Grass dies-Grandpa goes to jail

[URY914]

Don't you just love Florida law and homeowner's associations....


BAYONET POINT — On Friday morning, Joseph Prudente put on a pair of shorts and his "Grandpa Gone Wild" T-shirt. He took off his wedding band and put his heart medication in a plastic Wal-Mart bag.

Then his daughter drove him to jail. Grandpa had time to do.

His crime? He had disobeyed a court order that he sod the lawn at his Beacon Woods home.

His bail? Zero.

Prudente, 66, must stay in the Pasco County jail in Land O'Lakes until the required sod work is completed, under a September court order signed by Circuit Judge W. Lowell Bray.

"He's in prison for God knows how long because we can't afford to sod the lawn," said his sobbing daughter, Jennifer Lehr.

Prudente has owned a home in the deed restricted community since 1998. The covenants require homeowners to keep their lawns covered with grass.

Earlier this year, the Beacon Woods Civic Association took Prudente to court after he failed to install new sod on his browning lawn, which had withered after his sprinklers broke. The association had already sent letters telling him to resod his front and back yards by certain dates.

In an interview at the jail Friday evening, Prudente said he thought he had made a good financial hardship case to the association: His adjustable rate mortgage went up an extra $600 a month. Wachovia repossessed his Toyota Scion. His daughter and her two young children, who had fallen on hard times, moved in with him and his wife, Pat.

"To me, keeping the house is more important than the grass," said Prudente, a retired registered nurse from New York. "I just ignored them."

He ignored them, too, after the association filed a complaint in court. He ignored a court order in May, signed by Bray, giving Prudente 30 days to sod the yard.

In June, the court also awarded the association $795 in fees, which included a $645 attorney's fees and a $150 fee for "an expert witness."

By September, there was still no sod. Bray found Prudente in contempt of court, but said in his order that Prudente could "purge himself of this contempt" by doing the required work within the next 30 days. That time expired Friday.

"It is clear to the Court that the ability to avoid incarceration is well within the Defendant's grasp," Bray wrote.

Representatives of the Beacon Woods association expressed regret Prudente had landed in jail. But they said it was his own fault.

"It's a sad situation," said board president Bob Ryan, who added that the association had followed all the correct procedures. "But in the end, I have to say he brought it upon himself."

Lawyer Thomas Gurran, who represents the association, said in a statement that the association had "just wanted Mr. Prudente to comply with the lawn restriction." He added that the contempt power of judges is essential to the system.

"Many orders and judgements … would be absolutely meaningless if they could not be enforced by a judge's contempt power," he said. "This case is an example of what happens when someone defies an order entered by a judge in our country."

Prudente's family said the case had gone too far. Pat Prudente said she and her husband knew they had chosen to live in a community with restrictions. "But they shouldn't have this much power," she said.

Back at the jail — where the population is 1,132, well above the 782 capacity — Parente said he was being treated well. He has no criminal record in Florida and said his stay in Land O'Lakes was his first time ever in a slammer.

What comes next? He doesn't know. "Should I go out and rob a bank? Then I'd be back here," he said. "But then I'd get out on bail."

[stomachmonkey]

Sounds like he should not have hoped it would just "go away"

So his sprinklers broke?

In ground I assume.

So take a hose and buy a $9 sprinkler from Home Depot and water your yard.

Not difficult and certainly not a cost that takes food off the table.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Good riddance! Criminal..........

[the]

Originally Posted by URY914

The covenants require homeowners to keep their lawns covered with grass.

His adjustable rate mortgage went up an extra $600 a month.

Wachovia repossessed his Toyota Scion.

This guy sounds like he has no problems signing contracts and agreements, and taking the benefits of them.

He just doesn't particularly like living up to his end of the deal.

How was he supposed to know his mortgage was going to adjust up. He thought that 2.5% rate was forever.

Evil Wachovia, taking the guy's ride, just because he stopped making payments. Heartless evil corporation.

He's a New America Victim-Hero! He should be applauded for his courageous stands against an unjust system.

[NICKG]

bet he gets a bailout....HOA are really ridculus

[equality72521]

He made his bed, now he can lay in it.

[URY914]

I bet if he tried to put up an Ameican flag they'd say something about that too.

He dropped the ball-hope he doesn't drop the soap.

[Embraer]

I'd go crazy if i lived in a subdivision, or any other place with an "association." i hate having idiotic people telling me how to live my life. i guess i was spoiled, growing up on a farm with lots and lots of acreage, with no neighbors.

[legion]

A friend of mine moved into a condo.

After he moved in, the homeowners association passed all kinds of ridiculous rules, like:

-You cannot back into your garage.
-If your property is for sale, you cannot have a for sale sign or a lockbox.

[equality72521]

Originally Posted by legion

A friend of mine moved into a condo.

After he moved in, the homeowners association passed all kinds of ridiculous rules, like:

-You cannot back into your garage.
-If your property is for sale, you cannot have a for sale sign or a lockbox.

Another reason not to live in a community where others can tell you what you can and can't do on the property YOU bought and have paid for or are paying for.

[LakeCleElum]

Originally Posted by Embraer

I'd go crazy if i lived in a subdivision, or any other place with an "association." i hate having idiotic people telling me how to live my life. i guess i was spoiled, growing up on a farm with lots and lots of acreage, with no neighbors.

Agreed!!!!!! And the neighbors we did have helped each other. We didn't send them to jail in a time of need.......

[stomachmonkey]

HOA's are not unlike mini governments.

If you don't like what they do then you need to get involved.

You have no right to complain if you don't go to the meetings, stay informed and state your position.

[Heel n Toe]

Chris, what is the reason that HOA ruled that people can't back into their garages?

[sammyg2]

If he's too stupid or lazy to water his lawn, if he's stupid enough to take out a loan he can't afford, if he's stupid enough to ignore court orders, he belongs in jail. He'll be safer there because he's too stupid to survive on his own.

Why do you bleeding hearts always side with the idiot who did all the wrong things and blame someone else who did all the right things?

I have neighbors. I live in a nice neighborhood. I don't want someone else to bring down my property value because they are too lazy to fix a sprinkler or to turn on a darned hose. How hard is that? How hard is it to turn a little valve and watch water come out and go on the lawn? Not very darned hard. How hard is it to realize that if you get a court order to make your grass green, you will get in trouble if you don't?
$10 worth a grass seed and a bunch of water and the problem is solved, but NOOOOOOO!
He has to be an idiot and ignore all the warnings. He got exactly what he asked for.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by Embraer

I'd go crazy if i lived in a subdivision, or any other place with an "association." i hate having idiotic people telling me how to live my life. i guess i was spoiled, growing up on a farm with lots and lots of acreage, with no neighbors.

Yeah, that watering the grass so it doesn't die rule is a tough one.

[Embraer]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

Yeah, that watering the grass so it doesn't die rule is a tough one.

When you have 55 acres of grass and fields to take care of, watering the grass isn't a concern.

I'm far from a bleeding heart, but when some idiotic fool tells me to water grass (a waste of resources), i would have issues.

i'm happy when august rolls around...the grass slows down from the lack of water, and a three-day mow job turns into a 1-day mow job.

[Embraer]

Originally Posted by LakeCleElum

Agreed!!!!!! And the neighbors we did have helped each other. We didn't send them to jail in a time of need.......

and yes, the few neighbors we had were great. we shared food, tools, etc. heck, when it snowed really bad, we'd help dig each other out.

[onlycafe]

Originally Posted by legion

A friend of mine moved into a condo.

After he moved in, the homeowners association passed all kinds of ridiculous rules, like:

-You cannot back into your garage.
-If your property is for sale, you cannot have a for sale sign or a lockbox.

"From this day on, the official language of San Marcos will be Swedish. Silence! In addition to that, all citizens will be required to change their underwear every half-hour. Underwear will be worn on the outside so we can check. Furthermore, all children under 16 years old are now... 16 years old!".............from woody allen's "bananas"


when you are making rules.......might as well make them ridiculous.

[legion]

Originally Posted by Heel n Toe

Chris, what is the reason that HOA ruled that people can't back into their garages?

The building has tandem garages, so two cars are parked in-line for one unit.

My friend would back his truck into the garage because it was easier to leave in the morning and he didn't risk backing into cars parked across from him. The president of the HOA didn't like that.

The no lock-box/no sign rule was because many of the units in the building have never been occupied and the HOA didn't want it to be known that there were so many units for sale. Not like this wouldn't show up on the MLS or anything.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Good riddance! Criminal..........

hang him!