Woman’s yard sale to pay medical bills gets shut down

Salem.katu.com ^ | 8/18/11 | Emily Sinovic, Reporter

[Nachum]

A woman fighting a terminal form of bone cancer is trying to raise money to help pay bills with a few weekend garage sales, but the city of Salem says she’s breaking the law and is shutting her down.

Jan Cline had no idea, but the city of Salem has a clear law that states a person can only have three yard sales a year.

Cline has been selling her stuff in the backyard for a few weekends and said she thought she’d be fine by keeping the sale out of everyone’s way.

“It’s a struggle,” Cline says. “It’s a struggle for me because I’m very independent, used to taking care of myself.”

She’s run businesses and supported herself for years but this summer she was diagnosed with bone cancer.

[Persevero]

Hopefully this publicity will raise more money for her than the garage sales ever would.

While I understand these type rules, as people in neighborhoods don’t want to be inundated with cars swooping in and general noise and busy-ness every weekend, I certainly would not have turned her in for it.

[apillar]

Jan Cline had no idea, but the city of Salem has a clear law that states a person can only have three yard sales a year.

Lol! Do they have a "Yard Sale" patrol that drives around to check if you've met your quota? But seriously, I believe most states and localities actually have a similar law to prevent people from running flea-markets and skirting tax laws and licensing requirements by calling them yard sales. I've never heard of one actually being enforced though.

[Persevero]

“I’ve never heard of one actually being enforced though. “

I doubt they have a patrol. Someone probably complained.

[TMA62]

I agree with your comments. Perhaps she should consider selling her stuff on Ebay and Craigslist.

[AppyPappy]

Not only that, I could start collecting stuff in my front yard and say it was for sale.

[2nd amendment mama]

If she were my neighbor, I’d have the yard sale in my yard for 3 weeks and see if the rest of the neighbors would do the same until she had all of her stuff sold!

[DannyTN]

Our small town passed a yard sale law. You had to pay a fee to register the sale and put signs up. I think we were allowed two yard sales a year.

Dad registered, but nobody came to the sale. Turns out the city had misplaced his paperwork. And consequently the city pulled up his signs, so the sale was a bust.

The town threw out the yard sale nazi’s at the next election.

[Mrs. Don-o]

I sympathize with her. The anxiety + disability of serious disease is a dreadful thing; the inability to pay for care makes it 10x worse; being threatened with legal penalties for trying to do the one thing she can do, makes it just excrucating.

So she's got one neighbor that complained? Perhaps she's now got 10 or 15 neighbors (or friends or newly aware fellow-citizens) who sympathize with her. They could chip in by sponsoring her sales in their own backyards (on a rotating basis, as it were) or help her market on eBay. Or introduce her to some medical charity foundation. There must be some way this can accrue to her benefit.

[momtothree]

“... as people in neighborhoods don’t want to be inundated with cars swooping in and general noise and busy-ness every weekend”

People are funny. We have some neighbors who hate when someone has a yard sale complaining about all the cars, noise, parking on the street etc... THEN, they have backyard picnics for their church group. All I see is “all the cars, noise, parking on the street”. I guess it becomes one of those times when “it is okay for ME but not you”. Just a thought

[massgopguy]

She should try a Lemonade Stand..............

[GraceG]

Talk about adding insult to injury.

[jarofants]

Wheres Warren Buffet or one of these Billionaire's that want to pay more taxes. Hell just pay this Lady's doctor bills if they want to get rid of there money. It's probably would be a tax write off for them.

[GlockThe Vote]

At this point we need to have the entire govt just shut down.

[Cheetahcat]

Salem’s Law?? only three garage sales a year? Well that law is wrong, The page needs tore out of the book!

[Wurlitzer]

Law by law, regulation by regulation (600 last month) we are being buried little by little every day/month/year by more legal crappola which directly limits what we can do on OUR property.

For every good law some liberal will hang their empty hat on there a 10 that do nothing but steal our freedoms.

[sharpee]

It sounds like Multiple Myeloma. It is a terible disease. There are 10,000 people diagnosed per year and 40,000 survivors. Average survival is about 24 months without treatment. An xray of a person with disease looks like someone took a drill and put holes in all the bones. It weakens the bones to the point where a simple movement can cause a break. Treatment can include thalidomide and stem cell transplants. Peter Boyle, Roy Scheider and Geraldine_Ferraro were victims.

[sharpee]

It sounds like Multiple Myeloma. It is a terible disease. There are 10,000 people diagnosed per year and 40,000 survivors. Average survival is about 24 months without treatment. An xray of a person with disease looks like someone took a drill and put holes in all the bones. It weakens the bones to the point where a simple movement can cause a break. Treatment can include thalidomide and stem cell transplants. Peter Boyle, Roy Scheider and Geraldine_Ferraro were victims.

[sharpee]

It sounds like Multiple Myeloma. It is a terible disease. There are 10,000 people diagnosed per year and 40,000 survivors. Average survival is about 24 months without treatment. An xray of a person with disease looks like someone took a drill and put holes in all the bones. It weakens the bones to the point where a simple movement can cause a break. Treatment can include thalidomide and stem cell transplants. Peter Boyle, Roy Scheider and Geraldine_Ferraro were victims.

[sharpee]

It sounds like Multiple Myeloma. It is a terible disease. There are 10,000 people diagnosed per year and 40,000 survivors. Average survival is about 24 months without treatment. An xray of a person with disease looks like someone took a drill and put holes in all the bones. It weakens the bones to the point where a simple movement can cause a break. Treatment can include thalidomide and stem cell transplants. Peter Boyle, Roy Scheider and Geraldine_Ferraro were victims.