Lisbon Residents,We Warned You Of The 'Slime' That Came Down River From Rumford

WARNING --- WARNING --- WARNING

Below is an outline of how to steal property legally in Lisbon.  This is my own opinion after reviewing the Reginald Thiboutot and James Morreale situations.

1.     Locate property the town wants for whatever reason.

2.    Send in the Code Enforcement Officer (CEO) to find some code violations.  The CEO issues a notice to correct these violations to the property owner with a short suspense date (this is done to make it impossible for the owner to get it completed).

3.    The CEO returns on the suspense date and finds the code violations have not been done so he condemns the building.  (There probably is no real reason to condemn the building but this is the first step in the process.  Property owners should get an independent CEO to review the full report and inspect the property to see if the property should really be condemned)

4.    The town issues a notice to the property owner the property has been seized by the town.  (What they are doing is taking the building and the property owner still owns the property.  The town misleads the property owner into thinking they also seized the title to the land.)

5.    The property owner does nothing believing the town now owns the property.  (The property owner does not go to the town and turn off the water or sewer.  These bills continue to come but the property owner believes this to be a mistake because the town has seized his property.  These bills continue to grow.) 

6.     Next the tax bill comes and the property owner does nothing.  (Again thinking the town owns the property and this is another mistake by the town so when he does not pay the tax bill the town puts a lien on his property for back taxes.  This allows then to take his land also.)

7.    All of this is perfectly legal because the property owner does not understand what has happened to him because the town does not explain what is going on and misleads the property owner into thinking the towns owns the property when in fact they only seized the building.

8.    The way to beat the town is to immediately get a second opinion on if the building should really be condemned.  Next turn everything off i.e. water/sewer/electricity/gas.  I also believe you should terminate the property insurance since the town seized the property they should be responsible for what happens to the building but check with a lawyer first.  I could be wrong on this point.   It is critical the property owner immediately request the town adjust his taxes because the building does not belong to him.  This should lower the taxes on the property.  He could utilize the money he no long has to pay for insurance to pay these taxes.  By keeping the property taxes paid, screws up the towns process and does not provide them an excuse to take the land.  An empty lot should be easier to sell.

9.    Check out Tax Map U19 Lot 33, 39 Village Street.  This property was owned by Reginald Thiboutot and the town of Lisbon took his property in the same manner as they took 3 Village Street.  They now took 231 Lisbon Street in much the same manner.

The manner in which the Town of Lisbon is legally stealing property in Lisbon is the exact same way Stephen Eldridge did in Rumford until the residents finally said enough is enough and got rid of Eldridge.  The people of Lisbon need to review what happened to Rumford and determine if this is what they want for Lisbon.  I believe the people are smarter in Lisbon and will take action to put a stop before Stephen Eldridge does to Lisbon what he did in Rumford.

Larry A. Fillmore
Concerned Citizen