[Boatanchors] Antenna Vandals Caught

[Duane Fischer, W8DBF]

This is going to read like a Ripley Believe It Or Not, so take two aspirin and
get a coffee, tea or softdrink.	
	
When I sold my late parent's property in December 1998, I kept the back 360 feet
of the 660 feet total depth. My property intersects that land at a right angle.
Hence, my lot is a 'L'. On this property was a 12X14 shed on a poured concrete
slab. Beside it was a forty foot heavy duty TV tower sunk in concrete and side
mounted to the wooden shed. I owned the land from the shed twenty feet to the
west, after that it belonged to the new owners. Never a problem. Duly registered
and recorded with the County.	
	
They moved and sold the house. The new woman moved in last December. 	
	
The realtor told her she owned the land with the woods and the shed. He gave her
a key to the shed. (The prior owners never had a key to my shed, so they could
not possibly have given one to the realtor.)	
	
On February 28, 2003 her 21 year old boyfriend pulled my antennas down with his
quadwheeler. I heard it happen, but you have to see it happen! Now is that
discrimination or what? I filed a police report, accusing nobody. Because there
were no suspects, a detective was never assigned. Basically, it died right
there.	
	
Today a friend was out back cutting tree branches out of the woods to put the
new antennas up. The woman approached him and asked what he was doing, so he
told her. She was quite shocked to learn she did not own the property! 	
	
She admitted to me that her boyfriend had ripped the 'cables' down with his
quadwheeler. They were preparing to pull down my tower next! They had taken my
Allis Chalmers yard tractor already from the shed, gotten into the safe and so
forth. I showed her the deed, title and property description. Then I called the
police. 	
	
The realtor cut my lock off the shed, replaced it and gave her a key. I showed
the police my keys, the battery for the yard tractor which was in the utility
room for the Winter and so forth. Now the police know me and it was not long
before an officer showed up here with photocopies of the property descriptions,
including the survey drawings when I divided the land in 1998. I had already
called the township office and got that arranged. I also had the original
realtor who sold the house for me here with copies of the bank work, survey
report and so forth. There was absolutely no question that I owned the property
and the shed!	
	
Now ten days after they bought the house, they claim the backpart of the roof
fell in. So they already had a lawsuit going against the realtor who sold them
the house. This is especially strange, as I replaced the roof in November 1998!
There is no way it should have fallen in. The people who sold the house I know,
and are totally honest folks. They knew who owned the shed and where the
property line was. That was part of the original deal when I sold them the
property. As I said, they never had a key to that shed. 	
	
The police told me that I could do nothing about what the new owners had done,
because the realtor had deceived them. Hence they thought it was their property,
thus there was no criminal intent on their part. I had to sue the realtor for
damages. 	
	
I told the police that a person is responsible to know their property boundries,
and it was not my problem if they could not read or understand a deed, title or
abstract. Which clearly showed it was not their land or their shed. Made no
difference. They still willfully or accidentally, broke into my shed, took my
personal property, destroyed my antenna systems and violated the heck out of my
privacy. Yet the police could do nothing about it. It was not even considered as
trespassing, as they thought they owned the land! The people are not liable to
pay for any damages and my only recourse is to file a lawsit against the realtor
who allegedly deceived them.	
	
As I was typing this, the original people I sold the house to called and
verified they never told the realtor the shed was on the property, they even
showed him where the stake was where the land ended. Even though I had the
property surveyed prior to selling it, the new owner did it again to be sure the
land ended at the right place, and it did. Twenty feet due west of the shed
where the tower is attached. 	
	
Another wonderful example of how one can be totally innocent and get the royal
shaft. Well, at least I now know for absolute certain who destroyed my forty and
eighty meter antenna systems. Not that it is going to make any difference - 	
	
Duane W8DBF