Posted on 11/03/2015 7:35:54 AM PST by Red Badger
A Long Island man returned home from a long trip to find all his possessions — and his home — completely vanished.
Philip Williams, 69, flew to Florida in December 2014 to escape the cold winter and undergo a knee operation.
But when he came back to his West Hempstead homestead in August, all that was left was a grass-covered lot.
“You don’t expect to leave and get surgery and come back to find everything gone. I’m outraged. They shouldn’t be able to do that. This was preventable. It’s unjust and a tremendous disservice to me,†Williams, who is now suing the town, he told CBS News.
Local officials say they made the decision to demolish the home in May after receiving numerous complaints from neighbors that the house, built in 1920, was in extreme disrepair.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Pretty amazing.
Did he own the property outright or still mortgaged?
Sad to see some here with the Lib tactic, “I believe in property Rights, unless/but...”
Ah, the joys of central planning and no longer OFFICIALLY owning anything (just renting. AKA ‘property taxes’)
Unanswered correspondence over a period of years could just possibly make someone believe that the owner was dead with no heirs. Unclaimed lands have reverted to government ownership for millenniums.
There’s a house in my neighborhood that needs to go. Sadly it belonged to an injured army vet. Apparently VA told him that to get benefits, he wasn’t allowed to get a job. He finally got foreclosed and the home was vandalized.
I heard that our town actually has a law on the books that says a foreclosed home may be demolished in just three days.
He was paying his mortgage so the house hadn’t been abandoned. Most mortgages have the property tax bill included so his taxes must have been paid in full. The city said they sent him registered letters. Then the burden is on the city to prove he was lawfully notified. Show his signature on the registered letters.
There’s been a few Saturday nights where I misplaced my house. Luckily, it always turned up the next day.
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