It depends on what specific topic you are talking about. Eminent domain does get used under the pretense of being for the good of the many when it is really about the good of the few, or the one. Unfortunate! However, there are other areas that do appear to be very much in favor of the individual. On this site, the one that stands out is the cool Former Military Vehicle laws we have. (TXFMV) $10 / year registration, no inspection requirement, and no license plate requirement if kept reasonably stock appearing. This individual is really grateful for that freedom.
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Code Enforcement Threat
- Thread starter kc5mzd
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steelypip
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John Wayne was a Californian. Texas politics are just as dirty as Arkansas politics but the stakes are generally higher relative to the amount of influence being peddled. There is a knee-jerk toward laissez-faire everything that gives excellent cover to any scheme that will be 'good for business' even if it is bad for just about everybody but the business owner and his buddies. The concept of externalities is completely unknown.
Of course if you want to maximize your political entertainment value, there is always Louisiana...
And before the hate mail starts, I am a native Texan with lots of Texan relatives to prove it and lived in the Shreveport, LA area during the middle EWE years.
Another Ahab
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Yes, of course; you're right.
But when central casting called for a Texan, producers and directors typically turned to the Duke:
- The Searchers, The Alamo, The Lucky Texan, and some others.
They liked him. We ALL liked him!
"we don't know what the charges are but we are sure you are doing something..." is what they said, I am sure they meant to say something more official.
There is no oversight they don't answer to anyone, one judge has a sign in his courtroom that says "you are here because you have comited a crime against the state of Texas" when you show up to enter your plea. He is the one that tried to tell me it is illegal to put anything in your car while it is parked on property that is zoned residential.
Another Ahab
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Guessing "innocent until proven guilty" hasn't filtered down to the great and powerful Judge Oz of that jurisdiction.
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So sad. Maybe they will just give up.......
Amer-team
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Thank you for posting this. It is good to see what others on doing on similar situations. As has been alluded to here a few times, it comes down to who has the money. You are entangled with a bureaucracy of job for life folks that are insulated from us by our elected officials.
I have been struggling with a similar situation with my small military shop for over 10 years and 3 building official, code enforcement officers. I have met with the city, had a lawyer involved, have had 4 structural engineers look at the building, two of which have sent letters to the city, stating that it wasn't going to fall down tomorrow, and they are still obstructing my operation. Thank goodness for the economic downturn as they had to lay off one of their building officials. this has made them have to focus their time on real issues, instead of shopping for things to do.
The attorney assures me if we go to court we will win, but advises that it will cost thousands and then when we are done they will be back again. He hoped I could work it out with them as the best cost method.
My thought, as this property is on the Main street of town, on the right side of a one way, just before a stop light, with a left turn to the interstate, that someone wants this property, and as long as I have business that is functional, it will be more costly to take over the property.
Zout had some good points about attending the Council meetings. I don't go to all of them, but watch them on TV and bring up points with Council members when I see them. I even ran for city council about 4 years ago and lost to the sitting mayor by 68 votes. I think that has backed them off a bit.
Hang in there and keep swinging for those that don't have the ability to fight back! Thank you.
I have been struggling with a similar situation with my small military shop for over 10 years and 3 building official, code enforcement officers. I have met with the city, had a lawyer involved, have had 4 structural engineers look at the building, two of which have sent letters to the city, stating that it wasn't going to fall down tomorrow, and they are still obstructing my operation. Thank goodness for the economic downturn as they had to lay off one of their building officials. this has made them have to focus their time on real issues, instead of shopping for things to do.
The attorney assures me if we go to court we will win, but advises that it will cost thousands and then when we are done they will be back again. He hoped I could work it out with them as the best cost method.
My thought, as this property is on the Main street of town, on the right side of a one way, just before a stop light, with a left turn to the interstate, that someone wants this property, and as long as I have business that is functional, it will be more costly to take over the property.
Zout had some good points about attending the Council meetings. I don't go to all of them, but watch them on TV and bring up points with Council members when I see them. I even ran for city council about 4 years ago and lost to the sitting mayor by 68 votes. I think that has backed them off a bit.
Hang in there and keep swinging for those that don't have the ability to fight back! Thank you.
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Have you tried contacting your state representative?
Flyingvan911
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The problem is you are such a super stealthy evil master criminal guy that you hide the evidence even from yourself.
Is there a local investigative reporter you can contact? Collect as many records as you can. Can you get ahold of the court transcript? Maybe it could be used along with what the codes people said to prove you are being harassed for no reason.
Is there a local investigative reporter you can contact? Collect as many records as you can. Can you get ahold of the court transcript? Maybe it could be used along with what the codes people said to prove you are being harassed for no reason.
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Call your local Fox news station!
Unless your real name is Gru. . .
Unless your real name is Gru. . .
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The real problem is that he is living inside the city limits of San Antonio (and would be a similar issue inside the city limits of Austin, Houston, Dallas, etc.). While most of the population of TX is conservative the "non-conservative" masses all congregate in these little islands of "I want to be just like Los Angeles or NYC because they're so urbane -urbane not urban."
If it gets to the point where you want to involve the media contact Morgan Montalvo at WOAI. He was a member of the Alamo MVPA when they could still get anyone to attend the meetings (don't get me started on that) and he might give you some positive exposure. Of course he's a member of the media so take that for what it's worth.
I wish you the best of luck. They're building a new WalMart near where I live and my biggest fear is the encroachment of more people who have nothing better to do than complain about what is sitting in my driveway.
If it gets to the point where you want to involve the media contact Morgan Montalvo at WOAI. He was a member of the Alamo MVPA when they could still get anyone to attend the meetings (don't get me started on that) and he might give you some positive exposure. Of course he's a member of the media so take that for what it's worth.
I wish you the best of luck. They're building a new WalMart near where I live and my biggest fear is the encroachment of more people who have nothing better to do than complain about what is sitting in my driveway.
saddamsnightmare
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July 23rd, 2014.
No disrespect here boys, but the Texas of the old west is just underlaid under the New Texas of the new west. So many people have moved there from elsewhere, and they tend to congregate in the bigger cities, so guess what? They bring their old ideas to their new residences.... Surprise, Surprise. The one thing that I did observe when I was there that whoever had the most money to spend on lawyers and laws generally won their case. The unfortunate side effect of this is if you cannot afford to pay to play at that level, life does get a bit stressful.
I wish our OP the best of luck, but for myself, I am not a ball of unalloyed optimism (I hope that I am wrong here, folks).
No disrespect here boys, but the Texas of the old west is just underlaid under the New Texas of the new west. So many people have moved there from elsewhere, and they tend to congregate in the bigger cities, so guess what? They bring their old ideas to their new residences.... Surprise, Surprise. The one thing that I did observe when I was there that whoever had the most money to spend on lawyers and laws generally won their case. The unfortunate side effect of this is if you cannot afford to pay to play at that level, life does get a bit stressful.
I wish our OP the best of luck, but for myself, I am not a ball of unalloyed optimism (I hope that I am wrong here, folks).
kabar1
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You are not wrong, he with the biggest pockets wins! And my pockets are pretty small.
After 6 years several arrest warrants a couple of different attorneys dozens countless court visits it is finally resolved. I get to keep what is left of my collection at my house. My new attorney was able to convince the states attorney that was prosecuting me that they had no case and didn't even have legal grounds to file any charges. They were forced to drop everything!!! Now it is not illegal for me to keep antique specialty vehicles in my back yard even including semi trailers and semi truck tractors! After he was done with them he said they can never try to file the same kind of charges again. He said they now have a record that shows I was taken to court and all the vehicles including tractor trailers are not prohibited under any of the laws in the books they threw at us trying to come up with a reason they were trying to prosecute me.
When I add up all the costs out of my pocket and add them to the price I paid for my house I would have gladly paid the extra money to be able to have my trucks in my backyard. So I guess it was worth it.
Here are some pics of what I have left;
When I add up all the costs out of my pocket and add them to the price I paid for my house I would have gladly paid the extra money to be able to have my trucks in my backyard. So I guess it was worth it.
Here are some pics of what I have left;
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Glad that your current legal representation had better success and prevailed in your case(s).
Now on to really enjoying the hobby.
Now on to really enjoying the hobby.
Good deal. I am dealing with the same matter in memphis with one of my personal 923s. They say anything over 8,000lbs is a commercial vehicle and cant be in a residential area. Except a CONSUMER VEHICLE such as a dually. I am working with the prosecutor to resolve it but i put it on the docket for a jury trial after the main judge ruled that nothing that was previously owned by the military could be practically used by civilians. Not even a tent.
Ill let a jury figure it out when the highway patrol, DOT, department of revenue, and county clerks consider it an antique and not commercial and just sit back and wait for an answer
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Ill let a jury figure it out when the highway patrol, DOT, department of revenue, and county clerks consider it an antique and not commercial and just sit back and wait for an answer
Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk
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Thanks for posting your issue. This thread has numerous subscribers who will be interested to hear your updates. Please continue your unfolding events in THIS thread.
We wish you well in the outcome.
Amer-team
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Thank you for keeping after the fight. Good job!
That came up in my case there were 2 deciding factors. The US DOT and TX DOT say anything over 26,000 is commercial and requires a special license. Some RVs are exempt or over 26,000 but still non commercial but do require a special non commercial license.
The second thing my attorney hit them with was the fact that anything used by a business or for profit was also commercial and would mean that even a Uber car you own would be illegal to park in a residential area over night.
My attorney was able to convince the prosecutor he would make a complete fool out of himself if he tried to proceed with anything relating to "commercial". My trucks were registered as "FMV" or former military vehicles here in Texas.
It was my second attorney that was able to "bully" the prosecutor. My new attorney seemed meek and timid, it was also his first time dealing with a case involving code enforcement I was nervous but knew him from church and he seemed like a good person. He turned out to be very fierce in the court room and very smart. He was able to look things up on the fly in court and totally destroyed every case the prosecutor tried to put together.
We need to put a list of successful cases and attorneys somewhere on this website.
My first Judge went as far as to try to convince me that it was illegal to put anything in your vehicle while it was parked on property that was zoned residential.
Without a good attorney I was getting hammered and bullied by the Judges, prosecutors, and the code enforcement officers. Even if you are 100% right they will try to walk all over you.
The second thing my attorney hit them with was the fact that anything used by a business or for profit was also commercial and would mean that even a Uber car you own would be illegal to park in a residential area over night.
My attorney was able to convince the prosecutor he would make a complete fool out of himself if he tried to proceed with anything relating to "commercial". My trucks were registered as "FMV" or former military vehicles here in Texas.
It was my second attorney that was able to "bully" the prosecutor. My new attorney seemed meek and timid, it was also his first time dealing with a case involving code enforcement I was nervous but knew him from church and he seemed like a good person. He turned out to be very fierce in the court room and very smart. He was able to look things up on the fly in court and totally destroyed every case the prosecutor tried to put together.
We need to put a list of successful cases and attorneys somewhere on this website.
My first Judge went as far as to try to convince me that it was illegal to put anything in your vehicle while it was parked on property that was zoned residential.
Without a good attorney I was getting hammered and bullied by the Judges, prosecutors, and the code enforcement officers. Even if you are 100% right they will try to walk all over you.