When a termite problem threatened a South Florida couple’s home, they got right to work. But what should have been a routine fix turned into months of frustration. Unable to solve it on their own, they turned to Help Me Howard with Brandon Beyer.
John and Judy Calabrese have lived in their Southwest Miami-Dade home for more than 40 years.
Judy: “We’re close to everything.”
It’s where they built their life together. Both dedicating decades to shaping young minds.
Judy: “I was an elementary school teacher for 31 years, and my husband, John, was an elementary school teacher for 32 years.”
But last summer, their peaceful home life was interrupted by a growing problem.
Judy: “Termites, termites.”
An inspection confirmed their fears. They needed to tent the home, a big job that requires serious preparation.
They picked a date and started getting the house ready.
Judy: “So we started packing everything up, emptying the refrigerator, the freezer. All the necessary things, which is very overwhelming.”
But before the tent could go up, they needed to have this space along the side of their home cleared out.
There was just one problem. The house sits on a zero lot line. The narrow strip of space belongs to the neighbor who had filled it with clutter.
Judy: “And that’s where he has everything piled up, freezers, refrigerators, ladders.
They tried everything. Talking to him, writing letters, even offering to hire someone.
Judy: “We have gone so far as telling him we would pay for somebody to come and move the stuff off the wall.”
But Judy says the neighbor refused.
Judy: “He would say ‘I don’t want you touching my stuff.'”
Weeks turned into months. The termites weren’t slowing down.
Judy: “It’s just very frustrating and it is very frightening because you don’t know what’s going on where you can’t see the termites eating.”
Howard, the termites are eating away and the clock is ticking. But the neighbor won’t budge.
Howard Finkelstein: “A neighbor cannot prevent you from tenting your home. If they won’t cooperate, you can go to court and a judge will force them to cooperate.”
Thankfully, it didn’t come to that. We reached out to the neighbor and he slowly moved his stuff.
John and Judy’s termite tent went up and their worries finally came down.
Judy: “I think you — believe you all did all the work in helping get this resolution.”
Judy: “We tried, we tried for months and we were not able to get it resolved.”
Howard’s advice? Just be a good neighbor. It’s not worth going to court over something like this.
Hey! Got a problem? Need a hand? Below is how you find us. It’s Help Me Howard, I’m Brandon Beyer, 7News.
CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD
Email: helpmehoward@wsvn.com
Reporter: Brandon Beyer at bbeyer@wsvn.com
Miami-Dade: 305-953-WSVN
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