Dr Phil rerun- dad of 7 won't work

[fundiefun]

This reminds me so much of Emily in a few years with more kids.

[chaotic life]

I can give you some insight into the no heat stuff. FIL, whom we almost never speak to, has an ancient woodstove. He collects and breaks up packaging pallets all year so he can use them for fuel for his woodstove every winter. He has rigged ductwork from this old, CO leaking stove to heat his house. A few years ago, he was running the stove high as a kite and burnt about 1/3 of the house to a crisp. Even with all of that, including the fact that the rats routinely eat the wires to the kitchen stove and they have no running water most of the time, and can't use the shower even when they DO have running water. In spite of ALL of that, CPS has never once taken the children from the home. CPS has our name and number on file if they ever DO take the kids, but the kids are both teens now and while they have investigated the family routinely they have never removed the kids.

So yeah, CPS does not remove children just because someone is poor, not even for abject poverty.

[NurseNell]

I saw that when it aired a few weeks ago. The family was totally nuts. They collected rain water for drinking and showering. They lost their electricity and gas. I would think it would be dangerous for a family in Minnesota to live without heat. The creepiest part was that it was obvious the father was your typical fundie patriarch. They showed the whole family sitting around the living room having Bible time with the father.

Where in MN are they from? You have to have heat here, you'd die of hypothermia. I have friends who live, by choice, without electricity or gas. But they have wood heat, a real Finnish sauna, a compost toilet. Their house is actually very nice. They didn't have running water but had a well and a hand pump in the kitchen. They were allowed to adopt 2 children.

[tkr322]

I thought if a home was without electricity it was considered uninhabitable. That's why energy companies won't cut off your power for months and months even if you haven't paid and they'll send a billion notices and call before doing so.

[Wolfie]

I thought if a home was without electricity it was considered uninhabitable. That's why energy companies won't cut off your power for months and months even if you haven't paid and they'll send a billion notices and call before doing so.

I think some modern houses might be like that, but it can't possibly be true. My neighbors and I had to live without power for a week last winter. (and random other 2 and three day spurts. When it snows heavily, trees fall on power lines) Most of us are set up so that we can live without power- ie, propane stoves and water heaters, and wood or propane heat. We also keep battery powered lanterns, flashlights, and candles and other flame powered lighting. (coleman lanterns, oil lanterns.)

I think if a house is not set up to live without power, or in some of the cases in really bad condition previous to being without power, that would be a different story, but many people do fine without power in their houses. There are many people who live outside of the reach of power lines and have no problems. It is more work, but it's not uninhabitable.

[holierthanyou]

If choosing to live without electricity for religious reasons was grounds for removal then all the Amish children would be in foster care.

Surely CPS trumps safety over conformity?

[Rosa]

Amish people (and people who live off-grid on purpose and aren't Gabe Anast) have light and heat, just not via utility payments. That's different than squatting in a conventional house with the utilities cut off and no alternative systems in place.

[Lillybee]

In my town, if your electricty is cut off, you are evicted even if you own the home.

[NurseNell]

In my town, if your electricty is cut off, you are evicted even if you own the home.

I wonder if that would hold up in court. You don't need electricity to live, or we'd have no Amish.

[Witsec7]

In my town, if your electricty is cut off, you are evicted even if you own the home.

Huh? :liar:

[Rosa]

City of Minneapolis condemns homes for not having water/not paying the water bill.

My neighbor's got a sign on his downstairs apartment because his tenants moved out without paying the bill; if he doesn't pay it by the 23rd, his duplex is condemned.

[BlondeAgent007]

This is the special I saw that I was posting about earlier, asking for a family like them, who turned out to be the anast family. THANK YOU FOR THIS!!!

[Free Me]

I remember this jackass from the first run. He has that "look" you know, that look of glazed lalala weird-ness that so many hard core fundies have. The wife has it too. It makes me nuts when these people twist everything to suit themselves. Did it ever occur to him that it could be Satan telling him to live like that? :twisted: Seems like the sort of thing Satan would do, imo.

Anyway, here in Wisconsin they cannot cut off your heat in the winter, but come April they can and will if you haven't paid. With heating costs running $500 to $700 a month lots of people have a hard time.

[fakepigtails73]

In my town, if your electricty is cut off, you are evicted even if you own the home.

What???

[Witsec7]

I've done a couple of searches and now where did I find a state that permits residential evictions of property owners for failure to have electricity.

Some municipalities my have code requirements that mandate electric power is necessary as part of maintaining a habitable residence-but that could be argued on a religious exemption, Amish come to mind.

I'd really like to read the muni code LB is posting about.

[fakepigtails73]

I've done a couple of searches and now where did I find a state that permits residential evictions of property owners for failure to have electricity.

Some municipalities my have code requirements that mandate electric power is necessary as part of maintaining a habitable residence-but that could be argued on a religious exemption, Amish come to mind.

I'd really like to read the muni code LB is posting about.

i would think that places which do so have a "deadline before eviction" req...

I mean what if you cannot pay yr $500 electric bill, they cut you, then 4 days later you receive yr paycheck which enables you to pay; the power co. then hooks you back.

They wouldn't evict you of the place you own in those 4 days? Talk about heartless.

[NurseNell]

I've done a couple of searches and now where did I find a state that permits residential evictions of property owners for failure to have electricity.

Some municipalities my have code requirements that mandate electric power is necessary as part of maintaining a habitable residence-but that could be argued on a religious exemption, Amish come to mind.

I'd really like to read the muni code LB is posting about.

So would I.

[Mama Mia]

Also, CPS doesn't get involved JUST because children are without housing. There has to be some sort of neglect or endangerment or abuse shown as well. For example, if a family is living in their car with their three children, but have enough to eat , decent hygiene and keep warm -- CPS won't get involved (although they might offer voluntary services ).. However if the family living in the car is freezing and the kids are sick because of it - CPS can get involved. State and local laws vary widely of course.

[StarrieEyedKat]

In my town, if your electricty is cut off, you are evicted even if you own the home.

Huh? How on earth is someone evicted from the home they own? Who'd doing the evicting? And why?

[Kaylee]

Huh? How on earth is someone evicted from the home they own? Who'd doing the evicting? And why?

Not technically eviction, but I have heard of homes being condemned as "unfit for habitation" because they had no heat, water, or septic. This forces the occupants to move out.

We looked at a home that was in a situation like that several years ago- the previous owners had lived there over a year with no utilities before the city forced them to move out, then it went into foreclosure. It would have needed a lot of work to have been declared habitable, but apparently the main issue was lack of water for sewage and lack of heat which had caused busted pipes in the first place.

[Witsec7]

Condemnations are different than evictions. Is that what Lillybee really meant?

Bumping in hopes of a response.