Letter: The rent stops here

Dear Editor,

Sooner or later the reality of what this world is mutating into is going to hit you. It could be as apparent as the cost of fuel or groceries. It could be high taxes; it could even be the Law, or the perversion of it. I am going to present you with a scenario that may in fact be true but I will leave it up to you, the reader, to draw your own conclusions.

You are senior citizens who have worked all your lives to secure something tangible for your retirement and eventually for your children. You have dutifully followed the illusion of the ‘American Dream’ to the letter; only to have it destroyed right before your very eyes. This is how it can happen.

There is a small apartment for rent on your property to augment your modest income. A young couple with a child approaches you as prospective tenants. They seem very nice and tell you they are trying to build their lives and raise their family. They are locals and you are vaguely familiar with a parent of one of them. They have newer vehicles, dress nicely and say they are just starting new jobs. Their child smiles sweetly. They have the rent and security money in hand and you allow them to sign a lease. You have just been conned, and life as you know it will never be the same.

Their tenure starts out fairly calm, but soon violent arguments between the couple are apparent, increasing in frequency over time. Their walls echo with insults, foul language and the sounds of physical abuse. The woman begs you not to call law enforcement.  After all, he is her man and she loves him. You even pray for them because you truly care.

Things get worse and there is constant activity in the apartment from dusk to dawn. You cannot ignore it. Makeshift curtains block windows yet open with fans running, even in the coldest of weather. Strange foul odors emanate from their apartment. 

Your concerns grow, you cannot sleep and you begin to realize something is drastically wrong. One day a neighbor approaches you and asks if certain individuals are renting from you. You say yes, but they are becoming a real problem. The neighbor is not surprised. He informs you that they are drug dealers, well known to Law Enforcement and throughout the area. He tells you the smells you are suffering with are likely from their drug cooking activities. It starts to make sense, but to be sure, you reach out to contacts you have in Law enforcement and Town officials. Your worst suspicions are quickly confirmed. You are hosting a drug lab.

Then the rent stops. Your disabled wife’s health begins to suffer, as does yours. The nightmare is all too real. Finally, the violent arguments and the stench of drug making brings you to your limit. You tell the couple that this cannot continue, warning them that you will call Law Enforcement every time these things happen from now on.

To your surprise they immediately acquiesce and agree to move out, and they actually do! They return the key and sign a willful abandonment of lease coupled with numerous texts to the same effect, laced with empty apologies. Your property is trashed but at least it is over, or so you think. 

Within a short time you receive a phone call from Law Enforcement. The tenants have alleged an ‘illegal eviction’. You try to tell the police that no, it was by mutual agreement with written documentation. Your words fall on deaf ears.

The next phone call you get informs you that a powerful County Official has ordered them back into the apartment under threat of your arrest and subsequent fines! They are not at all interested in anything you have to say. Not one word! Common sense dictates that this County Official and the police agency must know who these criminals are and what they do, but it doesn’t seem to matter to them. Apparently YOU do not matter and are somehow painted as the bad guys, not the squatting drug dealers. They have rights that you do not.

Fast forward: the drug lab is now in full swing and they are now acting with impunity. Unlike before though, they are suddenly much quieter as if their former antics were all an act. You retain an attorney but they are masters at manipulating the system. They will simply dodge court appearances while laughing at you behind your back, extending their squatting for as long as possible. You pray their day of reckoning will come soon, but until it does, many lives will be destroyed. People will suffer and some will surely die from the poison they make but sadly, it is being allowed to happen.

Evictions are a time consuming and costly process and you also learn that the police either cannot or will not be helpful.  It is because of the New York State Tenant Laws they say. Do these laws only protect criminals but not the innocent? What happened to human decency and moral responsibility? Where is the justice in all of this? It just doesn’t make any sense! You have always had a great deal of respect for people in law enforcement yet you have a very hard time trying to digest all of this. Are these so called ‘Public Servants’ truly part of the solution or actually part of the problem? At best it leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. And it should.

As for the County Official who wrongly put you in this life-threatening position, he will not even return your phone calls or answer the letter you sent. You wonder if he was distracted, or possibly incompetent? Whatever the case it was a horrendous decision because more lives have been unnecessarily put at risk. Does he care? You are doubtful.  After all, he can go home and sleep soundly. You have different things to dream about.  Drug labs are highly volatile and you try to go to sleep each night under the constant fear of your property and possibly your home literally burning down around you. That is the absolute reality of the situation that you have been unjustly forced into by those supposedly sworn to ‘protect your rights’, which they have failed miserably to do.

Psalm 118:8 speaks clearly of this. Read it.

Sincerely,

Ann Ferris

Candor, N.Y.