And all the big-government-loving folks (y'all know who you are ;-) wonder why a hefty portion of the US population is out for blood when it comes to getting back at said government (else why would they have elected the Orange-Haired Wonder? LOL!).
Seems two cities in California's Inland Empire, Indio and Coachella, have come up with a particularly nasty and cruel way of enforcing various ordinances and codes. They partnered with a private law firm to prosecute citizens in criminal court for city ordinance violations that typically result in a small fine, such as having too-long grass in your front yard or selling food out of a truck without a license.
The way it works in towns and cities NOT in California is that you pay the fine, normally several hundred dollars at most, and fix the cited violation and you're done. End of story.
Not out in Indio and Coachella, though. Out there, you're liable to get a bill in the mail a few months later from the private law firm that prosecuted you, to the tune of thousands and thousands of dollars. In some cases bills ranged from $3,000 to $26,000 and cities are forcing their citizens to pay up.
Also, the law firm -- which was contracted by the two cities to act as their prosecutor, no doubt as a cost saving measure so that all their civil servants can keep their jobs -- threatens you with various bill-collecting measures, such as attaching a lien to your house. If the house is worth more than you owe, or you owe it free and clear, the firm will force a foreclosure auction and get what it says it's owed that way. Plus, if you appeal the bill or otherwise seek redress, the firm adds even more to the cost. Here are a couple of particularly egregious cases:
"In Coachella, a man was fined $900 for expanding his living room without getting a permit. He paid his fine. Then more than a year later he got a bill in the mail from Silver & Wright for $26,000. They told him that he had to pay the cost of prosecuting him, and if he didn’t, they could put a lien on his house and the city could sell it against his will. When he appealed the bill they charged him even more for the cost of defending against the appeal. The bill went from $26,000 to $31,000.
Brett Kelman of the Desert Sun found 18 cases in Indio and Coachella where people received inordinately high legal bills for small-time violations. A woman fined for hanging Halloween decorations across a city street received legal bill for $2,700. When she challenged it, the bill jumped to $4,200.
Kelman notes that these thousands of dollars in fees came from a single court hearing that lasted minutes."
If I recall correctly, taxes residents pay are supposed to cover costs such as arise from the civil and criminal courts system in their tax jurisdictions. So what gives here? SMH.
Tar, feathers, a rail. Some assembly required.
Coachella and Indio bill residents thousands for their own prosecution
"Politics is just show business for ugly people."
Seems two cities in California's Inland Empire, Indio and Coachella, have come up with a particularly nasty and cruel way of enforcing various ordinances and codes. They partnered with a private law firm to prosecute citizens in criminal court for city ordinance violations that typically result in a small fine, such as having too-long grass in your front yard or selling food out of a truck without a license.
The way it works in towns and cities NOT in California is that you pay the fine, normally several hundred dollars at most, and fix the cited violation and you're done. End of story.
Not out in Indio and Coachella, though. Out there, you're liable to get a bill in the mail a few months later from the private law firm that prosecuted you, to the tune of thousands and thousands of dollars. In some cases bills ranged from $3,000 to $26,000 and cities are forcing their citizens to pay up.
Also, the law firm -- which was contracted by the two cities to act as their prosecutor, no doubt as a cost saving measure so that all their civil servants can keep their jobs -- threatens you with various bill-collecting measures, such as attaching a lien to your house. If the house is worth more than you owe, or you owe it free and clear, the firm will force a foreclosure auction and get what it says it's owed that way. Plus, if you appeal the bill or otherwise seek redress, the firm adds even more to the cost. Here are a couple of particularly egregious cases:
"In Coachella, a man was fined $900 for expanding his living room without getting a permit. He paid his fine. Then more than a year later he got a bill in the mail from Silver & Wright for $26,000. They told him that he had to pay the cost of prosecuting him, and if he didn’t, they could put a lien on his house and the city could sell it against his will. When he appealed the bill they charged him even more for the cost of defending against the appeal. The bill went from $26,000 to $31,000.
Brett Kelman of the Desert Sun found 18 cases in Indio and Coachella where people received inordinately high legal bills for small-time violations. A woman fined for hanging Halloween decorations across a city street received legal bill for $2,700. When she challenged it, the bill jumped to $4,200.
Kelman notes that these thousands of dollars in fees came from a single court hearing that lasted minutes."
If I recall correctly, taxes residents pay are supposed to cover costs such as arise from the civil and criminal courts system in their tax jurisdictions. So what gives here? SMH.
Tar, feathers, a rail. Some assembly required.
Coachella and Indio bill residents thousands for their own prosecution
"Politics is just show business for ugly people."