down the house she was rebuilding since Hurricane Katrina.
“I'm going to wind up in the loony bin. I've tried for seven years to get back home. This is my home. This is my corner. I own this piece of property, and Kenner does this to me,” said home owner Reba Tullier.
But the city of Kenner said it has a zero-tolerance policy on blighted homes.
Tullier said she had finally lined up help to fix her house, but it was too late.
“It's not fair, it's insane,” said Tullier.
Tullier and her family went from tears to screams and back again as they watched a bulldozer plow through their property Wednesday.
“I was on my way in today to do an $800 injunction -- had no clue this was happening today,” said Tullier. “I do not get a letter. I do not get a date when this is going to happen. I've called every single day to try to talk with somebody who could tell me when this was going to happen. Nobody could tell me anything because conveniently there's no one in the office.”
Tullier's house at 2001 Kentucky Ave. was damaged in Hurricane Katrina. She had to bulldoze it then.
She was rebuilding her family home while she lives in Mississippi.
The city of Kenner sent her a letter in April, saying her work permit had expired due to six months of inactivity on the property.
“All we were trying to do was come back home and they didn't want to give us time, the city just wanted this house down,” said Brittany Tullier, Reba’s daughter.
The city council voted on Oct. 17 to demolish the property after complaints from neighbors about safety and lack of activity. The city attorney said Reba Tullier did not appeal that decision but was told to get an attorney.
She said no attorney would take her case, she couldn't get a loan and a contractor ran off with her money.
But she now has a group of volunteers ready to help.
“You don't know what we've been doing. You don't know what we've been trying to do,” said Reba Tullier.
She said the house would have been done in about three months with all of the volunteer help she had lined up. Now she said she'll probably have to sell the property.
The city attorney said Kenner will put a lien on Tullier's tax bill to pay for the demolition.
“They're going to pay for this to be rebuilt. This is wrong. There is no court order filed in the system,” said Reba Tullier.
City Attorney Keith Conley told WDSU there is no court order required. A house can be demolished by council action, he said.
Conley said Tullier's house is one of 13 homes demolished in the last couple of months as part of a zero tolerance for blight policy.
I’m not sure where you and so many others are coming up with due process as an excuse to let a half built home languish for years.
Read the article. She could not get an attorney. Some here suggested that an attorney would know better than to fight city hall, but isn’t it possible that ALL lawyers knew she was wrong?
Secondly, the city had their attorney involved in this process. Like it or not, I’m going with the professional advice he gave them instead of some high-strung emotional walings of some out of state property owner who cannot rebuild a home after 8 years.
Due Process? This idiot woman had it and then some.
Oh, I didn’t realize they took her to court and proved their case, and then she filed an appeal which she also lost. That’s a horse of a different color.
If I had to make a judgement based on the fantastic technology of google .. I'd say the house was uncared for on a continual basis, but ... there was a dog asleep on the back ... what was that?
I’m looking at the structure that is being torn down and it looks like rather than a roof, it was covered with blue tarps and had been that way after 6 months of inactivity.
I wonder how much of that exposed wood was waterlogged and soaked and mildew-redden and would have to be replaced anyway.
I’ll bet this woman and her daughters knew the house was coming down today and just showed up to get on camera with her absurd protestations and histrionics.
did u see the dog sleeping out back?
Paging Jimmy Carter and Sean Penn, Habitat for Humanity has just the project for you.
OMG. Is he sleeping or dead.
lolol.
In the front, did you see the black cat? Bad luck omen if ever there was one.
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How nice for the city. Look at the houses surrounding this property, as well as the ugly commercial property across the street. If anything, this woman's property is more attractive, imho. The landscaping, although overgrown, is much more appealing.
I don’t think that’s funny.
Seriously? Ha! My copy is kept with my collection of daffy duck cartoons and other quaint antiquities. It is merely a source of amusement to think that at one time and place some folks took such things seriously.
You mean the little black and white kitty? Is that worth all the trouble?
What does Christmas have to do with it? They weren’t living there. Maybe they should have said “just days before Kwanzaa”.
That’s the house next door. Maybe they should just level the whole neighborhood, and bill the victims for the cost.
Is it her property or is it Kenner’s property that she is allowed to pay taxes on?
The first question kind of answers the second question.
The lack of respect for PRIVATE PROPERTY by some so-called ‘’FReepers’’ is appalling.
I turned that street view 360 degrees and saw no house under construction in any direction that looked like the one in the video. I call BS.
The street view that you keep linking to shows a small one story finished house yet the video of the demolition shows a three story house in the framing stage being torn down. Very strange.
The article says that her original home was bulldozed right after Katrina and that the one under construction had been idle for six months.
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