About Providence County, RI

"If he has a conscience he will suffer for his mistake. That will be punishment-as well as the prison."
- Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment

Today my office was yet again put in a position to draw a line between responsibility in disclosure, accountability, and our job description. Where the line should be drawn is still unclear.

As a full service brokerage, we oftentimes represent lessors, matching and placing well-qualified tenants into their properties. Over the past few years, well-qualified has meant, at a minimum, job history and reference verification, credit check, and confirmation of rental/home history. Our clients have been impressed with both our thoroughness and dedication to finding tenants who will care for their homes as if they themselves were the owners.

One red flag we have learned to catch along the way is hesitations over putting secondary renters on a lease. Once, a few months back, a local agent submitted an application for her client to rent one of our listings. While the application checked out, further “google” investigation told us that her client was a convicted repeat offender for grand theft. Upon confronting the agent and her broker, they both confirmed the crimes and admitted to withholding the fact from us in the hopes that we would not find out. Needless to say, we said no thanks to the tenant and have refused to work with the untrustworthy brokerage ever since.

This happened to us again right before Christmas when a woman, selling her local single family home, applied to rent a short term apartment from us.

Her application was impeccable. Perfect job, perfect credit, wonderful references, and a home owner. I had in fact showed another client her lovely home prior to its’ sale, and it was gorgeous and perfectly maintained. Her selling agent spoke the world of her, as did all her references.

My associate who was working with her discovered that she was married in the process and insisted that her husband also be on the lease. At that point, the wife told her that she had hesitated to mention him because he was on parole. The crime? According to the wife, marijuana possession. My associate met the husband and confirmed that he seemed like a great tenant as well. The property owner was not concerned, and the tenants moved in.

A few days later the wife contacted us again to say that the parole officer needed a letter from us stating that notice of her husband’s parole status had been given. No problem, happy to help, we said, and I called the parole office to confirm the language she wanted on the letter.

Nice enough conversation, except one minor detail that the lessee’s had left out. In addition to possession, the husband was also convicted of murder. That’s right. Murder. Not involuntary manslaughter any other awful charge that we perhaps could have stomached, but murder.

Needless to say, we are now dealing with tenants that, as wealthy and clean and quiet as they may be, made a gross misrepresentation and are about to be evicted unless our lessor surprises us and is ok with this new development. Of course, we are, in hindsight, kicking ourselves for not better checking the husband’s record. It was easy to “google” the minor charge and his name and confirm it. But what more should we have done? Should we have run a full scale criminal background check? In hindsight, I unequivocally say, yes, we should have at least recommended that the lessor had one done. I also wish that we had not trusted the tenant’s own agent, an agent that is very well respected in our small community. But hindsight is always 20/20.

So my question, to both consumers and other agents is, what level of inquiry do you expect from a realtor in terms of tenant verification? Is it better to always expect the absolute worst of people? Is it no longer ok to trust other professionals representations? Should criminal background checks become the norm with high end rentals? Should realtors ever “vouch” for tenants that have a bad past? Should anyone? He served his time, and the State has declared him a free man again. But to quote my beloved Dostoevsky one more time: “Why am I to be pitied, you say? Yes! There's nothing to pity me for! I ought to be crucified, crucified on a cross, not pitied! Crucify me, oh judge, crucify me but pity me?”

Chanukah aka Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights begins today, at sunset December 20, 2011 and is celebrated through December 28, 2011

On the Jewish calendar, the Hebrew dates for Hanukkah are from sundown on the 25th of Kislev to sundown on the 2nd of Tevet in the year 5772.

"Today, Jews everywhere light menorahs on each night of Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, Hanukkah. Traditionally, one candle or flame is lit for each night until the eighth night, when all eight lights shine together. The menorah has a ninth "helper" flame, known as the shamash, used to light the other candles. This is necessary because in Jewish law the Hanukkah lights serve no other purpose than declaring the miracle of the holiday. Jews place the lit menorah in a prominent window in order to fulfill this commandment.

The Festival of Lights, an eight-day celebration, marks the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the second century B.C.E. during the Maccabean revolt against oppressive Greek rulers. It is one of the most widely observed Jewish holidays -- perhaps due to its proximity to Christmas on the Gregorian calendar -- and is celebrated by lighting a nine-branch candelabrum commonly called a menorah.

Gift giving is now a common practice on Hanukkah, and it is therefore a beloved time for Jewish children. Fried potato pancakes (latkes) and doughnuts (sufganiyot) are traditional fare, and a spinning top (dreidel) with four Hebrew letters that have become synonymous with the holiday.

Nun - worth nothing

Hei - the player gets half the pot

Gimel - the player wins all of the pot

Shin - the player must add one to the pot

This game is usually played with raisins, nuts or gelt. (foil wrapped chocolate in the shape of coins.

One of the most successful pop singer-songwriters, Neil Diamond, has recreated a favorite pop song for those who celebrate Hanukkah. In this animated version, you’ll see Adam Sandler‘s “Hanukkah Song” literally animated for every lyric. Although it’s a bit weird to hear Diamond take on the comedy-filled song and add a couple of electric guitar solos, it’s still a pretty funny watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOegH4uYe-c&feature=player_embedded

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Copyright photo by Kathleen Ann Pacheco-Corbett, all rights reserved and may not be reproduced without the written permission of Kathleen Ann Pacheco-Corbett, The Buyer's Choice, Lincoln, RI. Permission granted with a link back to my website and/or blog providing site is appropriate for all ages.

We want to be your "Personal Certifried Exclusive Buyer Agents/Realtors for Life"

http://www.thebuyerschoice.com

KATHLEEN ANN PACHECO-CORBETT

Cell 401-556-6911 Office 401-725-5608 Fax 401-423-4377

Everyone agrees that the I-195 land is one of the City’s, and the State’s, greatest opportunities for growth and economic stimulation. Are we up for the task?

“Providence is so beautiful,” my sister-in-law Irene gushed as we sat down to lunch overlooking Waterplace Park at Jacky’s, one of Providence’s newest hotspots.

Like Irene, other newcomers to the city are usually entirely unaware of the city center’s horridly dull “before” landscape. As Irene and I walked along the riverfront back to my car, I told her about the Capital Center Commission’s efforts 30 years ago to rebuild the city’s core. Their ambitious undertaking included unearthing the river that 150 years ago served as Providence’s hub.

In the late 1800’s the river’s peak at Salt Pond Cove, or “the Cove,” was a busy port for merchant trading and transportation. For those of you struggling to visualize the city as it was, picture tall ships docked where Smith Street is today.

The industrial age, for better or worse, transformed our city. The rise of railroads and manufacturing gave Providence the means to accessibility and profitability that had been previously reserved for open ocean ports like Newport. In an attempt to keep my historical meanderings to a minimum, the city’s growth spurt and poor planning resulted in the Cove’s deterioration into a congealing mass of “silt.” (Again, for readers with a penchant for detail, picture a squalid waterfront dyed magenta from clothing manufacturer waste, that boasted a combined mass of direct slaughter house disposal and human excrement. And to think that we get squeamish over the thought of our ancestors neglecting to wear deodorant).

The solution to the city’s loss of its former Promenade was decided by further imprudence and poor planning. The decision makers resolved to fill in the entire Cove and deck over it. Once the decision was made however, the parties involved wasted years bickering to determine who should be responsible for paying for the fill (the railroad company eventually did).

It should be noted that the City ironically commenced the construction of its’ municipal sewage system only a year after the filling. (And yes, the sewer system would probably have saved the Cove).

So here we are again, generations later, facing another important city transformation opportunity. We have inherited countless foolhardy decisions and hasty executions to guide us as we determine the best new uses for the former I-195 land. But before we groan over our apprehensive contemplations of what crazy idea our dear State and City officials will come up with next, we can look to our one saving grace.

Thirty years ago the Capital Center Commission worked together to recreate our downtown into the renowned destination that it is today. Attend one Waterfire event if you need to affirm that they got it right.

A few weeks ago, in partial celebration of the Capital Center Commission’s achievements, the Providence Preservation Society put on a three-day symposium entitled “Make no Little Plans: A Symposium on Visions for Providence.” The Symposium also served as a opportunity for the cities best and brightest to share their aspirations for the I-195 land redevelopment.

Symposium attendees also had the honor of meeting the now confirmed newly elected I-195 Redevelopment Commission. Lincoln Chafee (Who chose the nominees with recommendations made by Angel Taveras and House Speaker Gordon Fox), nailed it with the commission selection. The seven-member Commission is headed by Colin Kane, principal of Peregrine Group, as chairman; Barrett Bready, president and CEO of NABsys Inc.; Barbara Hunger, a registered nurse with Women and Infants Hospital; Diana Johnson, renowned art consultant; John Kelly, president and CEO of Meeting Street School; Mark Ryan, principal of Moses and Afonso; and Michael Van Leesten, CEO of nonprofit OIC of Rhode Island. All upstanding contributors to our community, my first reaction to the Commission member selections was “dream team.”

Everyone agrees that the I-195 land is one of the City’s, and the State’s, greatest opportunities for growth and economic stimulation. Are we up for the task? After attending the Symposium I wholeheartedly say that yes we are. What I have witnessed so far is collaboration over mutual aspirations, and substantial aforethought and prudency paired with imagination and boldness. I am confident that the Commission’s leadership, like that of the Capital Center’s Commission, will result in a better City for the next generations.

If you are skeptical about the promise of what we Rhode Islanders are capable of creating, think about this: The catalyst for the entire Capital Center redevelopment was a single wine-stained sketch on a napkin, ideas scribbled by a few young friends over cocktails. So before you criticize or succumb to your usual jibes about our shortcomings, go get that forgotten napkin, post-it, or candy wrapper out of your trash basket, and get involved. If you can see opportunity in a 41-acre dirt pile, you can contribute to its fruition.

For more information on the Symposium and the new Commission, visit:

http://www.gcpvd.org/category/features/195-relocation-project/