Alabama=Screwed
Junior Member
I'm currently living in Alabama, which is where the following details took place.
About six years ago I bought a waterfront lot and built a house in a small cove of a sparsely populated three hundred acre lake.
Some years before that, the people who had homes and owned lots on the lake formed a small town and the town bought all of the land under the lake, (so the town owns the lake) with the exception of the small cove where I built my house.
So, though I live on the lake, I do not live in the town. Therefore, I am mostly unaware of any new rules, regulations, ordinances, etc. that the town adopts.
Though I don't live inside the town limits, I paid the towns yearly fee of $125.00 anyway, just as town residents do, to use my boat on the lake, which I did frequently, for four years. Let me say again, I used my boat on the lake for four years, before the following happened:
Just under two years ago, the town elected a new mayor. A couple of months after that, I, my wife, my daughter, and my son-in-law were in my boat returning home after a lazy afternoon of fishing, when I noticed someone following us. I turned the motor off and waited. He pulled along side of us and said he was the mayor of the town mayor and asked me the length of my deck boat. I told him it was 22 feet. He said: "No wonder you've got the biggest boat on the lake!" "We passed an ordinance last May saying no boats over 21 feet are allowed on this lake." Then he pointed at my boat and said: "Under no circumstances can that boat be on this lake!" Dumbfounded, I said: "Are you telling me I can't use my boat on the lake I live on!?" He said: "That's exactly what I'm telling you." "So, don't let me catch that boat back on the lake again." My son-in-law asked him: "Surely there's a way... some kind of variance.... and wouldn't he be "Grand fathered in"? The mayor said: (In front of three witnesses) "Absolutely not. "Just what part of under no circumstances can that boat be on this lake, did you not understand son?!" "The law is the law, and it ain't gonna be broke, OR BENT, for YOU... or anybody else."
A few days later my six year old grandson asked me to take him out in the boat fishing. Thinking maybe the mayor was just having a bad day, and with a couple of days to think about it would be more reasonable, we ventured about seventy feet out of the cove to a fishing spot. No more than five minutes later I saw the mayor come around a curve in the distance at full throttle headed our way. Again he pulled along side of us and said: "Did we have a misunderstanding the other day?!" Not sure of exactly what he was asking, I said" "About what?" He said: "I TOLD you that boat can't be on this lake!" "Now, do you understand that?" "Did I make myself clear that time?" "Besides that, you're not a resident, so the yearly fee you paid is the wrong amount." "The non resident fee is FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS, so since you haven't paid the fee, you're on the lake illegally !" "So, crank up your boat and get off this lake and if I see you out here again, I'll call the county sheriff and have you arrested for trespassing!"
That A-hole had my six year old grandson crying, saying Granddaddy I don't want to get arrested! (Even NOW, I STILL can't get him to go fishing with me, because he's afraid: "The man that owns the lake might arrest us.") Sorry about straying off track.
I finally realized the mayor was a real "Control Freak" and would never be reasonable or flexible, so despite the fact that it was hands down the nicest boat I ever owned and I and my family loved it, I felt forced into selling it to buy a smaller boat. I looked up the "Book Value", and checked the prices on boats like it that had been sold recently and found the average selling price was $19,700.00. without all the extras my boat had. (Which totaled around $1,800.00) But wanting to sell it quickly and get back on the water, I was willing to sell it for $19,700. However, being disabled and my only income being Social Security Disability, I couldn't afford to market and advertise it, so months went by without a single serious buyer. I was missing my children and grand children's regular visits to enjoy a day on the lake, not to mention the best time for fishing of the whole year.... to make a long story short, I had to let it go for $8,500. to buy another, smaller boat, just to be able to enjoy the lake with my family.
NOW, a new acquaintance, an attorney who owns property on the lake, told me several people have had problems with the mayor, because he's a jerk that let the power of his office go to his head, and he says my boat absolutely WAS "grand fathered in."
By the mayor lying and saying it wasn't, I feel like I suffered a loss in excess of Eleven Thousand dollar needlessly and without just cause.
I would appreciate your opinion on what my chances would be of getting a favorable decision if I sue him and/or the town, for that 11,k, based on the above facts, which are:
1. I had the boat and used it regularly on the lake for four years prior to the ordinance being made.
2.When asked point blank: Wouldn't the boat be grand fathered in? the mayor said: "Absolutely NOT." "Under no circumstances can that boat be on this lake." in front of three witnesses, who will testify to that.
3.Were it not for the mayor's words and repeated threats of legal action (All of which were not included above to reduce post size) I would not have sold the boat. Not even for what I paid for it, much less $8,500!!
Also, does anyone know how long I have to bring action in such a case?
Your time and opinion is sincerely appreciated.
Joe,
in Alabama
About six years ago I bought a waterfront lot and built a house in a small cove of a sparsely populated three hundred acre lake.
Some years before that, the people who had homes and owned lots on the lake formed a small town and the town bought all of the land under the lake, (so the town owns the lake) with the exception of the small cove where I built my house.
So, though I live on the lake, I do not live in the town. Therefore, I am mostly unaware of any new rules, regulations, ordinances, etc. that the town adopts.
Though I don't live inside the town limits, I paid the towns yearly fee of $125.00 anyway, just as town residents do, to use my boat on the lake, which I did frequently, for four years. Let me say again, I used my boat on the lake for four years, before the following happened:
Just under two years ago, the town elected a new mayor. A couple of months after that, I, my wife, my daughter, and my son-in-law were in my boat returning home after a lazy afternoon of fishing, when I noticed someone following us. I turned the motor off and waited. He pulled along side of us and said he was the mayor of the town mayor and asked me the length of my deck boat. I told him it was 22 feet. He said: "No wonder you've got the biggest boat on the lake!" "We passed an ordinance last May saying no boats over 21 feet are allowed on this lake." Then he pointed at my boat and said: "Under no circumstances can that boat be on this lake!" Dumbfounded, I said: "Are you telling me I can't use my boat on the lake I live on!?" He said: "That's exactly what I'm telling you." "So, don't let me catch that boat back on the lake again." My son-in-law asked him: "Surely there's a way... some kind of variance.... and wouldn't he be "Grand fathered in"? The mayor said: (In front of three witnesses) "Absolutely not. "Just what part of under no circumstances can that boat be on this lake, did you not understand son?!" "The law is the law, and it ain't gonna be broke, OR BENT, for YOU... or anybody else."
A few days later my six year old grandson asked me to take him out in the boat fishing. Thinking maybe the mayor was just having a bad day, and with a couple of days to think about it would be more reasonable, we ventured about seventy feet out of the cove to a fishing spot. No more than five minutes later I saw the mayor come around a curve in the distance at full throttle headed our way. Again he pulled along side of us and said: "Did we have a misunderstanding the other day?!" Not sure of exactly what he was asking, I said" "About what?" He said: "I TOLD you that boat can't be on this lake!" "Now, do you understand that?" "Did I make myself clear that time?" "Besides that, you're not a resident, so the yearly fee you paid is the wrong amount." "The non resident fee is FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS, so since you haven't paid the fee, you're on the lake illegally !" "So, crank up your boat and get off this lake and if I see you out here again, I'll call the county sheriff and have you arrested for trespassing!"
That A-hole had my six year old grandson crying, saying Granddaddy I don't want to get arrested! (Even NOW, I STILL can't get him to go fishing with me, because he's afraid: "The man that owns the lake might arrest us.") Sorry about straying off track.
I finally realized the mayor was a real "Control Freak" and would never be reasonable or flexible, so despite the fact that it was hands down the nicest boat I ever owned and I and my family loved it, I felt forced into selling it to buy a smaller boat. I looked up the "Book Value", and checked the prices on boats like it that had been sold recently and found the average selling price was $19,700.00. without all the extras my boat had. (Which totaled around $1,800.00) But wanting to sell it quickly and get back on the water, I was willing to sell it for $19,700. However, being disabled and my only income being Social Security Disability, I couldn't afford to market and advertise it, so months went by without a single serious buyer. I was missing my children and grand children's regular visits to enjoy a day on the lake, not to mention the best time for fishing of the whole year.... to make a long story short, I had to let it go for $8,500. to buy another, smaller boat, just to be able to enjoy the lake with my family.
NOW, a new acquaintance, an attorney who owns property on the lake, told me several people have had problems with the mayor, because he's a jerk that let the power of his office go to his head, and he says my boat absolutely WAS "grand fathered in."
By the mayor lying and saying it wasn't, I feel like I suffered a loss in excess of Eleven Thousand dollar needlessly and without just cause.
I would appreciate your opinion on what my chances would be of getting a favorable decision if I sue him and/or the town, for that 11,k, based on the above facts, which are:
1. I had the boat and used it regularly on the lake for four years prior to the ordinance being made.
2.When asked point blank: Wouldn't the boat be grand fathered in? the mayor said: "Absolutely NOT." "Under no circumstances can that boat be on this lake." in front of three witnesses, who will testify to that.
3.Were it not for the mayor's words and repeated threats of legal action (All of which were not included above to reduce post size) I would not have sold the boat. Not even for what I paid for it, much less $8,500!!
Also, does anyone know how long I have to bring action in such a case?
Your time and opinion is sincerely appreciated.
Joe,
in Alabama
