The Beaver Dam Property Dispute….the next to the last report.

In response to the many queries of yon readers, the next chapter of those who will punish me for being a law-abiding citizen. Let’s call this “The Property Wars”. We got nine square feet on the line here folks.  VERY IMPORTANT UPDATE…ANOTHER IMPORTANT UPDATE-12/2/15-FINAL UPDATE 12/4/15.

Yon readers, I do apologize because normally I write Blog posts and leave them alone forevermore. But I have been updating this Blog post and now, again, I am going to change things.

FIRST….folks, I LOST THE CASE! Do not ever buy a survey before you buy property in Delaware. Because it means exactly nothing. Now plenty of folks would say I am wrong….that I should have hired a lawyer. I say why couldn’t I show my survey and let the chips fall where they may?

Well I didn’t fill the form in this way or that way, I didn’t give the response to the court, I am ugly and deserve this horrible fate for daring to be an honest citizen. If I sound bitter, well I am.

BUT….I am now hiring a lawyer to appeal this case and I ask all reading this to wish me luck. For sure there will be more on this story but for now….read the below and I will get back to you all.

I am erasing several updates that I posted here before because when more info on this becomes available I will be posting on a NEW post.

For now, I thank all of you….ALL of you….so very many who have been helpful, so very helpful. I gather that most of yon readers do not think all of this action is warranted but folks, THEY WON! I must now tear down my fence and pay their legal fees.

I emphasize, I am NOT guilty of unlawfully building my fence on someone else’s land. I am guilty of a bookkeeping error and not hiring a lawyer. Evidently that’s a crime.

Again, thank you so very much….my State Senator, others who have offered to help me with this….so many of you and I am not worthy.

This is not the end of the story, folks. I am appealing.

Stay tuned….no more updates but I will keep everyone apprised of the appeal.
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I am tired of writing about this story yon ladies and gems, just as many are likely tired of reading it. And yet for all the nonsense I sometimes write about, it is this post which brings me emails from all over the state, verbal queries for updates from friends and family and even phone calls seeking the latest.

For while it’s only about four linear feet of land by about a foot, approximately nine square feet of land, there has been few nightmares a very innocent and law-abiding person could suffer like the one these people behind me have put me through.

Begin with background. I moved here in 2003, over twelve years ago. In the state of Merryland a home buyer is required to obtain a survey so when the settlement people asked me if I wanted one I said yes just like nobody else did on this godforesaken piece of crap land except ME until some twelve years later when a builder comes into create the infamous Beaver Dam Estates, complete with circular roads that, heh, are probably the source of the problem. But I get ahead of myself.

I held onto that survey all those years while I took tender care of my yard as I am a Backyard Wildlife Habitat Specialist, trained by the National Wildlife Federation, working for the Delaware Nature Society to teach people how they too can create yards that invite critters, birds and those we welcome into our domain. This is an important fact, hold on.

So I get this letter from Dean Pettyjohn, then head of surveys in Sussex county, boom, just like that, did not offer me a chance to defend myself as guaranteed in this country’s constitution…just boom….MRS FISH TEAR DOWN YOUR FENCE OR THE COUNTY WILL DO IT.

Of course I paraphrase. Copy of his letter below.

All hell breaks loose as I find my survey and respond to those people behind me but hold on, because there are quite a few players in this saga. And with Sussex county growing like it is, I am sure there will be others, especially if the newcomers are from New Jersey.

I wrote a nice long letter to one lady, whose survey shows my fence some 80 feet on her property but again, in terms of depth, maybe a foot. Could be those curved, cute circular roads in that each and every property line complaint comes in on the diagonal….heh, exactly like a circular road now that I think about it.

The lady who originally complained to the builder about the property survey pulled back her complaint upon receipt of my letter, a very nice one showing my survey and my intent to defend myself come hell or high water.

Then Mr. Inteli moved in.

I will say his name as they filed a court hearing on me and this is all very public so let’s not be coy.

There is a kind of back story on this. Turns out that the great survey wards of 2013 began when one of the earlier fine residents of Beaver Dam moved in and he got the very first survey a Beaver Dam resident obtain….AFTER THEY BOUGHT THEIR PROPERTY, HOW STUPID IS THIS?

At that point it was “discovered” that a resident of Deerwood, that’s my community, allegedly had a fence on this guy’s property. Suddenly everybody in the new Beaver Dam was beating on the builder to complain about Deerwood residents and their overlapping fences. That’s how it all began and all of them including my Deerwood neighbors on my right and left, got involved in the ruckus. It hasn’t been pretty.

Below is a copy of the letter from this fine Mr. Inteli and note how he tells me I should get a new survey! Would MR. Intelli tell his daughter, if she moved into a house and had a proper survey that her neighbor protested…TO GET A NEW ONE? Do these people think I was born at night, LAST night?

Eventually I went before the Sussex county council and they changed everything about how the county gets involved in these property disputes and I think Dean Pettyjohn got fired. The county dropped the case. I’ll not put up a lovely pic of me in front of my fine fence, behind which I NEVER THREW A SINGLE PIECE OF DEBRIS BUT NOTE INTELI’S LETTER, NASTY TELLING ME TO CLEAN UP MY “GARBAGE”!

I’ve put up that pic plenty of times but if you want to see it again, email me.

This house I live in has a reverse mortgage on it. I have no heirs involved with this case and if Mr. Inteli hadn’t been so nasty I might have sat down and negotiated a deal but to come in attacking me as if I committed some kind of crime living peaceably upon my purchased land with taxes paid up, quiet and peace maintained, land loved and cared for as is my wont. I committed NO crime whatsoever so what’s with this damn demand that I get a new survey and clean up my trash?

So below is MY survey for Buck Run and below this is the survey that MR. Inteli DEMANDS, DEMANDS I tell you, that I accept as the true and honest one, that mine is somehow suspect.

So it’s now three years almost after the initial dispute and mostly the Beaver Dam people have left me alone but Mr. Inteli is going to fix my big behind, he is going to get even, HE WILL WIN AND DOMINATE OVER THAT SILLY WIDOW WOMAN TRYING TO RAISE HER GRANDCHILD WITH THAT LEGAL SURVEY…..INTELI WILL CONQUER ALL!

So he take me to civil court. Below is a paper I received from the most famous property attorney in Sussex county, because Inteli is going to crucify me by golly….Jamie King.

See the paper below….it DOES say that by a date certain I am to answer Mr. King’s paper but could they have made it more vague?

I know….I should hire a lawyer. Well no. Because Inteli hopes that if I have to hire a lawyer I’ll give in BECAUSE HE WILL BEAT ME TO A PULP IF IT TAKES THE REST OF HIS LIVING LIFE!!!!

I showed up in court and the judge told me I missed the deadline to respond to the famous and wonderful Jamie King, known far and wide for tying widows to railroad tracks and holding a lit match that they listen.

The judge gave me another two weeks to answer Mr. King’s affidavit and I am including my response below. Note I wasn’t very nice and hardly like any lawyer I hired would answer.

But I told the truth.

It still ain’t over folks. Mr. Inteli is determined that I shall suffer and succomb to his command.

Anyway, read my response and know that we have a very determined New Jerseyan who wants to punish me greatly for daring to defend myself. Also, there are very strange things going on in my backyard, strange people showing up then running off when I seek why the dogs bark so much.

I am very afraid of that man, yes I am.

Anyway, below the text of my response to Inteli’s complaint:

Tunnell & Raysor, P/A/
30 East Pine Street
Georgetown, Del 19947

ATTENTION: Jamie King, Esq.
Mr. King,
I am hereby writing my defense, and providing documentation for same, for the case brought against me by your client, Martin and Judith Intelli.

If I may for a minute, Mr. King, let us get a bit personal. Sure I get upset over this action. Imagine you had a daughter living peaceably upon her land since 2003. She has a perfectly legitimate survey of her land boundaries, there was a fence upon her land when she moved here in 2003, and all of a sudden all hell breaks loose and it is demanded that she tear down her fence, a fence legally erected and insured by a survey that shows it is where it is perfectly okay.

On the day of her husband’s funeral a bunch of surveyors show up, causing ill-will and rancor as the surveyors laughed and frolicked with joy at the prospect that my fence must be tore down. They told me that!
But let’s talk a bit about your client, Mr. Inteli. I know he is a source of revenue to you and you don’t have to deal with his complete nastiness…..let me give you some examples, just so you have an idea about how nasty and mean this man is.

First, he sends me a letter telling me to tear down my fence and to remove all rubbish allegedly on his side of the fence. Mr. King, I am a Certified Backyard Wildlife Habitat Specialist, certified by the Delaware Nature Society to teach people how to live in peaceful conjunction with the critters and birds of our backyards. I HAVE NEVER THROWN A SINGLE LEAF OR BRANCH OVER MY FENCE….NOT EVER!

Seriously, you think Mr. Inteli makes friends this way? If the issue isn’t sensitive enough, does this kind of rhetoric help? Oh, and you know that woman who was in court on 11/6/15? That is the famous Louis Enright, cited extensively in that pile of unreadable documentation you sent me. She made a deal with Mr. Inteli to accept his version of a fence line but note please, Mr. King, SHE DID NOT HAVE A SURVEY!
At any rate, Mr. Inteli told Mrs. Enright that on the day of her open house (she was selling her house specifically because she could not stand this Inteli person but has since pulled back) that he was going to throw trash over the fence so her potential customers would see and smell the mess.

Mrs. Enright showed up that day, and will again, just to testify if so required.

Mr. Inteli has done nothing but act like the worst human being on the earth and now you wonder why it brings out such emotion. People get emotional about their property, Mr. King, as I am sure you know. Do we need this Inteli character being so awful, awful mean? I understand he is a paycheck to you, but to me he is mean and horrible and the stuff of my nightmares.

But there’s more!

First, most of the copies you sent me are unreadable, including that so-called survey by those Pennoni people. Up in the corner, where there are notes, most of it is missing due to improper copier alignment. I intend to show these horrible copies to the court….all of them are simply awful.

And please, please, please, please do not tell me to get a lawyer. I am currently knee-deep in custody issues with my granddaughter and simply cannot afford one. I am perfectly willing to stand before the judge with MY survey. If the judge tells me to tear down my fence, pay damages to the wonderful Intelis, loved by everybody, or if he should throw me in jail, I will do whatever the court requires but it will take nothing less than a judge to change my mind. I should think providing my own legal survey as well my documentation that the county itself turned down the request to tear down my fence by the builder….based on….guess? MY LEGAL SURVEY OBTAINED IN 2003. It’s older than these sudden cool and neat surveys the Beaver Dam people are all getting, AFTER THEY BOUGHT THEIR HOUSE…how dumb is this? I had my survey BEFORE I bought my house. I don’t know why I need a lawyer to do this and I simply cannot afford one and do not think, with my willingness to follow the edicts of the court, I should have to pay someone to do these simple actions.

So now let me respond to several items in your complaint.

In paragraph 5 it states “On or about April 12 ,2013, Defendant or an agent acting on behalf of
Defendant erected a fence which encroached on the Plaintiff’s property.”
Say what?

April 12, 2013 WAS the day of my husband’s funeral when those fine surveyors had a party and delighted in telling me that my fence would have to be tore down. It is NOT the day, or even close to, the date that I or any agent acting on my behalf erected that fence. The fence in question was built BEFORE I bought this house. Thus I know it is at LEAST, as of this date, 13 years old. Please note that MY survey-attachment a, is dated 4/2/2003 and it plainly shows my fenceline. Can you lie like this on court documents?

In paragraph 9 it states “In a letter dated 5/13/13 Dean Petty john, who upon information and belief is the Planning and Zoning Director for Sussex county sent a letter to the Defendant regarding the survey findings which determined the defendant’s fence was encroaching the Plaintiff’s lot by 4.6 ft.”

This is true. But see attachment B, which is a Cape Gazette article detailing how I took this very letter before the Sussex county council and you do know they FIRED Dean Pettyjohn for this very thing…you do know that, right? And you do know that the county dropped the case and, read the newspaper article, the county administrator Todd Lawson, said , in response to newspaper queries about competing surveys…”One, in fact, showed the fence fully on Mrs. Fish’s land,” L:awson wrote in his report to council.

What’s your point about the Pettyjohn letter? I won that case! This is Mr. Inteli’s defense?
In paragraph 20 it states “Upon information and belief, Defendant has continued to deny fence’s encroachment has remained in wrongful possession of the Plaintiff’s property that which the plaintiffs have a right of ownership and enjoyment.”

Say what?

No I have not tore down my fence and I have defended myself via every method that every sane person would consider fair. What’s the point of this paragraph?
Paragraph 25 states : “In a letter dated 7/7/15 the plaintiff’s offered the resolution to the defendant to execute a license agreement where the defendant would be able to keep the fence where it is currently located in exchange for the execution of a licensing agreement indicating the property lines as provided by the Pennoni survey.”

First, here’s your smile for the day, Mr. King. Had the Intelis not asked me to pay any money, I might have accepted that offer. For I get no joy, indeed only endless pain and anguish over this matter, and had there not been a cost I might have taken it. As it is, to ask me to pay $300 was an insult and nothing less. Of course what else could I expect from these people?

So I have answered all questions and personally delivered this letter and all indicated attachments to the opposition lawyer. I am happy, and with a smile on my face, to face the Judge and I will do whatever he tells me to do.

Because I still believe that this is a great country, that justice and fairness prevail, that I committed NO crime and fairness will dictate that the Intelis leave me alone. But if not….I am a law-abiding citizen and will do whatever the court instructs.

Couple of other things….this is kind of interesting…my house has a reverse mortgage on it. Upon my death there are no heirs BUT the mortgage company….AAG, THEY are who the Inelis will have to fight. Even if the judge rules I must tear down the fence and set my house afire…..part of my mortgage agreement is that all property disputes must go through them.

Also, my wellhead is close to that fence. Also my shed. I’m not sure that these things would be affected by a change in survey but it’s enough to cause most normal people concern.

So there’s the story. I will tell my story in court and let the chips fall where they may.

I still believe I did nothing wrong and justice will lean my way at the end of the day.

I thank you for your time and you may call me. Yes I get upset about this but I just don’t know who wouldn’t.

And it’s not like Mr. Inteli made it any better.

Yes I am a writer….heh. If you’d rather conversate with me via email I would be perfectly happy to do that. My email address is patfish1@aol.com. My phone is 302-245-8188. You have my address.

I thank you in advance for your time and hope for justice, when all is said and done.

It is now December of 2015 and nobody is under any obligation to tell me if they give up. So I will suffer for however long until I die. But I’m not giving in.
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I do not respond to comments on my posts. I certainly have no problem with such commentary and, indeed, encourage it. But I’ve written my piece and I don’t want to argue it further.
Please feel free to email me at patfish1@aol.com if you want to send me a special comment or have any ideas or information you want to share.

NEXT : I’m tired and just don’t know. But big things are coming up.