Complaint Review: M. Arnold Politzer - Baltimore County Maryland

Kitty, RIp-off Reports is great! I got word of ripoff reports kinda by accident. I am in the computer building & reselling business & I got taken by an online company. I found (after the fact) that this website had gazillions of complaints from people just like me complaining about the company that I reported. When I have nothing better to do I surf this site for problem companies in MAryland so I avoid them before spending money. Your neighbor sounds like a doozy. He's thinking about getting the insurance company to pay for a mess that he or his predecessors made of your yard. This sounds a little (just a little, to some) like insurance fraud to me. Anyway, I think that your case in small claims will solve your problem. Armed with pictures, a survey, and oh, did he mention that insurance statement to more than one person? SOunds to me like you got him! As for Mr. Politzer, the wannabe lawyer, Keep your claim good against him too. I am certain that the Maryland BAR association would love to hear your story. Well take care, keep your cool and you will get results. When you win, let me know. This is interesting.

Just to let you know-I'm glad they have this site Rip-off- I needed to vent-also my my search for justice I had given my e-mail address on this site for you to e-mail me personally- that never showed up on my comments to you, not only looking back at that was that a mistake because the whole Internet ppl. would have it, I'm glad the rip-off ppl. were looking out for me. So to you guys who edit these letters before posting. Thank you.

Thanks-I know there's a code book for baltimore county which I will have to purchase-I know it wasn't cheap, but they do have one at the zonning office. I thought about tearing it down but then we were told even if it's on our property it's still destruction of property- go figure- I'm not giving up that fence will come off of our property. I'm still calling around to get advice and I'm am going to take it to small claims court-but you know it's the principal of the thing. We have spent so much money and yet it's harder to make him move something. I'm going to file soon, but I wanted to check the property line issue-so when he does move it he can't put it right on the property line. It's nice to talk to someone who gets some idea of what we've gone through. I was told that he would have to put our property back to it's original condition. He stated he would get his homeowners Ins. to pay for this -that no money would come out of his pocket- he doesn't have a line survey like us. he just wants us to spend money for a lawyer-even when he knows he will lose-that's the scary part- If I could get a hold of his homeowners Ins. and then let them know that he plans on using them that way and show them a copy of the survey they might make him pay for a lawyer and not waste their time. its just amazing what people will go to for spite, anyway keep me posted on what you find out-this fence has been up on our property for 26 yrs. before we bought it and we still left 2ft of property not fenced in-he at one point told us to move our fence up next to theirs. Not only do we maintain our fence-but now we maintain theirs. Like I said let me know-just out of curiosity do you help other ppl. with their complaints? I know i've read some others and let me tell you I can relate to a couple of others. don't mind the spelling. talk to you soon-good luch with you and yours- by the way if your on this sight what made you join what was your problem with someone if you don't mind me asking?

I would first inquire of you, Kitty: how long has this fence been there? It seems from your reports that it is fairly new. If it has been there a significant amount of time, however (and we're talking at least a decade here), your neighbor may have successfully "adversely possessed" you, which would mean that the swatch of land on which his fence rests is now his. If, however, the fence is actually on your property, has not become a non-trespass by virtue of adverse possession, and all reasonable administrative remedies have failed, self-help (i.e. knock the thing down) may be an option. Another thing you may want to try first, however, is filing an action for trespass. Ask for damages amounting to the decrease in the value of your home due to the fence. Ask for an order to remove the fence, at your neighbor's expense, in the alternative. I would imagine that a lawsuit notice would effect a change of heart.

I now fully understand your predicament. The 3 inch thing I got that from a fence builder years ago when I went to put up a fence. AA county has had this as rule as well, although it's not too easy to find. I had to make phone calls to find this out. Being on the property line, while this doesn't really hurt anything, it sounds like he is on your property and it is an eyesore. If planning & zoning is passing the buck, then you can take him to small claims court. OR, get a fair market value of the section of fence that is on your ground and offer to buy it from him. Then you will be able to tear it down. Right now though, the section on your ground is legally yours. HE got hard-nosed with you, get hard-nosed with him. Check the local Baltimore COunty code, but in AA if something as such is on your ground, you can tear it down yourself, because it's yours! If I were in your shoes, I would tear it down -- I have one next door to me I'd like to pull down, but it's on their property. You sound like a lady of reasonable intelligence and one that's very frustrated. But before ripping the thing down, I would exercise your right to sue this guy & make him tear it down. BUt you don't need an expensive lawyer (I wish I had the chance to fight this thing with you). Just go to the courthouse and tell them your situation. Also mention that planning & zoning stated they can't do anything. They have no problem taking people's money for the permits. I am sure someone at the court would love to hear your story & let you fight it out. Keep me informed of your ordeal, I will search further for more info....

I went to the zoning-I have to go to court with the survey-they stated they don't handle that issue-the fence runs along another neighbors yard-but she now doesn't care if the fence is up like she was in the beginning - you see since her husband left her Mr. light has been trimming her bushes, mowing the grass,putting up christmas lights, etc. so now she says its ok. where did you find the information that the fence has to be 3inches back off the property line, I tried to find that without success- I was told it could be right on the property line. I have gone to the neighbor and asked him to move the fence and his comment was since I told on him for putting it up without a lawyer and he had to pay to make it legal-he was going to make sure I have to spend as much money as he can possibly make us spend. he doesn't denie it's on our property he just isn't going to move it--so if you have info that can help me please let me know- I live in baltimore county. I especially would like to know about the property line.. I also don't want to give up my right to our property by letting him keep the thing on it. That was one of the issue's to that we hired the lawyer for but he never addressed the issue-the greviance comm. is looking into that.

Kitty, are you from the city or one of the surrounding counties? If you are in the city, you will need to go downtown to the office of planning & zoning. With the pic's that you have, they should approach the owner of the fence and make him take it down. With it being on your property, the ball is in your court. Before pursuing the going to the state's angle, I would (nicely) approach the owner (in the form of a registered letter) and ask him to move the fence off your property. Kindly give him a deadline. If this fails, you'll have a receipt for the registered letter. Next, go to the state offices that I mentioned earlier (in Baltimore County they would be in Towson, in Anne Arundel County they would be in Glen Burnie and Howard County they would be in Ellicott City) and plead your case with them. Should they have deaf ears (although I am almost certain that your problem will be solved at this level), file a small claims case with district court. Filing the case would be well under $100 dollars, which the defendant would be liable for in damages. You wouldn't need any lawyer to fight this case if it gets that far. In Maryland, 6 ft. fences are permissible anywhere on a lot, except across the front. This is a fire code thing. The fence has to be 3 inches from the property line (on the builder's side). Also, there is a setback requirement for all fences regardless of height. It has to be 5' from the road. That 5' between the road and where 'your yard really begins' is called an easement. Maybe he built too close to the road also? This would be good (for you) news -- bad for him. Then the whole thing would have to go. IF you do most of the footwork, taking pic's, producing copies of a survey, even producing the signatures on the petition that you had, these are all things the state needs to help you. I learned through experience myself that lawyers (remember those 'let's talk about it' commercials) will take money for anything. This problem doesn't really sound like a lawyer problem (I wonder how your neighbor on the other side of this guy feels -- he, too, probably has a fence on his ground as well). Trust me, sned this guy a letter, keep the receipt then go to the state. One of these options should take care of your problem. By the way, I am not far from you -- I am in Brooklyn Park. Let me know what happens.

Thank you so much for your comments-I needed that-I would like to know how to get rid of that 6ft fence for good. I don't care if the guy has a fence, but it needs to be right. I have the survey- I'll get more pictures of the fence. could you give me some pointers. I'm trying to do this without spending more money and his goal is to keep making me spend money before it's moved-those were his words. I also can't believe that ppl. aren't allowed to just remove the fence off there property themselves if they have the proof. If your from baltimore know any good lawyers? Real estate lawyers.

Thank you so much for your comments-I needed that-I would like to know how to get rid of that 6ft fence for good. I don't care if the guy has a fence, but it needs to be right. I have the survey- I'll get more pictures of the fence. could you give me some pointers. I'm trying to do this without spending more money and his goal is to keep making me spend money before it's moved-those were his words. I also can't believe that ppl. aren't allowed to just remove the fence off there property themselves if they have the proof. If your from baltimore know any good lawyers? Real estate lawyers.

Thank you so much for your comments-I needed that-I would like to know how to get rid of that 6ft fence for good. I don't care if the guy has a fence, but it needs to be right. I have the survey- I'll get more pictures of the fence. could you give me some pointers. I'm trying to do this without spending more money and his goal is to keep making me spend money before it's moved-those were his words. I also can't believe that ppl. aren't allowed to just remove the fence off there property themselves if they have the proof. If your from baltimore know any good lawyers? Real estate lawyers.

Thank you so much for your comments-I needed that-I would like to know how to get rid of that 6ft fence for good. I don't care if the guy has a fence, but it needs to be right. I have the survey- I'll get more pictures of the fence. could you give me some pointers. I'm trying to do this without spending more money and his goal is to keep making me spend money before it's moved-those were his words. I also can't believe that ppl. aren't allowed to just remove the fence off there property themselves if they have the proof. If your from baltimore know any good lawyers? Real estate lawyers.

Kitty, It sounds like this case is running you into a dead-end. If the fence is on your property (you have pictures and a survey that says it is) and it is rickety & falling down you can get rid of this eyesore rather easily. First, fire the lawyer. He is of no value to you whatsoever. Next, take the pictures of the fence falling apart to Fire Department Headquarters for your jurisdiction: This is a safety hazard. If this fence is 6 ft. high and it is located in a residential area, you are correct when you stated that the owner needs a variance to place the fence in the front of his house. 6 ft. fences can only be placed across the back & sides of the lot. The back & the sides can 'box in' the back. But for safety concerns, the front fence cannot be 6 ft. without some form of variance. Please don't get this confused with a permit itself, which isn't needed unless this is a corner lot. I have read both of your statements within this report. 'Carl' has made some comments that aren't too cool. But please note that 'he' is 3,000 miles away in a state with laws totally different from ours in Maryland. I believe that there are 'no screws loose' here. You are just a person that is a victim of a miserable bureaucratic system here in Maryland. It runs you in circles!!! Like yourself, I am part of a family of 5 with 1 income source -- me!!! I know what it is like to waste big sums of money on something and receive no results. Also, armed with your survey and pictures, go to planning & zoning for your area. Note the height of the fence & its location. They 'WILL' make him tear it down. If they don't, then there are avenues that you can follow to get this thing (the fence) out of your life forever. If you need guidance, just go to Maryland's website. There are all kinds of goodies there you can use to get results -- FOR FREE!!! Lastly, don't waste your energy arguing with guys like Carl. The energy you use doing that could be used arguing with the guys that count. Good luck Kitty & Go Get em'!!!

Response to Carl, no I don't have a screw lose-that's funny! I susgest you go back and read the original complaint. When someone hires a person to perform on your behalf that is what you expect. I do have a survey showing that the fence is on my property, that is our next step for the courts. That fence was put up without a permit and per the ppl. that put it up "what the zonning comm. doesn't know won't hurt them" that tells you something. When a six foot fence runs along the front of someone's home you do need a variance permit. They refuse to move the fence because I told on them for putting it up. which I would not have had to do, if it was done right and not on our property. when we go to build- that fence will be running along the front of our house. It's made of wood and is starting to fall apart and it hasn't been fix, yes ppl. have a right to put up a fence-that's not my complaint-once again the complaint is I paid for services that were not rendered- you carl explain to me where the 1,000 was spent. I got and paid for the pictures- I got the signatures which were very important- I got the survey-This Attorney did not represent us at the hearing, he didn't bring up anything-no signtures,no pictures, no questions except the 3 to Mr.Light if he knew he needed a permit, when the panel told our Attorney that's not what their looking for he sat down -that was it!!!!! he didn't even question me or anyone else he didn't even have a closing comment. so tell me Carl what did I pay for? we had the hearing where you go and listen to the appeals board deliberate on the subject. and by the way it sounded as if they are siding with Mr. Light stating that there was no mention that there was similar lots on our street-now this is true based on any comment from our lawyer because there was no comments. but I showed them pictures of not 1,2,or 3 but several lots the same as him-making him not unique. So the next question is why didn't the lawyer address any of those issues-- Mr. Lights lawyer address every issue that I had requested ours to do-but he didn't, so why should he be paid? like I stated before I don't mind paying for what work was done but I do mind paying for what wasn't done. so I ask you Carl are you a lawyer? have you ever paid for something and didn't get what you paid for? or do you have a lot of money that It doesn't bother you. you see I have a family of five with 1 income- so our money is important to us and If I didn't believe we were wronged and taken advantage of I wouldn't be making this complaint- so unless you know how it feels-please make your unkind remarks to someone else-I have enough to deal with.

The original author's reply to my comments make me think the author might have a screw loose. First of all, the post is not a model of clarity. However, it sounds liek the local zoning board or planning group approved a neighbor's fence and the author appealed. I presume the attorney represented the author at the appeals hearing. Second, you are complaining about the attorney's performance and you don't even have the appeal board's decision. And you don't seem to be considering that fact that you apparently already at one level, some maybe you are wrong to begin with. Third, if an attorney says that something is not relevant and the client insists that it is, the attorney is usually right. If you know so much about this "Cromwell Law", you should have fired your attorney and handled the case youself. And preparing for court is a lot differemt and more time consuming than a zoning appeal hearing, so the extra $1500 really says nothing about whether this guy is competent or greedy.

Kitty, I assume that your complaint here is to stop the building of this fence. The effective solution is not to get a lawyer or lawyers involved. If the fence is on your property and you can prove it through the means of a survey, then by all means, go to the planning & zoning office for your part of town. The guy that built the fence can be held liable for part or all of the surveyor's fee. But, and this is an important, 'but', if the fence turns out to be on his property, is only 6 ft. high and doesn't produce any safety hazards; nor is it an 'eyesore', there isn't much that can be done to stop the fence. Also, in Maryland, if this guy that built the fence isn't on a corner lot, he doesn't even need a permit! You can produce dozens, hundreds, even thousands of signatures on a petition. If this guy is within legal bounds, with the exception of the possibilty that a part of the fence being on your ground, there may not be much that you an do. I agree 100% that this attorney that you hired took you for an expensive ride. Being a lawyer, he should have known during your initial consultation that you didn't really have a civil case at all, just a case with the County or Baltimore City (depending on where you live). Unfortunately, dealing with them can be just as frustrating. Good luck & I hope you get put on the right track.

Kitty, you could very well be right. But, knowing the characteristics of laymen who think they know the law, I THINK Carl is probably right. Let me share a story. Recently, I was handed a contract with the heading "Lease Agreement" and a little note that said "is this binding?" Quick research of contract law would have told me that it was: offer, acceptance, consideration. But it took a knowledge of property law to recognize that this "lease" was actually a sale. And it took learned, specialized research skills to find out how that discrepancy affected the validity of the contract. Now I could present an argument either way, because the law is rarely certain, especially in this case. The bottom line: I think your faith in your personal knowledge may be misplaced. A client who thinks he knows the law is trouble brewing. You speak of this "Cromwell law." Are you even sure this law applies? Every law has a hundred exceptions, and the key to good lawyering is not so much being able to tell when a law DOES apply, that's the easy part. The hard part is being able to tell when it DOES NOT. That ability is what sets the top and bottom halves of a law school class apart. Again, Kitty, you may be right, and I (and I'm sure Carl) would love to hear how this turns out. And, despite the criticisms, we do hope that it works out well. Good luck!

Response to the Response I can't believe your comment on my case, since you were not there, and as some would say, their are people better suited for the jobs they have hired the ppl. to do. So if you can't or don't drive your bus correctly than who-ever you picked up should take over. This case is being reviewed by the U.S Grievance Comm. and there are attorneys out there taking our money without doing the work. I knew more about Cromwell Law than my Attorney-that's sad. and that's why I'm pissed off- If I had not had to hire a real Attorney I could have just paid myself, since as I stated before I did all the work. So keep your comments to yourself unless you really know what your talking about.

I don't know enough about your case, but your maybe your attorney is right when he says the issues you wanted to raise were irrelevant. It's not entirely clear to me that the outcome off of your case would have been any different had the case been handled the way you wanted. When I represent a client, I tell them that I am the bus driver. if client tries to grab the steering wheel or if they don't like the course I have plotted, I'm going to pull the bus over so I they can hire another driver. And if a client thinks they know more about the law than I do, that's another reason to pull the bus over.