The July Storm

I just realized that I forgot to post about our incredible storm that happened July 30th & the damage it left us with. So, here's a link to the pics of our damage. We have just gotten the check from the insurance to begin the work. So, if I refer to the house damage in future posts, you'll know what I'm talking about. Basically, we have to re-paint the house, replace the awning that blew away & probably the posts too since they are now tipping, replace a bunch of skirting pieces, possible work to the porch, repair a leak in the roof (fixed this week), fix the damage that did to the living room ceiling, and replace some shingles. The holes you see in the skirting are actually from some mega hail that hit. I don't have a house next to mine, so when the wind & hail came, it ripped through the empty lot & attacked my house. And the good news....now it'll be even better for any potential buyers when we get it all fixed!

Is That a Light I See?

Is this a little at the end of this tunnel we have been in for so long? Possibly! (Hopefully I won't jinx myself by posting this ;)) Bear with me while I ramble for a bit.

Several months ago I had a guy from Connecticut contact me. It was very strange because he saw the house on the internet & right off the bat sent an offer, sight unseen. He also requested it furnished. I asked which furnishings he wanted included for me to be able to consider his offer. Pretty sure he didn't need the bunk beds & cribs, but I had to know...especially since his offer is less than what we owe on the mortgage, but we're looking to go extreme measures at this point to get out. To cut this a little shorter, this guy has hardly answered any of our questions to him and has only responded, usually with another offer, ever couple of weeks. Very flaky!!

About 2 weeks ago I had a couple look at the place. They actually own a mobile home park about 190 miles from here and were looking for homes to move to that park to rent/sell. This opportunity would be PERFECT!! This way we would be able to bypass the park manager here, not having to get an application approved!! They seemed impressed, but many have before & all disappeared. Finally about 1-1/2 weeks later, they called back wanting more information. The last few days I have been having my bank send his bank necessary information to help him hopefully get the financing.

Meanwhile, our prospect in Connecticut wrote back with a proposed potential offer for us to once again "consider". I stated that I would accept pending approval from the park and would get the necessary forms sent to him. Over the course of this week, Mike has talked to our park manager at least 4-5 times requesting that she fax a copy of the application to a number for him. (OK, so she thinks it is his, but we don't want her to have his info & convince him to go buy one of her properties, so it is a "regulated" fax number.) All she has sent at this point is a letter requesting he contact her directly to give his address and other information. I THINK NOT!!! We demanded again, and she has lied directly to us stating that she has sent it...hmm....where could it be? Oh, by the way, she refuses to just hand one to us to send him. Weird?? And this prospect once again has not responded to my emails.

So, back to the couple that looked. They are not putting a direct offer in until they know if they can get financing...fair enough. So we will continue to send whatever information they need in hopes of this working out. They actually seem serious...hallelujah!! So, as I told my mom, if you happen to be including us or would consider throwing in a few extra prayers, please don't pray for us. I know, sounds crazy, but it hasn't exactly worked yet. New plan...Please pray for Cody (potential buyer) to get approved for financing and that it will go smoothly. This would be a great opportunity for him as an investment, and a great way to get us out!!! I really don't want to leave my friends & ward down here, but I do feel we need to be closer to family and want out of the mess in this park. Hopefully this is the next step in the right direction.

For now, we'll get to work on fixing the damage from the storm & hope this will be the perfect place for someone very soon.

Housing Crisis pt. 3

For all of you who have been following this drama, here is the latest.

As far as the "spies" go, they actually called the manager to report that my friend stopped in the empty lot driveway next to my house for a max. of 30 seconds to pick up my kids for school. She found this unacceptable and called my friend's husband to let him know it.

We have received our so-called "second notice" from the park's attorney. The first notice was received in March, 2009, and the latest August, 2010. This states we are to cease and desist doing running a business from our home. We have discussed this with the park previously that we do not run a business from our home. My husband simply has to drive his work van home because they do not have an office within hundreds of miles of our home. He is considered a "remote tech". We do not sell any products from our home or do any advertising. This also bothers us because the park rules state that we are to receive a notice from the park before any legal action will be taken. They have skipped past their own rule to go directly to their attorney.

Awhile back I mentioned our attorney not responding to our calls & having no clue where our lawsuit stands. On August 17th, I called and left a message with his answering service. No call back....not a surprise. The next day my neighbor, who is also a party in the lawsuit, sent an email to the attorney's mother....as they have discovered that is the only way to possibly get through to him. (Note, she works with her son, the attorney). The neighbor was demanding answers for those of us involved as this has gone on far too long. He even had to threaten reporting his actions to the Utah State Bar if we heard nothing. Finally, a response!!

The attorney wrote back, in short, stating he has been struggling with mental health, family, and financial issues so we might want to hire another attorney. (That would have been nice to know...oh, a year ago...before we ran up the bill!!)

Also, the courts apparently decided to move forward with at least the neighbor's injunction portion of the lawsuit. They mailed out a notice of the hearing within a week's notice, but somehow the attorney never got it and neither did the neighbors. According to the attorney, the courts should allow us to re-file based on the above mentioned circumstances with our attorney and not receiving the court notice. As a result of not showing up to court, the case was then dismissed "without prejudice".

OK, that might be fine and dandy if we hadn't already put money into hiring him. And at this point, any money I have in savings I'm debating whether to use toward hiring another attorney (with unknown results) or paying off whatever is left of my mortgage if I ever get an offer that is approved on this house, being that we are already planning to take a loss.

And by the way, still no response from the 4 news stations I have written to. I am hoping more park residents will also write, making obvious the need for assistance in this situation affecting many, many families.

So, there is the "shortened" version of it. Now we are back to square one trying to figure out what to do & where to go. Mike is working on forming a residents association as a forum where we can collectively gather information from concerned residents. Aside from that, just more reading on the state laws and decisions, decisions.