Developer sues lady after they accidentally built on her lot, someone pooped on floor

[Kiana]

"Now, to add insult to injury, she’s (the lot owner) being sued over someone else’s mistake." 

By the developer? How does he even have any type of case against her? Or is this something Trumpian by a wealthier person, sue and sue some more until the victim runs out of money? Hmmmm....

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

The article said the developer is suing everyone “involved” including the previous owner of the lot, who lost the property in a tax auction.  His explanation is that everyone should come before a judge for the judge to sort out.

Sounds like the actions of a desperate man, attempting to claw back a few dollars in any way possible.

[Punatang]

The article said the developer is suing everyone “involved” including the previous owner of the lot, who lost the property in a tax auction.  His explanation is that everyone should come before a judge for the judge to sort out.

Sounds like the actions of a desperate man, attempting to claw back a few dollars in any way possible.

AND what would really bring it full circle is if the original owner of the lot CURES the delinquency and gets possession of their lot back.  It's a thing.  You can't even get a warranty deed on a tax sale because it's sketchy form of ownership.  The developer did them a favor by making sure they are aware of their potential good fortune.  Hopefully it's a nice local family who needs a nice house.

[kalianna]

I would take happily the $500K and buy myself another lot, though the feng shui might not be as good.

[terracore]

The article said the developer is suing everyone “involved” including the previous owner of the lot, who lost the property in a tax auction.  His explanation is that everyone should come before a judge for the judge to sort out.

Sounds like the actions of a desperate man, attempting to claw back a few dollars in any way possible.

It's hard to tell from the article but it says "the prior property owner’s family". 

What does that even mean.... they aren't suing the prior owner but his/her family?  

"I'll take suing everybody who had nothing to do with this FUBAR for $1000.00, Alex."

This developer is taking the judicial version of "Shoot everybody and let God sort it out" route.  I hope the people inconvenienced by the developer's incompetence lawyer up, counter-sue, and get fair/appropriate compensation.  

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

"the prior property owner’s family". 

I’m gonna take a wild guess here, but perhaps the previous owner died, his/her descendants didn’t pay the taxes on the property, and it went to tax auction? 

[eightfingers2.0]

She could have resolved this quite easily by..

Thanking them for the house, and selling it, herself. I mean, come on, it's her's completely, free and clear. They gave it to her simply by putting it on her property. And if they come on her property to do whatever frickin' slam them with trespassing charges. What a mess.. I hope she sues them into the poor house for their stupidity.

No it will not be free and clear. She will owe income taxes (fed and state) on the “windfall” property.

[Punatang]

She could have resolved this quite easily by..

Thanking them for the house, and selling it, herself. I mean, come on, it's her's completely, free and clear. They gave it to her simply by putting it on her property. And if they come on her property to do whatever frickin' slam them with trespassing charges. What a mess.. I hope she sues them into the poor house for their stupidity.

No it will not be free and clear. She will owe income taxes (fed and state) on the “windfall” property.

Perhaps, if she sold it.  It may be coming soon but as yet, Americans are not taxed on unrealized gains.  If a meteorite falls on your land and it's worth a million dollars but you put it on a shelf in your living room, there is no tax on it.  Right?

[HiloJulie]

I looked up this case on PACER, a legal subscription website and yes, the original owner died, the taxes went unpaid and the property was foreclosed and auctioned off.

It does look like the main culprit of this error was PJ Construction, the main contractor hired by Keaau Development Partnership, LLC. However, it also appears that the errors were compounded by the developer, main contractor and other sub-contractors as well as the County of Hawaii.

There is a one year "redemption" period on tax foreclosed property tax auction sales - meaning the original owner who defaulted (or his/her heirs) COULD buy back the property at the auction price plus 1% per month interest. I could not find the actual date the property was auctioned off however.

But to me, the real question is who is/are the "money" people behind Keaau Development Partnership, LLC? They are just a shell company owned and managed by other corporate entities. I was unable to "pierce that corporate veil!"

[terracore]

Tax sales aren't eligible for title insurance, and not just for whoever wins the tax auction. The tax sale makes the ground sour. So even if she gets the house, she would only be able to sell it to somebody bringing cash and willing to continue carrying that burden. The property won't qualify for a mortgage without title insurance. This would apply to the developer as well, if he somehow got the property. So I'm even more perplexed why he's suing everybody.

It used to be available at a higher premium, I can't remember the exact reasons why it changed, but it apparently had something to do with how Suckaturd acquired some of his properties on Kauai.

Some title companies will offer title insurance for previous tax sale properties in Hawaii, but not until many years after the tax sale.