Man who bought "residential" firehouse sued by Seattle - for using as residence | KIRO 7 News
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- čas přidán 12. 01. 2020
- The advertisement that grabbed Thom Kroon's attention marketed a no-longer-used fire station as a "unique residential dwelling.” So Kroon purchased the property from the City of Seattle in a 2012 auction. The Seattle man then spent thousands of dollars on interior remodeling, and for more than three years, his extended family and friends used the firehouse for holidays, celebrations, charity fundraisers, graduation parties and as an office until a Land Use Notice of Violation arrived in July of 2016.
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Someone "filed a complaint" simply means somebody who has connections in city hall is interested in the property...glad the owner fought back and won
Exactly. That’s how it always seems to happen.
Winner winner.
Someone thought they could force him into selling or giving up and then they would rezone and use the way they wanted to!
@@e1000sn 100%!
Absolutely! Whoever did this to this gentleman needs to kick rocks! Haters and snakes! 😡
Pay the man's legal fees, rezone his property, apologize, and stop wasting this man's time and Seattle taxpayers' money. FFS
@Brayan Carmona Wait a minute, just wait one minute, He did renovation to the fire house and I’m sure he spent a good amount of money for that and therefore he’s probably in for about 1 1/2 to 2 million that the city should be paying him.
Nah, they won't do anything, because the city is corrupt. They set the man up, that's why people need to move out.
@@Zeakthecat you think it's a deliberate and corrupt set up? Or just a poorly handled bureaucratic error?
(I think the latter is possible, plausible, and doesn't require a motive. In contrast, the former is mostly just possible. So my money is on stupid instead of bully. But hey, maybe there's underhanded pencil pushers in Seattle... I don't live there, so I don't know.)
@@ivocanevo probably both.
@@budkopach3163, yeah, I'm going with "both." Negligence and sloppiness led to the error, and now somebody is hoping to cash in on it somehow by abusing city power.
Bottom line. Someone with money wanted the land and created some BS lawsuit to try and scare the owner off. The fact that our processes even allowed it to happen to begin with is a huge joke.
It's absolutely possible that whatever clerical worker at the firehouse put that ad up ignorant of the specific zoning or under a misapprehension. Hanlon's Razor, no?
Welcome to how 90% of things work here, especially the wars! War is profitable, after all, go die in the meatgrinder slave.
@@232mumboyif you would have watched the video you would know that a third party was hired to auction of the property and that third party was or should have been under the supervision of the city of seattle
Welcome to America, where everyone is patriotic about a country that doesn't give a shit about them.
I just lost my property under similar circumstances.
Except, problem was, the entire county and state were in on it. They made sure I couldn't get a lawyer AND they refused to acknowledge anything I said or filed. I was denied the ability to testify(judge told me, what I said didn't count). Then they threatened, intimated, harassed and forged falsifications against me, until I signed over my property.
The usa government is full of criminal thugs. They deserve the absolute worst.
They literally declared war on me.
It's not the worst mistake, but the fact that the city just immediately went to giant fines and ordered him to leave his residence is suspicious.
They waited till he remodeled it therefore he put a total of 875,000$+ into the property. Then fine the tf out of him so he has to sell it quick (cheap) so someone in connection with city hall gets to buy it
I still don't understand how the city 'WAS' the seller and private owners cannot run fire stations yet the only intended use is fire station. Then they shouldn't have sold it!
How dare that man use the property that he legally purchased
It's all about power, nothing more. City wants it back after he made something with it.
were just lucky the government lets you keep about half your money that your worked for, thats really kind of them.
maybe seattle should spend more time and money removing the homeless and provide a safe place for city resident to live rather than spending resources trying to take a man's house.
@@ValueshooterHouston has tried a new way to combat homeless people. It’s giving them places to live, they found it’s way more cheaper to do that than spend the money cleaning up after the homeless, or making cities anti-homeless.
Seattle caters way too damn much to junkies. I get helping them get food and water. I can even understand the reasoning for giving them clean needles to prevent the spread of disease.
But they let them get high at a “shelter” then go out on the street, that’s literally catering to junkies. Back then you would be arrested for doing drugs in public but it seems it’s encouraged now.
Ah, the Land of free....
For a city sinking in the excrement of homelessness, suing someone for having a home is irony at its finest.
IKR
And a home they sold him labeled as a home. Sound to me like they wanted the money from selling it then planned to snatch it back out from under them for free
Facts!!!!
The whole country is sinking in homelessness and poverty. It’s widespread and rampant.
Amen to that drug addicts roaming the streets putting people at risk with fentanyl and defecating on the streets are treated with more respect than tax paying americans
It's amazing that a city would waste time and resources on a nice home instead of addressing homelessness and crime.
The homelessness and crime aren't a bug; they're a feature.
I'm glad that the owner was able to retain adequate counsel. People don't realize how necessary it is that you not only have an attorney but one who is well versed in the type of suit. I'd love a follow-up to this story.
Government: If we've made a mistake, it's your fault
Citizens if I make any financial mistake the government can pay for it
Pretty much
Democrats
Government: if we make a mistake you pay for it through increased taxes. We then implement wonderfully efficent programs using your money to prevent anything bad from everhappening again😂😂😂
Liberal logic: Makes total sense. This time it's different 🤣🤣
Same with ssi lol
The city was wrong, they admitted as much when the dropped their frivolous lawsuit, and now they should pay all legal fees for putting this man through this.
DID THEY ADVERTISE IT ON THE INTERNET? THAT MAKES THEIR LAND FRAUD ALSO FEDERAL WIRE FRAUD...
They probably thought the little man wouldn't fight back. Seattle is a cesspool. That city used to be great and it has gone to shit because of the leadership that keep being elected.
@@TexasbyStorm Mafia city
They wanted 500000 from him, they need to give him 1000000. What they did was inappropriate and they should pay for their crimes.
Agreed
Sue the City for all attorney fees and an extra $.5M for trespassing and stupidity.
Way to go Seattle you have rampant crime and homelessness and yet you put your resources into punishing law abiding citizens.
Are the homeless people not law abiding citizens?
@@FridayFroths Well, in Seattle they can drop a deuce in front of businesses and shoot up wherever they choose with 0 consequence. I wouldn’t really call that law abiding.
"Rampant crime" says the MAGA moron who is too scared to enter literally any city!😂
@fridaebae7908 Generally they're not.
@@FridayFrothsmostly no
That man deserves his money back. If they wanted the place to be a historical landmark they should have kept it.
Big facts.. he bought the fucking thing
What no one has pointed out is that the homeowner is using this building as an office likely in an area where is not allowed and retained the firestation signage and is operating a false firestation. He doesn't want the building to be rezoned as residential. He wants it to be rezoned as an office and probably doesn't meet the minimum standards for office zoning.
He should definitely be given his money back since they misrepresented the property, but he should also be allowed to keep the property and use it as he sees fit.
@@KabobHope fire stations have living quarters and offices. And they make a lot of noise for the community. So usage didn't change in any negative way, only positive. He didn't even destroy the historic value. The city messed up.
@@KabobHope well he lives in it and uses it as a home office therefore it would be residential. Because he lives in it. He never said anything about wanting it to be zoned as an office and he’s obviously not trying to make it appear as a legitimate fire station.
For anyone checking in now; the city dropped the lawsuit after he countersued since the paperwork that converted the land use from a fire station to a residential zone "got lost" in the bureaucratic process
Thank you. I was wonder how a three year old video showed up on my front page, but I'm glad that everything worked out.
thanks for the update, yet that phony explanation of “paperwork” getting lost in the digital age when everything is documented and archived digitally is not believable at all…
@@djamilawilschke7259 government is always behind on this stuff and its a frequent thing ... they want everything in paper and lose it all the time
@@djamilawilschke7259You'd be surprised how much stuff never gets filed digitally. After all it's easier to be scummy that way or at the very least negligent.
Yes’ someone seen his property from one of his lavish parties and wanted it for themself. They probably no doubt work for the city. Glad he won his case.
He bought it from the city and then 3 years later the city told him he can't use it anymore. So messed up he had to sue for the city to drop their rediculous suit.
It makes no sense. If it HAD to used as a firehouse, why did the city sell it in the first place? Did they expect the buyer to establish independent firefighting team?
Suing a man who paid 700K for the building, unknown amounts for renovations, drives what looks to be fully equipped Suburban which starts at 60K but can climb well over 100K and wears two very expensive watches was a mistake. He could put a dream team of lawyers together in an afternoon.
They sued him after they sold it as a residence. Yeah dude that’s fucked ip
For almost the exact cost of the property
It is government, what do you expect? And people want government to have more control over their lives, that's what is really scary.
@@rizon72 things like this don't happen when government has to answer to the people. Transparency is exactly what the more government people want. What is money spent on and how the money is spent. Spending 150 million dollars per year on police to raise the budget by 10% every year, only to see crime increase. Obviously Police aren't working.
@@efingsandals I somewhat agree. The government needs to be a lot smaller, maybe 60% smaller and a hell of a lot more transparent. I’m all up for looking for methods to improve the police, such as significantly raising their budget to put officers through school and hire more social experts. Police work, they stop a significant amount of crime, they just need more money and that money delighted in a more efficient manner to streamline things. That, and only that, is how you stop crime and fix most governmental issues.
Yankee problems democrats in control their
Can City Hall be sued for not being used to run a city?
Awesome....!!!
Well it seems that way to this lawsuit
Wouldn't do any good there broke ,in more than one way not to mention all of there insurers are pulling out.
It is run more as a communist enforcement agency, so yes, they should be sued!
Hmmmm.... someone should try.
This station was featured on an HGTV show of some sort a few years ago. He won his lawsuit against the city and kept the place!
What happened here was someone in the city became interested in the property and the city was leaning towards taking it over so they either can use it for their use or resell it for a higher value.
The fact that they dropped the lawsuit when he decided to counter speaks volumes. They definitely tried to extort him and decided it wasn’t worth the hassle when they saw him fighting back.
I just wonder what the fuck they thought he would do... sit there and take it in the ass? lol really... fucking nutcases they are.
@@miranda.cooper Well, it is Seattle, kind of what would be normal, for Seattle.
Someone was definitely looking for a bribe.
@@miranda.cooper They're called Liberals, Progressives, Nazis.
@@kendm21 this was a abuse of power. Im a progressive and im far from a nazi im actually very conservative when it comes to the good parts of american values
The city sold him the firehouse and the city proceed to sue him. You can’t make this up.
Unfortunately, this isn't the most outrageous thing that the Seattle has done. They continue to demonstrate that they don't live on the same planet as the rest of us.
@Phillip Ramos ofc cuz oil company's make big bucks ! Would close down that lawsuit instantly.
@Phillip Ramos proof?
Clown Worrrrrrrllllddddd
Lol. Someone needs to be fired.
We need names of the person/ plaintiff of the person to see who they are and to see if they still need to be employed for the city of Seattle.
Seems to me that the person(s) responsible for filing the lawsuit and his or her (their) employer are incompetent and completely lacking in common sense, and they have wasted a considerable amount of public funds. Their employment should be terminated immediately.
Imagine buying a used police car from the city and then being told you can't use it as a car.
Its like buying a used police car and them saying you can't use it for personal use, only as a police car.
@@katelights hahahaha like they want you to go round arresting people..
Bro, one of my friends bought a retired sheriffs car from a police auction. It still had the two tone brown and tan, as well as a little of the tech and a couple decals. They told him it was fine as is to drive, but he got pulled over almost daily. He eventually was required to paint it and change a couple other things, under threat of arrest for impersonating a police officer.. just for driving it. He never tried to pull anyone over or anything like that.
😆😆😆😆😆
@@kurroshin750 I've seen that video. Amazing they sold it to him that way. And luckily he had the selling department's officer on cell video doing it. Otherwise he'd been in a lot of trouble.
It’s amazing in Seattle, drugs are no longer illegal, you can burn the city down with no penalty but you better not build a house on a property the city sold as a residential
He didn't build. He remodeled the station to make it a residence. If the city sold it as a residential piece of property, then the fault falls on the city.
I watch your driving videos
your argument has no sense. Alcohol and tobacco are legal and people do not burn the city for being drunk or with lung cancer. Drugs are ilegal because nixon said so. Alcohol used to be ilegal too.
@@seebaastian alcohol and tobacco are not heroin or meth. noboby ever robbed and assaulted my mother for a cigarette. you are a joke
Leftist run city, what do you expect
We're being harassed by city zoning officials over a supposed "violation" that existed for years prior to us buying the house. We've engaged city council, the mayor, even our local state delegate, as well as an attorney. So far this fight has cost us over $8,000 and a huge amount of mental stress and frustration, but we're determined to stand against harassment. Good for this guy!
We know some rich person paid a sell out to claim it isn’t. How can it be sold as residents if it isn’t that seems dumb either it is or not
Be sure to demand back pay for them having wasted your time.
Just went through this with the city. Our mancave/shed 242 sq ft in the backyard has been here since 1989. We bought it in 1997. After fighting and meetings, hearings and etc more than $6000 was spent to demolish. It needed to be 3ft from the wall. Along with that while the city was here I had 2 shade structures 73 sq and the other 92 sq were demolished as well. Needed to be 3 ft from the wall. O did I forget we had a 8x10 tuff shed on the side of the house it needed to be 15 ft from the wall and 6ft from the house. Well it was moved to the backyard 3 ft from the wall. Wtf. None of the people involved were on the same page. Couldn't find anyone to help. Mayor no, councilman no, city manager no, news no. All gone but the shed.
The fact that the city dropped its lawsuit the moment hr aquirred, a lawyer and counter sued tells me they knew the entire time dot what they were doing was wrong but illegal. They should be glad he's only asking for so little
I guess if someone buys a police station they automaticly become a cop.
Chief* of city police hahaha
@@nordicdrow buwahahaha
hahaha Good one!
😂 brilliant!
I'm gonna buy a clinic, a strip club, and a space shuttle.
The adventures of Dr. Mike "Magic" Astronaut.
Seattle would much rather you just be homeless in their city.
They do get federal money for dealing with the homeless, so you’re not wrong.
Or living in an RV
once everyone is homeless, all will be equal, except for those politicians who are more equal. Is Animal farm still required reading in any schools now
I read it that was about 8 years ago in Northern California
too many hardcore homeless rightwingers coming from red states to blue states to mooch off free welfare
What’s silly is that in order to remodel and upgrade the fire station amenities into a home, he or his contractor would have had to file permits that required city inspections. So, the city knew what was going on with this property all along.
Also, I love that he kept the exterior as-is! I bet it feels comfortable as a home and a family gathering place.
So progressive, Seattle. I delivered packages to this very house a year before this happened. Very impressive place, and the owner obviously put a lot of money into renovating it.
For anyone wondering, the city dropped the lawsuit. Apparently they “forgot” to change the zoning to residential for the property.
Do you know if he got any money back? They "forgot" and he had to pay at least $80,000 to "remind" them.
His suit against the city is still valid since he had to pay tens of thousands to fight their negligence...they owe him every cent back.
Or, could he sue for back property taxes as until they changed the zoning as it had no value for the purchaser?
Or at least give him a credit on future property taxes owed equal to the amount of his legal fees. Although, I don't trust the government to keep track of these details. They'll likely say later on that he hasn't paid his property taxes. Just cut him a check from taxpayer money and subtract it from your city budget. I'm a liberal but the people running the government and the people staffed to support it (pensioners) tend not to give a fuck about their jobs. They put in the minimum effort. Always hated my interactions with any city employee where I'm from. Minus a handful of decent people that I'll meet once in a while. But the rest are horrible.
@jet guy The city had authority over the sale, and are responsible for any misrepresentation involved. Not to mention that the city is in charge of setting zoning, so they can rezone the property any way they want, at any time.
So, we will SELL it as residential, but then SUE you for using it as a RESIDENCE.
Makes sense 😳
And we will be rolling in money.
Thats some mafia or commonwealth type shit
I mean this is America
It is Seattle. What do you expect from that city government.
Nice to see Captain Obvious is on the job.
Considering it took 4 years before anything was ever said or done… yes, someone with money looked inside the windows, liked what they saw and decided they wanted it. They had connections to city hall and tried to use it but didn’t expect these people to fight back. They probably figured they would walk away and would walk in and have the municipal code changed for the building before they moved in.
You know how easy it must be for someone going to your house for the first time? Normally you're all like " yeah it's the blue house on the corner with the trailer on the side"
Turns out that person is three cities over at the wrong house. With this you can just tell them look for the big firehouse and you would have to be blind to miss it
Forget Seattle's drug problem, this man is living in a firehouse. This must be stopped! Let's spend thousands of tax payer dollars on this pressing issue.
@Winston McGee And clearly you're not smart enough to recognize sarcasm.
@Winston McGee you're dumb as fuck
Looks like those starting this charade, were riding the white dragon
Took the words right out of my mouth
He's a menace to society
"Complaint about property" = a neighbor didn't like the dude with the cool fire house having parties
Someone is drinking hatorade.
Someone is just jealous that they don’t live in a cool fire house
@@thatpersonwithamlpiconwhos2861 It's really just human nature. It probably first occurred when our first ancestor pierced a shell and donned it around her neck.
More like a city official wanted the property for themselves. We would be amazed how often this is the case.
Oh. This golden apple? Only for the most beautiful one.
Everyone who works for the city involved in harassing this man should be fired.
i think it's extremely cool to have an old retired fire station as a home.
The city definitely should be held financially liable for the owners expenses.
That is the taxpayer's money. Someones need to hold accountability.
@@HungNguyen-su2vd The taxpayers put those people in charge of their money... Maybe next time they'll vote different
@@IKnowYouDidnt yeah because a different suit would have totally prevented this 🙄 voting does nothing bud.
Including what he spent on the place and he should be able to keep the place with a right to sell the property back to the city for the next decade at market value and at least what he paid originally no property tax for life. It was illegally sold they should pay for the Fraudulent Sale of the Property.
@@IKnowYouDidntExactly!
Someone was just jealous that that guy lives in a freaking firehouse so they wanted to be a little punk and call the city! Shame on them.
Cincinnnati has an old firehouse they turned into a pizza place.....it's AWESOME.....FIREHOUSE PIZZA IN CLIFTON
In my town, dogs cant bark.
@@tootallmaninflorida awesome I’ll pay them a visit lol
I'll bet you a thousand that this is all based on parking complaints from neighbors who don't want cars legally parked along "their" street.
That call should have gotten them nowhere.
"the city hired the agent, the city had a supervisory role over that agent..." so then why tf is it the home owners fault when they failed to correct their advertising before allowing the sale of the property.
The only issue is that is says "fire station". That needs to be removed. It looks like a fire station. I bet someone complained thinking they were getting help. What if someone has an emergency and drives to get help? Remove the sign.
Funny how quick the city changed their tune once he got a lawyer and makes you wonder how many times the city has done shady stuff like this before and gotten away with it because they didn't have a lawyer
Many time
Its a blue state. They're essentially the Gestapo
More than likely they went this route in order to have a legal claim to take the property only to let it sit for a few years and then sell it again and repeat the process against the new owner.
@@theflerffyburr7919 my red state keeps canceling laws passed by public vote.
I think if you find cause to sue the city, they must cover your lawyer fees.
He’s taking better care of it than the city would.
They probably wanted it back to be used as a new autonomous zone
@Rasheed Gazzi Right, gee wiz, leave the man alone.....😒
The party that runs that city has a track record.
He can use it any way he want to its his now no more party place. Assholes.
This man was just another FOOL who didn't read the contract before he signed it. As a Bill Collector for 30 years, I met MANY Such Fools. I'm certain that whoever sold him that property avoided liability in the wording of the sales contract. Now this BOZO is left holding the bag !!!
"Let the buyer beware." -- an old Roman saying.
"A Fool and his Money are soon parted." -- Aesop.
"There's a SUCKER born every minute." -- social prophet PT Barnum.
So if a private citizen is able to buy a firehouse, but not turn it into a residence what are they to do with it? Form a private fire brigade or something?
I think Seattle has a lot bigger problems than harrasing someone over a "zoning infraction"! Glad he stood up to whoever was trying to steal his property!
Now imagine this is someone who couldn’t hire a good lawyer. And you see the abuse people take every day
That would suck in any other housing situation but then again this guy bought the fire station for 700k+. Regardless spending 80k on a frivolous lawsuit is still ridiculous.
@@eliminatorxx713xx principles are principles
@@eliminatorxx713xx city sold the closed fire station, listed it as a possible residence. The guy buys the property and does some pretty major work. Think a minute, I'm pretty sure he had to permit all the work, pretty sure he had to get the inspectors to sign off on his plans before issuing permits. Now after all the work is done the city states " no no it has to be a fire station". Don't think I've ever heard of a privately owned fire station inside a city the size of Seattle.
Wish he calls for a jury trial, I would volunteer. Think this fall under a federal law prohibiting false and misleading advertising. Then possible fraud.
@Gold Gaming ?
@@donniebrown2896 that’s what I don’t understand surely an individual isn’t allowed to operate their own fire station so why was it sold to him in the first place?
First mistake, living in the city of Seattle.
Seattle is a great city. Been there a few times
I'm amazed anyone is still there. Everything crazy thing that happens there seem to come under the policy of life being too short, for me.
@@rticle15 I’ve also been there several times. Love relatively close by. Its a horrible city. And it would be even worse living there.
Its become a shithole. Where you been? Come on down and see the boarded up stores, vacated police stations, bum tent villages. Smell like an outhouse downtown, needles every other atreet corner..but besides that yeah, nice place
@@rticle15 Seattle is trash.
I’m completely on this man’s side on this matter, but is no one else concerned with it still looking like a fire station- numbers and all? He should probably be required to make adjustments like removing the fire station numbers. People are raised (at least in the US) to seek emergency help from fire stations if hospitals are not closer, which could cause people already in trouble to die. Fire stations are so integral that they usually make it to the screen of an emergency before ambulances. Hopefully that’s being addressed.
ive never been raised to seek help from a fire station you call 911 if you need help
Oh that should have been straightened out when he submitted his set of plans for remodeling the fire station!!!
Exactly my thought!🤣
That’s a noble thought: Hold the city to the same standards they hold their residents to.
That wasn’t an uncommon idea and still isn’t much for the states that are remaining in the union. Rip west coast. After the war, we need to cleanse those states before accepting them back.
The entire United States should have the government live by the rules they enact!
"Socialism is for the people, not the Socialist."
@@Nick-vw1lmsea writing command
Good luck with that in a democratically controlled city and state
Perhaps the city attorney’s next move will be to demand that all buildings in an “HPOZ” must meet today’s latest building codes and use and zoning codes, I mean if the government gets to make up the rules as they go....
Why did the city approve his permits if they didn’t want this “residential “ piece of property to be used as a residence? The city should reimburse him for his expenses related to this suit.
This is a good point, if he remodeled, he probably had to buy at least a few permits, and yet for four years there was nothing but static. Then suddenly they came out of the woodwork with this ludicrous claim?
Agree, or just offer to buy the house if they want the fire house back so bad. It's probably worth $2 million now tho
@@sarasolomon4812 he may hv remodeled without a permit. I had a friend do that and get in trouble. My fringe added a driveway and a addition to the his house.
Add the insane idea that as an actual firehouse, it had "residential" qualities already...
@@terezobert2101 He did major renovation with no permits? Is your friend a fucking moron? lmao
You missed something Amy. If the City 1. Issued residential building permits. 2. Assessed and taxed the property as Residential. 3. Accepted the residential tax payment. Then they had changed the zoning from public use to residential. This would be required to sell.
years ago a city i lived sold a 100 year fire house .the person bought and turned into there house it was cool see when going by as they would leave the doors open in summer . guy inside said he felt like a little kid owning it
What makes this disturbing is that the city was hoping for this not to be a big thing. They were hoping to scare the guy off and get some funds out of it. I’m very glad he’s fighting.
No, what makes this disturbing it's that the real estate agent should have known better.
@Supremax67
Nah, old public facilities are sold as residential homes all of the time. It’s super normal. You can buy federal nuclear fallout shelters to live in if you had the money and would be able to sleep at night.
Just another case of government being scum.
I don't even understand. He was supposed to sell it? He was supposed to stop having loud parties?
Side bar comment. Although I wouldn't recommend this for all commercial property, but you would be surprised how many older commercial structure designs actually suit well for residential housing conversions. I'd even argue that because commercial structures have higher building standards over residential, they make more sound investments for your long term housing. It might cost you a fortune to convert the property fully, but in the end that building will still be there long after you are gone.
Modern commercial sites though make for poor residential conversions. Load bearing is handled different from walls to structural forms, the majority of interior walls have very little structural integrity and don't go from floor to ceiling. The outside walls are usually more glass than physical structure.
@@Supremax67 maybe knew
Why don’t people want to deal with the city of Seattle?
Seattle: we’ll sell you this building as a residence but don’t you dare reside there.
How dare you spend 700k on a Firehouse and not be able to use it?
@@zankou5611 Oh you spent tens of thousands on a lawsuit we wrongly filed? Sorry for your loss.
@@bot7070 these people need to be wrongly put in jail for a few years. Then I'm sure they won't try fucking people over as much....
A residence, and a public building, hmm... I believe that if you leave the building unoccupied, it will revert to a community center, for the homeless rodents of the neighborhood. Are there any public funds available?
The city offered a property, that they had no use for. They hired an auction company to write the advertising in a way that would maximize the financial returns, for both, the city, and the auction company. Next, the dumb ass, who’s responsibility it was to arrange the sale, never bothered to proof read the ad copy. Stupid is forever. Ignorance can be fixed.
The city new what they where the entire time. There playing dumb.
This was clearly about pointless control or just a desire to steal that home from the owner
I love how it was 4 years later when they all of a sudden had an issue
Someone from the city probably saw it when they drove by and figured "why not? Why shouldn't I take it?".
Government are looters always working in the next swindle and ripoffs dealing.
Politicians are career profecíonal Criminals. They wrote the laws to commit crimes and walk away .
They needed a new revenue source. Or, they wanted to turn it into a homeless shelter. Or both.
He must be a Conservative.
@@mr_mack_indenver7807 No such thing as a conservative in Seattle. That there is 110% liberal.
City of Seattle: "Hey, wanna buy this cool lookin' "house?"
Also, the city of Seattle a few years later: "Ha! Sike! Get offa my land!"
Went through similar mess when my garage burned. I had to get ALL the permits to REPLACE the garage, then following year, was told my taxes were gonna double because I have a new building (garage) on my land. I had to send them pictures of my house and previous garage, which I printed off of their web-sites, plus police/fire dept paperwork from the fire investigation, and their permits, showing this was a replacement garage, built on the footers, from the previous garage. Yep, more red tape and paperwork, to sit on some poor clerks desk, while the big shots try to save the city from the residents. But they were too busy to do their research from when the building permits were pulled(It says right on the permits that it is replacement construction, due to code requirements).
Works with taxes too. Pay for your property in full for the privilege to rent it from the government. And don't dare try to turn a profit renting it to someone else without paying for that privilege as well. Land of the free
@@westganton land of the free my ass
Agree, paying land tax is paying to rent the land from the government.
The city of Seattle is the modern equivalent of Florida man
What else is a person who is buying this property going to do with it, start a private fire fighting service? Thus was such a stupid thing for the city to do.
If the city made the mistake and sold the property best residential property then the city can correct the mistake by making the residence legal
Honestly he’s restored it beautifully and is using it for the enjoyment of his family and friends. If they wanted it to be a fire station they should have kept it.
That's where he went wrong. The city was dumping excess and run down properties...he bought it and restored it to a very desirable condition...the city or a person with strong city connections now wanted it back. Likely there was a campaign contributing developer that wanted the thing.
A judgement of $500 a day festering for 4 years to resolution can cause a frustrated owner to just quitclaim it as a deal out of the fines.
you have no idea what it looked like before all he probably just repainted the walls.
well you have no idea of your "probably...." so your postulate holds more gravitas than the OP??? Not really.
Given just gut experience... I'd go with the OPs speculation as the more likely as cities seldom keep current buildings in top condition, much less surplus and unused buildings dumped at auction.
@@Legendary-zh9hd There was pictures of the listing in this video before he bought it... pay attention
@@Legendary-zh9hdgots to be a Trump supporter 😂😂. No critical thinking whatsoever
Funny how government never wants to give a on camera statement when stuff like this happens.
Of course not. Why would anyone want to be recorded as the incompetent, oxygen thief that they are?
@@TEXpanteraAS adorable. Bet the govt loves how they keep getting away with things because “incompetence “
The reason for pear harbor? “Incompetence”
9/11? “Incompetence”
Extorting the peasants for money?
Incompetence...
Really convenient for them, not being held accountable for anything because they just dumb. So wtf are we voting for???
Anyone with a brain wouldn't.
There's zero upsides to making a statement and NUMEROUS downsides to making one.
They’re criminals. They don’t want their faces on TV.
@@CoercedJab We wote, to uphold the Constitution of 1776. so the people can choose its leaders, instead of leaders electing them selves.
The person who filed the complaint ought to be liable to reimburse the owner for his legal fees.
Here in the UK, when you buy a house or other dwelling, any restrictions, easements, liens HAVE to be registered with the land registry, otherwise they don't exist.
So if the usage of the building hasn't been formally changed from commercial/public to "residential" that would be picked up by the purchaser's lawyer during what we call "search".
My first instinct here is that the man should be tearing his own lawyer a new one even though the whole shit-show is clearly the fault of the city of Seattle
I mean the guy bought property in Seattle, the city should feel lucky.
He bought when it was cool to do so. Boy, did they ever f that up. Values dropping, turn times rising...they're ripe for a collapse.
LOLOLOL
@@scottbutler2343 you fool as long you use a debt currency like the US dollar soon the whole country will collapse because the country owes 27 trillion to the federal reserve www.usdebtclock.org
@@theshowman1000 Yep, absolutely nothing to do with what I said. This is about Liberals ruining a good thing in a great city. Nerd.
Exactly my thoughts...
This is why you hire an attorney. City bureaucrats can wear you down emotionally and financially. A competent attorney can quickly get to the heart of the matter.
"A competent attorney can quickly get to the heart of the matter," there's nothing quick about the practice of law, sorry.
@@zachsabbath1mfao so you’re judging an entire demographic based on the actions of a few? I have lawyers and attorneys that don’t play games. Anything that involves legal representation, I haven’t had a single problem with. You sound like a fucking child. Not every lawyer/attorney is dirty.
@@zachsabbath1not to mention the cost of even getting one in the first place. Over 80% of people can't afford one,.
@@jackdempsey6349 Yep, This is how the establishment keeps poor people from owning or buying land from the city, as the poor lack the resources to hire attorneys those with money have.
He did hire an attorney. Didn’t you watch the whole video?
SO IF IT'S TO BE USED AS A FIRE STATION... WTF DID THEY SELL IT AT ALL IF IT'S TO BE USED AS A FIRE STATION?? AND WTF DID THEY SELL IT AS A RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY!!!
The city is after this guy for fixing up a house , but down the street is an open air drug market , theft , looting and this is what they worry about
So what does Seattle want him to do? Start up his own private fire station.
Who tf is buying a fire station with zoning permissions that only allow it to be used as a fire station? I literally cannot think of any reason for why anyone would buy it for that zone.
He should buy a truck, get some guys, respond to calls and BILL THE CITY.
@@francismarionswampfox3468 😂😂😂
Or start ghost busting.
@@merciless972 even better idea!
They sold a fire station expecting a person to buy it and then start an illegal unauthorized fire department?
Like a private detective but for fires
You make a very good point. To suggest that they were expecting the purchaser to set up a private fire department/station is completely ridiculous. That would be a completely unreasonable expectation on the part of the city. I speculate that in the city's own bylaws and codes that there could not be a private fire department. That alone would suggest that the city is well ....lying. I could win this case on that alone.
@@SocialistDistancing If the city REQUIRES it to be used as a fire station, why did they sell it? If they had kept it IT WOULD STILL BE A FIRE STATION! This is like me selling my car and then sueing the new owner for not driving me around. Do you think they sued everyone that bought an old police car at auction for not responding to bank robberies and domestic disputes?
I’m going to buy an old Brinks truck and go bank to bank picking up deposits. “ It’s not bank robbery officer. I have a armored car”
Only need to know it's in Seattle and you know exactly why this going on.
So the firefighters weren't using it as a residence when the city owned it?
So was he supposed to start his own fire department? They would them sue him for that ? This is why this city is so corrupt
So, The moral of the story is that the city “LIED”and now wants to cover it up with a lawsuit?! Typical. 🤦♀️
@Gold Gaming I’m pretty sure that I was correct, but also that there is sure a lesson to. The City’s always gonna manipulate, any situation, lie or cover-up in their favor. I have been there done that to with the city.
They will also make up shit, as they go along tie you up with “Mistakes” “Coding Errors “ ETC to their benefit for whatever, they are looking to do at the time they wanna do it.
End Of Story! ( It’s a game that they play very well).
did they? I am pretty sure the legal document with the zoning code for this property has not been changed and therefore it was always "NOT-Residential".. the thirdparty selling this made an error and the buyer made an error for believing an "ad" instead of reading the legal documents regarding this property.. you always read this stuff about zoning, water and mineral rights and so on and so on.. he was naiv and now that they are trying to enforce the zoning code this building has and had when he bought it, he claims to have fallen out of the clouds like this was some sort of "shenannigens" which it really is not.. there is no conspiracy, just a naiv buyer who was taking an ad at face value, a property ad at that.. just laughable..
@@philxdev there is a reason false advertisement is illegal. The guy was well within reason to take the ad at face value. The law seems to agree with this as well. If it didn't he'd have no recourse to seek compensation for his legal fees.
@@reFRIJJrate but the question is though.. who does he get compensation from??? and that does not necessarily change the "zoning code" anyhow, why should it..
so was it a miscommunication between the realtor and the city? did the realtor not read the document about the property he was selling (where the zoning code is mentioned) ? and why the hell did the buyer not read the official document about the property he was buying were it clearly stated that this is zoned XYZ???? who made the false advertisment and why.. and is that entity responsible and therefore liable.. and what are they liable for? if they presented the legal document about the property with the zoning code in it before the purchase went through, are they even still liable? and if so for how much of the damages caused.. is it only for the value of the property at that time, or do they have to compensate for renovations too, if f.e. the property goes back to the city etc.. and do they even have to pay for the legal fees? I mean it is not all black and white here and the buyer himself "now putting it all on the ad" ( which is laughable ) has some responsibility as he should have read himself WHAT he was buying from the legal document describing the property... but well I could be wrong and the US does not have such documents about the properties explaining in detail the size, the borders, the zoning code, the water and mineral rights etc..
@@philxdev That could have happened to. As in buying ANY property there are Many different companies involved in the transaction knowing that he was looking for a residential property to LIVE in and if this was a “mistake” then there is Lots of blame to go around and I’m sure, he’s going to be looking into suing them as well.
He was looking for his new home and fixed it up and moved in, it’s not like he said, I want a additional investment property ETC it was “advertised” as such and the people making the deal KNEW.
I don’t know all of the facts, but I do know that there are a lot of blame to go around.
Also, just a side note, I live in CA and I also had issues with the City with Zoning that I had to fight for over a year with and YES they had made “Errors” when we first started then wanted to change it on us and we had to fight them ALL the way!
We won in the end, but it was very costly in doing so. The problem is the city does make mistakes A LOT, but they never want to admit it nor pay for it.
They are like Teflon in the end, you have to fight.
Sounds like the city was acting like a corrupt HOA.
Most cities operate that way in some capacity but I also think the feds put them up to it by dangling grant money in front of them.
Are you implying non-corrupt HOAs exist?
Yup. All HOAs are corrupt and anticonstitutional.
HOA, aka, letting elderly Karens rule your home life.
EVERY City acts that way. Its up to Us to fight them.
It was sold by an agent employed by the city who represented the property as "residential" there was no reasonable doubt it was otherwise and the buyer in good faith expected it to be that way. The City sued the new owner? What the f....up!
At least 6 city employees had to be involved in this, and not one said "Hold on a minute. This is just stupid". Full-grown, breeding adults, with real, paying jobs were involved, and no one fired a single neuron? To me that's the real story.
unfortunately this is typical of government employees.
exactly. why this took more than 4 minutes to resolve is the real crime
Honestly though..
They probably have a culture where the boss has to have his ass licked and you can’t have a different opinion or else you won’t get along or promoted. Poor leadership. It starts at the top.
when you become a government employee you officially have rejected common sense in favor of meticulous nitpicky rules, regulations, laws. it doesn’t matter if it’s fucking stupid, all that matters is if you can find a legal work around.
What kind of a’hole decided to move forward with this lawsuit? The “city” isn’t a thing or a computer. Some spiteful person saw an opportunity to financially hurt another person. This was vindictive
Guaranteed it's coming from a few houses down the street.
You are dreaming in color. 😀
And who came forward with the original "complaint" ?
@@VideoNOLA And likely someone with connections to Seattle zoning dept..
@DannyGirl Agreed. And if his renovation of the station kept many of the original small bedrooms, those family events could have been multi-night stays, with multi-night cook-outs (= neighbors lying in bed at night clenching jaws at every burst of laughter from nextdoor).
Why is there never any follow up? That would also be news but the media just likes to ask questions with no answers ever offered.
Because that would be journalism and not deliberate support of those who are in the process of destroying Seattle. The only reason they "still report" is for the advertising money they get by entertaining CZcamsrs.
"Someone filed a complaint" usually means he did something to upset the neighborhood, like, I dunno, maybe had one too many parties with amplified live music that spilled out onto the lawn. Being listed by a realtor for "residential living" does not mean you can use it as an event center for charity fundraisers. Odds are it would have continued to fly under the radar if he had used it as a residence and not turned it into party central, which the pics in the news story strongly suggest has become a nuisance. The guy may not realize it, but that news story provided all the evidence a city attorney needs to shut him down.
Horribly inept officials with absolutely no common sense.
Nailed it 👏
Corrupt and Jealous.
Seattle in a nutshell
@Brandon Lopez I think it would be best to simply remove them from office. After all, if you were a public official and you made an intentional mistake based off ignorance you would want to live to learn from that mistake as well, wouldn’t you? Not to mention merely suggesting such violence can bring things down far more fierce than you’ll ever be able to exact on your own.
they give with 1 hand and take with 2
Good thing Seattle doesn’t have anything else to worry about.
Lolol
@@tryhardfinessedyou Yeah I was thinking along those lines just now --- classic example of wasteful misappropriation of time and money --- going after someone for a non-problem while ignoring (or claiming not to have sufficient resources to address) real problems like crime, hunger, homelessness, etc.
INDEED!
Hahahahaha nailed it.
How can he buy it and only use it for a firehouse? So was the city's intention for him to be a franchisee of a firehouse? I didn't know fire houses could be individually owned
That’s so cool….. I live down the street from an old police station that’s been converted into a home….. it’s very cool.
The PERSON responsible for pursuing this has a name and should be held accountable.
I hope while he's trying to get his legal fees back that he's applying a 'daily' rate just like the City applied one to him
Should of counter sued for additional damages such as the cost of remodeling. Buyers can and have sued sellers for failure to disclose material facts and/or misrepresentation of facts.
@@anyone150 Absolutely agree
he definitely could charge the same interest as on an unsecure loan...
For real though.. This is sickening.
www.foxbusiness.com/real-estate/residential-firehouse-dispute-hypocrisy-seattle-government
Sounds to me like the city was just trying to advantage of this man and weren't expecting him to fight back.
I also am sure they didn’t expect the support he is getting nationally
Someone who paid $700K for the property is going to fight back with a lawyer.
Who *wouldn’t* fight back though?
This guy is still sharp and mentally there. Not all 60 year olds are. It would be extremely easy for a senior to not understand or grasp what's happening.
Also, anything dealing with the government is not an easy task. Take him being sued for example. $500 a day is an extremely scary thought.
he should sue them for wasting his time and money
Whoever tried to scare the owners probaly never thought the issue wouldn't have been dragged out longer and gain publicity. Now that it has been and the owner counter-sued, suddenly they dropped the lawsuit LOL. This is blatant scare tactic that ultimately failed.
If it was sold by the city as a residence, then the city needs to cite itself for improper use.
😅😂🤣
Can’t do that we would have to get rid of the dead beat Incompetent staff that are non-value added overhead! Because like liberals we care!
Yeah right. When I worked for the state we broke our own rules all the time. There are no repercussions because the people have no power
This man has two watches on. You can’t outsmart a man that needs two watches
Like why lol... must be some busy with his hands, can't look over to the other .
@@tylorchaffey9990 makes sense to me. He probably enjoys the aesthetic of a nice watch and the other one is clearly a smart watch
He could just be to dumb to remember which arm his watch goes on. After all he does live in Seattle.
@@josephfrechette9916 that's a pretty dumb comment
There is no "Which arm" it goes on
Goes left or right
You’re a moron learn how to speak English
It had to be used as a fire station. WTF? you can't just create a personal fire department within the city. He would hve been sued for not hiring union workers, or some other made up crap. I know this is old, but cant expect much from the city anymore. I live about 30 miles away, and havent even drove through in years, and dont want to either.
The City should have rezoned it to residential before selling. If the City knew that the building had not been rezoned when it was advertised it as a "unique residential dwelling" then they may be guilty of misrepresentation at the very least . Otherwise how can a private person acquire a public utility such as a fire station?
Someone lost out on the purchase, and singled him out. Counter sue for false advertising. Hope he won big time.
yeah it was supposed to sell for next to nothing to one of the mayors buddies or family members no doubt.
I think you are correct. Its all about someone that was going to get the property... and didnt. The man who bought it and rehabbed it has a great civil case for suing the city. Great question: why did Seattle approv building permits for the new usage? This just needs a decent attorney for damages. Hopefully the interviewed attorney is sharp enough to win the battle... and countersuit.
True I was thinking the same
Sure, they were so upset they immediately waited 4 years before doing anything about it. Bureaucracies aren't exactly the most efficient things, some nosey neighbor was upset about something and filled a complaint, that's all. Since we legislate the heck out of everything people are afraid to do anything but follow the letter of the law exactly. The counter suit of misrepresenting the property will eventually win out and the city will likely to have to pay damages and either rezone the property or buy it back all because we don't encourage people to use problem solving skills or apply a little common sense.
Watch the video again. That's what he did.
FYI. As part of the sale, the city of Seattle had processed a zone change from public building to residential but someone in the bureaucracy dropped the ball. Another city dummy (right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing or even trying to find out) took the complaint and filed suit against Kroon. Two weeks after this report it was all cleared up and the city dropped the suit. A short while after that Kroon' s atty got his legal expenses reimbursed.
Thanks for the update!
Keep in mind it took the media basically humiliating and shaming the city publicly to actually get that to happen. They NEVER would have done it otherwise.
Thank you!
Sounds like a complete non story and an excuse to moan about local government.
@@ericconnor8419 Moaning? An excuse?
Brother our government is running this country into the goddamn ground, there is no moaning. Go be a fucking bootlicker in some other country you scav
Thiss happens all the time. The government allows people to buy category 2 and up homes so they can get their cut but theres no guarantee that the home will ever be allowed to pass inspection.
City of Seattle: homeless people living in tents along the streets and shitting on the sidewalks, no problem. Someone living in a fire station that we sold 4 years ago? Immediate lawsuit.
That's the part that struck me. Their own courthouse is unsafe, yet they have time to harass law abiding citizens like this homeowner.
YEP
Maybe Seattle should burn. Again.
@@Pterodactyl-kn3veYo FBI guy, you reading this?
Yeah, you can't get money out of the homeless, but this guy has deeper pockets.
Seattle says “We’re selling our Fire Station That can’t be used as a Fire Station but it can only be used as a Fire Station”. Ummmm.... 🤔🤯
Damn the Government sales it , makes money so they don’t pay for deconstruction ... and wants more money for you using it as a residence ... I thought fire stations had rooms 🛏 for the firemen to pull a three day work schedule and I have somewhere to sleep 🤔 ... or is it called a rest stop with red truck 🚒
Despite Seattle having sold several other fire stations which have been converted to other uses.
#25 was converted into 16 town houses in 1980, another is a public health clinic, one is a restaurant, yet another is also a residence.
"So far, the city says there’s been strong interest in both properties. “We’ve had several informal, unsolicited offers, ranging from single-family residential use to commercial ventures,” says Hamilton."
Hamilton was the city's real estate manager at the time of the sale...
Clearly a neighbor with political connections didn't like the family gatherings and what not. This is a story of abuse of power and political connections.
Don’t make sense where it was sold as a residential property.
Except instead of saying that you can only use the fire station as a fire station, they get their listing agent to say that you can use it as a residential property, and then the city goes back and says it's not a residential property and tries to bankrupt you
Should counter sue for damages @$1000/day since purchase and reclaim the cost he paid for the residence & interests & renovation costs.