So Sad...Chickens have to go. I've got ten days. Central IL--SOLD

[EweSheep]

The letter is not well worded or professionally done. Someone is doing the fraud!

Do find out the ordiance about having chickens! Pronto! Do not take their word for it without seeing the ordiance first!

 

[California Ducken]

The city would send you a letter first. Someone (a neighbor) who probably has nothing to do, contacted a friend who's a lawyer and he said he would send a letter to see if that would work.
I mean really, what are they going to sue you for? It should state exactly.
The city/county comes out and takes possession of your animals after they have given you 30 days to solve the problem.
If and when you do call the county where you live do not give them your name or address, just where to look up such ordinances.
By the way village? Are you in the US?

 

[California Ducken]

Oh and look up the lawyer to make sure he is legit.
Or call the county to see if that is one of the lawyers they have.
Good Luck!
Hey post on ordinances here on BYC some one has got to know too. They helped me!

 

[chriscat]

It's from a legitimate law office...I checked it out, but agree that it's poorly written. I'll contact the Village Clerk tomorrow and see what, if anything, can be done. I believe that she's the one that would have contacted the lawyer in the first place. I should also be able to get a list of the ordinances from her.

 

[halo]

Please be advised that I am the attorney for the Village of ________. I am writing to advise you that residents within the Village limits are prohibited from raising or keeping within the Village limits an live chicken

An live chicken? What school did he go to? Was the letter written on letterhead?

I would think a Village would impose a fine until you removed the chickens, not file a costly lawsuit. Don't do nuthin until you investigate further. Me smells a rat here.

 

[b.hromada]

Quote:
I don't believe that the ACO will remove them from your property. BUT, down here anyway, they will give you a citation, then if you don't comply, you will go to court. I have a thread on here, and I've had ACO come over many times, because we aren't aloud chickens here either. But, I've found a way to keep them, they are kept inside until around 4ish until 8, then they are brought back in until the next day. It works for me, but thats just me, I'm willing to do this, because they are my babies, and whom ever complained on me, can go jump in a lake, they aren't hurting anyone! Like someone said, look up your ordanance, and see just what it says. If they say they will file a lawsuit, thats going to cost them. Now, do they REALLY want to spend the money on chickens? Please, check into the ordanance for your village. Best of luck, maybe you will find that you can keep them.

 

[Emzyyy]

Quote:
Exactly my thought, its a neighbor trying to make you get rid of the chickens. People are just plain rude.

 

[chriscat]

I'm in the US, and our town is so small that it's considered a village. The main street has a huge grain elevator, a bank, a pizza place, post office, and a restaurant and that's about it. We're a few miles south of Decatur, IL, where it's perfectly legal to have chickens in town. The houses on Main Steet back up to farmland, and there are only about 530 residents. I live in the newer section of town, I think our homes and the homes around us were built in the 80's.

Yes, the letter was written on a letterhead, and I looked the law firm up and it does exist.

 

[Wifezilla]

Sounds VERY suspicious to me. You should have gotten a CITATION, not a letter from a lawyer. The citation should have listed which code you violated.

If you can, do a google search for your village and the words poultry and either zoning or laws. See what comes up.

 

[chriscat]

I've tried looking online, and the only information I could find was about Decatur. I'll just head over to the Village Hall tomorrow and talk to the Village Clerk. I can tell already that I'm not going to like living in town, lol.