Joseph M. Hoffman – A Story of Ordeals, Catastrophes, and Disasters
From May 2020 through September 2025, my life has been defined by a series of ordeals that tested my health, my resilience, and my spirit. On May 6, 2020, I suffered a heart attack in my River Towers condominium in Belle View, Virginia, leaving me incapacitated for nearly a year. By October 2020, a new management company, First Services Residential, assumed control of River Towers, but my troubles were far from over.
When I regained mobility in December 2020, I discovered over thirty returned, uncashed checks for my condo fees, totaling thousands of dollars. Unemployed and disabled, I struggled to bring my account current, ultimately making a payment of $3,994.80 in May 2021. Around the same time, dark, cold spots began appearing on my living room and bedroom walls, accompanied by a musty odor. These were signs of repeated water damage from internal building pipes—a recurring problem I had been assured was resolved.
In mid-2021, I made plans to temporarily relocate to my close friend Emily Lu’s house to avoid the worsening conditions. On May 30, 2021, I traveled to Everett, Washington, to remove possessions from my parents’ home, which was being sold. On June 4, 2021, I learned via phone that Emily Lu had gone missing, prompting a massive police search. When I returned to my condo, the stench and mold were unbearable, causing severe respiratory issues, headaches, and eye irritation. I stayed in hotels or in my vehicle, unable to occupy my own home.
Eventually, I moved temporarily to my parents’ new residence in Everett, Washington. Due to community rules and the need for income, I secured an apartment in Kirkland, Washington, and began employment in Seattle. On July 26, 2021, Emily Lu’s body was discovered; she had been murdered. Her death left a severe emotional impact and intensified the already overwhelming stress of displacement.
From 2021 through 2023, repeated flooding, water infiltration, and toxic mold rendered my condo uninhabitable. I required a gas mask indoors to mitigate the respiratory harm. My Garden Plot W-13, which I had maintained since 2013 as a therapeutic outlet for managing PTSD and honoring Emily Lu, was lost when I became too sick to maintain it, because of the poisonous environment in my condo caused by water infiltration and mold, which weakened me!
In August 2022, after receiving an email from First Services Residential claiming repairs were complete, I moved back from Kirkland to my condo, only to discover on August 22, 2022, additional water infiltration, mold, and mildew. The continued uninhabitable conditions forced me to return to an apartment in Kirkland on December 12, 2022.
Legal battles followed. I filed an amended complaint in December 2023 (Fairfax County Circuit Court Case CL-2023-0003372) against River Towers Condominium, asserting fraud and mismanagement. Although the case was nonsuited on March 21, 2024, I renewed it in September 2024 as CL-2024-13305. On August 15, 2025, I requested Sheriff’s service of the complaint, and service was completed on August 20, 2025.
Through this catastrophe, I have faced relentless adversity—physical illness, repeated displacement, financial devastation, and the tragic loss of Emily Lu.
https://youtu.be/htP1GbcE5LY
Psalm 35: The Fight and Struggle
Psalm 35 resonates deeply with my experience. Like David, I faced adversaries who acted unjustly and sought to harm me. I cried out for deliverance and justice, yearning for vindication and restoration. Psalm 35 expresses a profound trust in intervention against those who wronged me, a trust mirrored in my persistence through the courts, my written text, my prayers, and my legal actions.
Psalm 35 is an imprecatory psalm attributed to David, in which he pleads for God’s intervention against his adversaries. Its core themes include divine advocacy, because David asks God to contend with those who wrong him; injustice and betrayal, because the psalmist laments being harmed by those he trusted or helped; vindication and justice, because David seeks God’s judgment and resolution; and praise and thanksgiving, because the psalm concludes with trust in God’s deliverance.
My years of suffering caused by River Towers’ mismanagement and the toxic mold in my condo parallel this psalm. Mold exposure forced me to wear a gas mask indoors, weakening me physically. I filed lawsuits—CL-2023-0003372, renewed as CL-2024-13305—to hold River Towers accountable. I was displaced repeatedly—Belle View, VA → Kirkland, WA → Belle View → Kirkland. Emily Lu, my friend and confidant, was murdered in 2021, compounding my grief and stress. Garden Plot W-13, my therapeutic refuge, was lost when I became too sick to maintain it, because of the poisonous environment in my condo caused by water infiltration and mold, which weakened me!
https://youtu.be/htP1GbcE5LY
In terms of theme, Psalm 35 centers on divine justice and deliverance, while in my experience it has meant personal justice, grief, and resilience. In tone, the psalm is a plea for intervention and vindication, while my lived reality has been frustration, grief, and perseverance.
Regarding adversaries, Psalm 35 speaks of enemies and false accusers, while I have faced River Towers, mismanagement, and negligence. For action sought, the psalm calls for God’s intervention and judgment, while I have pursued legal action, prayer, text, and sorrow. As to outcomes, Psalm 35 seeks vindication and praise, while I seek health restoration, justice, and remembrance of Emily Lu. For emotional stakes, the psalm portrays fear of betrayal and desire for justice, while I have endured trauma from mold, displacement, Emily Lu’s murder, and the loss of W-13. In medium, Psalm 35 is prayer and poetic expression, while mine is speech, text, prayer, and legal filings.
Psalm 35 is the psalm of battle. It reflects the years of standing, struggling, filing, pleading, and enduring while my adversaries pressed their advantage. It is about survival in the storm, enduring the fight, and clinging to the hope of vindication.
But not every battle ends in earthly victory. My life moved from the fight of Psalm 35 into the lament of Psalm 42. If Psalm 35 is the psalm of the battlefield, Psalm 42 is the psalm of exile—of standing amid ruins, defeated in the courts of men, stripped of home, possessions, and dignity in the land of my birth.
(https://youtu.be/KYGhnbXtqbU).
Psalm 42: The Defeat, Exile, and Loss
Psalm 42 is a psalm of lament, attributed to the sons of Korah. It is the cry of a soul cast down, longing for God while enduring suffering, exile, and taunts from enemies. Its themes are thirst for God, despair in exile, mockery from adversaries, and fragile hope in the midst of loss.
Just as the psalmist longed for God’s presence, I longed for stability and home. Instead, I lost my residence, my possessions, and my place in the United States. Like him, I recalled places of healing now taken from me—Emily Lu, who was murdered, and Garden Plot W-13, seized and destroyed. Where the psalmist heard “Where is your God?” I endured the judgments and condemnations of my enemies.
In terms of theme, Psalm 42 speaks of longing for God in exile, while my experience is final earthly defeat, exile, and homelessness. In tone, the psalm is lament, sorrow, and fragile hope, while mine is grief, loss, and fragile hope. In adversaries, the psalmist confronts enemies who mock faith, while I have faced River Towers, hostile management, and legal counsel. In action sought, the psalm seeks God’s presence and deliverance, while I seek comfort, vindication, and eternal salvation. In outcomes, the psalm anticipates joy in God’s presence, while I look for peace beyond earthly loss. In emotional stakes, the psalm speaks of fear, grief, exile, and abandonment, while I have endured trauma, Emily Lu’s murder, the loss of W-13, and the certainty of homelessness. In medium, Psalm 42 is poetic lament and prayer, while mine is speech, text, prayer, and sorrow.
Psalm 42 is not the psalm of battle but the psalm of defeat. It lingers in sorrow and exile, acknowledging the crushing weight of loss and homelessness. That is where I stand—not in triumph but in lament. My condo, my property, my possessions, and my earthly stability are gone. My enemies have triumphed in the courts of this world. I am left with only my words, my prayers, my sorrow, and my God. Yet, like the psalmist, I still ask my soul: “Why art thou cast down? Hope thou in God.” My hope is not rooted in Fairfax County courts, in River Towers’ judgments, or in the promises of this nation. My hope is in God alone. The song version of Psalm 42, linked here (https://youtu.be/KYGhnbXtqbU), captures my grief and my hope together. Its lament is my lament; its fragile praise is my fragile praise. Psalm 42 – Song of Grief and Hope (https://youtu.be/KYGhnbXtqbU).
As I face the loss of my residence, home, and possessions, the certainty of homelessness, and economic expulsion from the country of my birth, I lament the victories of my enemies but look to God for hope and salvation. Until my faith is turned to sight, I will praise the Lord. He is still my God, my salvation. Psalm 42 – Video Reflection (https://youtu.be/KYGhnbXtqbU).
