Anti-blight law being used to take family home.
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Hello! My name is Linsey. I am here on behalf of myself and my family to shed light on our situation.
In July we had a lawsuit brought against us by the Fishtown BID. The Fishtown BID is using Act 135, the Abandoned and Blighted property act, to take conservatorship over our home in Fishtown.
My grandparents, who owned the house had passed away. We were under the assumption that when that happens, any assets pass to next of kin. My aunt continued to live at the home until she lost the use of her legs due to diabetes complications in 2019.
While my aunt was in rehab we continued to care for the property as best we could while hoping she would be able to return once she was better. Everything she owns is in the house. We would bring her her clothes. All of the utilities continue to be paid. Taxes are paid. We have never abandoned this property. Not in any way, shape, or form. But because our home checks a few boxes for this law and it sits on the desirable Frankford corridor, we are being subjected to this lawsuit from the Fishtown BID. Also because we could not afford to fix everything all at once. The house has never looked any different than it does now. I was raised in this house exactly the way it is.
We were then forced to get a lawyer on contingency, since we did not have the money up front. Many lawyers I spoke to were weary about taking us on. They believed at the end of the conservatorship that we would not have the money to pay them.
During this fight the BID has contacted my lawyer to tell them homeless people are living in our home. Then my sick family members would rush over and find nothing. Then all of a sudden the power to the house was cut. And yet nothing in the house was missing. Problems popped up with our home that we have never experienced before.
We are told about deals with developers that we should take for low prices in exchange for the BID lowering their fees. We are told they have people they call Bird dogs that report things about our home to them. How can we compete with this?
If the Fishtown BID cares so much for the neighborhood and its residents, why didn't they reach out to us before doing this? Offer us resources to fix our situation? Because if they had offered us help, they would not be able to profit from our home.
My family has been in Fishtown since the 60's. We've been residents of the community that long.
If the BID wins conservatorship over our home they will walk away with 20% of the total sales price, all of their legal fees, and any other fees they accumulated throughout this lawsuit.
This has been the most stressful thing we have ever had to deal with. We should be able to take care of our home and make any decisions about it ourselves. My aunt in the rehab is currently in ICU. My uncle and his wife are suffering from severe health conditions, including cancer. A black cloud has just been hanging over our heads since this started. We have been so blatantly ignored through this. We have felt invisible.
I've tried to take on as much as possible to try and help relieve pressure from my family so they can focus on their health. Trying to deal with life on top of all this has been nothing but unrelenting stress.
I am hoping by making this gofund me that we can also bring awareness of how this act is being exploited for financial gain, while also relieving some of the legal fees we are accruing or help us pay off a lien from the city and the Fishtown BID that was placed on the property. We understand that times are hard. So even just taking the time to read this means the world to us. Thank you so much for your time
Our legal fees at the end of this will total between $25,000-$30,000
The total for the liens against the property are a little under $6,000
Below is the article the Inquirer wrote about our situation.
Organizer
Linsey Franklin
Organizer
Philadelphia, PA