posted on Aug, 19 2005 @ 03:02 PM
I'm so upset I can't see straight. Remember the case where the supreme court ruled corporations can declare eminent domain and take your house ?
well, they can also charge you rent for the time you are in
their house
news.yahoo.com...
Chutzpah is a Yiddish word meaning brazen arrogance. The cliché example is a man who murders his parents and then begs a judge for mercy because he
is an orphan.
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The city of New London, Conn., deserves a chutzpah award. In 2000, it condemned 15 homes so a developer could build offices, a hotel and convention
center. Susette Kelo and her neighbors spent years in a legal battle that culminated in June, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against
them.
That was painful enough. But while the homeowners were battling in court, New London was calculating how much "rent" they owe for living in the
houses they were fighting to save. (The city's development corporation gained title to the homes when it condemned them, though the owners refused to
sell and haven't collected a cent.)
The homeowners could soon be served with eviction notices, which is justified by the court ruling. But the rent is something else. For some, it comes
to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Kelo, whose name is on the landmark case, could owe $57,000. "I'd leave here broke," she told the Fairfield
County Weekly. "I could probably get a large-size refrigerator box and live under the bridge."
In a letter to the homeowners' lawyer a year ago, the development corporation justified its behavior by saying, "We know that your clients did not
expect to live in city-owned property for free."
Well, they might have expected not to be bullied for exercising their right to be heard in court.