Man finds family land has been stolen, sold and built upon

[pixy0stix]

Gift article: wapo.st/3DEaSNh

Summary - A man had his identity stolen, and the scammer sold a piece of family land to a corporation. Corporation then partners with a construction company and builds a $1.4M house on the property (house is not complete yet). Man returns to his hometown, and someone mentions in passing the house being built on the lot. Man is stunned by what he finds, retains an attorney who tracks down everything that happened. Man wants the house torn down and the trees that were cleared for construction replanted.

===============

I want to know how this got so far along in the process before it was caught. I can't imagine buying a brand new house and then finding out that you have to vacate because the original land purchase was fraudulent. 

I'm also curious what would happen if the man wanted to keep the house that looks to be substantially along in construction. Would he have to pay the corporation for the house?

[Velar Fricative]

I feel like the incorrect birthday should have been caught somewhere in the process? So much goes into a home sale, so many trees have to die for all that paper and the whole process, having been both a buyer and a seller at least once, feels invasive. But nobody caught that incorrect birthday?

[penguingrrl]

That’s absolutely wild and terrifying. Especially since it said details like his birthday were off. Someone really didn’t do their due diligence on this one. I hope he gets his property back.

[livinitup]

I know, the questions it raises !!

On a similar note, there was a property line dispute where a new owner told the neighbor that the neighbor had built a patio, grill, and fire pit on HIS property. Apparently, the old property owner didn’t care and there was a lot of land with no fencing. Multiple surveys later, it was built on the new owners property.

Everyone settled down and acted friendly about it. But I was so interested to know - if you build something on MY property, do I get it just keep it ??

[gerberdaisy]

wow, that is crazy! I wonder is this is something where title insurance would come into play? Admittedly I know very little about the real estate process even though I have bough and sold multiple houses.

[wawa]

Man...that's a long payoff for an identity theft scam. Like, there's so so many steps along the way where this could go badly I can't imagine fraudulent land sales is a frequent form of scamming?

But maybe I'm naive. But like Velar said, there's SO MUCH PAPERWORK in real estate, it's amazing that you can get through that whole process without anybody questioning what sounds like a slapdash power of attorney situation.

[Jalapeñomel]

So not the same, but my old neighbor had an empty lot next to her house that they eventually purchased.

About 3 months later, a for sale sign goes up on her property. She calls the number and finds out the city is trying to sell the land she owns.

So of course they go to the city with the deed to the land, and apparently the city also has a deed. It was a fucking nightmare for them, but they did end up selling to the city.

[Velar Fricative]

Aug 2, 2023 10:14:12 GMT -5 wawa said:

Man...that's a long payoff for an identity theft scam. Like, there's so so many steps along the way where this could go badly I can't imagine fraudulent land sales is a frequent form of scamming?

I doubt it. Also, the thief was from Johannesburg. I have no idea how easy it might be for me to look for land in Johannesburg to play this kind of game, because I know nothing about Johannesburg beyond where it's located so I wouldn't be able to easily identify an unusual parcel of land that I could work my way into buying illegally with all the right pieces in place. I guess if I had a lot of time I could figure it out (guess this is why I'll never have a criminal enterprise), but my initial thought was that the land was identified by someone in the town and, I dunno, found someone in Johannesburg to do the dirty work of identity theft to make this happen? It's so weird! I think all developers are sleazy so I'd start with suspecting one of those guys lol. 

[kynct]

I'm just a longtime lurker, but this case is fascinating to me. 

PDQ: The lawyer who had the POA in this case was our lawyer when we bought our house a few years ago. Thankfully our purchase was not this... eventful *knock on wood*

[wawa]

Aug 2, 2023 10:35:40 GMT -5 kynct said:

*not quoted*  

not this eventful as far as you know!

[Susie]

Wild.  Sky Top Partners probably (hopefully) bought title insurance that would cover the value of the property that they thought they bought from an actual owner who had title to convey.  But I bet somebody's getting sued to recoup what they spent developing it.

[Michelle]

I must be spending too much time on Native American TikTok. Based on the title, I thought this was going to be a come uppance kind of story. Like, "Hmmm doesn't feel so good when it happens to you, does it?" ::from smiling Native American::

[kynct]

Aug 2, 2023 11:16:05 GMT -5 wawa said:

Aug 2, 2023 10:35:40 GMT -5 kynct said:

*not quoted*  

not this eventful as far as you know!

I really hope it stays that way! Thank goodness for title insurance at least. In this case, it's not clear to me if the developers would be required to have title insurance if they if they paid cash for the land. I suppose a title search would have come back clean since someone was impersonating the real owner. I agree with the previous poster that said someone local is probably involved, because otherwise how does someone in South Africa identify this plot of land that has been vacant for many years and happened to have a non-local owner? Without that offhand comment from the owner's friend about the new house next to his childhood home, it sounds like it could have been years before he found out.

[BicycleBride]

Is it time for only slightly related stories now? Because a few years ago we were preparing to purchase an empty lot in an established neighborhood. We had it surveyed prior to putting in an offer. Turns out the lot we were interested in cut off the (also empty) lot next to it entirely from the road. A lot of drama drama ensued but it turned out that developer 50 years ago put down the pins himself and he was pretty bad at it so the plat on file with the county is pretty wrong.

[deadwing]

Aug 2, 2023 9:48:00 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

I feel like the incorrect birthday should have been caught somewhere in the process? So much goes into a home sale, so many trees have to die for all that paper and the whole process, having been both a buyer and a seller at least once, feels invasive. But nobody caught that incorrect birthday?

I refinanced my house in 2021 and my first name got misspelled (if my name was Jessica, it got spelled with 1 s instead of 2).  It wasn't caught until 2022 when my loan was sold to a new servicer and then I had to provide a whole bunch of documentation to get it fixed because they wouldn't honor my homeowner's insurance because the name didn't match the one on the mortgage.  But anyhow... having gone through that, I could totally see how an incorrect birthday could get overlooked.

[pixy0stix]

Aug 2, 2023 14:27:17 GMT -5 BicycleBride said:

Is it time for only slightly related stories now? Because a few years ago we were preparing to purchase an empty lot in an established neighborhood. We had it surveyed prior to putting in an offer. Turns out the lot we were interested in cut off the (also empty) lot next to it entirely from the road. A lot of drama drama ensued but it turned out that developer 50 years ago put down the pins himself and he was pretty bad at it so the plat on file with the county is pretty wrong.

When I worked for the City, the surveyors were part of my dept. They were constantly coming in all the time with stuff that had originally been surveyed wrong because it was done by the property owner, or someone who apparently didn't think surveying was hard so didn't hire an actual survey company. In most of these instances it was property owners who thought that they owned city right of way. I can think of only one instance where the city was wrong.

ETA: Also, that group was the group that had to have a police presence more often than not when out doing their jobs when it came to working with private citizens. People are wild.

[loira]

This sort of thing has been happening in Canada too! www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/mortgage-fraud-bc-homes-1.6732176

[klee23]

Re: title insurance Susie gerberdaisy

I had read an article posted over the weekend about this case that had this notation "Traditional title insurance doesn't protect against identity fraud." so it seems the corporation may be out of luck

www.ctinsider.com/columnist/article/house-built-on-fairfield-lot-18261063.php

I need to read the wapo article, but the CT insider left me feeling a little suspicious regarding the developer. The rightful owner had received generous offers over the last few years to sell which he turned down. Then it sells via power of attorney, the corporation (named after the street) purchaes through keller williams and builds. It is currently listed for sale for potential buyers- so there are no devastated home owners from my understanding. Just seems like a lot of cogs in the wheel of a scam.

[Velar Fricative]

I guess it happens often enough that there's a page for it in my city, yikes: www.nyc.gov/site/finance/taxes/deed-fraud.page

[wawa]

Aug 2, 2023 14:36:51 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Aug 2, 2023 14:27:17 GMT -5 BicycleBride said:

Is it time for only slightly related stories now? Because a few years ago we were preparing to purchase an empty lot in an established neighborhood. We had it surveyed prior to putting in an offer. Turns out the lot we were interested in cut off the (also empty) lot next to it entirely from the road. A lot of drama drama ensued but it turned out that developer 50 years ago put down the pins himself and he was pretty bad at it so the plat on file with the county is pretty wrong.

When I worked for the City, the surveyors were part of my dept. They were constantly coming in all the time with stuff that had originally been surveyed wrong because it was done by the property owner, or someone who apparently didn't think surveying was hard so didn't hire an actual survey company. In most of these instances it was property owners who thought that they owned city right of way. I can think of only one instance where the city was wrong.

ETA: Also, that group was the group that had to have a police presence more often than not when out doing their jobs when it came to working with private citizens. People are wild.

Ohh, ohh, I've got one!  I love the "Is this your property or isss thiiiiis ROW!" game.  it's a fun game. 

A clip from a county GIS parcel map.  Now, GIS maps are not a survey, and there are for sure going to be inaccuracies when you look at them, but TYPICALLY those inaccuracies are in like, something being offset a foot or three in one direction or another.  the general SHAPE of the lots are usually accurate.  But the white section shown here is accurate to the IRL roadway area, and the red lines are the parcel lines.  LOL.


My assumption - when they platted this subdivision, they drew nice straight lines and had it recorded like that.  And then they actually went to build the public roads and there are a shitton of mature trees and some wet areas through here, so...they just...put it where it made sense to them.  And then at no point reconciled that with the fact that that's NOT HOW THEY DREW IT AT ALL.  As builts, schmazbuilts.

[MixedBerryJam]

I always thought our situation was pretty outrageous. While we were living overseas our neighbors moved their fence 18 inches ONTO OUR DRIVEWAY. Our solution (a successful lawsuit) was pretty straightforward but it still cost $8k to resolve. And we only found out when my h unexpectedly went home for a work thing.

[pixy0stix]

Aug 2, 2023 15:26:27 GMT -5 wawa said:

Aug 2, 2023 14:36:51 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

When I worked for the City, the surveyors were part of my dept. They were constantly coming in all the time with stuff that had originally been surveyed wrong because it was done by the property owner, or someone who apparently didn't think surveying was hard so didn't hire an actual survey company. In most of these instances it was property owners who thought that they owned city right of way. I can think of only one instance where the city was wrong.

ETA: Also, that group was the group that had to have a police presence more often than not when out doing their jobs when it came to working with private citizens. People are wild.

Ohh, ohh, I've got one!  I love the "Is this your property or isss thiiiiis ROW!" game.  it's a fun game. 

A clip from a county GIS parcel map.  Now, GIS maps are not a survey, and there are for sure going to be inaccuracies when you look at them, but TYPICALLY those inaccuracies are in like, something being offset a foot or three in one direction or another.  the general SHAPE of the lots are usually accurate.  But the white section shown here is accurate to the IRL roadway area, and the red lines are the parcel lines.  LOL.
View Attachment

My assumption - when they platted this subdivision, they drew nice straight lines and had it recorded like that.  And then they actually went to build the public roads and there are a shitton of mature trees and some wet areas through here, so...they just...put it where it made sense to them.  And then at no point reconciled that with the fact that that's NOT HOW THEY DREW IT AT ALL.  As builts, schmazbuilts.

Which fits in nicely with this story that developers are fucking wild. LOL! It was always hard dealing with the homeowners that came in with something that they thought was correct because that's what the developer told them. More often than not the developer built the development however it was easiest regardless of what was correct, and then peaced out.

[pixy0stix]

Aug 2, 2023 15:51:51 GMT -5 MixedBerryJam said:

I always thought our situation was pretty outrageous. While we were living overseas our neighbors moved their fence 18 inches ONTO OUR DRIVEWAY. Our solution (a successful lawsuit) was pretty straightforward but it still cost $8k to resolve. And we only found out when my h unexpectedly went home for a work thing.

Did they think you weren't ever going to come home?

[meanie]

wawa that plot plan reminds me of my parents house. Their lots all go diagonal to the right, but their new neighbors did a survey that they say shows THEIR property slants to the left (cutting across my parents property).

Their neighbors now have cleared paths through the back wooded area of my parents lot and put up structures for disc golf, as well as a fire pit. My parents sit in their living room and see the neighbors out the window walking through the woods all the time.

I have been alllll over my parents to get their own survey and it's driving me bananas! My father said he tried and no one calls him back or the price is too high, but they need to figure this out!




ETA: I just realized that this is in the town I went to HS in...huh

[MixedBerryJam]

Aug 2, 2023 16:04:07 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Aug 2, 2023 15:51:51 GMT -5 MixedBerryJam said:

I always thought our situation was pretty outrageous. While we were living overseas our neighbors moved their fence 18 inches ONTO OUR DRIVEWAY. Our solution (a successful lawsuit) was pretty straightforward but it still cost $8k to resolve. And we only found out when my h unexpectedly went home for a work thing.

Did they think you weren't ever going to come home?

I think they thought we wouldn’t mind? We never really understood the logic, but they took the most beneficialto them position on the property lines on both sides of their house. When it was all settled it was agreed that the lines would remain as is in perpetuity, but since then I’ve learned that in perpetuity is not an actual legal concept.  I’d like to mention that to the people who bought our house, but I don’t want to reopen that can of worms. I sold in good faith and was open about the dispute and am honestly torn about what to do, if anything.  

[aurora]

Well, that's kind of terrifying to think about! Especially if - as klee23 mentioned above - title insurance wouldn't apply. How could a regular buyer figure out of the "seller" was in fact an identity thief?

[carriebear822]

When my inlaws gifted a house to us, they kept getting mailings from the tax accessor making sure that they did the transfer and it wasn't fraud. I believe they received notices finally stopped after a year of the house being transferred.

[penguingrrl]

Aug 2, 2023 16:54:54 GMT -5 aurora said:

Well, that's kind of terrifying to think about! Especially if - as klee23 mentioned above - title insurance wouldn't apply. How could a regular buyer figure out of the "seller" was in fact an identity thief?

Might this be covered through a malpractice suit with the lawyer? Someone missed a wrong birthdate, which would be the lawyer and/or title company I would think.

[UMaineTeach]

We bought land using a dumb (lazy?) lawyer who had us down in the registry of deeds as owning a huge swath of land in the next town over, in addition to the land we actually bought. The two plots of land wasn’t even connected to each other. It took forever and a lot of work and research on H’s part to get the lawyer to fix his errors.

[klee23]

Aug 2, 2023 19:00:52 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

Aug 2, 2023 16:54:54 GMT -5 aurora said:

Well, that's kind of terrifying to think about! Especially if - as klee23 mentioned above - title insurance wouldn't apply. How could a regular buyer figure out of the "seller" was in fact an identity thief?

Might this be covered through a malpractice suit with the lawyer? Someone missed a wrong birthdate, which would be the lawyer and/or title company I would think.

Can't answer re:malpractice but am wondering about the POA with the attorney as well because that seems like the sketchiest part

Combining both articles:

Person in Johannesburg goes before a notary, which forged & inaccurate documents (passport) to sign over POA to an attorney in CT

I'm just curious what vetting process the attorney did to verify anything before agreeing to be the POA. Getting a cold call internationally who trigger my spidey senses and would definitely proceed with caution

Anyway- I do feel like someone local (affiliated with the developer or along the chain of sale) set this all in motion. The owner was was offered $400k and then $350k recently that he had turned down- I think someone didn't want to take no for an answer

From the CT insider article: "Town records point the way toward the story. On Oct. 18, 2022, Daniel Kenigsberg of Johannesburg, South Africa granted the power of attorney – the right to sign legal documents on his behalf -- to Anthony Monelli, a Trumbull lawyer. That same day nine months ago, a firm known as 51 Sky Top Partners LLC purchased the lot from Kenigsberg, or so the land records show, for $350,000."

-how long does it take to establish an LLC? Is it normal for a developer or builder to bother to create an LLC specific to one individual property? Maybe it's because real estate doesn't run that high in western PA that is a foreign concept