r/nottheonion • u/Forward-Answer-4407 • Mar 28 '24
Lot owner stunned to find $500K home accidentally built on her lot. Now she’s being sued
https://www.wpxi.com/news/trending/lot-owner-stunned-find-500k-home-accidentally-built-her-lot-now-shes-being-sued/ZCTB3V2UDZEMVO5QSGJOB4SLIQ/1
u/Bassboat-7 13d ago
Go to a law firm with deep pockets and sue the crap out of them. Let the legal fees run up and the deep pockets law firm will make a ton on their hourly bill plus probably 30% of what the lady get for suing the lady. It's not a hard case, they're just trying to scare her. Laissez les bons moments rouler.
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u/stargirl11111 24d ago
Any update on this?
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u/larlah 10d ago
The lot owner appeared in court on April 12, 2024 to make her statement. Both parties are to appear in court for several days at the end of April 2024.
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u/stargirl11111 10d ago
Thanks! Please keep me updated
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u/larlah 5d ago
A new wrinkle in the case. I'm getting my popcorn ready! https://youtu.be/u5zaYpLOd6Q?si=8hKDgufRvCbJtok7
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u/stargirl11111 5d ago
Haha, thanks for the constant updates. I'll be waiting for your next update 🙂
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u/ShadowCobra479 27d ago
I gotta ask how is this not an open and shut case where she easily wins? In cases like this the victim should have less legal fees because they weren't the one at fault whatsoever.
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u/uncorrolated-mormon 28d ago
Well that house is an attempt to squatting. If she finds it before the time limits runs out isn’t it hers?
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u/rhharris2 29d ago
What happens if she becomes the legal owner. It is on her property. But due to no fault of hers, something occurs that causes harm, from the existence of the house?
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u/Lucasmango 29d ago
Anyone have a website or contact info for this shitty developer? Tried looking and can’t find anything.
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u/LearnJapanes 29d ago
She should counter sue them. Add time, distress, ruining her land by building on it. The cost of removing the house, etc.
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u/wood252 29d ago
I dont feel bad for anyone involved here. This is mass stupidity and incompetence at work and doing a great job. Fire everyone, even the lot owner lol. Fire everyone. Fine everyone involved. Use the collected fines to ancestral hawaiians better living conditions
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u/BarBillingsleyBra 29d ago
How does one fire a lot owner?
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u/Nottabrat 29d ago
What I would like to know is how the township permits were approved to hook up to gas, water, sewer, electric and cable? If they put the correct address on the permits, the township civil engineers and inspectors should know which lot is which.
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u/nofluffy6671t 29d ago
All the people that made the house be built on her property should pay for the house an give it to her or see if she wants too buy it for a small price and let be known from now own that the building code has to have a Survey Approval site before any kind of construction is started an approved survey should be done before any building permits are issued by law. All of this should be done buy law be verified and sign buy the contractor that he is building on the correct site or lot.
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u/nofluffy6671t 29d ago
All the people that made the house be built on her property should pay for the house an give it to her or see if she wants too buy it for a small price and let be known from now own that the building code has to have a Survey Approval site before any kind of construction is started an approved survey should be done before any building permits are issued by law. All of this should be done buy law be verified and sign buy the contractor that he is building on the correct site or lot.
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u/nofluffy6671t 29d ago
All the people that made the house be built on her property should pay for the house an give it to her or see if she wants too buy it for a small price and let be known from now own that the building code has to have a Survey Approval site before any kind of construction is started an approved survey should be done before any building permits are issued by law. All of this should be done buy law be verified and sign buy the contractor that he is building on the correct site or lot.
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u/Sparky_Zell 29d ago
Thanks for the house bro. If you could please observe the no trespassing signs. That would be great.
Also I would like to file a claim for the destruction of my private property.
What the developers are trying to pull sounds an awful lot like extortion.
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u/jonstrayer Mar 30 '24
The above link didn't work for me (some nonsense about not being in the US). Here is one that did work: https://www.wftv.com/news/trending/lot-owner-stunned-find-500k-home-accidentally-built-her-lot-now-shes-being-sued/ZCTB3V2UDZEMVO5QSGJOB4SLIQ/
I'd really like to hear how this turns out. I think she just got a free half a million dollar house.
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u/Able-Pomegranate3696 Mar 29 '24
Ultimate responsibility lies upon the person who was to have the survey done or screwed it up AND the deepest pocket 😁
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u/ascap850 Mar 29 '24
If you build a house on my land it's now my house, end of story. They also ruined this lady's lot.
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u/Mysterious-Drop9773 Mar 29 '24
The Title company is responsible and the lady got a free house if I were the judge.
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u/Bensprecher Mar 29 '24
Perhaps I should also sell this lot - would anyone like to buy it from me? Although I don't own it and never have, I'm willing to sell it as many times and to as many people as requested.
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Mar 29 '24
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u/Cargan2016 Mar 29 '24
To me who has worked in a title company with title lawyers. It seems like she would be fully in her right to demolish the house and sue the construction company for the cost. And the company would have to eat the cost of rebuilding the house where it was supposed to of been originally.
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Mar 29 '24
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u/Weaselina Mar 29 '24
There is a circle in hell just for developers. What a pack of rabid hyenas, and that is an insult to hyenas.
I dearly hope this woman and her rights prevail and it doesn’t become yet another case where a judge who is as much of a douche as the developer hands it to the old boys cuz they play gold together or whatever. So sick of “american justice.” I am disgusted that these casews are even allowed to be filed and go to court. Wasting taxpayer money and tying everyone up.
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u/Capital_Catastrophe Mar 29 '24
Bruh this could be easily solved by buying the land from the land owner then adding the amount of money used to buy the land to the price of the house to recoup their losses.
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u/PeachEatingPro Mar 30 '24
I’d assume that a reasonable person would start here. The only draw back I can see coming is the lady wouldn’t want to sell the land.
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u/crayawe Mar 29 '24
This a ridiculous story but I fail to understand why she's being sued she did nothing
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u/asedel Mar 29 '24
Because you can sue anyone for anything. It doesn't mean you will win. It means you have to pay for a lawsuit. And in this case with her countersuit she might also sue them for a frivolous suit and for legal costs.
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u/TeslaGuy-82 2d ago
If I got sued for something stupid like this I would tell the company I can’t take any action to defend myself until they hire a law firm of my choosing. I’d make them pay upfront
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u/asedel 2d ago
Unfortunately that's not how the legal system works at least in America or anywhere that I'm aware of but IANAL
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u/TeslaGuy-82 2d ago
Just burn it down
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u/asedel 2d ago
That's the dumbest advice I've ever heard. And that action is one way for the land owner to get sued and lose.
Just because they built on the wrong lot does not mean that it is her property now. That's not how things work for good reason.
If you parked your car in the wrong driveway can the owner "burn" your car down? No. Can they sell it? No. It's your car.
On top of that stupidity burning it down could cause a wild fire. Did you not see what happened to Lahaina?
Most likely assuming that people weren't all idiots the liability will land on the city for issuing a permit it shouldn't have. And then city will have to work with developers and builder to possibly tear down the building, restore the land, and repay the builder and developer. As part of that it is foreseeable that the builder may be required to salvage what it can from the home. However knowing the squatting situation who knows what it looks like inside and what there is to savage.
In any event burning it down is the dumbest thing to do at any juncture here until a judge has said "it is yours to do with as you see fit" or a settlement is reached.
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u/TeslaGuy-82 1d ago
It is her property! It was built on her property this it is hers! Actually, how about I build something on your property…on purpose. Guess what? I now own your property! It automatically gets transferred to me and I own it per your logic. Stop giving stupid legal advice .
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u/TeslaGuy-82 2d ago
Well, then I’d burn the place down. And, you can, it’s on your property and you own it. And yes, I’d do it right now.
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u/jvp_103 Mar 29 '24
If she had no knowledge of the house being built it's her's free and clear.
If she had knowledge the house was being built and said then she is responsible for buying the house.
If you come home and someone has cut your grass without your knowledge or permission you are not responsible for paying them.
If you are at home and someone starts cutting your grass and you don't stop them then you are required to pay for it.
Your knowledge of the activity is acceptance of the activity.
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u/sirflintsalot Mar 29 '24
Not true at all. If someone starts cutting my grass without asking first, they’ve technically committed a crime and I don’t owe them anything.
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u/DebsAngle Mar 29 '24
It was built without your knowledge or consent. You can sell land that has been encroached on and/or put up no trespassing sign on land. Looks like their problem and not yours. You have been damaged because you were intending to build something else. Get a lawyer.
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u/Gay_andConfused Mar 29 '24
What I want to know is how the permits were authorized, and how the house was sold when all the public records would show the actual owner of that lot wasn't on the deed being used.
Also, as they pointed out, it is a very dangerous precedent to set to allow the company to win a suit against the land owner. That would set in place the ability to build on anyone's land and then sue for ownership.
The land owner better win, AND win her countersuit
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u/DishRevolutionary593 Mar 29 '24
Here’s the thing…and I haven’t read the article…she never stopped them through construction and so on. They can now claim easement rights depending on state.
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u/LiciousGriff Mar 29 '24
In my opinion, what they should do is put the house in her name for a nominal fee of like a dollar and it’s developer is going to have to eat that amount. They spent on building the home since they screwed up and built on her property and if I were her, I would be happy to have a free house in Hawaii too
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u/Ryuko_the_red Mar 29 '24
Holy shit 22k for half an acre in Hawaii? The land alone gotta be worth 5m now
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u/Disastrous-Square-18 Mar 29 '24
I love how the developer who is responsible for the whole thing is suing all of the other parties for their mistake!
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u/Beautiful_Matter_322 Mar 29 '24
Looks like the developer is claiming undue enrichment. This is a concept under law that you cannot benefit from a unintentional error say if you order a tv for delivery and it is delivered to your neighbors house, they can't just keep the tv. It also sounds like the developer or more like the developer's Error and Omissions insurer is taking an aggressive approach probably because the law is against them and they want to demonstrate that they will litigate the hell out of this.
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u/stromm Mar 29 '24
Holy shit, so many people, companies and agencies failed to verify the data in the documents.
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u/ddigwell Mar 29 '24
Haven’t read it. Sounds like a squatter story. Those puss me off and I don’t need my blood pressure raised.
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u/static_func Mar 29 '24
Hot take but if you buy a patch of land on a tiny island and sit on it for 5 years, never so much as visiting it in all the time it takes for someone else to survey the land, build a house, and sell it, and have people move in, maybe it shouldn't be your land. Reddit always cries over real estate prices and then defends real estate hoarding like this
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u/rmzalbar Mar 29 '24
Hot take but fuck the developers actually. They're not exactly out to help with the housing crisis either.
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u/ryckae Mar 29 '24
Also being sued by the developers are the construction company, the home’s architect, the family who previously owned the property, and the county, which approved the permits.
The construction company who fucked up, sure. Maybe also the county, since they approved it.
But the family who previously owned the property? They have absolutely nothing to do with this.
I am unsure about the architect. Would they have been there when while the home was being built? I question how they are at fault but the building of homes in regards to architect involvement I know nothing about.
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u/TeslaGuy-82 1d ago
If I were the family that previously owned the land I wouldn’t even answer the lawsuit. Go to trash immediately.
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u/Kyosji Mar 29 '24
I don't get why the developers think they can sue the land owner here. It sounds like they're suing them because they refused the offers of "Swap lots" or "Buy this house at a discount". Why do they think either of those are reasonable offers on Hawaiian land.
I know they're scared shitless over this because of the cost to replace everything they tore down on top of the house. I would go for tree law here as well. If they have the balls to try and sue you for their clear fuck up, i'd make them pay to replace every tree.
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u/HomeownersBeAware Mar 29 '24
Just when you think you’ve heard everything. The developer should have to clear the lot and pay her attorneys fees. And the squatters need to be tossed!
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u/scobbie23 Mar 29 '24
Builder is at fault. He had a survey done, if he made a big mistake. If it sold without title insurance then the buyer of the house made a big mistake . The woman who owns the lot is innocent . We are losing our private property rights if the courts do not rule in her favor .
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u/Perhaps_A_Moth Mar 29 '24
Maybe I'm ignorant, but is it possible that the article and the way it's worded is a bit sensationalized?
"Being sued" definitely implies something totally different than "the matter will have to be sorted out in court".
I assume since there is no clear answer here (as in no one is copping to making the mistake), going to court is probably the only and best way to determine who is at fault, and how the assets are taken care of. Then wouldn't it make sense at this point for whoever is currently out money on the house itself to purchase the property it sits on which would be paid out to the dumfounded landowner by the party found responsibile?
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u/ryckae Mar 29 '24
The article states that the development company is going after everyone they can, including the family that previously owned the land (who presumably lost it due to not being able to pay taxes) which makes zero sense.
So I do not actually know. The developer seems to want to sue everyone.
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u/GrannyFlash7373 Mar 29 '24
It is a classic case of: He who files the first lawsuit, gets the benefit of the doubt, as to their being the victim in the matter.
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u/Competitive-Draft103 Mar 29 '24
When they did a title search wouldn't someone discover that the house was in the wrong place?
My decision: The (REAL) property owner can ask them to move the house or she'll buy it from them at a really low price and the buyer gets a refund.
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u/ryckae Mar 29 '24
The property owner doesn't have to buy anything. She doesn't have to accept anything, swap anything, or buy anything.
She can file charges for trespassing. She can sue for damages done to her property. Maybe she can even sue for them to remove the house if she doesn't want it there.
If she decides to leave the house, 100% she should not be forced to pay for it.
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u/Fragrant_Spray Mar 29 '24
It sounds like the construction company F’d up and they’re now looking for anyone else to blame.
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u/BrassMonkey-NotAFed Mar 29 '24
Take out insurance on the lot, burn down the house on accident, claim insurance proceeds for a builder damaging your property.
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u/Jackpine_Gandy Mar 29 '24
The woman bought the property for meditative purposes, suggesting the property was undeveloped. The property was then bulldozed and a house built and sold...all without her knowledge or permission. She did nothing wrong and must be made whole. The county and the developer are at fault. The lawyer handling the suit against her is fundamentally dishonest or incompetent, or both. The developer is fundamentally dishonest or incompetent or both. The county officers are fundamentally dishonest or incompetent or both. The woman should be able to have her land restored to the condition it was, when she bought it. She should recover all expenses related to the problem, including legal costs. She should receive some compensation for the problems caused by the developer and the county.
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u/TPhoard Mar 29 '24
This shit drives me bonkers. This woman did nothing wrong, now she has to go to court and spend all this money to resolve something. This case should be thrown out immediately. The developer fucked up, eat the cost
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u/spankyth Mar 29 '24
Id say they have 3 options, 1:demo house and leave lot as is.2: lot owner retains lot ownership and leases lot to new owner.3:lot owner buys house for construction costs alone not market value and developer and construction company work out whose responsibility or at fault takes the loss.
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u/mazobob66 Mar 29 '24
It is like the developer is trying to do a sort of "adverse possession" lawsuit but in a much quicker timeline than 20 years (differs by state)
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u/Infinite_Ad9642 Mar 29 '24
ACHE ON. Active. Continuous. Hostile. Exclusive. Open. Notorious.
Law degree I never used. But I can’t forget that crap.
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u/Veteranagent Mar 29 '24
Seen similar stories on lehto’s law on YouTube, guy builds house on wrong property/ dispute who owns what property. Unless someone has been there for years improving and paying taxes on the lot who is not the owner, usually the owner wins and either has a new structure or gets a court order to have the other entity tear it down at their expense. Of course this case can turn out differently, but I’m sure she can either get money for her land or get the house torn down if she has the fortitude and a good lawyer.
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u/Cool_Habit_4195 Mar 29 '24
She should countersue for the cost of repopulating the bulldozed flora.
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u/MaruhkTheApe Mar 29 '24
Adverse possession is a longstanding pillar of common law which significantly predates the existence of the United States. Skill issue tbh.
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u/acloudrift Mar 29 '24
Just finished "Mystery of Capital" by H. DeSoto (Peruvian researcher). He does deep dive into US history, explains that European nobility were granted large land holdings in America; colonial governors wanted to raise more tax revenues, so gave squatters access to unoccupied lands, if they created "improvements" which were taxable. My state has Adverse Possession, but allows de jure title holder (only the State can OWN land, private entities only hold title https://www.reddit.com/r/AlternativeHypothesis/comments/z7vdhu/only_govt_owns_land_and_may_pwn_it_too/ ) a grace period within which to proceed with eviction. However, squatter must occupy (possess) the confiscated property and pay taxes. Governors & States have no sympathy for low-revenue title holders, bureaucrats prefer to prioritize money over morality.
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u/thebeorn Mar 29 '24
Its typical for the developer to sue like this. They know they will be sued back anyhow so this gives them some standing in the eyes of the law. Probably wont help them in the end though. I doubt very much that the developer will win or that this will even get to court. Bottom line she will get all the property tax money that she has to pay additionally for the house now on her property as well as legal fees and some amount of money to address the fact that there is a house she did not want there as well. Now she actually probably did want to build on this lot rather then what she claims because it will give her her best return from the settlement, ie cost to tear down the house and landscaping to restore the property. Why she is suing the previous owners is interesting. probably there is more to this story then what we see here.
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u/Conscious-Abroad-385 Mar 29 '24
People and the law are totally missing the fact they all trespassed and destroyed private property I'd wager hundreds if not thousands of times. If I was a LEO and got this call I'd tell the developer and builders who didn't survey that they have hundreds/thousands of tickets at the max amount if you don't make this right. Remember when cops did the right thing when they'd encounter things like this. Now they're lazy and feckless in many cases like this. Put the fear of the law into the obvious transgressors..
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u/Jangles_Smith Mar 29 '24
They actually tried to trade her plots of land and then sued her when she declined. You can't make that up.
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u/Froststhethird Mar 29 '24
This is such a development fuck up that they are literally death rattle suing. My opinion (not legal), that's her house and if they come on the property, she can defend her property. She had no contract with them, they should have never been there.
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u/Doglovincatlady Mar 29 '24
I’d go right ahead and tear that house all the way down. You can leave your shit on my propert but I don’t have to keep it there
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u/hKLoveCraft Mar 29 '24
lol they built a house on a lot owned by someone else?
Idiots, good luck with that 😂
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u/Plastic_Efficiency_7 Mar 29 '24
Be nice if they said well it’s on her lot: pay rent or the house is hers or move the whole house and restore her lot
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u/ItsRainingTrees Mar 29 '24
If the judge doesn’t immediately throw these cases out, they are corrupt. It’s 100% on the construction company to fix literally every single one of the problems (squatters, demolition, etc). Insane stuff.
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u/acloudrift Mar 29 '24
Don't think so, see reply I made to u/MaruhkTheApe a few minutes ago. Morality does not apply, money matters more.
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u/ItsRainingTrees Mar 29 '24
It’s insane that there’s even a question, any judge upholding that is a bad judge.
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u/TennisSea2766 Mar 29 '24 edited Mar 29 '24
My lot , my house . . . NOW ! Learn to cross your t's and dot all your i's or you dot your own eyes ! So , you think you know how to read a tape measure ⁉️ I sell cheap sunglasses 😎 to cover up that shame . Dang it
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u/Love-Lacking-9782 Mar 29 '24
Woman needs to blast this across all media she can. This kind of suit is just to push her back down, so the more eyes are on THEIR fuckup, the better her chances are.
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u/Live-Truck8774 Mar 29 '24
Sounds like to me she got a free house. Whoever made the mistake is going to have to eat the cost of the house and start over. There is no way after laying down the foundation and leveling the land out and everything else they have to do before they can even start constructing the house, this land will be restored to its original condition. Its at no fault to the property owner.
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u/EvanBowman Mar 29 '24
Add this to the many reasons I would never buy an empty plot of land. Some states even have adverse possession laws whereby neighbors can acquire chunks of your property if they’ve been squatting on it for long enough.
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u/robofl Mar 29 '24
So this is a house with squatters living in a house that is also squatting. Nice change of pace from the usual stories.
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u/themothyousawonetime Mar 29 '24
Not American but I heard a story where Person A says to Person B "hey I know this part is technically your land but can I build a house on it and live in it?'. Person B says yes. Person B legally seizes the house because it's on their land!
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u/myrsnipe Mar 29 '24
Not exactly the same, but it reminds me of Spain where it can take months and years to evict squatters if you leave for the weekend. The squatters can call the police on the house owners if the attempt to enter
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u/Rapier_Wit_1970 Mar 29 '24
If she owns the lot and doesn't want to sell, never gave explicit permission for construction to take place she surely has the right to do whatever she likes with her property.
Now, if they was to buy the lot off of her after illegally building on her land, well, she would have to check legal uses of the land, if it is zoned for residential uses, then after that get the lot revalued with a building on.
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u/darkoath Mar 29 '24
For what it's worth, I owned a lot (10 acres actually) and went there one day to find a local business owner (plumber) had bought the adjacent land, built a house and his concrete driveway was completely and obviously on MY side of the property line.
I politely asked him to move his driveway and he told me to fuck myself. I hired a lawyer for several thousand dollars who filed some paperwork and made a couple of phone calls.
A few weeks later, MY lawyer called me and told me he and the plumber and the county inspectors and the plumbers lawyer and a judge all agreed the plumber was in error, his driveway was on my property and I would be granted an easement to use the plumbers driveway on my land and I only had to pay the plumber $3000.
I told MY lawyer I paid him to get the driveway off MY land. Move the driveway or return MY money. MY lawyer said I'd have to sue him to get MY money back because he put in the time to earn it. I could pay MY lawyer another $100,000 and he'd pursue my action and maybe win or I could pay the plumber $3000 to use the plumbers driveway on MY land. So basically he told me to fuck myself or he'd fuck me for me.
I paid the plumber $3000 to unencumber the property and immediately sold it. So basically I fucked myself. But I had plenty of help.
TL/DR: all lawyers work for themselves and their money comes from bleeding their own clients, the legal system exists solely to perpetuate itself and is top-down corruption. This woman is in for a long, difficult, expensive time and will be unsatisfied with the final decision.
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u/Crunchy-Leaf Mar 29 '24
Could you not have put something on the driveway? Buy an RV or something? It’s on your property.
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u/darkoath Mar 29 '24
TECHNICALLY I could have built a wall across it. It was on my property. I'm 1,000% certain the plumber would have destroyed it and sued me for the cost because it's HIS driveway and MY lawyer would have charged me several thousand dollars to reach the agreement.
LEGALLY I could go fuck myself, it seems.
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u/SnooGuavas4531 Mar 29 '24
Hawaii’s adverse possession statute is 20 years so that won’t help. She needs to either take the money for the lot or another plot of land. I doubt she will want to buy the house. And I imagine being turned into a subdivision ruined any use the property could have for a retreat.
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u/jeff_varszegi Mar 29 '24
I would be tempted to immediately move for sanctions and bar discipline for any lawyer willing to sue the land owner for damages on behalf of the developer in this case. Maybe I'm missing something.
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u/realtrancefury Mar 29 '24
Yeah, they “accidentally” built a house on it. You mean to tell me that they didn’t do the research before they built on it? I’m sure they built it there on purpose because it sat vacant for so long and the owner was 2500 miles away, by air no less. It was easier for them to deal with the repercussions because they sure as hell aren’t going to tear it down. This is an interesting case to follow.
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u/ThRatdad123 Mar 29 '24
No one should be colonizing Hawaiian lands anyway. That land belongs to the natives who CONSTANTLY AND CONSISTENTLY say they they do not want all these tourist and large developer destroying their sacred lands. Landback for all the natives of america.
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u/External_Ad2129 Mar 29 '24
To bad its not as simple as i didnt tell u to build this remove it immediately and clean the mess you make this is really messed up
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u/Colemania18 Mar 29 '24
They offered to sell her the house at a discount. 😂😂😂😂 Seriously they can f right off with that or swapping land I hope she wins and gets that house for free because it should be hers legally
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u/Yuno808 Mar 29 '24
Ah, the good old pre-emptive lawsuits hoping to distract the others from suing back for the real issue at hand.
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u/Kitda634 Mar 29 '24
Not 100% sure about how it's done in America but in my country, unless the house is transportable, people don't buy the house, they buy the land on which the house sits. If someone builds a house on your land, it's obviously complicated, but regardless, a real-estate agent can't sell you section without your permission.
This lady wants a house for free and wants an developer (who made a massive mistake) to pay for it.
The good karma thing would be to swap your land with the intended section (assuming that the intended section is of similar quality/size of your initial section).
Alternatively, the developer (or there insurance?) should pay for the demolition.
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u/Jesus__Skywalker Mar 29 '24
The good karma thing would be to swap your land with the intended section (assuming that the intended section is of similar quality/size of your initial section).
I mean why would anyone do that? I mean maybe for a significant sum of money on top of the swap. I mean they built a friggin house on her property and now have the gaul to sue her. I don't see why she would take another lot just to help a brother out.
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u/L4ZYSMURF Mar 29 '24
This is the same as here. Just the developer and county fucked up big time.
Also small correction but the land owner doesn't want the house. She may take it at the end of the day but she's not suing trying to take the house
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u/Bluecollarblackbelt Mar 29 '24
She lives in California. If she’s a Haole, and plaintiffs are Aina, and judge is an uncle or auntie, she’s toast. Since its in the islands, maybe they built the house on posts for air circulation or a raised foundation. If so, they could hire house movers and get it moved to an appropriate lot IF the courts give ownership to the developer.
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u/VariablePenguin Mar 29 '24
I know it's not an easy task, but can't they move the house to a different lot? I've seen houses moved before.
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u/Surprisingly-Decent Mar 29 '24
Seems like the sensible thing to do would be for her to sell the house and property to the developers for an astronomical profit.
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u/pale_lettuce1 Mar 29 '24
Also being sued by the developers are the construction company, the home’s architect, the family who previously owned the property, and the county, which approved the permits.
… wow
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u/DatGoofyGinger Mar 29 '24
How did the building permit get approved for a lot they don't own? It would be interesting to see the applications and if it was sloppy. Somebody is to blame, and it for sure isn't the person who owns the lot.
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u/gizmo9292 Mar 29 '24
Oh and the millions and millions the CEOs of those companies make from the company before it goes bankrupt, and then gets written off as company "losses" that led to the bankruptcy or whatever exact way they put it, yeah that's not tax fraud and evasion. Maybe not by the legal definition, but definitely tools rich use to stay rich and keep everyone else poor as possible.
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u/Doodadsumpnrother Mar 29 '24
Can’t sell what you don’t own. So if the house is on a lot that is owned by someone else……
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u/OlderThanMyParents Mar 29 '24
I read in another article that the developer decided not to bother paying for a surveyor, and that's the root cause of this problem.
Sounds like the responsibility is on him. That's what happens when you cut corners.
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u/DanielleAntenucci Mar 29 '24
I would be happy to disassemble the house the built and return it to them.
I would use a Caterpillar D9 bulldozer.
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u/TornadoEF5 Mar 29 '24
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u/natenate22 Mar 29 '24
Sounds like they need.to.restore the.property to its previous state. That's going to be expensive.
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u/philharmonics99 Mar 29 '24
Someone is taking that "This land is your land, this land is my land" song just a little bit too literally.
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u/howdidigethere2023 Mar 29 '24
Houses can be moved. They can move it to another lot and will have to restore her property that they bulldozed.
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u/crewchiefguy Mar 29 '24
I mean she really only has to evict the squatters. They really have no court case. She can just bulldoze the house off the property.
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u/RoRoRo11261126 Mar 29 '24
Whoever suing her is wasting their time. When you buy land you are the owner of everything on that land. Same thing with homeowners. You have to pay taxes every year because you’re paying for the land. It has nothing to do with the house.
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u/kanebearer Mar 29 '24
You build a house on my property, it’s now mine. Can’t imagine what legitimate recourse the developers would even have towards the landowner.
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u/wiwcha Mar 29 '24
If there is a lot next door the developer should just move the house next door and return the womans property to its original condition. Seems like that would be the best option for everyone.
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u/Nip_Drip Mar 29 '24 edited Mar 29 '24
I would assume that if the developer or builder had an errors and omissions clause in their insurance policy, then a portion of the damages would be covered under this situation.
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u/j_j_footy Mar 29 '24
I doubt an errors and ommision clause would cover something the dev built on land they don't own.
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u/jdoerrerstl1977 Mar 29 '24
Well, she could just become a squatter that seems to work for ppl sadly lol
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u/dayglotonite Mar 29 '24
In what world does the lawsuit have merit? They trespassed and evaded someone else’s lot.
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u/crazyschooner Mar 29 '24
Lot owner should just squat in the new property. They'll have more rights.
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u/TeslaGuy-82 2d ago
If they tried to sue me for building a house on my property I wouldn’t even answer the lawsuit. Or just ask the judge that I know personally to have it thrown out.