US3 min(s) read
Woman bought an empty $22,000 plot and found a $500,000 house had been built on it by mistake
.jpg_xKEaT0?tr=cr-0.328.2730.3058,f-webp,q-70,w-100)
A woman who purchased a plot in a residential area in Hawaii was shocked after finding out someone had built a home on her land.
The $500,000 property was discovered five years after she had purchased the plot for about $22,500 at a county tax auction in 2018.
Annaleine 'Anne' Reynolds purchased the one-acre lot, which is located in Hawaiian Paradise Park, a subdivision in the Big Island’s Puna district.
However, in 2023, a real estate broker revealed that he'd sold the house on her land, as Hawaii News Now reported.
The shocking turn of events resulted in a legal battle that spanned several months, as the developer moved to sue Reynolds, the construction company, the architect, and others.
Details of the legal battle
Hawaiian developer Keaau Development Partnership had hired PJ’s Construction to build around a dozen homes on the land bought by the developer in the subdivision.
This resulted in the company building one on the lot belonging to Reynolds, which they acted to try and keep.
After being sued, James DiPasquale, Reynolds' attorney, said: "There’s a lot of fingers being pointed between the developer and the contractor and some subs."
The developer offered her a neighboring lot which was the same size and of the same value, as per court documents, but she turned this down.
DiPasquale added: “It would set a dangerous precedent if you could go on to someone else’s land, build anything you want, and then sue that individual for the value of it.”
Response from the developer
Peter Olsen, an attorney representing the developer, claimed that most of the lots in Hawaiian Paradise Park are identical.
He said of Reynolds' ownership of the jungle-like plot: “My client believes she’s trying to exploit PJ Construction’s mistake in order to get money from my client and the other parties.”
Acting after she rejected their counter-offer, Reynolds decided to file a counterclaim against the developer, claiming that she was unaware of the 'unauthorized construction'.
Aftermath
Speaking to Hawaii News Now, an attorney for PJ’s Construction stated that the developer didn't want to hire surveyors, while a neighbor told the local publication that the empty property had attracted squatters.
By the summer of 2024, a judge ordered the developer to tear down the mistakenly built house, leaving the plot with Reynolds.
Not the first 'accidental' house built on owned land
Dr Daniel Kenigsberg originally bought a plot in South Africa back in 1991, as it was located next to his childhood home.
He declined offers from developers who wanted to buy it, intending to keep it for his family.
In 2023, he shockingly found that construction had begun on a four-bedroom house on the land.
According to NBC New York, the developers claimed they had legitimately purchased the property for $350,000.
However, Kenigsberg strongly disputed this claim, arguing that the sale was based on fraudulent activity.
He stated that someone impersonating him in South Africa had provided false documents to a lawyer.
Court filings emphasized this point, noting: “Dr Kenigsberg has never lived in Johannesburg, South Africa, and was not traveling there in 2022.”
Kenigsberg took legal action against the developers, Sky Top Partners LLC, seeking up to $2 million in damages, before they admitted they too were misled.
The case has now been settled, with the exact terms of the agreement unknown to the public, but it is understood that Kenigsberg received financial compensation.