• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

A town mayor's lie cost me $11,000.00+ Do I have a case?

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

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
 


In a round about way the mayor did force him to sell the boat by not letting him use it on the lake like he had been using it for 4 yrs before. Talk to your lawyer friend and see if there is anything he could help you do.
 

Ozark_Sophist

Senior Member
In a round about way the mayor did force him to sell the boat by not letting him use it on the lake like he had been using it for 4 yrs before. Talk to your lawyer friend and see if there is anything he could help you do.

No. OP could have used the boat on another lake. OP could have gone to the town and sought a grandfather excemption. Nothing in the post indicates the OP did anything proactive to determine if the Mayor's claim was legitimate. Nor was the OP proactive in selling his boat (no advertising). OP could have simply sold the boat to a friend for well below value with the expectation of getting the Mayor/town to pay the difference.

Although I agree it was a bad thing and an abuse of power, nothing in the post supports a claim.
 

Alabama=Screwed

Junior Member
Thank you both for your input, I do appreciate it.

Ozark, of course you're right.

I should have known, and now feel foolish and embarrassed for having asked.
Will I never LEARN?! I feel that way just about everytime I think the law can
or will make some "wrong doing" be made "right".

I'm sure my problem became obvious to you, when you read the previous sentence.
Yep, you guessed it, I'm over fifty years old. I'm from a generation when, believe it or not, "Right & Wrong" went hand in hand with "Legal & Illegal" and "Right" & "Wrong" were easily separated with truth, honesty or common sense. Every honest man knew the difference and they all agreed on what was right and what was wrong.

Those things were so important and so deeply instilled, that even though I know, it's been proven time and time again in courts of law, that "Right & Wrong" no longer have anything to do what so ever with "Legal & Illegal", sometimes it's still hard for me to believe that today, otherwise good men will "split hairs" and use technicalities and loop holes to prove, what an honest man knows is wrong, according to the law, is NOT wrong, despite the fact that it makes no sense.

I try hard to remember that things have changed, everybody's not like me, and there actually ARE men so dishonest, not to mention STUPID, that they would sell the boat to a friend and then falsely try to sue the mayor BEFORE they researched it to see if it was do-able. But I occassionally forget and need a little nudge to bring me back to the present. Thanks for the nudge, Ozark. You probably kept me from wasting a large pile of dollars on attorney fees because of my outdated thinking.

I'd like to help others like myself, who still believe in "Right and Wrong", to see the REALITY of your comments, because if you're not a judge, from my expierences, you certainly think enough like one to help me do that.

YOU SAID: "OP could have used the boat on another lake."

That's true. There's IS another lake less than forty miles from my home. I could have taken the boat out of the lake, put it on the trailer and parked it somewhere in my yard. Then every weekend, I could have hooked up the trailer to my SUV, towed it 38 miles to the other lake, paid the launch fee, launched the boat, tied it to the dock, or have my wife hold the bow rope, while I drove my SUV and the trailer up to the parking lot, walked back to the dock and spend the day on the water with my family. Provided of course, that my son and daughter wanted to and could afford to make the drive to meet us out there.

Personally, the cost of gas it takes to pull a twenty two foot, three thousand eight hundred pound deck boat behind an SUV is not too much to pay to spend a day at the lake with my children and grand children. Yes, I know it seems "Wrong" to us old timers, that a man should have to do all that after going through everything that's involved in building a house, not to mention the many thousands of dollars it cost, to have a house built ON a lake, just so he didn't HAVE to go through all that. But in "Today's World", we have to forget all that "right and wrong" stuff we were taught and think "LAW", to avoid wasting a LOT of time and money.

YOU SAID: "Nothing in the post indicates the OP did anything proactive to determine if the Mayor's claim was legitimate."

Once again, our old outdated thinking doesn't work today. We've got to forget all that "Gentleman" and "Honor" stuff we were taught, like: "Believe every man you meet to be honest and truthful, until proven otherwise". That kind of stuff will not serve us TODAY. Even though believing what a mayor tells you about the laws of his town seems like the "right" thing to do, and it seems "wrong" to question a man's character or truthfulness with no cause or reason to do so, especially a man who is addressed as THE HONORABLE..(insert name), as Ozark pointed out, TODAY, the LAW may say YOU were "wrong" for NOT doing so.

YOU SAID: "OP could have gone to the town and sought a grandfather excemption."

The mayor made it clear he was representing "the town" when he chased me down to find out if my boat conformed to "the town's" law, and said "Absolutely NOT." when I asked about being grandfathered in. Since he is "the town's" highest authority, going to "the town" to ask for a grand father exemption, just doesn't seem logical to folks from my generation, and our common sense tells us it would just be a waste of time. That should make it crystal clear that even though it doesn't seem "right", common sense and logic no longer apply when it comes to the LAW, living in TODAY .


YOU SAID: "Although I agree it was a bad thing and an abuse of power, nothing in the post supports a claim."

There it is, old timers! Surely by now you realize it no longer matters if it's right or wrong, or even if the judge and the whole rest of the world agrees with you. TODAY, the only thing that matters is which sides attorney can find the loop holes or technicalities needed to convince a judge or jury that the LAW says or means what he/her NEEDS it to say or mean to win. So forget all that "Right" and "Wrong" stuff and get yourself one of those GOOD lawyers, who knows exactly which ammendments says "right is no longer right" or "wrong is no longer wrong" as it applies to whatever topic your case falls under. "Right" or "wrong", THAT'S the America you live in TODAY! Get use to it.

Again, Thanks Ozark for getting me back on track.


Joe
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
OP - your way-back glasses are tinted a little too rosy for your own good.
You came to a legal advice site seeking legal advice. You received accurate legal advice. It is very poor form to attack the person who gave you the advice just because you don't like it.

The situation boils down to this: Someone came to you and said it was illegal to use your boat. You chose to blindly believe this fellow instead of doing even the smallest amount of research.

You were not "FORCED" to sell your boat. You had other options (including to continue to legally use it on the lake you've always used it on). Your lack of diligence was your downfall.
 

Alabama=Screwed

Junior Member
OMG!!! I meant to add: "The above written with tounge firmly in cheek." to the bottom of my last post!


Ozark, I am SO sorry!

Please accept my most humble, sincere apology!
It was not my intent to attack, only to spoof.
Please know my thanks for your opinion and my comment about you saving me money were truely sincere.
I admit it wasn't what I was hoping to hear, but I would NEVER ask for advice and then flame someone who took the time to share their knowledge with me.

My apology as well to any others I offended.
I have the utmost respect and appreciation for every one of you who give your time and knowledge so freely to us who are in real need of it.

Zigner, I especially thank you for not only making me aware of it but being kind enough to "sugar coat" it as only being "poor form". If not for you, it's very likely I would have never gotten another reply to my post, for being such a jerk and in all probability would have never even known why.

Health, wealth and happiness to you all.

Joe
 

xylene

Senior Member
Change your handle to "BoatOwner=Screwed"

I'm sorry but regualtions on boats change all the time almost always to the detriment of the boat owner.

The steep deprecation curve on boats is also not the fault of the control freak 'mayor'

The scenario sucks - but your boat is not grandfathered in. Maybe if you were a town resident (but still probably not...)

For example my grandma used to own a tricycle that she would ride for small errands. It got old, and she decided to replace it. Wouldn't you know it that year people got mad about young cyclists and decided to aggressivly pursue the fines against cyclists on the town walks, and wouldn't you know some fat jerk cop decided my 77 year old grandmother had to ride in the street. (which of course someone with failing eyesight couldn't really do safely.)

Do you think she had a recourse for the new trike?
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
Top