Part Two of a Series
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by Judith M. Hansel This report is second in a series of reports that relate how the US Department of Agriculture's fraudulent implementation of Title 7 USCS C.F.R. 1955.116 caused me to become homeless. The first segment of this series, dated August 8, 2001, explained how I returned to live in Wisconsin from Maryland and purchased, for cash, a house through a rural homeownership program under the USDA. During the first weeks that I occupied the house, I discovered that the septic system, the roof, and the pump for the well, needed to be replaced. I went to the Farmers Home Administration office (the agency that implements the regulation) and asked the agent why he advised the regional director to issue the release of restrictive covenants document when the house had not been repaired. The agent advised me to contact the regional director. I wrote a letter to the regional director whose office was in Stevens Point. His reply stated that his agency had done nothing wrong and that he considered the matter to be closed. I was stuck with a worthless property. I had to live in the house due to finances and, anyway, I was not willing to give up and lose the $24,500 that I had paid for the house. I realize that this sum of money seems cheap for a house on two acres. However, in the rural midwest there is not a large population that demands housing. Not many people want to live on two acres in the middle of nowhere. I did. The land around my two acres was owned and farmed by Del Monte and Green Giant. Both used airplanes to deliver pesticides and other chemicals to their products. Once helicopters were brought in to spray the chemicals. I felt like I was in a war zone. There are organizations attempting to legislate sustainable farming. The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture was pleased when I no longer cut the grass on my land but allowed natural vegetation to grow. I attempted to hire attorneys to take the USDA to court for fraud, but I could find no one to represent me. An attorney in Milwaukee told me to send him my documents and he would phone me with his opinion. When he called he told me, "You are right about the fraud. But, this stuff goes on all the time and Iím not taking your case."I was glad to hear that I was reading the documents correctly, but I was distressed to hear that governmental fraud was institutionalized with no remedy available for cheated citizens. The septic system was pumped every six months and I never used my washing machine again. I inquired about the cost of a new septic system. The environmental regulations had been changed regarding septic systems and, combined with the type of land the house was built on, the cost of a septic system was $11,000. In 1989 I hired an attorney to handle my divorce. In March, when the divorce was final, I took my documents to his office. He briefly perused them and said, "There is nothing that can be done about this." "But," I argued, "The covenants state that they are enforceable in any competent US court." "There is nothing that can be done," he repeated. I never paid that attorney the $6,000 he charged for my divorce. When he tried to get a judgment against me, I answered his complaint and stated that his refusal to sue the USDA proved that he violated his fiduciary trust. I never received another bill from him. In 1990 I began to write to the federal government in Washington, D.C. . At first, the US Justice Department was interested in the fraud report that I sent to them. Later, they told me to stop writing them. I worked with a reporter at the Washington Post on a 1985 story. I sent him the documents thinking that here was another juicy story about the US government. "Do not send me anything more," he said when he called me. "We aren't doing a story about fraud in the USDA." Between June 1990 and June 1993, I contacted everyone in the government who had any responsibility in enforcing government regulations. Senator Kohl finally suggested that I apply for a low-cost government loan to repair the house. The Office of Inspector General of the USDA reported to me that he found no evidence of wrongdoing. Government officials are experts at stonewalling. They write letters that have incorrect facts and out-of-sequence events. They are liars. I have all the letters in reply to my requests for help. I applied for three mortgages over a period of time at Union State Bank. Each time that I applied, I paid the bank's attorney a $75 fee to search the title. He reported the title as free of any clouds. He is either incompetent or corrupt. You decide. Through these three mortgages I received $23,000. I paid $24,500 for the house. At this point, I needed to decide whether or not to just walk away from the property. In order to make this decision I went to Bear Butte outside Sturgis, South Dakota in the Black Hills. The Black Hills are sacred land to the Sioux and Bear Butte is where the Sioux go on vision quests. That is what I did. The only wisdom that I received was that I could either wage a battle or walk away from the property. What I could not do was tell people that God told me to do either. I decided to get the issue into the court system. The only way that I knew how to do this was to stop paying the mortgage. I was interested in seeing justice done not only for me but also for other citizens who were either stuck with the property they had bought or who had to abandon the property. I decided to stay with the issue regardless of where it might lead me. I never thought that following this course could put me in danger. I was wrong. This is the second installment in a series Judith is writing on her long nightmare with government-backed fraud which lead to her current state of homelessness. She is also writing a book entitled Escape from America: An Expose of International Treachery, which will be completed by September 15 of this year. Email: judy1hansel@hotmail.com |