Contractor builds house on wrong property

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by WPOZZZ

That is construction cost. On the mainland, that house would cost half what it cost to build here.

Land can be dirt cheap out there, and many people buy land as an investment. My dad bought an acre on the ocean back in the 60s, and we left it bare all these years as it was supposed to be where mom and dad would retire. Dad passed in 77 and we kept the land. We finally sold the land in 2012. Then there was the eruption of 2018 and it was all gone. Our property was the one that is smack dab in the middle with the sort of seawalls.

I had one of those lots too. My ex took it. She sold it years ago. Too bad.

[look 171]

If it was true, the city should be sue also and be completely responsible for permitting work without survey.

[MBAtarga]

This story has made it to reddit forums.

https://www.reddit.com/r/nottheonion/comments/1bq3wtn/lot_owner_stunned_to_find_500k_home_accidentally/

[flipper35]

If I had a lot that was going to be my dream retreat, I would demand they put it back the way they found it. The house, even if it were free, is not in the vision and therefore unwanted.

[dad911]

Originally Posted by look 171

If it was true, the city should be sue also and be completely responsible for permitting work without survey.

I don't know about other areas of the country, but we cannot backfill/frame a house without submitting a foundation location to the town done by a licensed surveyor.

[Rick Lee]

I just want to hear that the squatters were killed.

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

I just want to hear that the squatters were killed.

Same here, I like happy endings.

[WPOZZZ]

Here's a kind of similar story, but someone got scammed.

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/ct-property-sat-vacant-for-years-a-1-5m-home-was-built-on-it-without-owners-knowing/4573739/

https://www.ctinsider.com/columnist/article/fairfield-real-estate-scam-fbi-18574404.php

[RobFrost]

If that's my land and you do that and sue me, then I'm either asking you to sign away any claim to the materials and I'm taking the house, or I'm suing you for the cost to restore my land to how it was originally (including mature trees, nature and plants etc. - cost maybe £50 million to restore) plus the cost of renting the plot off me and all my associated losses until it's sorted.

Sent from my SM-G988B using Tapatalk

[A930Rocket]

Originally Posted by WPOZZZ

Here's a kind of similar story, but someone got scammed.

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/ct-property-sat-vacant-for-years-a-1-5m-home-was-built-on-it-without-owners-knowing/4573739/

https://www.ctinsider.com/columnist/article/fairfield-real-estate-scam-fbi-18574404.php

Would a title search have avoided this and title insurance covered it? Of course, they’re still the fact that there’s a house on property owned by somebody else.

[WPOZZZ]

Here is the latest.

https://www.kitv.com/news/over-1-3-million-in-damages-sought-in-wrong-lot-house-case/article_f3bcaad2-2f7f-11ef-882c-2f40b08027ff.html

[WPOZZZ]

In case you don't want to click

Over $1.3 million in damages sought in wrong lot house case
by Jeremy Lee Jun 20, 2024 Updated Jun 20, 2024 3

Lot owner, Annaleine Reynolds, in a settlement conference statement, lists damages amounting to just under $1.4 million.

HAWAIIAN PARADISE PARK (Island News)-- Lot owner, Annaleine Reynolds, in a settlement conference statement, lists damages amounting to just under $1.4 million.

Over 1.3 million in damages sought in case of house built on wrong lot
A house in Hawaiian Paradise Park, built on the wrong lot, continues to be the center of a dispute-- amounting to potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.

The lot, which now hosts a brand new house- accidentally constructed on the 1 acre parcel, was purchased by Reynolds at a tax auction for $22,000. Reynolds says her taxes have increased now from $400- "to over $4,000 annually" due to the unwelcome construction.

Reynolds is being sued, along with a host of others, by the developer in the case, after negotiations failed.

The Hawaii Island new home has been subject to periodic break-ins and squatters. It's an ongoing issue, according to Reynolds' attorney. Currently, all parties await a judge’s ruling in the dispute, which could amount to potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Lot owner, Reynolds, in court documents states that a new fence, which now surrounds her lot and the house- cost more than $20,000.

Reynolds was first to get a lawyer. The local developer, Keaau Development Partnership (the party that has filed the lawsuit), made an original offer but it was rejected by Reynolds. Per a court filing, the offer was to buy to lot for $160,000 if Reynolds could obtain a clear title.

According to court documents, Reynolds claims to have suffered a total of damages of no less than $1,399,808.64. Damage to vegetation, flora and fauna, and trees make up over a million dollars of that claim.

Factored in also is the unauthorized removal of native ohia trees, emotional distress and court costs.

Near the end of the court proceedings, the developer offered to agree to the house demolition, but reimburse only 25 percent of the cost.

That offer was rejected.

The latest offer was one hundred and sixty thousand dollars to settle without Reynolds needing clear title on the property. But that's a far cry from the amount and damages that Reynolds is seeking. Both sides are still very far apart.

The settlement proposals have been looked over by a judge over the past few weeks as all parties, including the county and contractor, await a decision.

Why demolish the house? Can't they cut it and move it to the correct lot or somewhere else?

[dad911]

So as I thought. The developer's should have dug deeper in their pockets, but with an ask at 1.3 million, she is a pig looking for a windfall.

She's only entitled to her loss, fair market value of the lot.

It will be interesting to see how the courts sort this out.

[Alan A]

Originally Posted by dad911

So as I thought. The developer's should have dug deeper in their pockets, but with an ask at 1.3 million, she is a pig looking for a windfall.

She's only entitled to her loss, fair market value of the lot.

It will be interesting to see how the courts sort this out.

Mature trees can be eye wateringly expensive. No idea if that’s the case here.

I was looking for a different example that I remember, but this is good enough to get the idea.

https://nypost.com/2023/06/28/nj-homeowner-cut-down-32-of-his-neighbors-trees-and-cost-could-top-1-8m/


Edit: this is the one I remembered. Same idea
https://www.reddit.com/r/ProRevenge/comments/frq5kn/ek_chops_down_my_tree_costs_her_500000_700000/

[dad911]

Originally Posted by Alan A

Mature trees can be eye wateringly expensive. No idea if that’s the case here.

I was looking for a different example that I remember, but this is good enough to get the idea.

https://nypost.com/2023/06/28/nj-homeowner-cut-down-32-of-his-neighbors-trees-and-cost-could-top-1-8m/


Edit: this is the one I remembered. Same idea
https://www.reddit.com/r/ProRevenge/comments/frq5kn/ek_chops_down_my_tree_costs_her_500000_700000/

This was intentional, and a fine from the town. Dude is going to pay quite a bit for his view.

Hawaii case the developer was incompetent, not intentional.

As a developer, I've dealt with this often in NJ. As an example, we would have had to plant many dozens of trees to replace the ones downed by Hurricane Sandy as the storm hit after our approvals and before work began. We were able to re-survey the property to show the lost trees and amend our approvals, at a cost of a few thousand, opposed to planting 3-4 dozen replacement trees.

There has been a few cases of the wrong house being demolished.

[Radioactive]

So, lets add this up. She buys a lot for $22.5k, current value $100K+, has to buy a fence $20k, has to hire lawyers. She is out north of $140k, plus pain and suffering, and they offer $160k.

Oh hell no!

[Alan A]

Originally Posted by dad911

This was intentional, and a fine from the town. Dude is going to pay quite a bit for his view.

Hawaii case the developer was incompetent, not intentional.

As a developer, I've dealt with this often in NJ. As an example, we would have had to plant many dozens of trees to replace the ones downed by Hurricane Sandy as the storm hit after our approvals and before work began. We were able to re-survey the property to show the lost trees and amend our approvals, at a cost of a few thousand, opposed to planting 3-4 dozen replacement trees.

There has been a few cases of the wrong house being demolished.

And what if you cut down said 32 trees to build this house. Not a storm hit, but Pedro, Jose and Francisco pulled the stihls out of the truck and went HAM on the lot.

Then you found out they were on the wrong lot.
A storm didn’t blow the trees down by accident.
The trees are otoh still down.
The lot holder needs to be made whole.
Tiny $10 Home Depot replacements may not cut it in many cases.

[WPOZZZ]

Those ohia trees are beautiful when flowering, and they grow really slow! Mature trees are about 60 ft tall, so they are probably 50 years +. The developer could say they had fungus on them so that's why they were cut down. That fungus is killing many of the ohia trees on the Big Island. However, he will have to prove it.

[RobFrost]

Originally Posted by dad911

This was intentional, and a fine from the town. Dude is going to pay quite a bit for his view.

Hawaii case the developer was incompetent, not intentional.

As a developer, I've dealt with this often in NJ. As an example, we would have had to plant many dozens of trees to replace the ones downed by Hurricane Sandy as the storm hit after our approvals and before work began. We were able to re-survey the property to show the lost trees and amend our approvals, at a cost of a few thousand, opposed to planting 3-4 dozen replacement trees.

There has been a few cases of the wrong house being demolished.

A. You don't know the build was not intentional. b. The lowball offer was intentional. C. She's not only entitled to her damages. She's entitled to have her property restored to how they found it. If they lowballed me like that I'd have hardballed to have my mature trees restored regardless of cost, just to demonstrate who holds all the cards.

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[stealthn]

Jack it up and get it the f*ck off my property or I demolish it and charge you a clean up fee.

Seems straight forward