Things To Do In SW Florida

Q: Lately, some of the renters in our townhome community have been disruptive. There have been noise disturbances, domestic violence, unleashed pets, and even open drug use. When some homeowners raised their concerns, the association said their ability to address the problem was limited, and changing rental bylaws was almost impossible. What can we do to make our neighborhood safe and peaceful again? — Brian

A: Dealing with unruly neighbors can be difficult, and even a single disruptive neighbor can ruin the other homeowners’ enjoyment of their neighborhood. Unfortunately, I have seen this issue occur many times in my law practice.

You seem to have taken the first step in alerting your homeowner association board to the problem. However, rather than addressing the problem directly, they seem to be trying to stop renting altogether, which is quite an undertaking. In most associations, it will require most, if not all, owners to agree to ban renting outright. This is unlikely to occur since some owners are already renting their units. read more

Tony Leys | (TNS) KFF Health News

GRINNELL, Iowa — A for-profit company has proposed turning a boarded-up former nursing home here into a psychiatric hospital, joining a national trend toward having such hospitals owned by investors instead of by state governments or nonprofit health systems.

The companies see a business opportunity in the shortage of inpatient beds for people with severe mental illness.

The scarcity of inpatient psychiatric care is evident nationwide, especially in rural areas. People in crisis often are held for days or weeks in emergency rooms or jails, then transported far from their hometowns when a bed opens in a distant hospital.

Eight nonprofit Iowa hospitals have shuttered their psychiatric units since 2007, often citing staffing and financial challenges. Iowa closed two of its four mental health institutions in 2015.

The state now ranks last in the nation for access to state-run psychiatric hospitals, according to the Treatment Advocacy Center. The national group, which promotes improving care for people with severe mental illness, recommends states have at least 50 state-run psychiatric beds per 100,000 people. Iowa has just two such beds per 100,000 residents, the group said. read more