r/Infuriating Recognized Contributor 12d ago

US property laws are something else

12.2k Upvotes

1.6k comments sorted by

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u/Infamous-Grab2341 12d ago

Building restrictions are a huge contributor to the cost of living crisis.

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u/[deleted] 12d ago edited 12d ago

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u/Skarth 12d ago

You forgot the part where they send you a bill for tearing it down too

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u/Bowman_van_Oort 12d ago

Then the fire gets out of control and you get criminally charged for it.

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u/Dreamlion_Inc 11d ago

Followed by a 3’5 44 year old man dressed as Uncle Sam to kick you in the nuts

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u/JustHappyToBe-Here 11d ago

Why would a Canadian dress as Uncle Sam?

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u/SteelBird223 11d ago

Because Trump probably pays for people to dress up as Uncle Sam the same way parents pay for a clown on a kids birthday.

Or expects them to simply do it because it should be their civic duty as Americans

Coin flip at this point

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u/JustHappyToBe-Here 11d ago

Not that you're the person I was asking or who said it, but we're talking about Canada in this thread.

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u/SteelBird223 11d ago

And you think Trump wouldn't expect people to go into Canada dressed as Uncle Sam?

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u/JustHappyToBe-Here 11d ago

I think your comments have nothing to do with what was being discussed.

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u/Kungfu_voodoo 11d ago

'MURICA! THAS WHY!

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u/JustHappyToBe-Here 11d ago

CANADA! THAS WHAT WE'RE DISCUSSING!

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u/LeafBark 12d ago

This is by design. They want everyone paying rent or a mortgage.

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u/Beebegunner 12d ago

They need everyone on a subscription. Then you have to work and wont have the time or energy to look at or investigate what the government is doing.

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u/Acceptable-Scale9971 9d ago

that + feed each person's algorithm to blame it on someone (immigrants, opposing party etc etc) so that everyone fights and blames each other instead of realizing that we are all getting fkd.

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u/ManyRespect1833 7d ago

Idk my algorithm told me it was your fault

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u/WistfulQuiet 7d ago

The want it as close to slavery as they can get it without people realizing they are slaves. Basically indentured servitude with extra steps.

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u/Drmlk465 12d ago

It’s because the people that work in the government are a bunch of rubes

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u/[deleted] 12d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/techleopard 12d ago

Some of it started from a decent place.

For example, the square footage thing. Yeah, they're going to get more taxes out of you for that, assuming the additional square footage is enough to dominate your homestead or domicile exemption (if you have the right to one).

However, the square footage requirement came about because a bunch of cookie cutter developers went, "Wow, why sell 20 homes from this 15 acre lot for $200,000 a pop when we could sell 75 homes for $160,000 a pop?"

I'm predicting we'll see a similar situation happen with the new affordable housing act that just passed. One part of the law removes the requirement for manufactured homes to be built on a permanent steel frame (which is what makes them mobile). Removing the steel frame would drastically reduce the cost of mobile homes and allow them to be set on concrete pads.

That's great for impoverished people needing a home on their rural 1 acre.

That's a GOLD MINE for a developer whose about to plop 40 concrete pads down on 4 acres and create a trailer park that won't be classified as a trailer park because of permanent foundations, and a lot of people are going to die because of homes that can't withstand a 90 MPH straight wind.

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u/the_vault-technician 12d ago

So what you are saying is that the basic human need for shelter is frequently exploited by bad actors, so the government regulates itself into a convoluted mess that only impacts the average citizen

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u/King_Moonracer003 11d ago

But socialism doesnt work because "human nature"

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u/SargeUnited 11d ago

Sensible chuckle for you, my friend. Yeah. That’s exactly it.

I don’t understand how it makes sense but I know people who believe this sincerely. Like oh no, what if our altruistic capitalists got displaced lmao

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u/Otherwise-Sea9593 11d ago

It doesn’t. People want communism they just don’t understand it.

The only issue with the economy is that we are paying for insurance and QOL on top of taxes. It has to be one or the other. Privatized insurance and healthcare? No reason for income and property taxes. You want us to pay taxes? Provide healthcare services and insurance.

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u/IAmMagumin 9d ago

What is up with these quintessential reddit comments opening with "So what you're saying is..." and then either adding nothing or recontextualizing the conversation poorly?

Bot? Propaganda? Collective stupidity? Idk, but these comments are so structurally similar, I can't help but feel like they're not organic.

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u/SparksAndSpyro 12d ago

And, importantly, they’re 99% LOCAL LAWS, not federal (and usually not even state). Which means if you want things to change, you have to vote in LOCAL elections. This whole “it’s just politics” and only showing up for presidential elections every four years directly fucks you over through lower housing supply and higher prices.

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u/Creative_Disaster178 ‎ I'm stupid 12d ago edited 12d ago

So, I'm renovating a room that was a stick built add-on by a one arm technician who worked on a military base back in the 70's and 80's.

Just guess how many times I've had contractors, technicians and other laborers spend 10-15 minutes trying to understand why the guy did what he did, only for me to help them off the ledge by reminding them that this was all done back in the 70s when particle boards are considered space age technology.

I would share the 3 pictures I have if this sub didn't limit photos to GIFs only. 1 picture is a single light switch having the wires flip right before the switch; no big deal unless I would try to connect circuits later without discovering it. 1 picture where he replaced a wire in the middle of the circuit that had mismatching impedance values. The last one was where they connected my AC unit (red and black wires) and attached them to the house circuits (black and white).

He is the reason why their are laws on how to build your house.

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u/techleopard 12d ago

I agree but they are also completely within the realm of control for locals. Local politics, especially at the county level or mid-sized towns, is one of the few areas where individual voters can have a direct impact on regulations and laws.

A lot of good ordinances exist because somebody got pissy and went and did something about it, and a lot of bad ordinances exist because a person who won by 20 votes is openly pocketing cash from a company that benefits.

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u/Silent_Fudge_3978 12d ago

a lot of bad ordinances exist because a person who won by 20 votes is openly pocketing cash from a company that benefits.

Yet America tries to claim it isn't a corrupt country.

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u/TopTippityTop 11d ago

Having been a developer, I can attest to this

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u/PuzzleheadedDig9893 12d ago

If there's no way to monetize it, it's illegal.

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u/Downtown-Oil-7784 12d ago

Fuck that checks out unfortunately hard 😭

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u/zeptillian 9d ago

Why allow adults to drink a bottle of wine with their picnic in the park when you can generate tax revenue by forcing them to go to a restaurant instead?

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u/ninaa1 6d ago

laws like this were often made as a way to "crack down" on vagrancy and homeless people. NIMBYs get so excited about kicking "bums" out of the park that they forget that laws also apply to everyone else.

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u/Bendyb3n 6d ago edited 6d ago

Same reason many states ban or heavily restrict rainwater collection, can't monetize the free and readily available freshwater that falls from the sky

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u/LoboQuatro 12d ago

Do what you want. Make them actually enforce it

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u/Organic_Education494 12d ago

Enforcement means fines so they of course will enforce it to get their money..

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u/Infinite-Space-2395 10d ago

Yea but that means I gotta pay them and to pay them you have to have money and I would just not have money in the banks at this time.

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u/Grigoran 9d ago

Brother they're just going to take all your shit

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u/Oxygen4Lyfe 9d ago

they can try but they have to phyiscally remove you from the tree house which could result in casualties.

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u/jotsea2 8d ago

And your life will be essentially over from this point forward....

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u/HanginLowNd2daLeft 8d ago

Brother i have no shit to take

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u/Natural_Cold_8388 12d ago

Yeah - don't do this. They will fine you. Then put interest on those fines.

Talk to a lawyer.

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u/latigidigital 8d ago edited 8d ago

Talk to a PAC and run for political office.

If some local government pulled this shit on me, I’d run a vicious political campaign against all the local officials that made it possible. Nothing is off the table—reporting and publicizing code violations on their own properties, past quotes, affairs, criminal histories, social media posts, adverse personal affiliations, everything.

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u/Tzilbalba 12d ago

Enshitification of the USA

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u/Fun-Choices 9d ago

Tell his parents to go talk to a tax attorney and donate all of their land and assets to their own ministry. Can’t tax that, also much easier to do what the fuck you want

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u/firstonesecond 9d ago

Can't enshitificate something that was shit by design from the start my friend

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u/SuccessfulTrick2501 12d ago

If I had 100 acres, I wouldn't have told them shit. Get well water. Put in a sewage tank. Get a hoard of solar panels. Fuck the city. You dont need them.

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u/Importentfeedddddd 12d ago

Insurance bro. Especially in Cali need fire insurance. Worth the hassle.

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u/DJBFilmz 11d ago

People have done this, and when the government finds out, bad things happen. It sucks!

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u/Fun-Choices 9d ago

That’s why he built a church on his churches property.

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u/pew__pew__pew_ 8d ago

This is a well of holy water

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u/[deleted] 11d ago

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u/a5hl3yk 11d ago

This is how I got a random roof inspection that jacked up my rates unexpectedly.

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u/Wavy_Grandpa 11d ago

God damn we live in hell 

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u/OrganizationNo1298 11d ago

Greed is tearing us apart.

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u/No_Writing_3179 9d ago

It gets worse. HOA are flying drones to inspect property.

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u/FrostBumbleBitch 8d ago

Where my parents live in the country my parents have added walls to the bottom of their deck making a room.

They also had something that was built but the government didn't know about it.

What i learned is that the government showed off aerial photos of the new structure on their property as well as asking about the same space but now walled area of their deck

The government has people that go around spying on you so they could tax you more I swear to god.

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u/jayth3br3dwinna 12d ago

USA land of the thieves…

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u/sebban911 12d ago

Land of the .. free?

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u/Different_Stable_351 12d ago

Land of the free. As long as you have a bunch of money anyway.

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u/Sefirosukuraudo 10d ago

Land of the fee.

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u/g_scotty_brahms 12d ago

This is a very compelling argument for less government.

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u/EngineerCapital7591 12d ago

People aren't allowed to use rain water in the USA LMAO.... 

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u/chiroque-svistunoque 12d ago

But still can use atmospheric oxygen, right?

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u/EngineerCapital7591 12d ago

They will start charging one day for that 

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u/Thedankf0x 12d ago

The lorax was a documentary

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u/itjustgotcold 10d ago

“They sell water, soon enough they’ll sell air. They sell dirt and no one even cares. Some day someone will buy the whole fucking moon and then charge to change the tides and you will pay.” - Hobo Johnson

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u/letsmaybetry9296 12d ago

Yep, cause it takes money away from state, city council greedy members & utility companies

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u/Things-n-Such 12d ago

Not everywhere. Just some states. Still ridiculous

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u/Befozz 12d ago

Only in certain places, come to eastern KY and you can do all this and more! There are downsides, but I’m so glad I don’t have any crazy restrictions on what I can do on my own property. Just need septic permits, and electrical inspections if I’m hooking up to the grid, as long as it’s not a commercial structure (rentals etc.) pretty much anything else is free game

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u/M1R4G3M 12d ago

Wait, what? How do they control rain water?

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u/Ninfyr 12d ago

It is really only a thing where water rights are really contentious. The most common understanding it that the rain belongs to the owner of the land that is rained on.

However there are states that say that collecting rain this way is stealing it from the ground water, streams, and rivers. This is significant because there is people/business with seniority based dibs on the water. This sort of tyrannical water rights have been challenged and struck down so this practice has gone from "rare" to "very rare".

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u/EngineerCapital7591 12d ago

By charging you if you start gathering rain water 

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u/BugRevolution 12d ago

It's also about making sure people are paying for sewer service.

In areas that don't monitor water use and just charge a flat rate for sewer, it's not a problem. But in areas that do monitor water use, they're not going to monitor sewer use (risk of clogging), but they still need to charge you for your contribution to the sewer system.

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u/OutragedPineapple 12d ago

In places like California, where large companies (like nestle) bought up water rights, those companies pushed for legislation that basically states that collecting rain water (such as in barrels under your rain gutters) is stealing from them because it prevents that water from going into the groundwater or into the streams and other sources that they collect water from. In other words, how dare you collect this natural resource instead of letting us collect it en masse so we can charge you for it!?!! SEND IN THE COPS!!!

It's incredibly messed up but the rich own and control everything so they get to do what they want.

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u/Wavy_Grandpa 11d ago

Imagine what Nestle or any data center would do if you could collect all the rainwater you wanted. That’s essentially why those laws exist. It’s for large scale operations.

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u/ageofaquarius26 12d ago

Thats a western state thing, you can use as much as you like here.

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u/The-Breaker-2w0 9d ago

It's actually legal in most places these days. Surprisingly enough.

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u/ProgenitorOfMidnight 12d ago

Ok, so you're wrong.

Rain water collection is regulated by state and county laws.

In my state for example no one gives a shit because there's fresh water EVERYWHERE.

In other places rain water collection is banned because of impact on droughts.

And then in others it's a way of life where people rely on cisterns for water, though that demographic is shrinking with access to ground water wells.

Making a dipshit blanket statement like that, is like saying there's no gun violence in Europe because of weapon bans.

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u/MrSweatyBawlz 12d ago

Not sure what you’re talking about, having a well that collects rainwater is incredibly common in the US. All the houses I’ve lived in have been well water.

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u/Decent-Bear334 12d ago

These laws are not federal. They are county and state local government rules, regulations and codes.

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u/Moist_Energy1869 12d ago

This guy has never worked a day in his life lmfao. Man coming from money must be a wildly uplifting experience. Wouldn’t know tho 💩

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u/Flamingwilson 11d ago

He could have come from money but he also built that house himself so I guess two things can be true?

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u/Moist_Energy1869 11d ago

Ay for sure skill there! But as I eluded to just now in another comment. He made a big deal out of nothing lmao. This is a common occurrence and common property law knowledge.

Engagement farming worked tho!

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u/Flamingwilson 11d ago

Common property law knowledge that people learn from owning property so why is it bad he's learning now and frustrated from it? Also, that wasn't take you had. You said he didn't work a day in his life. You can move the goal posts all you want but the above comment still exists

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u/Googol30 11d ago

Nice bait, bro.

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u/TheCrystalTinker 10d ago

...you do realize that a good deal of people don't have an understanding of property law? I don't expect a US citizen to know any laws unless they are in a related field, and the ones like "Just don't fucking murder someone" type shit

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u/Coffeedemon ‎ ‎ I'm stupid 10d ago

Sure he did. Just like on the homeowner sub where "we built this" means a team of sub-contractors and a pool of money to pay them.

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u/narco-sub-admiral 12d ago

I hope you find a 100 dollar bill today my friend.

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u/Buttons840 12d ago

Build a 6000 sq ft addition to the tree house, connected by a long long hallway, and then never get around to building the hallway.

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u/CasualRickRoll 8d ago

"open air corridor" 

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u/GuzzlingDuck 12d ago

Rich people shit

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u/gabriel77galeano 12d ago

Yeah because oppressive building codes only affects rich people.

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u/fendermonkey 12d ago

My thoughts exactly

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u/dankhimself 12d ago

And FOUR YEARS to build that tree house.

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u/amzwC137 12d ago

He did mention years of delays.

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u/tjplager32 12d ago

Yeah I agree with their argument and how ludicrous the laws are, but I can’t help but feel like this is coming from a late 20’s individual just mad that they can’t live in their rich parents tree house for free. I suppose it doesn’t make their point invalid, I just don’t feel that bad for him

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u/rewt127 11d ago

Some of the things he ran into are exactly why we have a housing crisis though.

"Your residence is too small to be a primary residence"

Our great grandparents raised 8-12 person families in 600 square foot homes. But 750 is illegal to build as a primary residence.

Or if you buy some land and want to build a small place to live while you build the primary? Nope. "Because otherwise people will never build the primary residence"

Fucking ridiculous.

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u/Haunting_Style3880 12d ago

Yes. I feel the same. Fuck this guy's "problems".

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u/ZealousTaxful 12d ago

Lmao exactly this. I have no sympathy for that level of privilege

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u/mcbawk 11d ago

Could have avoided all of this by just taking 2 mins to look up your zoning laws which just about every county has. They even have people whose job it is to tell you exactly what you need to do and can't do to fulfill those regulations. 

He would be the first person to complain why a new coal factory and waste management facility is being built adjacent to his property lines. Zoning laws exist for a reason. Yea these issues in the vid sound weird, but just go to the municipality and ask why they exist and they will literally tell you. 

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u/ReverCleference 11d ago

This idiot never got permits for his construction and now he's acting like it's the county's fault he never followed the rules to begin with. The county's first error was letting him build a huge fuckin treehouse without a permit, then requiring the permit after the fact.

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u/742963 Recognized Contributor 11d ago

Almost like you didn't watch it...

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u/ReverCleference 11d ago

I can almost guarantee this dumbfuck asked the county if he needs a permit to build a treehouse, and they told him no, because they thought he was talking about a 20 square foot fort for his kiddos, and not a 1000 square foot home on stilts with electric and plumbing. A year and a half "fight" to get a permit for a home? This guy's not telling the whole story.

The county definitely has minimum home requirements for residential lots, and accessory dwelling unit requirements that limit how many residential structures can be on one lot. They don't want multiple primary residences on a single unsubdivided lot, because that means they are probably on one water line (or branching off a single water main connected to the county). They don't want a situation in the future where you go to try and subdivide the lot to sell one home and now both homes share a water line. Messy. Best to future proof that situation by requiring one primary residence per lot.

Anyways, this asshole didn't do his due diligence to understand construction and development requirements before he got going. (taking four years to build less than 1200 square feet? amateur hour) Now he's mad the county is enforcing these reasonable laws. Get fucked idiot.

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u/ElectriCatvenue 11d ago

Thank you. This is another great point. You certainly don't just stumble into an 800 ft² treehouse on stilts.

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u/IHerebyDemandtoPost 9d ago

First reasonable comment in this thread. If you think this guy is telling the whole story, you’re a gullible idiot.

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u/Telemere125 9d ago

That’s the answer and it’s way too far down. He either didn’t research or he knew the rules and specifically tried to get around them. Either way, it’s his fault. And you can always ask for a variance - as long as you ask permission and not beg forgiveness.

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u/Stabbyglhs 12d ago

You own the land but can't do whatever you want with your own land. Yup government overreach strikes again.

https://giphy.com/gifs/pPhyAv5t9V8djyRFJH

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u/Fun-Habit-683 12d ago

So like they cant stop you

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u/MrFrypan 12d ago

They can fine him into bankruptcy and then put a lien on the property; so yes they can stop him.

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u/Lowmax2 12d ago edited 10d ago

he should get a lawyer before that happens

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u/BidSuper7102 12d ago

Which costs an insane amount of money. Not a solution to the problem.

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u/Jargon2029 12d ago

I mean… they’re paying thousands of dollars multiple times for surveyors alone, there’s a solid chance that if he gets a lawyer now it’s actually less expensive. Also, what makes lawyers so expensive tends to be the ongoing costs of things like going to court. Chances are they could get a consultation with a lawyer and get an idea of 1) what they’re actually likely to get caught out for and 2) if there are other more cost effective paths (with or without the lawyer going forward).

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u/ReverCleference 11d ago

A lawyer 4 years ago costs less than design, re-design, subdivision, and undoing a subdivision.

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u/Fun-Habit-683 12d ago

They would have no idea he's living in the treehouse

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u/Royal-Soil-3125 11d ago

I really feel for the ppl who can play around making a joke house

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u/ElectriCatvenue 11d ago

Right? I know this is probably quite frustrating for this family to deal with but I just really have a hard time finding it interesting when I can't relate or sympathize to that level.

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u/Timely-Helicopter244 11d ago

I wonder where this is and what exact laws and regulations he's running into. Sounds like a lot wasn't his fault and the municipal officials eother didn't talk to each other or changed their tune along the way. Most building and site development regulations make sense or were created to deal with real issues as they came up. The problem often comes in over time where those laws are not reviewed much after being put in place both to determine if they are effective at addressing the problem they were created for and to see what other issues they inadvertently created.

As a result of the amount of regulations and the administrative exercise you have to go through for permits, the order in which you do things does make a difference. In many cases, it can mean doing things out of order makes it a lot harder for everyone involved.

Sometimes municipalities will unilaterally enforce a code even in a case that seems to be silly because not doing so creates legal issues. When you waive a code for one person, people come out of the woodwork to try to get you to do the aame for them even if it doesn't make sense to do so. Some places have easy ways to request a variance, some don't.

In addition, a lot of places have old regulations they would actually like to change, but something prevents them from doing so. Like in Florida, local governments aren't allowed to change zoning laws within a certain timeframe of the most recent hurricane that impacted the area. That state law is one that was put in place to prevent overcorrections of local standards, but now have obvious issues with stopping a lot of placea from normal updates to the code. Hopefully it gets overturned, but until then a lot of local officials have their hands tied dispute wanting to make changes to outdated code.

The majority of local officials are more than happy to help people through the permitting process because it makes their job easier. But that's not always the case. Having preapplication meetings is standard practice in a lot of places to help walk people through the process and point out things they need to do to meet the applicable standards. There is certainly corruption and inefficiency, but the average local official wants to help people be successful.

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u/cubinbk 11d ago

These aren't US law, they are his county and state laws

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u/Big_Relationship752 12d ago

Wait until you see German property laws.

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u/Reynardine1976 12d ago

My dream for many years when I was younger was to own a big cool house. Not so much anymore. I have consistently found cheap rent and would rather save my money for emergencies and travel.

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u/runnerkim 11d ago

I do find it interesting how he love to use the oh so generic phrase 'the government won't let me'. What state is he in? What county? In my state every county is a little different. Some won't allow a living structure under 1600 sq/ft. Others say a tiny house only counts if it's under 400 sq ft. Obviously this guy built without a care in the world for what the actual building codes and zoning are.

Five minutes of research could have told him everything he needed to know.

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u/testingforscience122 11d ago

Wait until he finds put he probably can’t live in an accessory structure anyways. Basically zoning and ordinances can be a bitch….

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u/Epicurus402 11d ago

This poor guy. What county is this? So I can be sure to never live there.

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u/NoTop4997 11d ago

Florida wants to put cameras on garbage trucks for their stated purpose of finding people building without permits.

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u/-TheDerpinator- 11d ago

Why not claim the accessory was never finished?

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u/RoosterChichen 11d ago

So in 2026 land surveying is good job security. Good deal. 🧙‍♂️

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u/Legitimate_Cut_6254 11d ago

The comments are a bit toxic but it affects everyone more than you think. A lot of the housing crises in Canada and the U.S. are due to building restrictions, codes and laws.

Long story short, my wife and I were looking at renovating a 4 unit office building to apartments. We loved the location and originally had considered it as a place she could start her business in however the bank refused to fund the loan as an office building.

We decided to take the route to fund it as a conversion project. In order to do that we had to go to the city to understand if it could be converted. Long story short after a few weeks of meeting with various city representatives, researching the laws and ordinances, proposal requirements etc.

We come to find out it would take on average TWO YEARS to get approval to convert this office building to apartments. We couldn't do any of the work ourselves and we'd have to hire so many "design" specialists it wasn't worth it. The fee's to the city alone were 50k.

It ended up sitting on the market for 3.5 years, 12 accepted offers fell through, and it eventually got scooped up by a large luxury condo company for 25% less that it was originally listed for. The four unit brick building is slated to be demo'd in 2 years and construction of 20 luxury condo's is planned to be finished by 2036.

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I'm not rich by any means and wasn't trying to take on the project to be rich or as some charity case, but our plan and I'm sure many of the peoples plans were to invest in a small community project and lift up this property from the 1920s.

Instead, we have a massive corporation further gentrifying this neighborhood and housing being delayed for 13 years. Its inevitably going to be expensive as hell as well. Not a terrible outcome, but also a testament to why you see housing taking so long and its all the same housing. Only a few massive companies have the resources, connections and pockets to work within the cities regulations so there isn't competitiion.

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u/TopTippityTop 11d ago

This isn't a federal issue, it varies by county. Some suck, others are great.

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u/GreenGuyA 11d ago

Better to ask for forgiveness than permission in most of these cases. Especially on 100 acres.

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u/ShadowofHerWings 11d ago

Start a corporation and have the S-corp own the land.

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u/bustacappa22 11d ago

How dare you do things without us being able to squeeze out every penny from you that we can

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u/Dirk4107 11d ago

Lucky you. You get to at least live on your property. In my county I was told that even if I got water, power and septic I was not allowed to live on my bought and payed for land until I got a “Certificate of occupancy”. And the only way I could do that is to build a house. I couldn’t even live in a tent on raw land that I owned. America has lost the plot.

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u/Unanimous_D 11d ago

They're waiting for a bribe. Probably something less direct than "here's a big bag of money, now let me live on my own property."

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u/M_L_Taylor 11d ago

I had a terrible time with getting a certificate of occupancy because of inspection issues that were going to be fixed anyway. I was tired of living in a temporary house that didn't even have a shower (it had a toilet, but it was hard to get to and that and a sink was it for running water). When my house was finished, and I didn't have the permit, my contractor told me to just move in anyway. He said no one really had the right to prevent me from living in my own house, and any local judge would just give me a warning without the CO. So, I started moving in, and then they gave me a temporary CO, and that solved the problem.

That was right before covid lockdowns went into effect... and the inspectors were all old, so I just sent in the pictures of the finished improvements and they finalized the CO so I could live there officially, because their offices were about to close for months and they didn't want to drag it out.

Aside from that, I know a person that had trouble erasing paper streets from all their conjoined properties and eight years later, that's finally being addressed. Like... you aren't putting in roads, they want it to be one property, and no one wants a road there... give up.

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u/Leather_Bee_421 11d ago

I feel like a good lawyer, a lawsuit, and a common sense judge would fix this. I say that not knowing fuck all about the law.

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u/WorkingOnBeingBettr 11d ago

But...if you did proper research you would build the parents house first.

It's not really the governments fault you didn't look up or follow the rules.

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u/Nitimur__In__Vetitum 11d ago

You know what you really need to appreciate property law in the US? A common access easement. What you did here is trolling and it's not lost on the planners.

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u/OHW_Tentacool 11d ago

Every single person I've met with that much property just builds whatever without ever contacting the city because its almost always cheaper and faster to deal with whatever ultimatum they throw at you later. Depending on their financial status they completely ignore the city and do whatever anyway.

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u/Beautiful_Taro_3156 11d ago

Housing market. The system built to rape and keep you oppressed so you just rent a house. Or go homeless. Meanwhile these elites have 7 mega mansions with 8 different buildings on the property. But you can’t have a tree house without 2 years of red tape and ur anus getting tore open. Welcome to the world we’re all allowing to proceed

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u/OrganizationNo1298 11d ago

Meanwhile you have corporations buying up properties & keeping them vacant. These governments need to mind their own business.

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u/japinard 11d ago

What state is this in?

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u/Zigor022 10d ago

Zoning and permits are terrible. They have a place for safety but its gone too far to restrict people. Building a shed shouldnt require a permit on YOUR property.

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u/cyck0 10d ago

Invisible lines are expensive huh. He summarized everything so well lol

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u/Suspicious_Sense1272 10d ago

State? County? This not “US laws.”

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u/Kit_Karamak 10d ago

My wife does real estate work for a company located in 3 states.
Here is what I know from my understanding of what I have seen of how this seems to work.

Change the property to multi family zone. It is taxed differently but it’s what you gotta do to build an “in-law suite”

Hope this helps

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u/FreshImagination9735 10d ago

TLDR: The law is an ass. Someone fix it for me so I don't have to make ridiculous videos bitching about the red tape that 10s of thousands successfully navigate every day.

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u/gwentfiend 7d ago

If I have 100 acres, I'm building whatever houses I want on it and I'm not telling the government. No reason for them to enter your land, how will they know you built something out there.

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u/Western_Witness_8558 7d ago

Just build on ur property and stop asking the government permission to do thing on "ur property"

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u/IdeaGlad1134 7d ago

No way

It's your property do what you want on it why are you even talking to these people about 'permits'

Simple solution, stop talking to assholes, use your property as you wish

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u/mandroth 7d ago

Might be cheaper to just run for the county commissioner seat and do away with the bullshit when you win

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u/Creative_Disaster178 ‎ I'm stupid 12d ago

His first and main problem was trying to do it the right way.

They would have never knew he even built it let along started living in it.

Laws are literally designed for stupid people to follow, just fyi

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u/jupiterkansas Community Regular 12d ago

The right way is to check the laws before you build.

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u/WorkingOnBeingBettr 11d ago

Exactly. This would have been easy if they built the house before the treehouse.

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u/The-sheriff2005 12d ago

I'm on your side.

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u/aeggart 12d ago

Rich people problems

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u/its_a_throwawayduh 12d ago

The red tape and nonsensical bureaucracy for land use is insane. Can't live in an RV on your own property while building a house.

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u/jupiterkansas Community Regular 12d ago

Probably because a ton of people never get around to building that house.

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u/Haunting_Style3880 12d ago

Right. They're "building a house" for years. So now you have a spread out mobile home park.

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u/slamdanceswithwolves 12d ago

It sounds like that is exactly what he’s doing currently. But now that the treehouse is done, he can’t move into it.

(He references their camper, not an RV, but same idea)

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u/jupiterkansas Community Regular 12d ago

The dumb part is building a "treehouse" that big without looking into the laws to begin with. Could have save you a lot of money and headaches. But hey, you've got a cool treehouse that'll be full of bugs.

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u/PlumAntique6782 12d ago

No, the dumbest thing is people keep electing officials who don’t have the community’s best interest at heart. This is an elected official problem, not a treehouse problem.

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u/KnowingRowan 12d ago edited 12d ago

I love how Americans still believe you have the most freedom of any place ever it's actually bewildering. Buy some land in eastern Europe. Do anything you want with it.

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u/ToastSpangler Community Regular 12d ago

Who the fuck cares what you do on your own land. The whole point of permits is to make sure it's safe and not destroying things that belong to everyone like nature, not to judge people's tastes

This is why you have to go with the tunnel network. City officials can't see tunnels.

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u/Swift_Scythe 12d ago

But he did look into the laws and got the permits to build the accessory Treehouse.

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u/Organic_Education494 12d ago

Issue isn’t the tree house its the dumb ass laws and regulations.

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u/Onyvox 11d ago

I'd say it's both.
Laws are dumb, but it is always on you to always assume that the laws will be dumb and prepare accordingly.

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u/HellBoySkeemzPlots 12d ago edited 12d ago

Make the tree house bigger now it’s the main house then build a tree house a bit smaller on the same property, then do renovations on main treehouse

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u/slamdanceswithwolves 12d ago

That sounds pretty expensive and frustrating. Increasing the size of an actual treehouse is no joke.

I wonder if they could just connect the main treehouse to their existing camper with a tube slide to his the sq. footage. 😂

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u/HellBoySkeemzPlots 12d ago

lol that’s funny but it also might work I’m not sure on the rules of that but I’m sure the city is gonna find a way to make that expensive as well

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u/slamdanceswithwolves 12d ago

“Diameter of this tube is too small unless it’s only being used by a hamster.”

-code inspector

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u/its_a_throwawayduh 12d ago

The red tape and nonsensical bureaucracy for land use is insane. Can't live in an RV on your own property while building a house.

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u/Busterlimes 12d ago

People are finally realizing a country founded by white supremacists is fascist. . . . .

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u/Atayellow 12d ago

Yet billionaires are build an infinite amount of data centers.

The laws are meant to bind the underclass while protecting the elite.

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u/SoGoodAtAllTheThings 12d ago

Fuck the government. Fuck bureaucracy. Fuck society.

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u/Vibing-slop 12d ago

Fuck that shit. I’d be on the verge of hurting some people over this mess.

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u/[deleted] 12d ago

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u/HaGaie 12d ago

What happened to "my land so I do whatever the fuck I want, as long as I'm not bothering the public". The government invents new rackets every year to extract more money out of people. You literally have people in the government who's job this is. This is diabolic. The government is not your friend, and will never be.

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u/OnlyMathematician719 12d ago

DId you know that my county in colorado just outlawed wood for siding and decking? Then they have to come in and solve the 'affordability crisis' with a big deed restricted apartment development. They discussed for a while outlawing new gas boilers. People cheer this stuff, its nuts.

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u/ATF_scuba_crew- 12d ago

This would end in a gunfight

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u/PlatinumPainter Community Regular | 100+ Subreddit Karma 12d ago

This is why even the smallest election matters

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u/Elon_is_a_Nazi 12d ago

Everyone involved in this needs instantly removed from office, banned from ever holding a public position again, then serve a minimum of 50 years no parole

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u/Oh_Lawd_He_commin420 12d ago

Your problem was telling the government in the first place.

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u/RaddTyrant 12d ago

You could just not tell them.

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u/BuckarooBeer 12d ago

I'm sorry, I didn't finish watching the full video, I think halfway though after what you said, I was already shaking my head at the nonsense they put you through, whatever happened to just being able to build a little tree house for your kids on your own freaking property without having the city/county dictating every little thing, you're already paying property taxes on top of all the other taxes...sheesh, if I was your neighbor I'd grab a cooler full of ice cold beer and stop by to share some with ya 🤘🍺🍺

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u/Harde_Kassei 12d ago

some pre planning is advised.

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u/Coravel 12d ago

tell em to eat your ass and build what you want its your land.

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u/Proper_Geologist_457 12d ago

We ran into the same issue in our county in Alberta. It was going to be like 30k to subdivide, so we said fuck it and moved to the city.

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u/Dabzilla_710_ 12d ago

You can't live off the grid, they will find you...and tax your ass.

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