His property sat vacant for years. A $1.5 million home was built on it without owner knowing

A Connecticut neighborhood was shocked when a million-dollar house popped up on land that sat empty for decades. But the bigger surprise was for the man who owns that land - because he had no idea a house was even being built.

[@jamesr2888]

The real crime is 1.5 million for the house.

[@DamplyDoo]

Truth being spoken. When i was a kid, a "million dollar house" didn't look like some soulless mcmansion.

[@superdave8248]

@@DamplyDoo That isn't even a mini mcmansion. Odds are it is a three bedroom, 2.5 bathrrom house. Sitting on half a acre of property.

[@DamplyDoo]

@@superdave8248 sorry i use the term mcmansion for any of the 2500 sq ft, 3bd rm houses we see here all over New England. And the garage always dominates the front

[@michaelwells7348]

Ya sad fact is.. it ain’t the house ....it’s the land

[@williebillie925]

My parents house is a 4 bedroom 4 bath with a finished basement with a bar with an absolutely gorgeous view of the Rocky Mountains and it costs HALF the price that monstrosity costs

[@mikeforand5983]

First clue: The owner who sold it lives in South Africa. The lawyers should be held accountable next they will be running for congress.

[@rickyricardo5423]

Didn’t this exact same thing just happen to a woman in Hawaii ? They built a house on her vacant lot while she was away

[@a6m7zeke]

That one the house was built on the wrong lot. This one the lot was fraudulently transferred.

[@haokieto0]

Title search is required in buying real estate. the developer did not comment because he knows he’s a fraud.

[@backcountyrpilot]

Title insurance is typically required by the bank, but if you pay cash it is optional.

[@mattywho8485]

He's also a HACK ! That house is a dump

[@sharonsmith1505]

So the house belongs to the land owner.

[@BrayBray78]

Yeap!!!

[@serendipityshopnyc]

It does. Most likely the real estate company that's building the house will buy the land again from the actual owner and finish the build. They'll have to take a bath because their title researcher didn't take enough care to make sure the lot deed was legit.

[@lufiron]

@@serendipityshopnyc Isn't this the exact reason why Title Insurance exists? All these situations, yet money goes into a company to deal with this, and they're always AWOL when a problem occurs. Why are they there then?

[@Spoopball]

​@@lufironkinda, it covers the total cost of the house, Mine will protect against if there is some unknown past debt on it and a few other things. If you put down 20% or more on a house, you can have insurance waived, alot of people do it to save money

[@elderassassin9673]

​@@serendipityshopnyci have two land and communities & business are being built around them im going to let it sit for around 20 years tell i get the offer i want. You made a comment saying the real estate company will have to rebuy the land again. Without realizing they will be charged a fortune to buy it. Not only that I'm making pay for my lawyers for dragging me into court for building on my land illegally. Not only that I'm counter suing them. So that "the realstate company would just have to buy it again" Is just total nonsense you talk as if you don't have land.

[@RetirementFund750]

I wouldn’t have said anything until it was finished then I would’ve moved in😅🤣

[@fruck2896]

Or wait until it’s finished threaten to have it torn down if they don’t but the land then sell them the land for 10 million. If they don’t settle for 10 million you can just sue them for it and keep the house too.

[@giantgeoff]

@@fruck2896 plaintiff has an obligation to make the problem known as soon as he is aware of it otherwise he is guilty of unjust enrichment and will be responsible for some of the liability

[@jeffandjoannbauer9567]

@@fruck2896unfortunately if the landowner knew it was happening but then said nothing until the house was complete, he’d actually surrender his rights under the premise of unjust enrichment. He did the right thing by alerting the authorities as soon as he found out about it as soon as he was aware; nothing really stopping him at this point (after the legal system does its thing) from hiring another contractor to finish what’s left of the job and then selling it at a tidy profit.

[@natearrigoni]

The system didn't fail, someone committed fraud as usual because the penalties don't deter the crimes.

[@superdave8248]

Fraud plus identity theft. And the perp disappeared as soon as the check cleared to move on to the next possible victim.

[@rancors1]

So the crooked lawyer needs to be disbarred and thrown in jail. Money doesn't just go poof, it has a paper trail. If I were the property owner, I 'd just sue with punitive damages for a free house-let the builder try to recover the funds from the lawyer on their own. The damage to the land is already done.

[@superdave8248]

It isn't a crooked lawyer. It is an incompetent one who failed to do due diligence. And incompetent lawyers tend not to have the money to make this type of mistake right. Further, this is the sort of thing that can get a lawyer disbared. Failing to complete a simple title search properly. Hell, the actual owner pays taxes on the property. It is simple enough to find out where the tax office is sending the bill. This is low hanging fruit when it comes to legal matters. If you lawyer fails in something so symplistic, you know your legal counselor didn't graduate at the top of his/her class. Realistically you could probably argue the lawyer was lazy too. Had a legal assistance do the leg work and just went with whatever he/she came back with without checking behind him/her.

[@tommyl5319]

Seems like you're jumping the gun a bit. While it's possible the lawyer was in on some scheme, it's a lot more likely he was duped all the same, possibly due to not being thorough enough or being incompetent like the other guy said.

[@patty109109]

@@tommyl5319 jumping the gun and assuming the worst in people is what people in KZbin comments often do.

[@serendipityshopnyc]

I'd guess the fraudster created a deed for the land with the exact geographical details and size of the lot slightly altered, so it would be harder for a computer to catch the duplication. Very clever, but evil.

[@santosmadrigal3702]

Oops ... Too bad for everyone . It looks like a nice place to house illegal immigrants . That's who's going to live there .

[@jmc2204]

Prolem is you cant create alot where there is already alot! Gis map wont accept the changes.

[@reefer772]

It’s called title fraud, happens everyday in NYC…..

[@MarianTRitch]

This happens a lot! That department should let owners know that’s their job!

[@carlymills1090]

This happens everywhere, besides this case isn’t even in NYC.

[@expirAnce]

Builder at fault!!! He didn't used a Title company, nothing to complain about…..

[@strickca991]

The owner just got a free house. Good for him!

[@Rune__]

So they just gave him a new house? How nice of them 🙆🏼‍♀️

[@SavageListener]

What is the point of title companies and why do they get so much money for relatively easy work?

[@mlong9475]

Developer saw a green opportunity and thought they were getting a too good to be true deal and due to their greed did'nt do the proper due diligence and now they are screweeeed !!!!

[@bojacque6474]

Hope they have to bulldoze that dump

[@kk4649k]

Title insurance. Isn’t that the whole purpose for stuff like this ?

[@thedude4762]

No just one victim which is the landowner

[@patty109109]

Use your brain

[@MarianTRitch]

This happens way too much! You would think government would inform property owners!

[@TheSonoranSniper]

they will tax property owners however

[@KDR107]

the only crime here is that 1.5 million for that kind of house is a real crime

[@armageddonready4071]

From South Africa? Not a flag AT ALL

[@charleskenney5174]

And if we were to accidentally not pay for a pack of gum at Walmart, they would track up down 6 states away and give us 20 to life

[@wingshot5124]

Who listed the property, where did the money end up.

[@AscheOfTheLake]

A property doesn't need to be listed, offers can be made and accepted on properties without a listing ever being made. It's not uncommon for developers to approach the property owners directly with an offer.

[@wingshot5124]

@@AscheOfTheLake Builder said he paid "land owner in South Africa" how would you approach him. Always follow the money. This is a scam only the builder didn't get paid before the rightful land owner saw what was going on.

[@patd6370]

The homebuilder probably did not have Title Insurance because it seems this should have been caught.

[@coldspring624]

1.5 for a run of the mill slap shack you can find anywhere in the country?

[@mattywho8485]

That house is built like shit, you can see hacks from 50' away, imagine what the inside looks like !

[@rayh592]

Simple solution: The builder returns the property to it's previous condition and goes after whoever they purchased from that held the fraudulent deed. The original (and still) owner has no involvement or responsibility..

[@kirklamb3270]

Somebody at the land management office was in on this theft of this man's property!!

[@superdave8248]

Doubtful. Just more incompetence. Everybody is assuming everybody else did due diligence and not verifying.

[@dreamer6508]

Contact one of those house moving companies to relocate it

[@Yohann67]

The real crime? Asking 1.5 million for a house with a 2 car garage.... wow.

[@royr1016]

Who's paying the TAXES?

[@reynaldodizon6563]

There suppose to be a Title Insurance that will need to purchase before buying a property that will assured you that the property title are clean.

[@AscheOfTheLake]

Not necessarily. If you buy with a bank financed mortgage, yes. If you buy outright as a contractor, it's not a necessity to purchase the insurance. It's a good idea to have, but not required in all situations.

[@AbNomal621]

And that is why title insurance is a thing.

[@davidcordell914]

Lawyers turn to be judges then become politicians. As crazy Alice says "if a lawyer calls it can't be good ".

[@Scrapy-ih7ob]

Stealing some prime property getting caught, looks like this guy get s free almost done house, should have waited till they finished. then said OK where my money. or the Keys, theft is a crime you got caught.

[@steverodriguez4871]

Depending where you are there are laws for example my grandmother passed away I had all the documents she owned it free and clear I was paying the mortgage for so many years then go to the court and can legally put the house in my name

[@brad238899]

Sounds like the resson title insurance exists.

[@mequavis]

bs, you know damn well the construction company was in on the bad deed in someway...they just didn't get to sell it fast enough. Im not buying it.

[@pachy444]

Really bay lawyer then because its unlikely the birth certificates would have the same date of birth on them

[@alanweiss3534]

Title Insurance?

[@mrfofff]

i would have kept my mouth shut until the for sale went up, then moved right in

[@ericsimonson8540]

“No comment”, what a great way to end report…

[@SilverImmortal3633]

So someone built him a brand new house on his land for free

[@superdave8248]

What this comes down to is the developer and the land owner can't come to an agreement on the price to settle this. And yes, the land owner can sue to have the property restored to its original condition. And the developer would have to pay that. But I'm sure there are multiple lawsuits floating around. The developer probably has a lawsuit on the attorney who did the transfer of deeds claiming the law firm didn't do their due diligence. But yeah, that far into construction and I'm sure the actual land owner wants half a million to settle. And the developer would just lose money on the house if they agreed to the price.

[@mofomoco]

Only entity to sue is the county re order office and the realtor who sold the land

[@chriss6356]

Let me guess, the title insurance disclaimed it somehow XD

[@althunder4269]

Woo Hoo a free house.

[@bigdog1150]

Defendant: We bought the property legally and with full documentation. I'm amazed that there are shady sellers on Craigslist.

[@MBMB594]

start looking into all the other properties this builder has built..lol

[@badgercdlyons]

No comment? Cool. Force the developer to tear it all down and restore the property at their expense. Failed their due diligence as a builder.

[@DKK]

That home isn’t 1.5 mil in any place

[@arkitorture]

House is inside my property, it's mine then.

[@Sh00terMcGavinXL]

Free home 🏠

[@manlystan100]

The American dream in action.

[@DamplyDoo]

Why can't they trace who the can went to when the developer paid for the land?

[@maurawhelan3530]

Anyone in this day and age that does anything with anyone from s Africa should be cautious. Unfort so many scams… hope homeowner is made whole.

[@HanginInSF]

Title insurance?

[@neoanderson5015]

Guy owns the land, the end. Got that got suckered has a beef with the person that sold it to him and the system that failed land verification 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@FullSpectrumWarrior]

So he got a free house

[@medionlvr]

imagine the cost of the trees alone

[@darkwolfe6986]

Oooopsies, someone didn't do their due diligence reviewing the paperwork for the sale 👻

[@stoneyswolf]

Free house score!

[@jennb5884]

I would think the attorney would have been red flag the guy living out of Africa that should have been the first thing that caught his eye and he should have asked the medium person considering the situation sounds to me like the attorney didn't do his job

[@its-_-foxgrrr6041]

Thank you for the house. I'll finish your dream

[@nativestacker4185]

Does Africa have Extradition Laws that prevent US Law Enforcement from arresting people that do this to our citizens , and why are these types of scams being allowed to happen on a much larger scale than in the past ?

[@coleengoodell7523]

No and the organizations behind these scams are raking in so much money at this point that I'm pretty sure the government there is benefiting from this as well.

[@grumpyoldlady_rants]

Africa is not a country. But, yes, we do have extradition treaties with at least some African countries. I recently heard about two Nigerian citizens being extradited here to face prosecution for as extortion scandal involving a teen aged boy.

[@gwumpyolman]

What happened? What is the conclusion to the story? Did you follow up yet?

[@richymoto]

If you build a house on a lot, that you don't legally own ... you basically make that house a present to the real owner. That is the legal situation where i live. The only thing the real owner is not allowed to do: having knowledge of the construction and doing nothing i.e. until the building process is finished. You are always required to act and help reduce damages for all sides, as soon as you are aware of the problem.

[@Scythe_Voltage]

350,000$ for an acre 😂 get robbed noob

[@pamelaliegh]

Average price in my area is $1 million. So I guess it depends.

[@King_of_Africa]

Idk how that low price didn't set off some kind of red flag 🤦🏾‍♂️

[@giantgeoff]

Skytop in Fairfield CT, Location, Location, Location!

[@bronxtours4193]

It’s easy the company got scammed 😂

[@backcountyrpilot]

If they paid for a title insurance policy, I think it will pay bigley.

[@AD-xn7pt]

Guess its his house now

[@IntlManOfLeisure]

No…it depends on how long these squatters were on his property. If it’s more than 15 years, he loses the land.

[@giantgeoff]

They weren't squatting. Developer is Guilt of fraud and conversion. In most places adverse possession applies only if the squatter openly and notoriously occupies the land AND! Pays all the the taxes on the land. Usually for a period of 10 years

[@IntlManOfLeisure]

@@giantgeoff at common law and in most states, the paying of taxes isn’t required for adverse possession. After all, one assumes the landowner is paying taxes, so the government should collect twice? And if they did, they’d notify the owner of the other party’s presence, which would then end the possession. It is true that they have to be openly using the land…can’t think of a more open way to announce your presence than building a house.

[@giantgeoff]

wife from CT

[@harabiru727]

Well, now this is his house

[@EmperorNO1]

Was the attorney in ?

[@justayoutuber1906]

This is why you have title insurance.

[@michaelwells7348]

~ Free House .... Whoopie... Mine mine mine Now....

[@thanosave7112]

I would have waited until they finished

[@ScubaDaver]

Isn't this what Title Insurance is for??????

[@CannonFodder873]

Hey....thanks for the free house. Obviously the "title search" wasn't performed.....or it was performed extremely poorly.🤣

[@user-bm1xn1gk9x]

The developer knew, thought he could get it sold before anyone found out, got caught and trying to cover his but

[@stevenwalker4923]

The builder didn't do due diligence on the lawyer and deed.

[@mlong9475]

He's the clear owner of the property so why is there even an issue? They should return the land to it's prior state and pay this guy's lawyer fees and any punitive damages.

[@roykey3422]

My experience with title companies is that some of them are lazy, and some are downright crooked. All that lawyer had to do is create a title company on paper and poof the land is sold.

[@jamesthanhauser3255]

was this ever settled

[@sawo1337]

This us 1.5M house?

[@db9904]

Sounds like the same thing going on in Hawaii rn

[@fw1421]

The home should be torn down at the builders cost. The legitimate land owner didn’t sell the property to the developer then the developer is legally obligated to remove it from the property.

[@ferriswheeler08]

No real property lawyer is going to accept a paper deed without checking online for the current owner, any potential liens in the property or any restrictions and covenants.. smells fishy

[@ecomancer007]

..... South Africa.. that is all you need to hear to know that something ain't right.

[@michaeldelsoldato2905]

Look no further than the lawer who obtained the power of attorney.

[@garycochrane4829]

Where did the $350,000 go?

[@nicks1266]

Should donate it to Habitat for Humanity to deconstruct, and the materials can be sold in their Restore.

[@FastestStockCarEver]

Free home 😂😂😂

[@lewieanderson6579]

I would burn it down

[@flgkingpin]

Dumb-

[@hildeschmid8400]

ANOTHER one?

[@kaywatson6505]

Finish building the house. Sell the house only. Move house to it's new lot. Reissue deed to true owner with property tax history. If possible prosecute the fraud who used false papers to acquire the lot and refund his seller money to the buyer. Done.

[@djrez2107]

CT ? Good luck the cops there cant figure out anything

[@sharonsmith1505]

It would ve yorn down immediately. Or its the owner of the land.

[@brucewillers6528]

Move the house

[@gordiehowe-ky6xt]

Gas can, meet match.

[@jodi4384]

Lot was probably left by a Nigerian businessman in a will, just need money to get it out of probate.

[@sykocase247]

Reminds me of the story of the chick that bought a piece of property for a womens retreat & a contractor built a house on it (by mistake...wrong land) & then tried charging her for it after she found out 😄