Condo and homeowner associations can be a bear, but a few general rules apply when something breaks. For example, when a pipe breaks, if it's in your area, it's your problem -- the association's area, their problem. Right? Not always, as we find out in tonight's Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
It is one of the simplest acts you can do and maybe one of the most important. Even more importantly, tomorrow is the deadline to do it -- to file for a homestead exemption. If you don't do it, you could lose your home, and, even if you do it, you could still be in trouble. How? Just listen to one South Florida man who is talking to Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
A South Florida family buying all new appliances for their kitchen, and, wisely, they also got extended warranties. But after their oven broke, months later, a company repairman still hadn't fixed it. Now they're calling "Help Me Howard" with Patrick Fraser.
Code Enforcement -- say those words to some people and they will start fuming. One of those people is a South Florida woman who has had a swale for 44 years and is now being told, "You have to change it." Is there such a thing as being "grandfathered" in? To find out, we bring in Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
If you drive, odds are you have had to take your truck or car to a repair shop. Now a question: What is a reasonable amount of time to get it fixed? A week, a month, how about 8 months? That is actually how long one man had to wait to get his car back, and he was so upset he turned to Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
If you have a cell phone, and that includes most of us, watch this next story -- because one day it might be you. A guy who got a $7,000 phone bill -- of course he didn't make those calls, but try convincing the phone company. How do you do it? Call Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser, of course.
Let me ask you a legal question: If your neighbor does not like your plants, can he stand in his backyard and spray weed killer into your backyard? To no one's surprise, that is what one South Florida man says is happening in his neighborhood. Now, for the answer, let's bring in Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
People who have been burglarized say it's a horrible feeling to wake up and know some scum bucket was creeping around your house while you slept. Catching the burglars is not easy, but if you have evidence it can help -- unless you can't get that evidence to the people of South Florida. How do you do it? Do like one man and call Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
All right, here is a thought for you as you sit in your warm comfortable apartment: As you watch TV, a rat comes strolling across the floor. After you jump up or scream or grab a stick and beat it to death, what do you do next to make sure it doesn't happen again? Or can you do anything at all if you live in a rat-infested building? For the answer, let's call Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
Her landlord went into her apartment without notice. Her dog ran away and ended up with a broken leg. Who has to pay? Help Me Howard is on the case. Here's Seven's Patrick Fraser.
His brother died in the hospital but no one called him to let him know. He wants to know why. Can Help Me Howard find the answers? Here is Seven's Patrick Fraser.
If you are lucky you probably got gift certificates this holiday season. But be careful. Thousands of them are never used or, in some cases, can't be used -- why? That's what one South Florida woman is asking and wants to cash-in a certificate, so she turned to Help me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
If you have a social security number and date of birth, odds are you have had to give it to a company to borrow money or buy something. Now what would you do if they lost it, or it was stolen from them, and someone ruined your credit. Who is responsible if your bank lets you down? Here is the answer from Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
Opossums are funny looking animals. Funny unless they decide to set up camp in your backyard. One woman in Broward managed to trap two of them but then couldn't get anyone to take the critters away. She's calling Help Me Howard. Here's the night team's Patrick Fraser.
Are you married? If you said, "Yes," you had better pause ... because maybe you aren't. It turns out that many people watching right now may not be married. Why? Good question, which is why we now turn to Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser for the answer.
It is a terrible thought: your fiancee murdered while driving your car. Now, one South Florida resident is facing another cruel slap from life. Four months later, police will not release her car from the impound lot, while she still has to make car and insurance payments. How long can police hold evidence? Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser has the answer.
It’s a tough situation, confined to a wheelchair. A prisoner in her own condominium, and the only way out to see people every day -- if the valets come and wheel you down. But then the condo told the valet, "You can't wheel the woman out anymore.' Not nice, but is it legal to refuse to help a wheelchair-bound woman? It's a question for Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.