Check out this story: Crews Demolish Mailbox
I really don't care who's to blame as it sounds like both sides are at fault in this case. I can't deal with a mailbox causing such a fuss. For the love of G0d, it's a mailbox! There are so many other problems facing society and a mailbox gets the limelight.
I'm still looking for a piece of property where I can hang laundry in the backyard. Our subdivision doesn't allow that. I live on the edge of the country and can't air-dry my clothes in my own back yard. Weird.
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I'm tired of having some really old white-haired guy at a desk in City Hall tell me what I can and can't do with my property. I'm the one paying taxes and making sure it's well kept. Right? So if someone wants a brick mailbox, give them a brick mailbox. It's not like the guy had a few rusty school buses cluttering up his yard!
Text of linked article:
FRANKLIN — Sullivan Farms residents Darin Giese and Karen Smith were taken by surprise Wednesday when two men, accompanied by a sheriff's deputy, used sledgehammers to bust apart their brick mailbox and tore away a shed from the side of their house.
The men had been hired by the Sullivan Farms Homeowners Association, which carried out a court order to remove the mailbox and the shed. After clearing away a pile of bricks and rubble, the men erected a wooden post and left Giese and Smith with a mailbox that matches the other mailboxes on Braveheart Drive.
The association had filed a lawsuit against Smith in June, claiming that her brick mailbox and shed violated the neighborhood's covenants. The couple never responded to the lawsuit, according to court records, and on Nov. 23, Williamson County Judge Russ Heldman ordered that the association could remove the mailbox and shed.
"I know it's much ado over a mailbox, but we wish it hadn't come to this," said Edward Schell, attorney for the association. "My clients tried their best to work this out before going to court."
Giese said he thought the case was still in the negotiation phase, and thought he had until Jan. 30 to remove the mailbox and shed himself. Now he and his wife are faced with having to pay $2,600 to cover the cost of removing the brick mailbox and shed and $2,325 in legal fees.
"We came home yesterday morning and this was the first we'd heard about it for a while," Giese said on Thursday. "We had a message on the machine from the homeowners' association guy saying, 'We're going to be there to tear everything down.' "
In a letter dated Nov. 4, the association told Karen Smith that she must remove the shed or face fines and more legal action.
Smith's attorney, Alan Smith, said he never received correspondence about the case because letters were delivered to his old office and never made it to his new office. Court records show that Heldman's final order was mailed to Karen Smith, but not sent to her attorney, who is her ex-husband.
"My client was not advised as to the progress of the case," Alan Smith said. "In technical terms, this was done without adequate notice."
On Dec. 22, Alan Smith filed a motion to set aside Heldman's order, which stated that Karen Smith thought the case was going to mediation, and that he was not aware the matter had been set for a final hearing.
Stewart Heath, president of Southland Management Co., which manages the association, said Karen Smith was denied on three requests to construct the brick mailbox. Heath said the association sent Karen Smith several letters.
"They never attended any mediation hearing or court dates that had been set," Heath said. "I had the order since November and waited until after the holidays to do anything. Their attorney promised they would have it done this past Monday. They failed to do it."
Schell said Alan Smith and his clients had plenty of opportunities to appear in court, file motions or discuss the case. He suggested that Alan Smith could have given the court his new address.
Alan Smith said his mail was supposed to be forwarded from his old address to his new address, but it wasn't. He said he'll take the blame for "dropping the ball" in not filing a response to the lawsuit and missing court dates. But he's pointing a finger at the homeowners association's strict interpretation of its covenants.
Giese pointed out that just several streets away, in the same subdivision, mailboxes were all brick.
"I think the pursuit of this was overly aggressive, and this reeks of a personal vendetta to me on the part of the homeowners' association," Alan Smith said. "It goes back to concerns Karen had with respect to school zoning issues."
I'm tired of having some really old white-haired guy at a desk in City Hall tell me what I can and can't do with my property. I'm the one paying taxes and making sure it's well kept. Right? So if someone wants a brick mailbox, give them a brick mailbox. It's not like the guy had a few rusty school buses cluttering up his yard!
Text of linked article:
FRANKLIN — Sullivan Farms residents Darin Giese and Karen Smith were taken by surprise Wednesday when two men, accompanied by a sheriff's deputy, used sledgehammers to bust apart their brick mailbox and tore away a shed from the side of their house.
The men had been hired by the Sullivan Farms Homeowners Association, which carried out a court order to remove the mailbox and the shed. After clearing away a pile of bricks and rubble, the men erected a wooden post and left Giese and Smith with a mailbox that matches the other mailboxes on Braveheart Drive.
The association had filed a lawsuit against Smith in June, claiming that her brick mailbox and shed violated the neighborhood's covenants. The couple never responded to the lawsuit, according to court records, and on Nov. 23, Williamson County Judge Russ Heldman ordered that the association could remove the mailbox and shed.
"I know it's much ado over a mailbox, but we wish it hadn't come to this," said Edward Schell, attorney for the association. "My clients tried their best to work this out before going to court."
Giese said he thought the case was still in the negotiation phase, and thought he had until Jan. 30 to remove the mailbox and shed himself. Now he and his wife are faced with having to pay $2,600 to cover the cost of removing the brick mailbox and shed and $2,325 in legal fees.
"We came home yesterday morning and this was the first we'd heard about it for a while," Giese said on Thursday. "We had a message on the machine from the homeowners' association guy saying, 'We're going to be there to tear everything down.' "
In a letter dated Nov. 4, the association told Karen Smith that she must remove the shed or face fines and more legal action.
Smith's attorney, Alan Smith, said he never received correspondence about the case because letters were delivered to his old office and never made it to his new office. Court records show that Heldman's final order was mailed to Karen Smith, but not sent to her attorney, who is her ex-husband.
"My client was not advised as to the progress of the case," Alan Smith said. "In technical terms, this was done without adequate notice."
On Dec. 22, Alan Smith filed a motion to set aside Heldman's order, which stated that Karen Smith thought the case was going to mediation, and that he was not aware the matter had been set for a final hearing.
Stewart Heath, president of Southland Management Co., which manages the association, said Karen Smith was denied on three requests to construct the brick mailbox. Heath said the association sent Karen Smith several letters.
"They never attended any mediation hearing or court dates that had been set," Heath said. "I had the order since November and waited until after the holidays to do anything. Their attorney promised they would have it done this past Monday. They failed to do it."
Schell said Alan Smith and his clients had plenty of opportunities to appear in court, file motions or discuss the case. He suggested that Alan Smith could have given the court his new address.
Alan Smith said his mail was supposed to be forwarded from his old address to his new address, but it wasn't. He said he'll take the blame for "dropping the ball" in not filing a response to the lawsuit and missing court dates. But he's pointing a finger at the homeowners association's strict interpretation of its covenants.
Giese pointed out that just several streets away, in the same subdivision, mailboxes were all brick.
"I think the pursuit of this was overly aggressive, and this reeks of a personal vendetta to me on the part of the homeowners' association," Alan Smith said. "It goes back to concerns Karen had with respect to school zoning issues."
![[Wink]](images/icons/wink.gif){kind=icon}
, I can't hear the dogs barking from the trailer park down the street.
![[LOL!]](/forums/graemlins/lol.gif)
I was mad that she would deny children their fun. A child is entitled to a much joy as possible, life isn't much fun later on and we all grow up soon enough.
This neighbor should move to an adult community if she does not like kids. I'll help her pack.
