Whale Week 2013: Whale Week Day 5: Top Stories Across the Curbed Universe

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[Appraisal Stories] Aversion to Turtle Soup Prompted Mold Lawsuit

Posted by Jonathan J. Miller -Tuesday, February 7, 2012, 10:00 AM
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A number of years ago, my appraisal firm provided an appraisal for the purchase of a few thousand square foot loft in a new gut rehab conversion in downtown Manhattan. This Inman article on “Homes were reptiles roam” triggered my memory of this story, of which the details are a little fuzzy due to the time that has passed. Still, it’s worth sharing since it’s so bizarre.

Our firm was served a subpoena indicating we complicit in the newly discovered “mold” problem in the condo unit. I should point out that the developer, bank, mortgage broker, real estate broker, attorneys on both sides and others were also subject to the same lawsuit.

We reviewed the appraisal and did not understand why the buyer was coming after all of us. The unit was gut renovated and never occupied at the time of the inspection. We did not observe anything unusual.

Our attorney called on our behalf and got the story. The case was soon thrown out before we had to provide anything. The story goes like this:

One night the owner was dining out and saw the adjacent table eating “turtle soup.”The owner had an epiphany that his life’s work would be to “rescue” all the turtles he could get his hands on.Soon there were a few thousand (my recollection) turtles living in the apartment with the heat kept warm enough to keep them thriving.Mold began to grow within the apartment.The owner claimed the unit was not livable due to the existence of mold and began to sue everyone connected with the sale.The unit owner moved out and rented another apartment nearby and brought the turtles with him.Mold began to grow in the rental apartment.The lawsuit was thrown out.

Note: redacted to protect the guilty/innocent

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Horror Stories: Gawker has published stories about terrible...

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Monday, January 30, 2012, by Sarah Firshein

Gawker has published stories about terrible roommates. A snippet from the winner: "Later that day I came back from class or some activity and she had taken her hunting knife to my mattress, a lot of my clothes, our rug, our bean bag chair, and had killed a squirrel with it and left it in my bed." [Gawker]

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? Previous: Home Is Where the Art Is...

? Next: Immaculate Hudson Valley Mansion of John Jacob Astor III

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Curbed Awards 2011: Feuds: the Five Worst Landlord-Tenant Stories of the Year

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Thursday, December 29, 2011, by Rob Bear

The continuing economic crunch this year, combined with the usual craziness of at least a small percentage of the 300M people packed into our fifty states, has produced some spectacularly crazy tales of landlord-tenant grievances. We hesitate to call these "favorites", considering some are horrific acts of violence or instances of unadulterated racism, but they're certainly the most noteworthy. Plus, an old letter to Andy Warhol surfaced to add a little historical perspective. Kicking it off is an innocuous-looking London mansion that just so happened to be owned by a son of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi. Back when Colonel Qaddafi was alive and abusing his people, his son Saif had the house on the market for $15,792 a week. It didn't take long for anti-Qaddafi protesters to bust down the door and start squatting in the place. Click through the gallery above for the run-down.
· Curbed Awards 2011 [Curbed National]

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Horror Stories: Vote For the Worst Renter Horror Story in SF

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Thursday, November 10, 2011, by Sally Kuchar

In honor of Curbed's Renters Week, we shared three of the most horrifying renter horror stories with you. But whose San Francisco horror story is the worst? Lovely readers, it's time to vote. This poll will be open for 24 hours; voting irregularities will be strictly policed. The winner of this poll will advance to the national round, and have a shot at winning a free month's rent (up to $2,500- sorry 1%ers!). Cast your vote after the jump. But first, a quick recap.

Renter Horror Story #1: Bernal Heights Rental Came With Mice, Layers of Sawdust

"A shared bathroom (in between two rooms) that was the size of a closet and was complete with plywood doors meaning you could hear?everything that went on inside including the aftermath of your?roommates hookup's late night burrito feast, immediately following a?lengthy round of loud intercourse."

Renter Horror Story #2: Noe Valley Apartment Comes With Unmentioned Mold Infestation (complete with photos)

"After a couple of days of living there I was waking up with a sore throat and the dog was waking up swallowing really hard, something he doesn't do. I also noticed that the towels didn't dry, and when I hung the shower curtain on the wall to protect the sheetrock crumbled in my hand. Hmmm."

Renter Horror Story #3: One Bedroom Apartment is "One Event Away From a Major Fire"

"Two days before the wedding, with my grandparents' flight due to land at SFO in an hour, we lose power and begin to smell smoke. I try to replace the fuse, but it blows. I go through three more fuses and they all blow, too. A call to everyone's favorite landlord, and he's there in a few hours with his handyman #1. HM #1 looks at our old knob-and-tube wiring and says that the whole place needs to be re-wired. It's one event away from a major fire. He says we'll need to move out for about two weeks while he drills in through the ceiling and installs all new wiring. Our landlord insists we can live through it. "Just move all of your stuff away from the ceiling," he says."

Time to vote:

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Horror Stories: Disgusting Mold Infestation Is San Francisco's Best (Worst?) Renter Horror Story

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Friday, November 11, 2011, by Sally Kuchar

Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner for Curbed SF's Renter Horror Story contest. Noe Valley Apartment Comes With Unmentioned Mold Infestation is a tale of a lady and her dog who move into a "janky" apartment in Noe Valley that had potential for awesomeness. As the writer puts it, "I can paint janky." But as time wore on and towels didn't dry and sheetrock crumbled upon touch, the renter feared that maybe her apartment needed more than a paint job. After some investigating (looking under a plastic and wood slat dropped ceiling), she stumbled onto a complete mold infestation. Her story's here, and yes, there are pictures. You've been warned. Now SF's best horror story advances to the national competition, where it has a chance at winning a free month's rent (up to $2,500). Congrats to our winner!
· Vote For the Worst Renter Horror Story in SF [Curbed SF]
· Noe Valley Apartment Comes With Unmentioned Mold Infestation [Curbed SF]

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The Real Book of Real Estate: Real Experts. Real Stories. Real Life.

The Bible of Real Estate Investing

The Real Book of Real Estate is the one book, the Bible, of real estate advice and techniques every investor needs to navigate through the ups, the downs, and the in-betweens of the real estate market and come out on top.

The only thing better than one real estate expert helping you invest and win is twenty real estate experts with that same mission. For the first time ever, Robert Kiyosaki, bestselling author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, has assembled in one big book a star studded cast of real estate wizards and trusted advisors with one purpose in mind: to share their knowledge to help you win in real estate.

This is the ultimate real estate desk reference you’ll come back to again and again. Whether you’re a seasoned investor or buying your first property, you will enhance your knowledge and grow your wisdom through this The Real Book of Real Estate.

In The Real Book of Real Estate you’ll learn how to:

• Value a property
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• Establish your own team of advisors
• And so much more!

In The Real Book of Real Estate, you’ll hear from the insiders and learn from their wins and their losses. It’s decades’ worth of experience and knowledge you just can’t get anywhere else.

Price: $19.95

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Curbed's Horror Stories: Real-Life Hoarding Possibly Sadder Than the Televised Variety

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Tuesday, January 18, 2011, by Sarah

Above: a positively grotesque apartment occupied by one who suffers from compulsive hoarding. The photo was sent to Curbed NY by said hoarder's across-the-hall neighbor, who writes, "I found out I was living across from a hoarder. She had been accumulating junk for over 20 years and it had gotten to the point where every inch of her apartment was covered from front to back… And only a thin wall separated us. Of course the A-hole real estate agent who showed me the place conveniently forgot to mention this."

Here's the full horror story. >>

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Stories of Seasonal Decorating: Lack of Holiday Spirit in a Mall; in Boca, it's Pastor vs. Menorah!

Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Friday, December 10, 2010, by Sarah

Stories of Seasonal Decorating is a particularly relevant Curbed National feature in which we commemorate the countdown to Christmas by rounding up decor happenings in neighborhoods, small towns, and cities across our fair continent and publishing 'em at various points throughout the month. Got a local tale of your own? Send it along to the tip line.

Photo by Joe Amon/The Denver Post

DENVER, COLO.— The Denver Post takes a look at Boettcher Mansion,the Colorado Governor's residence that Governor-Elect John Hickenlooper may or may not move into. There are some great shots of grand, gracious holiday decor. [Denver Post]

BURLINGTON, ONTARIO— One resident was so flabbergasted by the "minimalist" holiday decor at the local Mapleview Centre mall that she contacted the mall administration. "Mall employees, too, are concerned," reports one article. "Many say they've been inundated with questions from shoppers about the sparse decorations and Mapleview's general lack of seasonal spirit." [TheSpec.com]

BOCA RATON, FLA.— It's Florida's version of the NYC mosque controversy! Except in play here is a menorah, erected outside City hall, and a determined pastor who thinks it should be taken down and replaced with a nativity scene. [WPTV.com]

TERRE HAUTE, IND.— Reindeer were recently reported stolen from a local park. Extra police are being deployed through the holidays. [WTHIV.com]

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