More trouble for a Nashville Realty Company that has recently been in the news:
In the wake of a Messed Up investigation, Metro Public Works, Codes, and the Metro Health Department are all taking action against Barrett Realty Company.
The latest complaints center around city owned trash cans at 3 Barrett Properties. These trash cans are full of construction grade material, some of which has spilled into a nearby culvert.
Metro officials say it is not the city’s job to pick up these trash containers at the expense of tax payers.
Mike Brandle has lived on Barrett Drive for 10 years. The house next to Brandle’s is a Barrett run property. Brandle told us this property is currently empty and being renovated.
On the day Messed Up arrived in this South Nashville neighborhood, it was trash day, and garbage cans lined the street. The 3 cans in front of the Barrett owned property at 412 Barrett Drive were over flowing with what appears to be roofing material.
Brandle said these garbage cans are out here all the time, and that these cans have been over flowing with construction material like this for weeks.
We drove around the neighborhood to look at other Barrett properties. We found trash cans filled with similar construction grade material, and, at one location, the cans were turned over and in the culvert.
We returned to the neighborhood hours later. The city garbage trucks had rolled through, and most of the cans had been removed from the street. The cans next to Mr. Brandle’s home were still at the curb, however the roofing material was gone, replaced with contractor grade trash bags.
We spoke with Billy Lynch who heads up the Metro Public Works Department. He said Barrett’s use of the city owned trash cans is a clear violation.
According to Lynch, city haulers should not pick up debris like this because it is against the following code:
10.20.290 Building debris–Responsibility for removal.
A. Building debris such as scrap lumber, plaster, roofing, concrete, brickbats, and sanding dust resulting from the construction, repair, remodeling or demolition of any building or appurtenances on private property will not be removed by the department of public works, and the owner must cause such materials and waste to be privately moved.
Lynch said the construction material exceeds the weight limitations for a 96 gallon container. He also said the haulers removed the Barrett cans because citizens complained about the way they looked. Lynch said the company is abusing the city service, and that his agency picked up all the city owned garbage receptacles at the 3 Barrett addresses we visited. Lynch also said Public Works mailed a letter of violation for each address to the realty company.
Metro Codes also confirmed it has an active investigation on the three Barrett properties. Metro Health has issued the company a notice to clean up the spilled trash at 408 Wimpole.
Once again, Messed Up went to Barrett Realty on Murfreesboro Road for a reaction. A man in the office told Messed Up to leave or the police would be called. We exited, unable to obtain a statement from the company regarding the recent developments.
As you may recall, Barrett Realty is the same company Messed Up investigated in a story earlier this month. At that time, new renters said Barrett Realty moved the previous tenant’s belongings to the front lawn for the city to pick up. After Messed Up got involved the city cited the agency, and Barrett Realty removed the furniture.
They say possession is nine-tenth of the law. They also say “Finder’s Keepers, Losers Weepers.”
Both sayings are accurate in this story.
On one end, you have two sisters more than a 100-years-old seeking to reclaim priceless family heirlooms.
On the other end of the story you have an amateur genealogist who owns the Perry County house where the women were born, who now has possession of the artifacts the older women want back.
Lily Thomas Boyd is 103. Her little sister, Juanita Thomas, is 101.
The centenarians now live in north Nashville, in a home that is full of photographs and history.
Of 11 children born to George and Florence Thomas, only Lily and Juanita are still alive.
The family was born and raised in Linden, Tennessee.
Over the years, family members moved away. Some became teachers. Others became politicians.
In the meantime, county records indicate that Rachel Szuliman bought the family homestead.
By phone, Szuliman told Messed Up the house was a disaster, abandoned for decades and left open to transients.
Szuliman and her husband restored the house to pristine condition.
In doing so they encountered artifacts belonging to the Thomas family.
She found church records from the 1890’s and slave records from the 1860’s. She found a biographical sketch written by the women’s father, George Thomas, in 1867. Szuliman also found a bible that Lily and Juanita say is more than 125 years old and has great sentimental value to the family.
Szuliman is blunt when she discusses the matter.
Much more on that in a moment, but in a nutshell Szuliman says she has given the sisters several items and made others available to them online or at her home.
Szuliman questions why the women and or their family never came to look for these priceless possessions in all the years the house was there, prior to her taking possession.
Back to the sisters — The tiny women, a combined 204 years of age, easily fit on the small sofa. They begin to reminisce and explain what the items and family mean to them.
Though younger by two years, Juanita is not as verbal and allows Lily to do most of the talking.
The former minister’s wife has a remarkably vivid memory.
When I ask her how old she is she smiles, saying, “I am very young. I will be 104 years old in three weeks.”
I laugh and listen to the super-senior who tells me she was born on March 30, 1906 at 2 a.m. in the morning in Linden, Tennessee.
“There are different things we treasured, that got misplaced somehow when we left Linden,” Lily says.
Before I can ask her another question, Lily launches into another story, this one about her grandfather with the bright blue eyes.
“My father’s father was Dr. Cole,” she said. “He was doctor for the king in England. When he didn’t bow to the king, he had to slip out [of the country] and come to America. That was 1842.”
I try and ask her what the letters and bible mean to her.
“I would treasure them forever and pass them on down,” she said. “They would be passed on down through the Thomas family.”
I ask how old the bible is.
“It’s at least from 1842,” she said. “I’m not sure how old before then.”
Lily tells me that her mother, Florence, was a church worker and in the 1920’s she organized women to vote.
“My mom got them together in Perry County and carried them to the polls to vote,” she said with great assurance.
“My older brother was a lawyer. He was a great politician. He didn’t miss any conventions. He was a Republican. In my family we had many, many ancestors in the Civil War.”
I try and get her back on track about the heirlooms she would like returned.
“I am just shocked at the woman. Anytime we went to Linden we stopped by, she gave us a few things, but not everything.”
“What would you say to her right now?” I ask.
Her eyes brighten and she leans forward on the couch. “If I could talk to her, what would I say? I am shocked and surprised you had these things, belonging to my great ancestors on my dad’s side and to keep that bible, and it is treasured in our family all through the years. To think you kept it all these years I am shocked. She should give it to me. I think she is a good Christian woman, and why she is keeping it I don’t know, and it hurts me and she won’t give it to the family. It doesn’t mean anything to her whatsoever.”
“What does it mean to you?” I ask.
“It means everything to us. It is history and carries us back through life and up to the present. I can’t express how much it would mean. I couldn’t express that in words what it would mean to pass it on down.”
Like every story, there are two sides. There are two sides to this story as well.
I speak with Mrs. Szuliman by phone for a long time. She is candid in her remarks when I tell her what Lily and Juanita have to say.
On March 5, 2010 Szuliman tells me the following:
“It [the items] had been in the house for 30 years. I worked and went through all the trash. The house was abandoned. The floors had collapsed. The front door wouldn’t close. Neighbors report people coming in and going out. There were vagrants that came and went and took things for 30 years. I am not willing to go through the whole process and give them back the things they could have gotten themselves. I bought the house 10 years ago. [County records show the house was purchased in 1993.] What was in the house was exposed to anyone who wanted anything for 30 years prior to that. Now they want it back.”
When I ask her why they want it back now, Szuliman says, “Why? Because they found out it was there. They had been searching for the bible for years and never looked for it.”
“Were they too lazy to look through the trash?”
“The house was in total disrepair. The city wanted to condemn the house. It is a piece of history for the neighborhood. We fought for [the house.] My husband worked on the house. He was out there building homes in the area, two weeks after heart surgery. The windows were knocked out, the floor collapsed. It was so full of trash, you wouldn’t believe it.”
“After we worked on it, we had to jack the rooms up. We had to jack them up. We are old house-people. These are part of the history of Perry County.”
I tell her how important the documents seem to be to the women.
Szuliman replies, “I wanted to save the important documents of the family. I am not willing to give them to any one person. I want them shared with the whole family, which is why I put them on the Internet.”
She continued, “If I give them to one person, guess what, they won’t share them. The people pushing for this won’t share. There are several grand children. The one wanting this won’t tell the others about their heritage.”
Szuliman tells me that Lily is the one pushing this.
“I live in her uncle’s house. We re-did it. We wanted the family to come back and feel at home. I’m now on the outs with them.”
“After I did all this work, and now they have this attitude. I rescued them. The city wanted to burn this house. They burned the house two doors up.”
I ask her if the material is valuable.
“I don’t think so,” she replies. “I think they just wanted to know where it was. If a building sits for 30 years and nobody looks for the family bible in all that time, what does that tell you? It tells you they are too lazy. They want someone else to look through the trash and reap the benefits. It doesn’t work that way. This house was open 30 years. We bought it, and it was so bad we couldn’t tell there was a house. It was so overgrown in front, took four months to get through and dig it out.
“How did you find the artifacts?” I ask.
“By working and by luck,” she says. “I went through everything. I threw away garbage. I saved what was savable. They are giving me a terrible struggle on this and I think, where are they coming from?
“I bought it 10 years ago. It sat for 30 years before that. Why didn’t they go through and look in all that time? I think they want something for nothing. That is my opinion. They are happy they found it, now they think they can claim it. They cannot. They can’t say that is mine. Maybe they will take part of the foundation of the house. I am willing to share with the family. They can come to my house, anyone or everyone, but if they want to take it with them, well that is not the way I work. [The house] was condemned. All these documents would have been burned without me. They don’t appreciate that. They just want their hands on it.”
A conservator for the sisters says that the law is on Szuliman’s side since she legally purchased the house and all the contents inside.
If you live in a sub division in Middle Tennessee, chances are you have this same problem. It has to do with unsolicited newspapers, periodicals and advertising fliers that seemingly litter streets, lawns and sidewalks.
After picking up dozens of discarded periodicals on a recent dog walk, Steve Yaeger couldn’t take it anymore, and the Murfreesboro man called Messed Up. The day Andy met with Yaeger, he pulled out a rolling cooler filled with 3 to 4 dozen deteriorating periodicals that he has picked up on his daily dog walk.
“It litters the place. These rot, turn to pulp. The cars run over them. If someone throws something in my yard I consider it littering. And they fill up the landfill.”
Yaeger said he has tried calling various publications but nothing changed. The 55 year old said he wants the option of “opting in” to such a program, rather than getting the unsolicited material without his permission and then having to contact the companies to make them stop.
Messed Up contacted several publications. Mike Pirtle with the Murfreesboro Post took our call and seemed very concerned about Mr. Yaeger’s complaints.
Pirtle tolds us that this paper is free to everyone, but if someone does not wish to revieve the paper, they can place a request either by phone of online. The Murfreesboro Post works hard to honor these requests, and carriers are also instructed not to throw papers on driveways where papers have not been picked up. If there is an area where the pickup rate is not strong, The Murfreesboro Post will not deliver there, and will focus circulation on areas where the papers are wanted. Since they deliver to such a large and changing area, this requires constant monitoring by the circulation manager. It can be difficult to keep up, which is why the paper welcomes help from the public.
We also spoke to Bob Faricy at the DNJ.
The DNJ is a subscription-based paper, meaning that people either buy the paper in the store or order a subscription for deliveries to their home. However, the company also has a TNC product, which is a free paper that is distributed to specific areas. Faricy estimated that this TNC product is delivered by hundreds of carriers in five counties. If a customer does not wish to receive a paper or the TNC they can call in and request this and the delivery is halted.
Is it littering? Is it business? Is it the responsibility of the company? Is it the responsibility of the residents?
We wanted some answers on a topic that seems to have a lot of grey area, so we contacted Rutherford County Commissioner Ronald Williams. The District 8 representative said he brought this issue up at a March 2nd meeting with other county leaders.
Here’s what Williams told Messed Up at the Channel 2 studio:
“It is an aggravation. Everyone has this problem and they don’t know what to do about it.”
“I read the law,” Andy told Williams, “and it seems that a normal citizen can’t throw anything in your yard. But there is an exemption for the newsperson or mail person who can do it. Seems like there is some grey area, what is going on?”
“What we found in the past is people complained, they went to the source and they stopped throwing it. The problem is next week, (the company) hires the next delivery person and they (delivery person) don’t know who doesn’t want it and they continue blanketing everyone.”
Williams said he has taken many complaints about this issue.
“Last night at our committee meeting, I brought up the issue. We decided to get the entire county, unincorporated areas and all of the city ordinances together and we plan to get a consensus to stop this from being a problem and an aggravation for folks. What’s messed up about this is it’s just littering. Pure and simple littering!”
Back in the Berkshire sub-division, Yaeger held up a badly deteriorating paper and said, “Advertisers don’t realize what an irritation these papers are. If they only knew we are not looking at them and simply running over them in our cars.”
When an Antioch family moved into a rental home, they encountered a front lawn full of the previous tenant’s belongings.
Chris and Sheila York told Messed Up they immediately called the property managers to complain.
“The landlord told me he’d have it out before we took possession,” Sheila York said. “Well this is what he did: He took it from the house and put it here and said the city would be by on Tuesday to pick it up. A week went by and nobody came, so I called Public Works, and Public Works told me they won’t come and get it. It is not their responsibility, they said; it is the landlord’s responsibility.”
Mrs. York said she volunteered to take the items to the dump if the management company would pay for the dump fee. She said that the management company declined.
“We have a dump truck because my husband is a roofer. We offered to load it up and take it to the dump. We just wanted 50 dollars for the dump fee. He said why would I pay you to do it when I can get the city to do it for free.”
We went to Barrett Realty for answers. The office was bustling with activity when we entered. Numerous people were trying to pay rent, but there was only one associate in the office.
That associate told Messed Up that Barrett doesn’t own the property, but does manage it. He told us that someone would get back to us. That never happened, but apparently the message got through, because the next day residents reported that Barrett Realty picked up the debris pile.
Gwen Hopkins-Glascock of Metro Public Works sent Andy this note regarding the assertion that the city will pick up debris left at the curb:
“Landlords and management company’s are responsible for disposing of items like this. We do not want people to think there is even a remote chance that items left at the curb will be removed. It is the responsibility of the owners to dispose of their unwanted items, instead of expecting Metro to do this. In order to assist residents who have a hardship, Metro provides a bulk item collection service (thru Public Works and the sheriff’s office), and Metro Beautification organizes numerous neighborhood cleanup events where bulk items are accepted, but leaving them at the curb is irresponsible at best.”
They say fences make good neighbors, but around Neely’s Bend School, a fence has confused many community members.
A resident who chooses not to be identified tells Messed Up that a fence was constructed this past fall directly across a popular walking track behind the elementary school. The fence stretches approximately 100 yards and cuts the walking track in two.
Messed Up goes to the school system and this is what Communication Director Olivia Brown told us:
“There is a walking track that’s been there for years. It is maintained by the school. There was a change of ownership in neighboring property last year, and the new owner contacted schools late in the fall and said that track was on his property, and he was concerned of liability if someone was injured on the track. So to answer his concerns, the district erected a fence to keep kids from straying over.”
Brown says the fence was put up with the idea that this spring the track would be reconfigured so that it completes a circuit all on school property.
When told of this, the resident told Messed Up he is pleased and looks forward to using the track when the weather warms up.
A Kingston Springs woman pays $800 dollars for a rental home she never takes possession of.
Now she says she feels cheated.
On move in day, Nancy Deedrick says she opens the door to the small home and she says the home is “uninhabitable.” She says the stove is dirty, and the switch covers off. She says the fridge is hooked up to an extension cable that is running off a socket in the nearby bathroom.
She is frustrated and wants her money back.
The landlord says no.
Unfortunately; Deedrick has singed no lease, no contract, nothing binding with the landlord.
Nancy Deedrick ultimately moves out, but she is still out her money that includes moving expenses.
That was in early December.
Deedrick contacts Messed Up hoping we can get the landlord to change his mind.
Messed up calls the landlord and he tells a much different story.
He says the problems that bother Deedrick were easily correctable and he had every intention of fixing them.
Without a contract spelling out what should have been done and what was expected of each party, there is no way to know what the real story is.
Sadly, both parties seem to be out on this deal. Deedrick is out her money and still is looking for a place to live. And the landlord says the rental property is still empty which means he is not collecting rent.
The Better Business Bureau tells Messed Up that both sides have learned a costly lesson.
President of the BBB, Kathleen Calligan says, “Everything must be in writing. You don’t operate on just a handshake.”
The holidays bring back sad memories for Diana McKinney.
January 9th 2008, her 3 month old son died of what she tells me was classified as crib death.
The New Year has brought sorrow for the 24 year old. Recently the young mother lost her job. She’s about to lose her apartment. But she has not lost her will to fight.
The young mom is in the process of obtaining a criminal trespassing warrant against the Antioch apartment complex where she is being evicted.
McKinney does not contest the eviction, but she does object to the way things have transpired.
She was issued a detainer warrant in late November which cited her into court. She went to court on the 15th of December. The judge gave her the standard 10 days to vacate, which would have been Christmas.
But According to officials at the Davidson County Sheriff’s office, McKinney wouldn’t have technically had to move out till early January when she was officially issued what is known as a Writ of Restitution.
That sets the stage for this messed up story. Though she was being evicted, technically the apartment is her home till she is officially evicted. That would not happen till early January. But according to McKinney, and a police report obtained by Messed UP, on December 22nd, someone entered her apartment and moved all her things out.
Priceless photos of her deceased child were thrown away. Expensive medicines and medical equipment needed by her sick nephew, allegedly tossed in the trash. Her couch and clothes and personal belongings all removed and thrown into the trash with the care you would toss a soiled paper towel.
Lawyers for the apartment complex deny the allegation.
McKinney says her neighbors saw apartment personnel in the apartment.
If McKinney didn’t remove her own items, and she didn’t give anyone else permission to enter her apartment, then whoever threw away her stuff did so prematurely.
McKinney questioned the staff at the apartment complex. She says they denied entering her apartment. But McKinney says her neighbor is willing to sign a statement that they saw a maintenance man and a cleaning woman who work for the complex in the apartment on the day in question.
McKinney called the police who did respond and filed a report. The officer suggested that McKinney file her own charges which she is in the process of doing.
Messed Up calls the lawyer who represents the apartment complex. The lawyer tells me:
“Our records say she voluntarily vacated the premises on December 18th.”
McKinney says she told the apartment managers she hoped to be out before Christmas, and when she went back to the apartment the locks had been changed and her items removed.
The attorney for the apartment complex tells Messed Up; his client categorically denies going into the tenant’s apartment and removing anything.
The attorney also questions who else beside McKinney had keys to the apartment.
McKinney said the only keys belonged to her and her sister.
McKinney has since moved in with her cousin in a small house. She tells messed up she also has a job working security, ironically at the very apartment complex that evicted her.
She says she is fighting this case because she feels she was wronged. She says items belonging to her infant son are gone that she can never get back.
“My son passed away, and his pictures and clothing and everything were in the apartment. Sorry.” McKinney wipes a tear from her eye and fights back tears. She is standing in front of the Christmas tree in the tiny apartment she is sharing with her sister and a number of young children
“It is my son. I have one picture and that is the only thing I can remember him by. My son passed almost 2 years ago next month.”
“What would you say to whomever threw your items in the trash?” I ask.
“They are heartless,” she says. “Baby’s stuff he needs. The baby has been through enough and now has nothing, they are heartless people.”
As of 1/4/10 McKinney says she is still actively attempting to file trespassing charges. She says the court is requiring her to submit names of witnesses and apartment management.
AS of 1/4/10 the lawyer for the apartment complex tells Messed Up he is also investigating the allegations raised by Ms. McKinney. The lawyer says he would like the names of the witnesses so he too can interview them.
Neighbors say it gets progressively worse every week.
Retired Minister Donald Hall lives across the street. He says the man who owned the house once had beautiful roses and well manicured shrubs. But all that ended on May 29th.
Messed Up has learned that is the day that Shelbyville Police arrested Lason Watai charging him with 2 counts of solicitation of a minor, 2 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of attempted statutory rape.
Shelbyville authorities say the former Asst. Vanderbilt Professor in Engineering and computer science was attempting to meet a 13 year old girl on line for sex. It turns out the 13 year old girl was really a police detective.
Messed Up calls the Bedford County Jail and discovers that Watai is no longer in custody. The jail confirms that he served 99 days and then was released to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Sources in the Bedford Co. D.A.’s office say they believe that Mr. Watai was deported back to his home country of New Guinea.
That would explain why the lawn is so unkempt. Now the question is what to do about it?
Councilman Buddy Baker represents this district. Baker says he has tried everything he can think of working through conventional channels. He has called Metro Codes and Metro Health. Citations have been written and the process initiated. But what good is the process when the owner doesn’t even reside in the United States of America.
City officials say they cannot legally go onto private property and cut lawns etc.
Baker also tells Messed Up that Watai owned his home free and clear. That means no bank is going to foreclose and clean up the lawn for a resale.
So what to do?
Codes officials tell Messed Up this is a very unusual case.
Buddy Baker tells messed Up he is attempting to round up a church or civic organization that might be willing to help out.
Though this is an extreme case, I suggest to Baker that there are many cases like this, where the property owner abandons the property. I suggest an ordinance.
Baker is non committal on this, but he is steadfast in his desire to clean up 511 Annex.
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Lynch said the construction material exceeds the weight limitations for a 96 gallon container. He also said the haulers removed the Barrett cans because citizens complained about the way they looked. Lynch said the company is abusing the city service, and that his agency picked up all the city owned garbage receptacles at the 3 Barrett addresses we visited. Lynch also said Public Works mailed a letter of violation for each address to the realty company. 
On one end, you have two sisters more than a 100-years-old seeking to reclaim priceless family heirlooms. 
“It’s at least from 1842,” she said. “I’m not sure how old before then.”
Szuliman replies, “I wanted to save the important documents of the family. I am not willing to give them to any one person. I want them shared with the whole family, which is why I put them on the Internet.”
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A Kingston Springs woman pays $800 dollars for a rental home she never takes possession of. 
Messed Up has learned that is the day that Shelbyville Police arrested Lason Watai charging him with 2 counts of solicitation of a minor, 2 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of attempted statutory rape.
Baker also tells Messed Up that Watai owned his home free and clear. That means no bank is going to foreclose and clean up the lawn for a resale.
