MASON CITY – A Mason City man is battling City Hall and his landlord to keep his home.
Quinn Symonds found a notice at his home for “no occupancy” on Thursday. The notice stated that as of April 13th – less than three days from Thursday – Symonds and his five year-old daughter would have to be out of the rental house they live in, located at 719 North Kentucky Avenue. The house is owned by landlord Joe Paulson.
The notice said that Symonds has to be out of the house because a city inspector determined that some windows in the single-family home are not up to code. The windows – which look like standard windows – are supposed to be “egress” windows for escape purposes in case of emergency.
Symonds said late Thursday that the first notice was placed on his door by city staff around noon while he was at his daughter’s spring program.
After seeing that the city was giving him less than 3 days to vacate his home, Symonds went to City Hall to get some answers. When he got there, most people were at lunch, so Symonds was able to make contact via phone a short time later. Symonds said that City Hall officials admitted they had made a mistake with the first notice and then came to his home and placed a second notice on his door.
See video of Symonds describing his situation before he went into City Hall seeking assistance with his problem:
httpv://youtu.be/_1-xqEsks-U
Shortly after stopping at City Hall, Symonds got advice from Human Rights Director Lionel Foster via phone, who told him that the city can’t force him out of his rental house due to deficiencies caused by the landlord not adhering to city code with the windows. Foster advised Symonds to deliver a notice to Paulson advising him that he was unduly forcing Symonds out of his home. Symonds brought a notice to Paulson later Thursday.
Symonds had this to say of working with city employees at City Hall:
See Video:
httpv://youtu.be/tcgq8LLMDps
After discussing the issue with city officials, they admitted that the three day notice was a “mistake” and immediately brought a new notice to Symonds’ home and placed it on the door. The new notice gave Symonds 30 days to be out of the house.
Later, Symonds, following the advice of Human Rights Director Lionel Foster, put in writing his concerns and hand-delivered the notice to Paulson. In the notice, Symonds says he told Paulson that he would not be paying rent until the house was up to city code and “informed him that the city cannot evict me because it’s the law that he keeps the home rentable by lease.”
Symonds said that his current lease is set to run until March of 2014.
See video taken by Symonds when he delivered a notice to Paulson to bring the rental house up to code:
httpv://youtu.be/R8hiel51Ttw
See letter from Symonds to landlord:
Inspection report:
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Some of the comments here are laughable. If the window was not an issue when he first rented it, why is it all of a sudden an issue after the property changed hands?
For the past few years, since meeting Mr. Paulson, I have had nothing but respect for the man, both as a person, and as a businessman. And he must be doing something right in his life to be able to afford the rentals he has purchased and rehabbed. From what I have seen of them, they are far and away better than what others have to offer.
Karma perhaps??
I know Quinn & he is a good guy & a good father to his little girl. Enough with the defamation of character & whoever claimed to be his landlord & wrote such malicious things, you should be liable for a slander suit. Ridiculous allegations against a very nice gentleman.
It’s not slander if it’s the truth. Sometimes the truth hurts. I too know Quinn, and he is a very filthy individual. I’ve seen some of his past residences, and they were all unfit for even an animal to live in.
Well this residence isn’t unfit because of who is living there – the city found it unfit because of code violations of the landlord. The eviction wasn’t because of being a slob, was it??
After reading this backround on Symonds, there is no way he has a chance running for mayor. I am surprised he would cause a stir when they inspected his house and found it to be in “dissaray.” This may have more to do with this situation than anything.
I can dismiss the coments from the previous landlord because they were with his ex-wife, but this sounds simalar.
This was posted by Quinn symonds on facebook April 13 2013 at 3:27 pm. Is this not stealing?
Please comments!
Quinn P Symonds
Dear globe, it took me all of five seconds to bypass your paywall.
Like · Share · 17 hours ago ·
Chris Hjelmgren lol yea i got past it myself in about 5 sec the other day…lol
17 hours ago · Like..
Yes, it’s theft. I accidentally figured out how to view the Globe pages free when they first started charging in December, but I paid for my subscription anyway.
criminal charges should be brought against Mr. Symonds for this!
Fair use is a limitation and exception to the exclusive right granted by copyright law to the author of a creative work. In United States copyright law, fair use is a doctrine that permits limited use of copyrighted material without acquiring permission from the rights holders. Examples of fair use include commentary, search engines, criticism, news reporting, research, teaching, library archiving and scholarship. It provides for the legal, unlicensed citation or incorporation of copyrighted material in another author’s work under a four-factor balancing test.
That’s not what he was doing.
Hjelmgren runs the onsite stripper business? Maybe Quinn can get some “Gentleman’s Clubs” in town now!
Mr. Quinn Symonds has now been vetted as a Mayoral candidate.
I sure hope Mr. Symonds understands with all the negative publicity he has received, his entry into politics will not be accepted by the voting public as a good thing.
Yes it appears this whole thing kind of backfired on Mr. Symonds.Reminds me of the old Queen song “Another one bites the dust”. Better start cranking up the “Peter for Mayor” juggernaut.
Regardless of who the tenant is of this house or how they live their life, the ISSUE here is the unsafe dwelling. As a tenant, I think you hope to be renting a safe place and that the landlord follows the rules that the landlord is supposed to abide by as an owner. This was not the case in this instance. Quinn did not put windows in that place that were against code. I would think ANYONE has the right to know if the residence they are living in is safe or not. I hope NIT keeps track of this one lets us know what actions, if any, are taken to remedy this rental property. Also, other tenants of this landlord should ask for inspection of their units (if that is possible) to make sure this landlord isn’t flying under the radar.
“Regardless of who the tenant is of this house or how they live their life, the ISSUE here is the unsafe dwelling”
Were this really the case the TENANT would be moving out; not producing a drama.
But then the landlord can’t rent the house out to someone else again until the windows are up to code (replaced), right?
Exactly.
It’s lucky Joe didn’t turn Quinn into a brownish red smear on the sidewalk. Video or no video.
Not quite sure where Lionel Foster got the idea that Quinn did not need to continue to pay rent. The tenant always has to pay their rent. However if the unit is not up to code and the tenant notifies the landlord that repairs need to be made to bring it up to code, they can pay their rent into an escrow account. The landlord can’t get the money until the repairs are made. The tenant can also make the repairs themselves and take the cost out of the rent, but they have to provide proof of the cost to the landlord. Take a look at the Legal Aid web page. If Quinn follows Lionel’s advice and doesn’t pay the rent, he’ll be breaking the lease and Joe can legally have him evicted.
I am not really sure Quinn has a lease with Paulson; what has been presented here indicates that Quinn had a lease with Paulson’s ex.
Thanks for pointing that out.
From what I have read on the Internet, I believe that if Joe accepted rent money from Quinn, he affirmed the lease Quinn had with Joe’s ex.
It’s just like watching kids cut through your yard. If you see them do it once and don’t tell them to stop it, that creates an unwritten easement and you can’t make them stop it the next time. Or if you watch someone shovel your walk or mow your grass, they see you watching them and you don’t tell them to stop or ask what it’s going to cost, if they do it again, they can bill you. I know people who have sent their FRIENDS huge bills for helping them out with projects THEY offered to help with! Beware.
Very good information and great job of researching. Always enjoy your posts, Katie.
@ MC Teacher: Thank you very much. I have a BA and continued my education at NIACC in a variety of business classes, including a Business Law class. I specifically remember discussing the cases of the snow shoveling and kids cutting through your yard as examples of implied permission. These are very insignificant events in the realm of what can happen to a person if he doesn’t put a stop to things right away. One always needs to think twice before allowing any behavior or activity because it can become a permanent part of your property description, such as allowing a neighbor to drive across your property to get to a shed or a field. There does not need to be written consent.
An advanced degree in “You kids get off my lawn”?
“From what I have read on the Internet, I believe that if Joe accepted rent money from Quinn, he affirmed the lease Quinn had with Joe’s ex.”
i believe that it becomes only a month to month lease; breakable by a 30 day notice.
I never said anything of the kind. Get off my back.
Previous comment was directed at Anoyingamous
Using the internet is hard. Maybe you should take a class on how to use it.
Katie,
I would suggest that you stop getting your legal education over the internet. Your example re: the kids cutting through your yard can’t be more off base and incorrect if you tried. I’m afraid to ask what you have your bachelors degree in that you brag about. I appreciate the fact that you obtained a degree, but how about leaving the law to those who actually studied it and stop giving legal advice that you found on line.
When I read Katie’s post, I thought, “what a bunch of bullshit”. If you are so educated Katie, how bout getting a job, then you won’t have so much time for all your lengthy, presumptuous, slightly arrogant and ignorant posts.
Katie… The few business law classes you’ve take at NIACC and the crap you read online gives you enough information to be scary. Keep your thoughts to yourself unless you know them to be fact. I enjoy reading your posts and commend you on getting an education but you are by no means an expert in this field and its obvious. Some people might read the bs you post and take it for factual information…Sad but true!
Maybe with all this trouble and the stress it causes, Quinn will reconsider running for Mayor. But if he stays in, the quickest way for him to raise campaign money is to say he might get out. Symonds could raise an easy five grand just from Bookmeyer’s supporters!
A more appropriate approach would have been to serve the Landlord notice that his property does not meet code. Then give the Landlord a reasonable time to remedy the situation or pull his rental permit on that dwelling.
At the same time the Tenant would be notified of the situation and informed of the process that is taking place. The Tenant would have the option of occupying the unit at his own risk during the remedy period or moving out.
Use the exiting remedies instead of the game playing, accusations, finger pointing and involving the HRC at this early stage of the process.
Joe said he had the paperwork from the City. He did receive notice. I’m sure the City has to serve the tenant notice as well as post the white tag notice on the house. Legally require procedures. Quinn had the right to go to the HRC to find out his rights after the inspection said the landlord was not going to fix the problem! That meant the city could evict him although the lease said the landlord had to keep the premises up to code. What would YOU do?
The big problem is that Quinn dragged NIT into this because he is running for mayor and wanted to make it look like he was a target of the City. He made a huge mistake by doing that because it appears that some people want to air his dirty laundry. Instead of getting the sympathy he wanted, he has lost all credibility.
@ red Matt: typo – should be legally REQUIRED procedures. So very sorry. Hope I made your day.
Is this the same Joe Paulson who is or was a Mason City police reserve officer? Also then he recieves city contracts for city street work – Could it be Bookie and his gang have welcomed him to the gang by screwing over a potential mayor candadate ? NAW !
Snitching on your friends and neighbors is the way to go and I highly encourage it.
-Eric Bookmeyer
LOL this whole thing is just too funny.
Quinn, all your drama queen antics are hurting Mason City’s reputation for ‘No Hate.”
LOL
Mr. Symonds sounds like you have had a run of bad luck when it comes to renting a place. You need to clean up your act and get a job and keep it. And please don’t bring your daughter into the mix. I heard there are some jobs in Charles city may be you can move over their,or maybe MR.Foster will let you move in with him.So GROW-UP and be some buddy, don’t make everyone else out to be the bad ass.
I do know Mr.Paulsen and I have seen some of the properties he has redone. He has helped clean up the north end greatly. I think if you ask any of the next door neighbors where he home he has rented I don’t think anyone has any complaints.I’m sure that the window will get replaced as soon as possible.As for Mr.Symonds I think he may be looking to start trouble with city hall. I’m sorry Mr Symonds but your days at city hall are not very promising.
“Don’t fall for Quinn Symonds LIES and Deception”
As first time landlords, my wife and I tried to take care of our property. Inspected and repairs made to comply with code,and have it look nice for the residents of Central Heights and our tennents. Quinn and his now ex were our first tennents,BIG MISTAKE!!! I made plenty of repairs, Not reqired by city or state code,called to have AC fixed twice for them,All within days of Quinns notification to me.Let them pay rent bimonthly. How are we repaid?Numerous Police calls to the house,Piles of garbage outside the side door where all could see,broken windows,and tracking Quinn down 3 to 4 times a month for rent,and not getting fully paid for the month.
Quinn told me to pick up the rent at his place of employment to get the money from the ATM there. We evicted them. I tried to collect last months rent; I was Harassing him at his work he exclaimed. I went to the house to see if his wife had the rent for us,car there,knocked, walked back to my vehicle. She called the Police,Now I was harassing her Because I was trying to collect the rent.Due the 1st,now the 22nd of the month.She told the Officer she was afraid of me. Afraid of me??? She’s has Two Assault chages against her!! We gave them more than 30 days notice. They had the power shut off days before the end of there last month,Fridge full of food,garbage everywhere inside and outside,never recieved last months rent, We had Over one thousad dollars in cleaning and repair bills.
This is the guy that is running for Mayor? Quinn says he wants a no hate Mason City. I don’t hate you Quinn! I think you are not a very good person though,and you are very dishonest and deceitful. You must Hate my Wife and I for all that you have done to us, and put us through our first time around.
@First time-very interesting. Always nice to get another opinion.
Oh, my. Quinn, IF this is true, you are not the type of person this city needs for mayor. If you can’t keep your home organized, as stated on the inspection, and your garbage taken out to the curb, you can’t run a city. You sound quite immature if you really blamed a landlord for “harassing” you for past due rent and then stiffed him. Good grief. Quit blaming others for problems you caused. You also accused Joe of being hostile, but you yourself sounded pretty hostile to me on the tape, just by even saying something like that. Not cool. Even if the City triggered this inspection and threat of eviction in some way, you fell into the trap and outed your real self by the way you handled it and what has come out about you here. You need to learn to respect others’ properties and reputations before the people of this City will entrust their tax money to you. I do not feel you are a person of integrity.
@Katie-That is the rap on Lionel Foster and always has been. He will take something like this and automatically side with the Quinn’s of the world without looking at everything involved. It is also a old trick of some renters to push the blame off on the landlord by saying they were threatened or harassed when all that was really done was they were asked to pay what was owed and to live by the rules just like the rest of us do. I am not saying that is exactly what happened here but it is sure starting to sound like it. It sound just like what happened with my one rental. After the deadbeats I had I can somewhat understand.
The landlord is also at fault here, LVS, and Mr. Foster has a right to get involved. Personally, I feel there is no excuse for the mistake the city employee made on the eviction date on the first notice. When you are filling out legal papers, you double-check and triple-check everything to make sure it is correct. I hope that employee is reprimanded for giving Quinn a heart attack over the first notice giving him 3 days’ notice. Also, the inspection notice said that Joe had no intention of bringing the house up to code because he was not going to put any money into the building. That statement right there triggered a big problem with HRC and gave Quinn the right to go to them for assistance. Quinn’s past behavior has nothing to do with that. It’s two separate issues. It’s Joe’s ex-wife’s fault if she didn’t check Quinn’s past rental history before she rented to him. I bet Joe could have found some way to refuse to attorn him as a renter when he purchased the house from his ex. I’m wondering what types of disagreements Joe and Quinn have already had since Quinn thinks Joe is hostile. Joe has to keep the house up to code, but Quinn has to do his share and pay the rent, or he’ll be evicted by Joe instead of the city and the HRC won’t be able to help him with that.
One final thought…Quinn, if the house was such a hazzard, why did YOU choose to rent there beginning in March? Pretty sure Joe didnt high jack you off monroe and force you to rent from his ex wife in march, so why the issue now?
Hmmm…according to the inspector report dated 4-10-13…house as inspected is in dissarray. So, you move into the house in March…trash it in a matter of weeks…it gets inspected and they find that in addition to the eggress window it is in dissarray…and that is Joes fault as well? I hope he counter sues you for trashing the place in a matter of weeks.
Quinn is by far the filthiest human being I have ever met. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the garbage was waist deep in that place
I am betting Mr. Paulson is going to sell the house as soon as he can get in and clean it up.
I would not put any money in the house. The house has been there for years and didn’t need any egress windows. This is all so much BS.
I would just sell it.
Who needs this grief?
As for Quinn being mayor, HAAAAAAAAAA! When pigs fly, the boy couldn’t pour piss outta boot without spilling it. Do us all a favor go buy yourself the new Sim City if you want to be mayor.
Sorry, I’m already of Sim (River) City and we are doing just fine.
These two are made for each other: both are arrogant jerks. At least Quinn will tell you what he thinks to your face unlike Paulson who will wait until your back is to him then stick the knife in. If what is being told is true I hope that the law doesn’t break out from under Quinn on this one, he is right and he is being bullied.
The city should work with Joe and Quinn and give them at least a 60 grace period to get the issue resolved. Egress windows are NOT a simple fix. The video that Quinn had is silly, but, besides that it’s lucky that Joe isn’t getting into trouble for those illegal slot machines in his house.
@Mr. Money Bags-I don’t know where you got the idea that replacing a window or windows is hard. Any professional window installer can install a new window in under an hour. It takes a lot longer to get the windows built from the factory (usually a couple of weeks). I am sure Paulson has people who have installed windows and could do the job very easily.
If a window does not meet Egress requirements, it is because it is not large enough . . . therefore, it involves a lot more than simply replacing the window and can be very expensive.
@look it up-I spent years installing windows and I can tell you that cutting out some sheetrock and moving some 2 X 4’s is not a big deal. They may charge a lot but it is no biggie.
LVS, he’s right about the windows. They would have to cut a larger hole in the house wall and frame it in. You have to read the really fine print on the inspection to see that the windows are too small. It doesn’t say how many windows would have to be replaced, from what I remember. But Joe has a responsibility to do this, no matter WHO rents this house. Now, if only the inspectors would go after all the landlords that are not up to code.
Katie and look it up: your both full of it or are very gullible. For the contractor its just work. they do it all the time. contractors, mechanics, lawyers, whoever claim it to be very hard and difficult, only to justify the amount they charge. most people have NO IDEA what it takes to do the job and rely on the laborer statements. I myself having worked on cars most of my life and have played dumb when my girlfriend has taken her car to her mechanic. Im telling you right now. some of them DO NOT TELL THE TRUTH OR THE WHOLE STORY. the major cost is the window itself and a day of work. unless sheetrock and painting needs to be done and allowed to dry.
Lots of finger pointing. Doesn’t appear to be any virgins in the whole sordid mess.
One. Did Quinn contact Joe first?
If Not Why.
Two: With 4,000 inspection can anyone really believe the mayor would have any way of knowing this.
Three:Not fond of your drama. you certainly could have approached all this without Nit.
4:Quinn would not have had to travel to DES Moines.
5:Hope this gets resolved irregardless of his alleged pre iOS employment issues.
Some of your readers would screw up a free visit to a whorehouse because they just don’t get it!
Just a minute. The same people complaining here would be the first to convict the City if nothing was done and a fire trapped the renter due to a non-egress window. Now, what the City better be doing is applying this law equally across the city. If anyone can show they are NOT applying this Code equally, well then grab your city wallet, council.
I would like to think that an honest landlord in Mason City with rentals up to code (If such a thing exists) would come forward to help this man and his child out. it saddens but does not surprise me the amount of vitriol spewed forth from some of these people (and is the term people loosely) A community is about helping one another and coming together. the hate that I see come from some of you is the exact sort of thing Mr. Symonds is out to eliminate.
So his ex sold him the rental and it had code violations? Nice!
Quinn, I would say that every landlord in Mason City and the surrounding area is on high-alert with your name now. Good luck trying to find a place to rent in the future. I personally feel you took this too far. You could have handled this much more professionally with your landlord, rather than trying to smear his name on public website. JMO, but I think it would have been best in the long run.
By the way, a job to excavate and put in an egress window is about $5,000. You might just find yourself looking for another rental. Good luck on that.
So because the rental unit owned by the landlord was not up to code, HOW is that Quinn’s fault? I always thought you called the landlord if you had a problem and they were to fix it. The CITY found the problem with windows of the house owned by the landlord. Unless there was something written that the tenant should pay for costs of city code violations of the property, this is the landlord’s problem. Either bring it up to code and make it safe for someone to live in or forfeit your right to collect rent on it. Isn’t that the responsibility you take on when you own rentals?
Gee…how is your comprehension?? I never said it was the tenant’s fault. All I’m saying is that he could have handled it much more responsibly. It’s his own fault if he ends up out of a residence, and no one wants to rent to him.
Landlords talk, and this website has spread this tenant’s reputation much faster than it could have otherwise. Thanks, NIT.
My comprehension is just fine. The tenant asked the landlord to fix it and he didn’t. I’m guessing the tenant has some rights here. The landlord is definitely getting more of a bad reputation. If I knew I was renting from Joe Paulson, I would definitely request an inspection before I moved in. I wouldn’t want to be known for putting a dad (no matter who he is or what he does) and a 5 year old little girl out of a home for something I was neglectful for. City code is city code. People will do anything for a buck….putting someone out of their home because of their own neglect doesn’t sit right in my book.
I agree completely ^^^^
I agree also. I think if Symonds does move out, the telling facts will be whether or not the house is rented quickly and if so, if the house has been brought up to code. If Paulson wants Symonds out for some other reason (other than his house is not up to code) his speed in fixing it for another tenant is important. You can’t make money on a house that sits empty. If he immediately fixes the code violation, then why would he have to have his tenant move? Fixing a window might cost a lot of money, but the inconvenience for the tenant wouldn’t be that extreme. He could still live in the house while the window is replaced.
smells like lawsuit brewing to me. If Quinn is forced out, and then the window is repaired within 6 month to be rented to someone else. I would think a good lawyer could prove discrimination or something. Remember when Eric Bookmeyer wanted people of mason city to “snitch” on other violations. Here is a good reason for everyone to check out rentals and report them to the city official in charge. make sure it is on record if the information would need to be used in a lawsuit. beat em at their own game.
If I was a landlord and you approached me in this manner, you for sure would be out! If Joe Paulson is like the rest of his siblings, they are really good people. You could have addressed this like a man instead of the slimy manner in which you did. I’m sure if Joe wanted to spend the money required to fix these windows, he would. And guess what, if he decided not to . . . that would be HIS choice as he is the OWNER, not you.
Why do you think you get to impose on him what to do with his house. Just as you have a right to break the lease, so does he. This is an unfortunate situation, but such is life at times.
This article makes me realize I don’t ever want to be a landlord because I would deal with this type of person who appears to have a “you owe me” entitlement mentality. How irritating.
City code ruled here is how this reads. Quinn did not install different windows so Joe Paulsen would be held in violation. Even if Quinn did ask for the inspection, wouldn’t you want the place to be safe?? If the windows were fine, it seems there would be no problem. The windows are AGAINST CODE. Who owns the house and is supposed to follow the rules as a landlord?? Who cares about the other stuff. THE WINDOWS are against code. Period. Fix them!
A “good” person does not take up with a currently married woman. Doesn’t say much for character or morals in any other aspect of their life or business.
How is that you keep hearing the same bullish from me, when I have commented on this and maybe one other story a few months back? Maybe you would like to reread what I wrote, I never implied that his old job had anything to do with him standing up for himself. I implied that he has to much time on his hands. Because he was fired for being dishonest. #that is all
Sorry, it is what it is!
Quinn,
Here’s the scoop. Look for another place to live. Don’t use this as an issue to come down on city hall.
I have done some checking and Mr. Paulson is not at fault here and you know that.
You have until May 13th to find a new place to rent. Get on with your life. I first thought this was retaliation from city hall because of your foray into politics. Not so.
It is time you look at yourself and where you are in life and realize the choices you have been making have not been in your best interests.
As far as your upcoming announcement to run for Mayor? Don’t waste your time and mine!
Amen watchdog!
So renting a house that is not up to code is legal? Inspections are NOT REQUIRED then for landlords on their properties they are collecting money on?
I thought there only had to be egress windows in basement bedrooms, but now I find I’m wrong. Nice to know that. It’s is definitely the landlords’ fault that this is happening to Quinn. But this smacks of someone trying to make trouble for Quinn through his landlord’s failure to be up to code. Funny how it was never an issue before with this rental. It’s too bad the City doesn’t do this to every landlord in town that doesn’t come up to code. It’s a little fishy that they are picking on this particular house at this particular time. Let’s hope that Quinn doesn’t get evicted because of this and then a month later Joe brings the house up to code and starts renting it again to someone different. THAT would really look fishy. Do the right thing now, Joe. Straighten this out for Quinn the way it should be. After all, I think you own a construction company. It should be easy for you to do yourself.
Thanks, Lionel, for helping Quinn with this matter. I hope he doesn’t have to travel to Des Moines in the future to fight for his rights through the HRC!
And Quinn, don’t push for the Blue Zone health program if you smoke anything! That will come back to bite you.
It may not have been an issue previously because it’s possible this was the first time this house was inspected.
Was it inspected because Quinn was applying for public housing assistance (HUD)?
Probably not. Looks like Ray Quayle in the Building Department did the inspection. That’s not the type of inspection he does.
FROM NIT STAFF: Please clean up the comments and stick to the topic. Thank you.
WOWWW…. i didnt watch the video before i commented. Not the way to get your votes Quinn. Handle your business like an ADULT should. Lost our vote. If Mr. paulson sajd hed take care of it and was just made aware, and the city cant legally evict you… what the hells the problem? I think you are jusr full of drama and Id hate to see our city ran by you. Childish
This has nothing to do with me running for mayor. It’s about me standing my ground against an illegal city eviction and a landlord that is breaking the law.
You make public accusations against a man that is not only a landlord, but also a business owner, without giving him a chance to rectify the situation.
I could “maybe” understand your over-the-top behavior had your landlord ignored you or this has been going on without action for a long time.
That is not the case, and I just feel you have wronged this man for no good reason. You should have given him a reasonable chance to respond. Then, you do not come across as reasonable.
Coukd it be possible that there was a miscommunication between Joe & his ex wife if said tenant moved in while Nancy still owned the property? Was she renting out this properth prior to Quinn moving in? In my opinion, if Nancy was using this as a rental property then she should have known about this as well. While i do agree that Mr. Paulson needs to address and fix this problem. But to say Joe is a bad business man because of all this? Ive dealt with him on numerous occasions without every any problems. Can we hear his side too?
It’s code that every so many years a house has to be inspected by the city to make sure it is still rentable. The inspection was scheduled prior to Joe’s ownership of the house. On the inspectors report above you can clearly see that Mr. Paulson refuses to make the necessary changes to keep this house up to code. There was no miss-communication, and when confronted he refused to even respond whether or not he would make necessary changes before this bogus eviction takes place.
If the inspection was scheduled prior to his ownership, why isn’t it his ex’s responsibility then? Even tho she may be very nice, he inherited a tenant under a bad conveyance from her?
Thas what Im saying, wow. Quinn states that it was scheduled prior to Joe taking over. Joe inheritated a tenant and well sounds to me like Joe has only had this property for maybe a couple to 3 weeks. Its just drama really.
NorthIowaToday.com was founded on the principle that if a citizen has a story to tell, NIT would allow him or her to do so (within broad parameters), without changing their message or putting a limit on it. Mr. Symonds elected to tell his story, and NIT complied. Simple enough.
So if Paulsen doesn’t fix the windows, he can never rent it out again because it will never pass code? He should just fix them, at least for the little girl’s sake to have a place to live, and because he should step up and be a decent landlord.
DONT let this chode Quinn Symonds fool you. Your opinion of Bookmeyer may not be on the up and up, but this dude? Nothing but time on his hands because he was “let go” from his last employer for doctoring his hours in the system, so he could get paid for time he wasnt putting in. So now he spends his time making videos, writing letters, and arguing with people on facebook on his “Symonds for Mason City” page, and “People of Mason City” page. STELLAR!
I keep hearing the same bullish coming from you. What does his old job have anything to do with this, where is your proof and who cares what he does with his free time while hes in between jobs as long as he is not out robbing ppl or manufacturing meth like 90% of the people from mason city i read about on north iowa mugshots? This was just a blatent law violation that had nothing to do with his old job he knew about law and stuck up for himself. Sounds to me like you have other issues cuz it seems no one cares why he lost his job so why keep slandering him?
He was robbing people…the company he worked for. Regardless if he were out pickpocketing or cheating on his timesheet, that says something about his character. He’s dishonest. I doubt that dishonesty is limited to his working environment.
First of all, Joe Paulson is not an honest business person. Second, this is a cheap attack from the mayor simply because this man has announced his intentions to run for mayor. This just shows how low Bookmeyer will go.
Paulsen has lots and lots of rentals. Wonder how many of his properties are “up to code”. Shouldn’t City Hall be after him instead? How can you actually rent to someone when a house is not up to code??
From what I read, the City IS after Joe. He was told he had to replace the windows, he’s refusing to do it so the City is telling the tenant to get out because the house isn’t safe. If Joe would replace the windows, the issue would be solved and Quinn could stay. If Quinn has a lease that says Joe will provide a safe rental, then Joe has to replace them and the City can’t allow someone to stay in a rental unit that they know is not safe. There is a reason bedroom windows have to be a certain size. It’s to allow firefighters to get in wearing air packs just as much as it is to make sure people can get out. When there is a child a room, it’s extra important because a kid is less likely to be able to get out of the window and a firefight will need to go in.
How could Joe even let a little girl live there without it being safe, in case of a fire, etc. I would hope he has some type of conscience at this point in his life. Oh wait…..
Joe is Joe. He’s never really done the right thing. So why should he start now? He’s shady to put it mildly.
You got that right. Shady in his personal life AND his business life.
Wow, I can’t believe this is happening on our community. Joe Paulson being a business owner should be ashamed that he is letting this go on.
Shouldn’t city hall be going after Paulson as the landlord if it it his property in the first place?
They probably have. City Hall contacts the landlord; who looks into the cost of putting in an escape window; he can’t afford it and tell the renter he has to vacate the property. The landlord may be stuck in the middle of this, though he should have known about the requirement.
Thanks JDC. So Paulson shouldn’t have rented the house out in the first place, not being up to code?
Every rental property in mason city is supposed to be inspected before a new tenant moves in. Was the property inspected? If so how did it pass then and not now? If it wasn’t y not?
Looks like Paulsen bought the rental from his exwife end of March. How long has Quinn been renting that place?
March.
Quinn, did you rent the house from his ex in March then?
Yes, he inherited me as a tenant. Nancy is a wonderful lady too, just want to point that out 🙂
This is not true. Rental houses are inspected annually or semi-annually depending on work load.
They are NOT inspected every time a new tenet moves in!
Rentals are inspected once every 5 years. There are over 4,000 rentals in Mason City. No way they could be inspected annually by one person.
Regardless of when inspections are performed, this one WAS inspected recently? and found to violate the code? Does it get boarded up if it’s not fixed?
Part of the money from rent should be put in an es growth acct (in a perfect world) that way landlord has the money for any small property repairs. And this is a definitely a small repair
“And this is a definitely a small repair.”
Not so, it involves excavation at the window site a new window, the well and the drainage and landscaping to keep water out.
this isn’t a basement window….
Even not being a basement window at $650 plus installation is not a small repair.
Pull the rental until it is up to code.
What a damn shame that our city is trying to intimidate and discredit this young man with their bag of dirty tricks. What else would we expect from the bunch of elitist we currently have running our city. I personally don’t think the kid can win (not enough money) but I give him a lot o credit for trying and wish him luck.
What’s most telling is that the city finds this guy a threat. If they are willing to screw with him, they’d screw with any of us.
This must be stopped for the good of everyone.
Can we all say’ “Retaliation”.
Shame on you Mayor this isn’t just effecting this man but your also effecting his 5 yr old daughter.
YOU ARE SCUM, and your little buddies too!
Shame on City Hall. Way to obvious that City Hall is using it’s power to harass Mr. Symonds because of his intention to run for Mayor.
This city has had forever to address the window issue. I am going to call Joe Paulsen and see how long this has been going on. There are dozens of homes in Mason City with folks using their basement that don’t have an egress window.
Bad timing for sure and looks like a total abuse of power!
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It’s a good read. Why so cheap?
You probably pay to get the Globe Gazette which lies to you and you won’t support a news outlet that lays the facts out for you so you can know what is going on.
This site is soooooooooo worth it!!