Community Corner

Veteran's Home Up For Sale

The West Norriton home of Marine Corps veteran Ronald Dziewit, who mounted a standoff with local law enforcement in October over his eviction, is up for sale.

The former home of Marine Corps veteran Ronald Dziewit is up for sale. 

The cozy, Cape Cod-style house on quiet Clearview Avenue in West Norriton was the scene of a three-hour long standoff between Dziewit and local law enforcement agencies in early October 2011. The veteran had barricaded himself inside the home after the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department attempted to serve him with eviction papers on the morning of Oct 4. The standoff ended peacefully after negotiators enlisted the help of Dziewit's family and friends to convince him to surrender. West Norriton Police later declined to press charges against Dziewit.

Dziewit had reportedly been having problems with his Veterans Affairs-backed mortgage in the years leading up to the incident. He lost his job in 2005 and went through a three-month period where his sole source of income was his military pension. After falling behind a few months on his mortgage, he found a job, but at half the salary he had previously made.

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"I tried to do the honorable thing," Dziewit told Norristown Patch weeks after the incident. "I was proud and I didn't want to ask for handouts. All I wanted was a help up and when I finally got back on feet, I got knocked down. Every time I got up, I got knocked down again."

Behind on a payments, Dziewit reached out to the bank, the Department of Veterans Affairs, elected officials, and even hired a specialty firm in an attempt to work out a forbearance, but eventually the home was foreclosed on.

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The house is now listed for sale on a site that manages VA-owned homes for $99,900.

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