Build House on WRONG lot - Sue landowner for cost of house

[gjgalligan]

Maybe that lot is something special to that woman.
Maybe it has a unique view or maybe it was given to her by her grandfather.
There a lot of possibilities.
I don't blame her for standing her ground. (No pun intended.)

 

[windypoint]

I have a 4 acre lot in Alaska that I haven't seen for 25 years. I wish someone wold build a nice cabin on it

Speaking of Alaska. The surveys in Alaska are often inaccurate and we knew of a guy who built his home with ten feet of it over the lot line. He had to tear it down when they couldn't strike a deal for the mistake.

 

[Bekeart]

Report to Board of Nursing

I wrote "Wrong Leg" on my good leg. The nurse was not amused and scrubbed it off. .

Complain to Charge Nurse and report this conduct to Board of Nursing.

Bekeart

 

[Marshwheeling]

The whole “adverse possession” thing kills me. Apparently land and houses are things that you can legally steal.

In Minnesota, and I assume in most states, there is no adverse possession of platted property.

 

[CH4]

So many checks and balances between the contractor, building officials, title company, etc., it’s interesting to see how this can still happen.

 

[lihpster]

Speaking of Alaska. The surveys in Alaska are often inaccurate and we knew of a guy who built his home with ten feet of it over the lot line. He had to tear it down when they couldn't strike a deal for the mistake.

My folks first house we found out that 10 feet of lawn and 5 feet of the house was on the neighbor's land. He sold it to us for $1.

 

[glenwolde]

Real simple. Remove the house. Landowner does not benefit.

 

[Kevin J.]

Same thing in reverse. Sealcoating was scheduled, Check taped to the front door. Came home to find no sealcoat on the drive and the check was still there. Called them and was told that the job was done and I had not left payment. Hmmm; I suggested they had likely gone to another house with a similar street name and same number. Sure enough, theirs was freshly coated. They came beck next morning and did mine but not before going to the other house and asking for payment, first full price then half price. They refused. I still get their pizza deliveries and have to tell them wrong house.

Similar here. I get items for an address same as mine. The difference is I am XXth AVE NE they are the same but NW.

 

[Bald1]

If someone builds a fence on my property, I’m pretty sure it is now my fence. I can tear it down, I can paint it, I can lock the gate etc……. Why would building a structure (house) on my property be different? I recently bought a few acres next to my cabin. 350’ of road frontage. Seller did not want to pay for a survey. I was able to find old steel pipe corner markers and was happy with that because other end butted up against property I already owned. Next to that there is a small 150’ strip that touches road which another neighbor owns. Most of his property (over 1000ac) is up above or behind. I told him I found the pins but it sure didn’t look like he had 150’ before the next lot which has a house on lt. He said that houses gravel driveway was on his property as well as the swing set and dog run. I asked if the homeowner was aware. He said no and I don’t have the heart to tell them. He said eventually he’d work something out with them but didn’t think they had the money to buy it.

 

[LVSteve]

And now the property owner is on the hook for the increase on the property taxes and probably unable to file for the Homestead Exemption since it's not her primary residence . What a mess .

A few hours with a D9 will fix any increase in property value.

My bet is both the developer and the builder will declare bankruptcy to dodge liability.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

And now the property owner is on the hook for the increase on the property taxes and probably unable to file for the Homestead Exemption since it's not her primary residence . What a mess .

If it was a vacant lot she wouldn't have the homestead exemption in the first place-but you raise an interesting point-who is responsible for the taxes on a non owner occupied dwelling? What about the lender that financed the build-now has collateral sitting on a piece on non owned property. Again, the lawyers will make out like bandits
Like us or hate us, this is the kind of nonsense you need us for.

 

[Peak53]

Caj - glad you are here for us

 

[kraynky]

Hmmmm, I bought some Ocean Front property in Arizona some time back. Haven't seen it yet,......... you reckon I need a lawyer just in case somebody is squatting on it?

 

[arjay]

Hmmmm, I bought some Ocean Front property in Arizona some time back. Haven't seen it yet,......... you reckon I need a lawyer just in case somebody is squatting on it?

Might wanna check lol

 

[Golddollar]

Golddollar and Cajun will like this mistake.

Bekeart

Yeah, I've seen some doozies. One of my surveyor friends showed a subdivision plat to me that had to be recorded to correct errors that were made on the whole block. What happened is that the lot lines were laid out perpendicular to the street, but all of the houses were built at such angles that they ended up crossing over lot lines. So all up and down the street each homeowner gave and received deeds for little triangles of land so that each house could be totally enclosed within a lot owned by the homeowner.

I used to come across all kinds of errors in the land records. Somewhere in the chain of title a line in a deed would be omitted, or somebody combined the bearing of one call with the distance for the next call. Unless somebody sits down, does a line by line review of description in the current deed with a known correct description from the past, these errors get passed along for decades.

 

[Bekeart]

Highway Easment error

Yeah, I've seen some doozies.

I used to come across all kinds of errors in the land records.

Locally the Highway Department claims easement "30 feet from highway center line".
( It is for a rural road in the county.)

Deceased surveyor wrote a plat citing "60 feet from highway center line."
(I believe the plat along the same highway, was for a sub division.)

A friend recently bought one of the platted lots with the 60 foot citation.

Bekeart

 

[Golddollar]

But sometimes these cases have a happy ending. Back when I was working I was examining the title to a commercial property, and I determined that the building extended outside the property described in the current deed. Since there was a title issue, the first thought was that there was going to have to be a quiet title action in court based on adverse possession from the building being on the adjacent parcel of land. That would take a lot of time and money.

I went back through the chain of title and finally came to an Equity case that distributed the property of somebody back in the 1800s. The Court order from that case decreed that the two properties under the subject building were to be conveyed, but for some reason the deed from the Trustee only contained one legal description. Armed with this information, I took it to one of the partners in the real estate department and we were able to get a hearing in chambers with a Circuit Court judge.

I got to explain everything to the judge, and he issued a Court order that appointed the partner and me as Substitute Trustees for that old Equity case. We executed a Confirmatory and Corrective Deed that contained both legal descriptions that should have been included in the old deed from the original Trustee, and that put the proper real estate under the subject building. The title issue was resolved with the Confirmatory and Corrective Deed I signed that was issued under a case that took place before my grandfather was born.

 

[Walkin Horse]

Several years ago in a county just west of Richmond, a roofing contractor showed up at the wrong house. They stripped all the slate off and shingled it. I don’t remember the outcome.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Earlier this week JR asked me what the flags were in our front yard. The city had placed utility markers (yellow-natural gas and blue-potable water) on painted lines from the curb to my porch.

While I was outside my next door neighbor came over and said the company he had contracted to put in a dry well in his back yard called 8-1-1 and my lawn got flagged by mistake. He pulled the flags and got it straightened out.



Thanks to JR we...

[ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f5dMqHqC4pM[/ame]

 

[Rpg]

Years ago I represented some homeowners in a small development on the edge of the Arapaho national forest. The homeowners were in a dispute over the proper allocation of the annual fees to the HOA or adjacent lots.

I always look at the original subdivision filing. This one was a beauty: the thing was layed out with the most intricate meets and bounds description I’ve ever seen. Using the meets and bounds description, I determined that it was incomplete: it didn’t describe a complete block.

Image a property description of a rectangle but missing the fourth side. Its insufficient to convey property.

End result: everyone was mad at me because we needed to file a quiet title action and resurvey the subdivision. Some lots turned out to be smaller or in a slightly different location than the property owners thought. There were some disputes about garages on property lines.

We ultimately got it sorted. I got a fee, of course.