A woman from Cape Coral, Florida is being forced out of her home after local code enforcement teams found out she was “living off the grid.”
The women, Robin Speronis, told her story to WFTX-TV who featured her lifestyle on the local news. The day after her story aired, where they talked about her “Off Grid” lifestyle, the City of Cape Coral sent code enforcement officers to post “notice to vacate” signs on her property.
Speronsis, a widow who lives in the home by herself, is now facing eviction because she chooses to live without being hooked into the grid. She told WFTX-TV, “Where is the justice? Why did they choose me,” she asks. “…because I was exercising my First Amendment rights of free speech in discussing living off the grid.”
This isn’t the first time we’ve featured this type of story. In fact, we’ve covered countless instances where people have been forcibly removed from their land, some even arrested, because they choose to live a more self-reliant lifestyle.
From Eustace Conway, who was forced to stop using his land after 26 years of running a nature school on it, to the heartbreaking story of Andrew Wordes, who took his life after code enforcement teams seized his home, to the Off-Griders in California who were threatened with arrest and forced back on to the grid, these stories are becoming far to common.
Like many of the stories we’ve covered over the last couple of years, I believe this case is just another example of how the government targets people who live a self-sufficient lifestyle. From using local zoning boards to literally zone people into submission, to the federal government’s attempts to redefine the term “waters of the United States”, so they can take control of private property, there seems to be an all-out assault on land ownership and the self-reliant lifestyle.
First of all if you own the propery noone should be able to tell you how to live on it. If that was my situation they would have one helluva fight on their hands!!!!!!!! I’ll give them a response…an armed one. The government needs to back up and get out of our personal lives.
I AGREE TERI, but unfortunately the one with the most money wins!
Money, power, and guns all to keep us in line to keep us productive for their benefit giving us……… just………… enough…….. to…….. accept………. what…… they…….. give……….. us.
They don’t give us shit!!!! We work to maintain their live style those people have no clue of making their own money without our contributions we became their slaves by choice every time we vote for them all.
Since when does the gov have money? :)
Since they took it all from us under the guise of taxes.
No!!!!! The unity of the human race. That is the answer, the government and their puppet employees are doing the us what WE aloud them to do; WE pay their salaries,WE choose who will rule the country and WE keep saying that they have the power when in reality they are just taking advantage of our separation as a community that’s all.
The government is getting way to invasive in our personal lives. They can take your private property because they have far more money than the average individual, they claim the land and you have to fight to get it back, just ask all those who lost their homes in Arlington due to imminent domain that was enforced by the city fathers.
No!!!!!! AGAIN WE PAY TAXES WHICH THEY USE TO TRAVEL,HAVE FANCY LIVES,CREATE WAR WITH OTHER COUNTRIES AND SO ON.WE give them the money,the power over our lives and we are complaining about our own creation. How about stop repeating the same( oh they have the powe,oh they have the money) and begging to say fuck them we have to became a unity to strike back. That my friends is the only solution there is no other. Revealing, stop paying taxes,stop telling the neitwhat the other ones did wrong and get cut,stop telling them what are we going to do and do it,STOP VOTING!!!!!!! Those mothe f need our voices to be who the are let’s take it from them. Stop acting sorry and self pity!!!!!
Do any of us really own our property? Just see what happens if property taxes aren’t paid every year.
Exactly Betty! Everyone pays federal “rent” every year. No one owns anything. Don’t pay property taxes they will take your house, don’t pay car taxes your car will be impounded. You own NOTHING.
Nobody should ever have to pay taxes on land, everybody should be given their land from birth to death….yours, end of telling people they can’t live on their land as they want to, but but but….I wouldn’t want them to build a rocket on it or block water rights of other’s…people have problems to solve, but taxes is only working to make the governments steal and live high on the hog.
agreed. Your land should belong to you with no taxes what so ever.
How did taxing ones land after we have long paid for it ever occur? If something is bought and paid for it should be ours and never have to pay another tax ever. When the agreements are all signed the taxes are added so we are being retaxed over and over again isn’t that illegal?
IT USUALLY HAS A WARM, FUZZY CONNOTATION — IN TX IT IS TO FUND OUR SCHOOLS AND ROADS, I BELIEVE. IT IS IN EXCHANGE FOR A STATE INCOME TAX AND I AGREE COMPLETELY THAT THIS INFRINGES ON THE INDIVIDUAL’S RIGHT TO OWN PRIVATE PROPERTY. THE TAX CODE MUST BE REPEALED IN ORDER TO REGAIN OUR CONSTITUTIONAL SOVEREIGNTY. =P peace and love and D.T.O.M.
1933 you became chattel to the bankrupt corporation America
England pioneered this sort of thing. They used to tax the Irish on a per window basis.
They also starved millions by shipping all the food to England. Officially, this is called the potato famine,but it was really one of many genocides perpetrated by The Crown.
Yea right. If you think you own property at all, you are a fool. If they can tax it, they really own it.
So, we should be able to move onto public lands and live there for free as we are the public! We already own those lands.
Stop paying your taxes and see if it is truly your property. It is a farse that the government allows us to live on “our” land when they can take it away when they chose.
The best advice I can give is not to go to public with how we live off grid. With todays media and socialistic control you just keep out of the lime light.
We have found it good to share how we do it but do not allow any news media or public funded entities to get any more information other than what they can read on our website or see on our Youtube channel. We NEVER give them our location.
Everyone we have seen get interviewed by mainstream media ends up in a world of problems shortly afterward. If you try and beat the system and you are successful they will make an example out of you to prove to others they still can control the normal person and force them to live like normal (well they call it normal) people. Love the fact she went off grid hate the fact it went public and now she will have a living hell to fight to remain self sufficient and live efficiently. God Bless and she is in my prayers.
I know the first assumption is to blame the socialists however in this instance it’s not the case.
What your seeing is the long reaching arm and power of the industries which produce electricity, etc.
Cases such as this are when we need to realize the far reaching effects of the corruption involved.
Remember, the EPA is bound to be thrilled if you responsibly live off the grid. Your carbon footprint is far smaller.
Imagine the number of uber powerful large ultra wealthy corporations which would go belly up if a large percentage of the population decided to go it alone without stuffing their pockets.
I’ve never been accused of being one of the people who think solar power is an answer for everything, as it is presently impractical for large users like factories, but I can forsee new neighborhoods not being connected to the electrical grid. For residential applications, some technical hurdles remain (we still use the same air conditioner invented by Mr. Carrier), but these are not insurmountable.
That’s what socialism is all about.
I knew a guy who was a socialist, and was thrilled to go to NYC to meet the leadership of the SLP.
He bragged about riding in their limo, that his donations paid for. The idiot!
Wise words. I guess the least amount of noise, the least commotion, the least interaction is best. If one is living in a metro area, and if the utilities seem to demand participation, a token minimal payment is the cost of peace. Anything to stay under the radar.
I suspect, also, that having your name on the “register” even if for a minimal utilities payment, is, again, the cost of peace.
But if your goal is to live you life incognito, and off the grid, then you need to be really smart, live smart and aware.
I sure feel sorry for this lady and the battle she is living.
just for a FYI or as an eyeopener if you own land outright look on your deed you are referred to as ‘tennant’ unless you have done a research and accumulated all the papers covering EVERY transfer of deed since the land was originally a land grant post revolutionary war its not really yours
Any web resources on this?
now this demands a protest her rights as a human being are being trampelled on enough is enough.
I agree i would like to start a movement for Us All of The Human Race of America to get back our God Given Homesteaders Rights to be Self Sufficient in a Resposible Manner (Thats the Jist of The Idea I have Anyway) *NOTE: I dont think it would be good or helpful to use the terms, Tiny Homes, Tiny Cabins, Cabins, Container homes or anything like that because those terms already have a NEGATIVE Stigma attached to them that cant be undone and I feel that we need to get away from that all together and Call It What It Really Is In Whole. •••A Self Sufficient Homesteading Lifestyle That is Our God Given Right to Choose To Live Without Being Persecuted as Long as Were Responsible and Not Harming Others or Our Shared Environment••• I Believe Thats The Real Intent we all have Who are already being involved in “The Movement” OR who wish to be but are scared to because of the laws and goverment Interference. If you or amyone who like to help me start a ACTIVE MOVEMENT Like what im speakinv of please let me know ASAP. Thanks and Have a Blessed Day
~DrJones~ (10/02/17) #JoinTheSSMovement
[SS=Self Sufficient] #GoGreen #NoMoreCommunistUSA #FightForYourRifhtToLiveFree #ThisLandIsOurLand #JustCauseItsTheLawDoesntMakeItRight
It’d be a shame if her off grid lifestyle caused a house fire right before she left.
I remember reading about at least one of the cases in Kalifornia. A place called Antelope Valley, out side town and quite desolate (except in the videos the county had already made showing “development” plans).
Damm. When are people going to learn to not talk. Do not expose yourself to anyone. You can trust very few people, very few. My place was red tagged by code enforcement (the local police) and it was ugly. They said they were worried about my safety. The violation; I never turn on the gas service. I lived without heat. I was still on the hook for rent but I could not live in it until a hearing that was scheduled twenty some days later.
Learn about The U.N.s Agenda 21. After that many things are much clearer.
Hell yeah, I’ll come stand next to ya when they come knocking. Your home, your rules!
I dont understand why this would happen? I know a lot of people who live off the grid and have not been punished by the government? Including myself. As long as I follow city hall’s regulations for rural living I am not committing any crime?? I dont have running water, septic, electricity etc…I think there is more to the story than meets the eye…..just sounds ridiculous!
I realize this is 4 years old, however your local jurisdiction is not indicative of the ever increasing control that’s being taken away from people nationwide. It will keep getting worse, as long as you folks allow it to.
An utter travesty. I say prepare as best you can how ever you can. Be strong, keep trying. Do not conform
Where’s the LIKE BUTTON?
The city of concord nc tore down my remodeled home because I ran for mayor of concord, four years earlier Barry McClamrock ran for mayor of concord his home was also torn down, this made me homeless.
i tend to agree with you. Though i know theres some people out there “living off the grid” who are probably collecting a nasty infectious pile of human waste somewhere in the vicinity. Is the threat to public safety ok? You can’t really live off the grid, in a populated neighborhood.
Look up ICBO.com. That is the International Code of Building Officials. It is an instrument of the New World Order. I am not surprised in the least that the Code Officials ordered her to vacate. The purpose of that Code is to make people servient and dependant. The Code is part of Agenda 21. It is a way to make us vulnerable and to test if we will stand up for ourselves or if we are weak enough for them to take us out.
Also under the constitution they cannot dictate how you live on your own land. You are covered and the federal, state and local government have no authority when it comes to what you put on your land and how you use it. They all massively overstep their rights and because they have the guns, we let them…maybe that should change…
YES.
This sounds all to familiar,, think back to native americans,, they lived different, and were labeled savages for being who they were!!
people need to learn not to tell the world what they are doing. and yes it all has to do with agenda 21…read the book. read the last ‘afterword’ first. we are in a bad time where the government is trying to take over everyones lives. why don’t people get this. now ill be looking over my shoulder for posting this.
will any of you ever stand up or just keep moaning an quoting the constitution
And you are currently leading a group of Minutemen?
so where is a militia of minutemen. and who is in charge of them.
”we the people” need to statrt getting organized
If you just don’t tell them you’re building (like if you buy land out away from the city and build a home on it), how could they find out?
Because most civil building code enforcement agencies (at least in MN) now use a program that compares historic satellite photos to current ones and if there is a change at all to your property picked up by the computer they will come and visit and write you a ticket. It is all done automatically, usually on an annual basis when new satellite imagary is available. All in the name of squeezing every last permit dollar out of you.
yes, when I bought my property I did view the area via satellite on the hall of records website, the last owner had a double wide and I could see it clearly…..yep there are several payments I made to live on the property and before I could actually live on it I also had to have a building plan which cost to submit it, and must be complete within 5 years…
This is Imperialist bullshit, didn’t you Americans escape that in England and then set up a constitution to protect yourselves from that ever happening again? There aint no other lands on this planet to run away to now, what you gonna do? Huh???
Leave the country, it sucks any way
And go where?
move to new zealand your aload to live of the grid and live on other means if you wont to…..
New Zealand has IMPOSSIBLE immigration laws last I checked.
Maybe WE Americans Will mention WWII Or Dentist’s
And tell ya to SHU- Be quiet. Toodle-pip!
Run away to mars
Well Jane, we’re going to have to do what any group of people has to do…fight back! But it isn’t just us Americans I’m afraid. This shite is global.
its probably because if she isnt paying light companies money they are losing money and they are probably afraid other people will do the same and they end up losing money
This is similar to increasing gas taxes on high efficiency cars, because the government is unwilling to face lower levels of tax revenue. Utility companies are no doubt behind this, fearing lower income from consumers.
I disagree….I live off the grid and I pay for gas(fuel) for my generators so that I may have heat, air condition, use my stove etc…when I lived in the city my light bill was only $15 a month…how is that breaking them…in actuality the light companies are constantly asking people to conserve??? So how does that make them lose money?
The utility companies only ask you to conserve because they are required to by the government. They don’t want anyone to actually do it because it’s less money for them.
It all comes back to the agenda of the government.
To Jane Grayson: We certainly won’t be moving back to a country that still pees themselves when the Queen drives by! Nor a country that is 100 yrs. behind the times in everything!
One will not be using advanced technology while living off the grid. That kind of defeats the purpose.
I live off the grid and I have internet and cable through satellite, how is that not using advanced technology???
Wow! That’s pretty sad! But not very bright if ur broadcasting it!! Keep ur business ur own! If I was living off grid I sure as hell would keep my mouth shut!! Thank God I live in canada!!
If she is forced to get back on the grid, I’m not sure how they can force her to use electric or gas or whatever else. Hook everything up but don’t use it and continue things the way you were doing. How can they force you to spend money. Such a bunch of crap.
How can they force you to spend money? How can they force you to buy health insurance?
Obama care
you have a good point! :)
So how is it legal for the Amish to live off grid off grid living needs to be a religion
You post brings up a lot of interesting questions. There is separation of church and state, but how separate are they? Do the Amish pay property tax? Do the Amish pay income tax? Do the Amish have social security numbers? Do they have license plates on their buggies or the horses they ride? I guess unless the land was homesteaded before the mid 1700s, would they have to pay property tax? Do they need state issued IDs even? Do they have to register for the draft or to vote? Just some things to make you folks out there think about.
Not only that, the Amish blatantly place for sale ads specifying they will only sell to other Amish!
move to a country were you are aload to live on other means like new zealand we can live of the grid we dont have to have goverment power connection if we dont wont to or other means of other living.
It said that the government has to try and take over your life but they are getting taxes from the electric company so they want you on the grid. You may own your own home but you don’t own the land it sits on and that’s why you pay property taxes. The government owns all the land in all fifty states therefore it is an illusion that you own your land unless you bought the land rights. And yes it is a good thing to keep your mouth shut if you are doing something that saves you money but keeps the money out of governments hands, they don’t like that. That’s why we had the Boston tea party back in the day. The government always wants more than what we have. So when you can figure out a way to save money say nothing to no one. And in response to other comments, you could go live in another country but they would want taxes too and sometimes they want more. So unless you find an island that no government or private citizen has claim on, you will have to pay the taxes that the government wants. And if you can find such an island only then can you truly be free from the government’s greedy pockets. Sorry if I stepped on anyone’s toes but that is how I see things.
You do own the land rights. You may not own the air or mineral rights, or you may lease the land(for example if you live on an indian reservation).Know what you are buying. I believe taxes are for improvements, road, lighting etc. You are right in the sense we never really own anything, but borrow it.
I don’t know about what was aired (page not found through link). However, it can not be just for “living off the grid”. They may have cited the house as uninhabitable if there were no correct sewage installed and running. If there were an unsafe condition for her…or her neighbors (rodent/insect breeding ground) or if the structure were unsound..they could condemn the building.
You may heat through a pot belly stove…and cook on it. You may use a well for plumbing. You may use solar for electricity and water heating. These are all legal. This tells me that there is more to the story.
Shiro, yours and one other comment here are the only sensible ones. Even on the surface, this story is incomplete. Find the rest of the story and we will have a very different story.
Nonsense, often the owners are sentenced to jail, and the home razed.
What is an ignorant sheep like you doing on a site like this, anyway?
That is purely silly. Unless you live there, you cannot possibly know what the local ordinances say.
First off i`am totally into off the grid lifestyle amoung prepping,seems like if your gonna do this stay off the tv and keep it to yourself.
Has anyone actually checked this story out to see if it’s true? Does it sound plausible to be “evicted” from your own home?
Yes it is true. Saw it on a news blip, then nothing else.
Yes, it happens frequently.
Is this a classic case of, “You can’t fight City Hall?”
Our government is beyond Fidiculous. That’s right, Fidiculous. Anyway to stop you and make you do things their way, they are going to do it. They will pass a new law to do it. And it is getting worse everyday. I think we should not reelect any politician. And then perhaps, we can get the new ones to finally work for the people.
If she was amish it would be ok…..i have complete solar in pa….had to fight with them for 2 yrs……they said i had to be hooked up to electric company any way…..even told me they could take my kid if we had no electric….to family ser ices suprise i was watching tv in a 70 degree house on that cold day they showed up……another case of shame on them……
stop talking about it except with people you trust for God’s sake
Libtard tree-huggers seem to get away with it. I wonder if everyone wanting to live off of the grid just said that they were trying to leave a zero carbon footprint and want to help with climate change would they then be left alone? Who cares if you are lying and really doing it to be self-reliant? Just convince them you are a “save the earth” kind of person. ;)
You can do better than trying to offend those you disagree with. I just know it.