Bobby Brinkley didn’t want to cash the check he got for the sale of his family land. When the lawyer who sold it against his will appeared to him after more than a year of scattered letters and notices detailing the gradual takeover of the property, Brinkley told the man he would have to evict him from his makeshift home.
“Everything’s already been done,” said Lindsay Childress, Brinkley’s wife, days after the meeting. “We didn’t have a ride to the sales confirmation to object. I can’t file legal paperwork online and even if I could, I wouldn’t know how.”
On Monday, the years-long saga involving 9001 Broad St., which has been widely considered a “nuisance” property along the main road in the town of Rural Hall, drew ever so closer to its conclusion.
Even though Brinkley tried to clean up the property and tear down the wooden skeleton of his old family house despite his chronic illnesses and disabilities, he could never comply with Forsyth County’s demolition order and fines for violations of solid waste ordinances.
Steven Smith, a Winston-Salem attorney representing EastJeff LLC, a mysterious real estate company which has long sought after the property on Broad Street, came before Forsyth County commissioners Monday and explained the next step in the process was to remove Brinkley and Childress from the ramshackle camper right next to Brinkley’s decaying family home.
EastJeff LLC agreed to comply with the county’s demolition order for the home Monday and Smith said he wanted to take the house down while finding another place for Brinkley and Childress to go, but also said the idea wouldn’t work because the two lived so close to the house.
Smith has never responded to repeated requests for comment from the Journal over a period of several months.
“My concern is possibly making someone homeless,” said Commissioner Tonya McDaniel in response. “So it doesn’t sound like there’s a clear plan, when this happens, that they’re going to go somewhere.”
“The gentleman doesn’t want to leave,” Smith replied.
Although Smith said he advised Brinkley there were places to go, Smith added that he hoped some people who commented on news accounts about Brinkley written by the Winston-Salem Journal would provide help for Brinkley and Childress.
“We’ve given him every opportunity, matter of fact I’ll be honest, the clerk [of court] has given him more opportunity than was necessary,” said Smith.
A protracted 18-month partition by sale process ate up much of the money Brinkley received as proceeds from the sale of the land, Smith said.
Part of the reason why the sale took so long is because Brinkley never appeared at any court hearings and never took action, according to Smith.
All in all, Brinkley’s check for his personal interest in the property came back as $1,148, according to Childress.
The Journal couldn’t independently verify the amount.
Childress, reflecting on the sale of the land and where the two would go next, said the amount was “ridiculous.”
“That’s not enough to cover first month’s rent or deposit anywhere,” Childress said. “We can’t afford to pay a moving company.”
After Brinkley was hit by a truck months ago and broke many of the bones in the left side of his body, he has accumulated over $1 million in medical debt, Childress said.
She spoke for Brinkley Tuesday afternoon while he remained in the camper recovering.
“He’s never gonna be the same,” Childress said.
The two likely have less than a week before EastJeff LLC obtains a writ to evict them with a sheriff’s deputy.
As she sat on the steps of the camper Tuesday afternoon and gazed at the commuter traffic through Rural Hall, Childress had a range of reactions for Smith’s comments at the commissioners’ meeting and the overall situation.
They spanned contempt for the seemingly enigmatic EastJeff LLC and Smith to despair about her husband’s condition to hope for the future.
“Go ahead, you can have it all!” Childress said of the land.
“Not my personal stuff,” she added. “But you can have all the trash. You can clean it up.”
Brinkley and Childress are currently in the process of suing the person who hit Brinkley with their Chevy Silverado and hope to receive a settlement that will help pay for housing costs and other supplies.
For now, Childress is applying for Medicare and Medicaid and secures orders from Food Lion and Walmart Plus for food, wound care items and gas for their generators.
As for where the two could move, Childress said she has a few ideas.
If they tried to move the camper, it would fall apart, she said. Both said they hate the idea of living closely with others.
“We’re trying to find a newer camper for a decent price that we can get financing on,” Childress said.
If they got a settlement from their lawsuit, Childress said they’d use the money to help buy a tiny home on some land.
Of the check from the sale of Brinkley’s family land, Childress said she made her husband use it though he initially refused.
“He didn’t want to be seen as taking their money,” Childress said.
0 Comments
Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox!
Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.