Comment by DannyPage
1 day ago
Owning a vacant lot far from where you live seems to come with some risks. In Hawaii, a woman found out that a house was built on the wrong lot and inspectors missed it until the completed house was being sold. I'm curious if there are other proactive measures folks could take to ensure that doesn't happen to their land.
https://www.sfgate.com/hawaii/article/hawaii-home-built-on-w...
> Reynolds was in for yet another unwelcome surprise: The developer sued her for being “unjustly enriched” by the construction of the home on her land.
> The developers’ lawyer told SFGATE in March that Reynolds appeared to be taking advantage of the developer’s mistake. “Keaau Development Partnership is the only entity that has suffered hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of losses,” Peter Olson said. “She’s trying to exploit the situation to get money from my client and the other parties.”
I'm glad the judge laughed that one right out:
> The court has dismissed that case.
> “The clear motivation of KDP and PJC was to cut corners to reduce construction costs,” the ruling read. “... The encroachment on Lot 114 is so great that the Court finds it has caused the complete destruction of Ms. Reynolds' estate as it had been originally held and enjoyed.”
What risk? She got a free house out of it!
(The house was ordered to be demolished, but the owner and the builder reached a confidential settlement and the house is still standing to this day)
After years of legal wrangling and headaches she came to a settlement that may or may not have been her originally preferred solution.
That's why such thing as "vacant land" shouldn't exist. Have a land -> do something on it. If you don't -> sell it to someone who do, or pay taxes that double every year.
LVT is a much simpler and less destructive version of this idea.