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- coheedcollapse, on 10/12/2007, -20/+324The thing is, Adam, while Digg isn't meant to raise awareness or help people, some of us enjoy doing just that. If we can entertain ourselves daily and also help people out, why not do it.
I'm not saying Digg should become a forum of people begging for money, but if it's one person going against an obviously larger force (man vs city government, man vs RIAA) and we have a chance to raise awareness about the problem, I think we should do it.
That and missing people. Getting the news out to the huge population of Digg could definitely help with that kind of situation. - HMTKSteve, on 10/12/2007, -2/+276Why does this remind me of a Douglas Adams book?
- schlurp, on 10/12/2007, -5/+199To be fair the demolition notice had been public for months.
It was on display in a dark cellar with no stairs in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying "Beware of The Leopard". - edzieba, on 10/12/2007, -3/+66Pity he wasn't there to lie in front of the bulldozer.
- dt40, on 10/12/2007, -1/+52In many states, it is the responsibility of the seller to disclose anything they know about that could materially affect the value of a house.
Certainly, imminent demolition would qualify as something that affects a house's value. - rm999, on 10/12/2007, -17/+66I sort of agree with Adam. Periodically Digg does take up some poor soul's cause, but in this case I am confident we aren't being told the whole story. They THINK their house was torn down for bricks? Come on... I like supporting the little guy, but I'm not stupid enough to take up a cause without both sides of the story.
"[Bonner] said it's the buyer's responsibility to research the property to see whether it is slated for demolition."
He should be pissed at the guy who sold him the house, not the city. It isn't the city's job to hold people's hands, no government can properly function like that. They decided to tear down someone's house, so he sold it to a naive person. Now it's everyone's fault but his own! - theone3, on 10/12/2007, -2/+45Everyone be on the lookout for Vogon constructor fleets.
- Fi9nutz, on 10/12/2007, -23/+65Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy all over again
- Lunarshadow, on 10/12/2007, -9/+40Digg isn't /b/, we can show a little compassion.
- bekeleven, on 10/12/2007, -2/+32I would digg you comment, except that it currently reads +42...
Don't want to ruin it. - leftfoot, on 10/12/2007, -1/+31You got your towel?
- adam192, on 10/12/2007, -24/+53@rm999
That wasn't my point (allthough I do make that point in a comment further down the page). My point here was that its annoying to see this 'Please Digg' crap... pretty soon Digg will become like Ebay with every post being 'LOOK!!! AMAZING xxx MUST SEE' etc. It just lowers the quality. But obviously no-one agrees with me, 'cos they're digging me down as quickly as if I had raped the guys mum or something - WasabiBomb, on 10/12/2007, -1/+28Tell ya what, Zaphon63- the next time you're on fire, I won't piss on you to put you out. After all, you're owed nothing.
- Skitzzo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+27Having just put a contract down on a house of my own, I can only imagine how pissed off I'd be if this happened to me. I don't think I'd be as calm as it sounds he's being... that's for sure.
- huphtur, on 10/12/2007, -2/+24Where was Ford Prefect when ya need him?
- ingxia, on 10/12/2007, -1/+22Never bought a house myself, but wouldn't your lender or bank check that out too? How do you get a loan on a house about to be bulldozed? Or do people outside California buy houses with cash?
- aramova, on 10/12/2007, -0/+20The real story that TFA does not tell...
Mr. Johnson said: "You were quite entitled to make any suggestions or protests at the appropriate time you know."
"Appropriate time?" hooted Lewis. "Appropriate time? The first I knew about it was when a workman arrived at my home yesterday. I asked him if he'd come to clean the windows and he said no he'd come to demolish the house. He didn't tell me straight away of course. Oh no. First he wiped a couple of windows and charged me a fiver. Then he told me."
"But Mr. Dent, the plans have been available in the local planning office for the last nine month."
"Oh yes, well as soon as I heard I went straight round to see them, yesterday afternoon. You hadn't exactly gone out of your way to call attention to them had you? I mean like actually telling anybody or anything."
"But the plans were on display . . . "
"On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them."
"That's the display department."
"With a flashlight."
"Ah, well the lights had probably gone."
"So had the stairs."
"But look, you found the notice didn't you?"
"Yes," said Lewis, "yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying Beware of the Leopard." - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+21"Before you buy, check for demolition notices."
- SLP1111, on 10/12/2007, -9/+27Welllll...since you said please...Dugg.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16Something similiar has happened in my town, except it wasn't a demolition. Some roofers mixed up the addresses and ended up taking the wrong house's roof off. Owners arrived after the damage had been done.
- BrandonAbell, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16Would it have been that hard for the City to post a notice ON THE DOOR of the house and perhaps verify that it was not occupied at the time? I don't think that sending a letter qualifies as due diligence for that city for something of this magnitude.
- cfrazier, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14I work in tech sales and East St Louis is part of my territory. About half of the church's in town have purchased their copiers from my company. This is not surprising, the city is corrupt as it gets. A couple of years ago they were sued in federal court for having the police department severely beat a political opponent and when the judge issued the damages, the city lawyer said the guy would never see a penny because the city was broke. The judge then said fine, he gets the dead to city hall as of right now and the city has to pay him rent or the original damages. This actually happened. Also, there was a city manager 4 years ago that was murdered after he challenged the mayor. 2 years ago the police chief and 2 people from city hall were charged in federal court with hiring a hit man to kill a witness (federal informant) in a vote buying scheme. They also burned one of the fire department's 3 stations when talks about funding were being held.
This guy needs help with what he is up against. Also, the main reason the town is one of the worst in the nation for crime is city hall. If the local government does this, why should they fight crime, or ordinary people care?
Don't forget, he bought the house from the county, i.e. the local govenment. You figure that if you purchase a house from teh govenment that they will not come back and knock it down and say that it is your fault. The city most likely did not correctly file condemnation papers, that would have been noticed on the required title search for teh mortgage.
God bless this guy! - superal1394, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15Hope he can find a towel amongst the rubble, I have a feeling the rest of us need to go and get our towels handy as well, based on this we have a few more hours.
- wilf_brim, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13I had to read TFA just to make sure that the owners name wasn't Arthur Dent.
- BinaryCleric, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15How is he owed nothing when the city destroyed his home? I'm sorry buy if I came home to find a pile of brinks I would not only sue the city but also the demolition crew for professional negligence as well as theft.
- jftitan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13All i could think of while reading this article, was... OMFG Its actually happening... Why has the guy not raised his thumb"
- DEIx15x8, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12This was a good, interesting story that should be posted on Digg, but the poster appears to be out for attention and did it in a stupid way. The "Please Digg" just annoys people and makes them not want to Digg and that whole story about helping people is an obvious joke. The whole post is lame but the story is great, so why couldn't it just have been posted with any number of "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" jokes?
- Lazybones, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11a) Use a Realtor they are required to check this sort of thing, well at least where I live they are.
b) If you purchase in a private sale then YOU need to check this sort of thing out.
c) I also don't understand how he got a mortgage for this without the bank checking into the property. - warnerrr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10thats why you lie in the mud in front of it, no matter what Ford tells you about going to the pub. I guess people just don't listen.
- khag7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9he's gotta be calm. he doesn't have any other choice. if he gets enraged and crazy he'll get negative attention.
- musicmantrs, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Now that is more of a reach than ANYONE could ever make; BTW go ahead and use spell check.
- binarypower, on 10/12/2007, -8/+16Adam, if you don't want to see articles that say "please digg" or "digg" then just get the greasemonkey script de-n00ber-.... noob.
- 5DMT, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12 "But Mr Dent, the plans have been available in the local planning
office for the last nine month."
"On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them."
"That's the display department."
"With a torch."
"Ah, well the lights had probably gone."
"So had the stairs."
"But look, you found the notice didn't you?"
"Yes," said Arthur, "yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a
locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door
saying Beware of the Leopard." - tiedyeman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8If "any competent lawyer been advising him at the time of purchase"? Are you kidding? This is East St. Louis, IL. It is one of, if not the most blighted ghettos in the country. The majority of the population doesn't have access to basic services, health care, primary education, etc. The average household income is $13,596 and you are criticizing him for not having his attorney look into it more closely. Should he have done that on the way to the polo club, or after he picked his kids up from private school?
- voidptr, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9He shouldn't have done it, but his closing lawyer and title insurance company damn well should have.
- custerfluck, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Great stuff... +42 diggs moment I hope nobody f's it up.
they just did....
damn
I'll take it down a notch bring it back to 42 and keep it there - pustulio, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11That's what I was thinking the whole time I was reading that.
- D4r7h3v1l, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11Damn Mr. Prosser!
- p0und, on 10/12/2007, -8/+14i believe adm192 is correct. it is the responsibility of the buyer to check on or have their attorney check on these things. the buyer may be able to sue the seller in this case though because it seems that the sellers were aware of the scheduled demolition and they may have left that little tid bit out of the seller's disclosure.
- gregmo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7God East St. Louis. Though it's considered the most dangerous part of the country, no one deserves this crap. I hope the city gets their comeuppance
- D3koy, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9Was his name Arthur Dent?
- nukethewhales, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6"Thats the display department."
- onelikeseabass, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I think you mean Vogon ;)
- gameforge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6@p0und
Exactly what I was thinking. The
1) Title company
2) City
3) Wrecking crew
4) Insurance company
and if the house was being financed, the
5) Loan underwriter
or, if underwritten by computer, definitely the
6) Loan processor
7) Computer
all should have caught this, ignoring the fact that the former homeowner is 100% responsible for disclosing information like this when they sell it (or the real estate agent, if one was involved).
In that city, maybe they really do claim that it's a buyer's job to verify whether a house is scheduled for demolition. And it is, as much as it's anyone's personal responsibility to look out for themselves and their money. But, the city should not demolish a house based on whomever the owner was some months prior to the demolition. They should ensure that the party which was notified of the demolition is still the party that owns the house, like, the day they tear it down. Not to mention that the city simply hired a wrecking crew; the wrecking crew should also be paying attention to what their employer asks them to do, whether private or government... titles (i.e. deeds), if not any other documentation, should be publicly available.
If it is in fact the buyer's responsibility to verify whether a house is flagged for wrecking, his responsibility is only as much as the half-dozen or so other parties involved in both purchasing and demolishing a house.
Which is good news for this guy - he has a LOT of people to take to court (meaning more chances of some kind of settlement). - qwickone, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8It's called a title search. A title search would have found that the house was slated for demolition. And if the title company didnt find this information, guess what, you sue them for the cost of the house and you win. That's what title insurance is. This is standard practice when buying a house. Not saying it totally sucks for this guy, but he just got suckered by the guy that sold him the house. What if you left your car parked in front of your house for 2 days for whatever reason, it gets hit by some drunk driver and they left. You use your insurance to buy a new one. That's the point of insurance. Sucks for you and everything, but youre fault for not having insurance. I feel sorry for him, but not that sorry, he didnt do anything to help himself in the first place.
- cmwotring, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I'm not siding with either party on this, however it seems the city might give a little more notice than sending something in the mail. When your car is broken down on the side of the highway the police put a bright orange sticker on it warning of impending action. The city certainly could have gone to the house to see if it indeed was inhabited. It's pretty obvious if someone is living in a house or not. The buyer should have looked into potential demolition, but come on lets err on the side of precaution before you just demolish someones home.
- Nesh, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7It must be Thursday, I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
- TunaFishGangsta, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"Demolition coordinator Marcus Johnson said the house, which was torn down in December, was not destroyed because of the dollar value of the bricks. He said the frame houses are still standing because the contractor hasn't had time to get to them."
Yeah, they don't have time to knock down the houses that aren't made of valuable bricks! - paperhat, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8> How is it his responsibility to check to see if the house is to be torn down? Who does that?
Probably 99.9% of home buyers. When you get a mortgage you are required to get title insurance. The title company checks for stuff like this before they issue the policy. Even buyers who pay with cash usually get title insurance. - DooM, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Dude - it's East St. Louis. If they aren't ashamed already, Digg ain't gonna do it. They had NO trash pickup for over a year -- I don't think there is a single computer in East St. Louis... lol...
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