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Posted on 03/12/2005 3:45:22 PM PST by Mold Victims
A former Habitat for Humanity family that came under scrutiny two years ago when the city condemned their home has been forced out again.
City inspectors condemned the home of Charles and Barbara Smith, 2517 N. Main Ave., on Friday because the double-block home didn't have heat.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith and most of their 18 children moved into the home in 2000 after Habitat for Humanity of Lackawanna County helped renovate the building.
The family lost that home in July 2003 when it was condemned.
Habitat and the family worked on the house, and the Smiths returned six months later. Mr. Smith promised at the time that it wouldn't happen again.
(Excerpt) Read more at zwire.com ...
Please make that MAIN DRAG.
Darn spiel chakers.
Aside from the heating problem, the fire detectors need batteries, doors need to be replaced, holes in the wall need to be patched and padlocks need to be removed from some doors, Mr. Fiorini said.
Obviously there's more going on, since the police were there. The inoperable fire detectors and padlocked (interior?) doors are fire code violations. And maybe they're using an unsafe source of heat.
I wonder if the number of people in the house puts them under fire department regulations for public accommodations?
I'm going to say it right now - why the h*ll is the city condemning this house when there are so many other things they could be doing?
Code enforcement needs to go down the block and shut down a few crack houses first before I believe they really "care" about this family. I'm more inclined to think that they care about the double-block lot the house is situated upon...
Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.
LOL
Darn it, if only I had known that we could get an almost free house just for being poor!! :')
Was this a typo? (please say yes)
With 18 children in one house, you have heat.
Besides, Dad and Mom are probably glowing and giving off heat!
Yeah, I paused for a couple seconds trying to figure out what a "mail drag" was.
How many BTUs do You get from all those bodies?
Sorry, it just seems to Me that someone caused a whole Hell of a lot of Their own problems.
I would have loved to keep on making babies, mine was pretty, and smart, and deserved the best I had to offer, which She got. Thing is that I asked Myself how the Hell was I gonna do as good a job, for each and every addition, I could not answer that, so, I just did not make any more.
Being a Father has nothing to do with how many You make, but has everything to do with how You care for the ones You do! It is easy to make a baby, but if You stop there, Oh well, I'd best stop here, lest I become politically incorrect!
As I recall from the earlier articles, HFH renovated an existing house; they didn't build it new. The family trashed it, and they appear to have done so again.
I don't think the government has any business telling people to have a heater, either ... but on the other hand, if they're lighting fires in trash cans for heat, and the old firetrap burns down, kills 20 people, and sets the neighbors houses on fire, who's gonna be sued? The city.
A family in my church has 13 kids. But, the dad is a lawyer. They get by.
And they are rabid conservatives all.
Picture of the house, from the article.
When did they pay off their mortgage? They moved in in March of 2000, and around here, Habitat has a 20 year interest free mortgage, so it is unlikely that they would have refinanced. One of the earlier stories put the payments at $115 a month, so total payments so far would have been $6900.00. Was that the total obligation for the purchase and both rounds of renovation? (Around here, Habitat only does new construction, so I would like some education on how the re-hab deals work. Here, the city will clear the slum property, and Habitat will start with a bare lot. The re-hab route looks like it might be a lot cheaper.)
Too true.
That was my reaction. If they can survive like that the government should leave them alone. That house likely costs hundreds of dollars a month to heat.
Wholes in the walls? Please that's just silly.
The smoke alarm batteries can be fixed in minutes, and should be since firemen would have to rescue the 18 children.
The padlocks can be removed in seconds, and should be due to fire hazard. Why were they there anyway?
This story reeks of governmental abuse.
Uh...Mr. President, you might find it a little easier to drive those nails in with the uh, other end of that hammer, sir. Yes sir...the metal part...right...makes a difference, doesn't it? Uh huh...what? Oh, right, that is pretty neat...the other end of the head has a claw-like device that you can pull nails out with...No, sir, I think somebody has already patented the phrase 'Claw Hammer'...but it shows that you're really on top of things.
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