I like to watch the show "Flip or Flop" where a California couple makes a fortune buying delapidated houses and turning them into gems. On one show they wanted to redo the front yard of the home by installing sod. Their contractactor told them if they wanted to install sod, the newly updated local building code required them to install a drip irrigation system. Fixing the existing system wasn't allowed. They also had to cut down all the large trees on the property and replace them with mature trees. "Mature" means trees costing hundreds or even thousands of dollars. The total cost was estimated at $20,000
That's the way your local government promotes affordable housing!
The governent is here to help you. There's no such thing as bad regulations, right snowflakes?
Weekend before last the Wall Street Journal ran an interesting article on why homes are so expensive in California and why homelessness is such a huge problem. It seems that any squatter whop occupies a house or apartment, whether they sneak in at night during construction or sign a rent agreement and never pay, has a state supported lawyer. The State of California provides free lawyers to any squatter all the way up to the state Supreme Court. Homeowners and landlords are quickly bankrupted out of their property by their own tax dollars being used against them.
According to the author the going rate for a homeowner to rid himself of a squatter is about 20,000.00 which the state extorts and hands over to the squatter in exchange for leaving. The author, a lawyer, was involved in a case wherein the lady squatting was receiving her 3rd 20,000 payment of the year and had bankrupted a Mexican man who bought a small bungalow to provide an income for his daughter to attend college. He had to give up the bungalow.
The socialists not only destroyed another dream but ensured that the daughter will have to take out loans all the while funding their squatting voter.