FL-Multi$Mil Mansion Built On The WRONG LOT

[hpman66]

I have heard of roofing crews roofing the wrong house and I have heard of wrecking crews demolishing the wrong house, but this is a new one on me----constructing a million-dollar, ocean-view home(5,300-square-foot (492-sq-meter)) in Florida on the wrong lot.


http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/14/us-usa-florida-house-idUSKCN0I32QO20141014
New Florida million-dollar home has nice view, but built on wrong lot
By Barbara Liston
ORLANDO Fla. Tue Oct 14, 2014 6:23pm EDT

 

[chuck]

The person that owns the property better take the contractors price for the property or he WILL have a terrible accident.

 

[slippingaway]

If the lots are so similar that two surveyors got it wrong, I would think it'd be pretty simple just to get the property owners to "trade" lots. Give the builder the lot he built on, and take the empty one next door.

 

[Kanook]

One of the golf course sub division I was working at in the late 90s built 4 yes four bouses on the wrong block in the sub division.

That's what you vet for building fast and naming the streets so close to each other.

And if that's not bad, a pool was built in between two houses. That was everybody's fault but the inspector, he said he thought it was odd but had seen stranger thinds.

 

[Tweety Bird]

I'll do you one better.

About 7 or 8 years ago, a small town near me bought a water tower from, I think, Midland TX. They had the tower hauled here and they set it up, repainted it and hooked it up to the town water system. The townsfolk rejoiced as the new water tower was much bigger and sat higher than the old one, so they had more water and more pressure.

Win, win, right?

Fast forward a few years and the guy who owns the land, on which the new water tower now stands, drives past it (he lives in Kansas). Imagine his surprise to find a new water tower, erected by the town, standing on HIS land!

There is now a $6,000 lein on every piece of real estate within the town limits.

How could the town - which is also the COUNTY SEAT - allow this thing to be set up on a piece of ground for which it has no permission?

There's just no way anybody could make this stuff up.

 

[nvbirdman]

If I was the owner of the no-longer-empty lot, I would tell the builder thank you for the house, and he should sue the surveyors for the cost of building it.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

The lawyers are working on it right now. The lots are next door to each other. Surveyors caused the problem so the builder says. :D

 

[737tdi]

If the lots are so similar that two surveyors got it wrong, I would think it'd be pretty simple just to get the property owners to "trade" lots. Give the builder the lot he built on, and take the empty one next door.

But Slip, that would just be too easy. Everyone has to make money now that someone made a mistake. I agree with you. If the lots are basically the same size and appraise at the same value then just swap. I guarantee that will never happen though. Just to much greed. Even if the lots are a few thousand dollars apart I bet the builder could/would cough that up.

People in this situation see a way to make an extra buck even though they know that an equitable solution could be had with a little negotiating amongst the parties involved. They still claim they are good people though???

 

[Rick Courtright]

Hi,

I agree with Karl and Paul that the easiest thing would be to do a trade and everybody remains friends as best as possible. Human nature, though, will probably turn this into something where everyone will end up hating each other from there on. That's a sad commentary on us, so I hope they prove me wrong!

While it seems hard to believe a surveyor could screw up like this, an old trapshooting buddy in Tucson liked to tell a story about how after the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, AZ was supposed to have direct access to the Gulf of California (or Sea of Cortez if one prefers.) But the surveyor had a problem with the bottle and got headed off in the wrong direction... so the border ended up where it is today. True or not? Anything's possible... ;)

Rick C

 

[Kyberz]

Hi,

While it seems hard to believe a surveyor could screw up like this, an old trapshooting buddy in Tucson liked to tell a story about how after the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, AZ was supposed to have direct access to the Gulf of California (or Sea of Cortez if one prefers.) But the surveyor had a problem with the bottle and got headed off in the wrong direction... so the border ended up where it is today. True or not? Anything's possible... ;)

Rick C

Chances are it is true. In the 1920s when Eldorado County (CA) was surveyed by the U.S.G.S. the majority of the eastern half was (as later discovered in the 30s) "surveyed" from a bar in South Lake Tahoe. Aside from some sections containing between 900 to 1100+ acres instead of the standard 640, the biggest screw up is the one Township and Range with 35 sections instead of 36. How drunk do you have to be to do that? :shock:

 

[Colonialgirl]

Hi,

While it seems hard to believe a surveyor could screw up like this, an old trapshooting buddy in Tucson liked to tell a story about how after the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, AZ was supposed to have direct access to the Gulf of California (or Sea of Cortez if one prefers.) But the surveyor had a problem with the bottle and got headed off in the wrong direction... so the border ended up where it is today. True or not? Anything's possible... ;)

Rick C

Chances are it is true. In the 1920s when Eldorado County (CA) was surveyed by the U.S.G.S. the majority of the eastern half was (as later discovered in the 30s) "surveyed" from a bar in South Lake Tahoe. Aside from some sections containing between 900 to 1100+ acres instead of the standard 640, the biggest screw up is the one Township and Range with 35 sections instead of 36. How drunk do you have to be to do that? :shock:

I'd say they were RIGHT on the money for Government employees. :roll: :roll: :roll: :wink: :wink: :mrgreen:

 

[Tweety Bird]

No, this is more than a simple slip. It's a whole lot of people not living up to their duties of "due diligence" that allowed this to occur. It's not exactly on the same level as parking a mobile home in the wrong lot in a trailer park.

You can call me greedy if you like but if somebody built a place like that on MY property, they'd have a lot of 'splainin' to do. To me, to the city and to a judge. And I guarantee you that the same people wouldn't make that mistake again because of the financial hit they'd take. A screwup like that is more than a mistake; it's act of negligence by the contractor (who pulled the permits) and the city (who issued the permits and had the inspectors look at things as it was built). The utilities companies should have noticed something wrong when they went to hook up the electric, gas, water and sewer. Even the people who were buying the house could be included as they should have noticed something wrong (I suppose it's possible that they lived elsewhere, though, and didn't know this was happening).

 

[mohavesam]

This example (the OP) is exactly what Title Insurance USED to guarantee. Sadly today it means next to nothing.

By the way, I know a county in WNY wherein they made a mistake somewhat similar to the water tower story. The landowner lived locally and noticed the county building a transformer station that ended up being mostly on his property. He tried the lawsuit but in the end the county just offered to condemn the land for public domain. It got nasty but the county supr. refused to negotiate or even answer his door. Guess who won that one?

 

[Rick Courtright]

He tried the lawsuit but in the end the county just offered to condemn the land for public domain. It got nasty but the county supr. refused to negotiate or even answer his door. Guess who won that one?

Hi,

Y'all need some "good" (where's that sarcasm emoticon, again?) attorneys over there, Sam! We've got more than we need and can send you some:

There's a stretch of freeway in Los Angeles which goes thru some pretty sketchy neighborhoods. A former hunting buddy who'd worked for CalTrans at the time said when it was originally drawn up, estimates for construction costs ran a little over $1 mil per mile. A real shark got a hold of the property owners who were being displaced, and made a case they were being treated unfairly because they were poor, minority, etc. The State did win their eminent domain case, as expected, but it took 'em nearly two decades, and that freeway cost around $20-$22 mil per mile when it was finally built... Both property owners and that lawyer did quite all right on the deal in the end! Taxpayers, of course, got ripped. :roll:

Now a transformer station pales in comparison of scale, but regardless, it could probably be worth a little more than a recalcitrant supervisor might think...

Rick C

 

[Colonialgirl]

He tried the lawsuit but in the end the county just offered to condemn the land for public domain. It got nasty but the county supr. refused to negotiate or even answer his door. Guess who won that one?

Hi,

Y'all need some "good" (where's that sarcasm emoticon, again?) attorneys over there, Sam! We've got more than we need and can send you some:

There's a stretch of freeway in Los Angeles which goes thru some pretty sketchy neighborhoods. A former hunting buddy who'd worked for CalTrans at the time said when it was originally drawn up, estimates for construction costs ran a little over $1 mil per mile. A real shark got a hold of the property owners who were being displaced, and made a case they were being treated unfairly because they were poor, minority, etc. The State did win their eminent domain case, as expected, but it took 'em nearly two decades, and that freeway cost around $20-$22 mil per mile when it was finally built... Both property owners and that lawyer did quite all right on the deal in the end! Taxpayers, of course, got ripped. :roll:

Now a transformer station pales in comparison of scale, but regardless, it could probably be worth a little more than a recalcitrant supervisor might think...

Rick C

That was the Original Stretch of the 405 Freeway wasn't it? I remember the area being clear of houses for YEARS before it was built. It use to be great, I lived in Long Beach (Marina behind Terminal Island), Had a friend that lived in Long Beach (Behind Signal Hill) and we would car pool together to work in the City of Orange down the 405; ALL the traffic headed in the OTHER Direction :D :D :D :D :D .It DID take forever to get it built though.

 

[Rick Courtright]

That was the Original Stretch of the 405 Freeway wasn't it?

Hi,

Actually, this one I'm thinking of is the 105, which starts about where Imperial Hwy crosses the 605 (Norwalk area), runs parallel to, then joins, Imperial Hwy at about Sepulveda near the bottom of the airport (LAX.) I agree, the 405 did take forever, but IIRC, there WAS work being done, if only at 1/10 time. On the 105, I don't think the CalTranians were allowed to even lean on their shovels in real dirt until the judge finally banged the gavel!

Rick C

 

[slippingaway]

No, this is more than a simple slip. It's a whole lot of people not living up to their duties of "due diligence" that allowed this to occur. It's not exactly on the same level as parking a mobile home in the wrong lot in a trailer park.

You can call me greedy if you like but if somebody built a place like that on MY property, they'd have a lot of 'splainin' to do. To me, to the city and to a judge. And I guarantee you that the same people wouldn't make that mistake again because of the financial hit they'd take. A screwup like that is more than a mistake; it's act of negligence by the contractor (who pulled the permits) and the city (who issued the permits and had the inspectors look at things as it was built). The utilities companies should have noticed something wrong when they went to hook up the electric, gas, water and sewer. Even the people who were buying the house could be included as they should have noticed something wrong (I suppose it's possible that they lived elsewhere, though, and didn't know this was happening).

If it's being built in a county like I live in, there are no county building permits or inspections for a home. There's a permit issued for septic systems and for private wells, but those are issued all at once when the subdivision is set up. The 911 administrator assigns addresses when the subdivision is set up, and the appraisal district appraises the home when it's done. Electric is run to a box on each lot when the subdivision is set up, the electric utility doesn't come back until it's time to do final hook up to the meter box and set the meter. It's up to the contractor to make sure he's building in the right place, period.

And if you don't believe me about the county's lack of permitting, here's their permitting dept. webpage: http://www.parkercountytx.com/index.aspx?NID=130

There are still some places that rely on people to be responsible for their own actions. It also explains why I was at my house every day when it was being built to make sure everything was done right. If I didn't, nobody else would.

 

[Tweety Bird]

Oh, I believe you. Eastern El Paso County, Colorado is unzoned and unregulated. Homes built from tires, discarded doors, dilapidated trailers scabbed together, etc. So I know there are places like this.

But this is a multi-million dollar home, built of something other than refuse from the local landfill. I rather suspect it's not built in an area like that and that there were lots of building codes and regulations that had to be complied with.

 

[737tdi]

Dan, it is the same here in Kaufman county. I built my 3,600 sq. ft. shop with zero input/approval/permits from the county. I did make sure it was built to local building codes just for insurance and re-sale purposes. I realize this house doesn't fall under quite so liberal of laws/rules. I still believe this could be solved with a little cooperation between all parties involved. A bit of cash that you had no idea was coming can solve a lot. JMO.

Karl

 

[slippingaway]

Oh, I believe you. Eastern El Paso County, Colorado is unzoned and unregulated. Homes built from tires, discarded doors, dilapidated trailers scabbed together, etc. So I know there are places like this.

But this is a multi-million dollar home, built of something other than refuse from the local landfill. I rather suspect it's not built in an area like that and that there were lots of building codes and regulations that had to be complied with.

Just because they're building expensive houses doesn't mean it's regulated, and just because permits aren't required doesn't mean the houses are junk. Average price in my subdivision isn't into 7 figures, but the house next door was just finished at $367k. My builder regularly builds homes up closer to and in the million dollar range. There are lots of other developments in my county where this could easily happen. Neighboring counties along the Brazos River, definitely.