Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Some things are just unbelievable!

Rex, I don't even know what to say.

And we wonder why people just get fed up and go off the deep end. If I was in Rex's shoes I may have done it already.

I was quick to judge the guy that flew his plane into the IRS building in Texas as a nut job (and I don't condone it one bit), but after a friend related to me what a God Awful nightmare the federal government put he and his family through alleging he was part of a ponsi scheme, I don't judge as quickly anymore. He was on the verge of losing his property, vehicles, business, everything, all because he knew the con artist back when they were in the military together and he invested a measly $800.00 in the scheme. The law firm the government hired ASSumed he was part of the scheme and was hellbent on convicting him.

He finally got it cleared up at the 11th hour after paying a considerable sum and declaring bankruptcy with the help of an attorney he knew from high schoool, but he told me he was all set to walk into the law firm and start blowing certain lawyers away if they took everything he had worked hard all his life away. His wife had already been treated for a nervous disorder due to all the stress. It's a long story but the absolute incompetence of this law firm was appalling. One of the major problems was the law firm lied to him and told him he had nothing to worry about so he never hired a lawyer. The next thing he knew...

My family went through a situation with bad neighbors and property line disputes within the legal system. I guess we ultimately prevailed as all of the fencelines that they attempted to move were finalized in a location benefitting us and we now own one of the properties; but I clearly understand that the USA has a legal system and not a justice system. The more I learn about it, the more disillusioned with it I become.

FWIW: I have some attorneys in the family. One is with a major law firm and his per hour fee is much closer to the $1,000 mark than to the $1. His spouse was reportedly getting a few hundred per hour a few years ago; but is now just doing pro-bono work as she stays at home with their young children. Another is a relatively new lawyer who is scrambling for work and trying to pay off major student loans. I think law is just like all professions. Some make a lot of money and some don't. Some are really good at what they do and some aren't. Some are extremely ethical and some aren't. That said, the legal system itself needs significantly improved.

Whatever happened with this case?

To make a long story short (hopefully Rainman sees this and fills in the blanks) I believe Rainman got rid of the property to cut his losses and keep his sanity.

In the end, the Judge in our case illegally, legally blocked access to our land, and the Appeals court upheld that decision, based in part on "evidence" not used in the trial (a phone call from the chief justice to opposing lawyer who never filed a brief, or appeared for the appeal) Then, the appeals court "sealed" the case, stopping any further legal appeal.

We sold the land to an adjoining land owner valued at 265K after our improvements for 60K....Mainly because Cathy, who is a kind hearted soul wanted me to teach her to shoot every gun we own because as she said "I want to kill that SOB if we ever get access again and I see him on our land"

Rainman,
I am sorry for the trouble you had, and am glad you were able to move on. Some rural counties are very clannish and unfair to anyone seen as an "outsider".

I have been advised in the past to never buy any property that does not touch an established and dedicated public road.

Like has been said, we do not have a justice system, we have a legal system.

John, at trial, we proved 75+ years of continuous public road use, but the trial judge found against us stating that we" never stated a 10 year period of continuous use to prove the road to the property remained public in nature". WTF?? My lawyer said, pick any 10 year period in the nearly 80 year proven (most proven by the defendant) you like! The whole suit cost us a fortune and we never had a chance from the beginning.

Rex,

What a terrible outcome. I wish I could say I was surprised.

We, too, have been victims of the "good ole boy" network in our great state of Missouri.

When I was a kid, someone at my dad's company embezzled several hundred thousand dollars in a check-kiting scheme. The day before the grand jury was set to start, the assistant DA "lost" the evidence somewhere between the evidence locker and the courtroom (a dozen or so book boxes full of canceled checks). The DA had no choice but to drop the case. The assistant DA skipped town. So did the thieving partner.

Years later, the partner came back to town and was hired by the University of Missouri. Eighteen months later, the university settled with the feds to the tune of several million dollars in Medicare fraud...orchestrated by the same man.

There are many things I love about Missouri but the legal environment isn't one of them.

Ok sorry for being slow here, but are we talking about land / road to your pond RM? Or a driveway to your house??? Is part of your pond on this land?? I'm confused....

RC

RC, we bought 60 acres. A county road used to run through our land for 95 years, but a portion going through my property and further west was "legally abandoned" by court order and process. Old, established roads in Missouri are not surveyed and by law, were "established as public" back in the 1970's. The road to my land was a 3/8 mile gravel road and connected to a paved state highway. One other land owner that lived on their property when we bought also used this road for 16 years till selling to an absentee land owner.

The person we originally bought the land from, purchased a pie slice shaped 3 acre parcel where the county road and highway met and decided the county road was abandoned and that in his mind, half the gravel road was now his....law or deeds meant nothing.....courts basically let him remain a moron.

The legal battle took 5 years and a boat load of money...in fact, we spent 70% more on legal fees than we paid for the original land purchase....

This whole episode is now closed since we sold the land and our legal options were stopped...I'd just as soon not remember the anger it created, again.