"An attorney for PJ’s Construction said the developers didn’t want to hire surveyors."
Well there's your problem.
The answer here should be simple... the developers pay for demolition, removal of the house, and restore the property back to the condition where they found it.
The lady that owns the property, the people who used to own it, a bank, an insurance company, I think a person that lives on another lot, the person who sold them the other lots.
In all likelihood the lawsuits are a stall until they can declare bankruptcy and start a new company.
But they can't just "restore" the property, it was full of mature native trees/plants and for bulldozed.
Also the reason they didn't "need" surveyors, was lots are clearly marked via numbers on telephone poles. They just read the numbers wrong. Which is even worse.
It also says this was discovered when they sold the house. Hopefully that sale fell through with no clear title, but someone else may think it’s theirs
Thats not the point, it was her block.
She chose that block, maybe she liked the plants, the shape, the hill its on, the view, or had plans for a particular layout.
Like someone stealing your car then saying "oh you can get a more expensive one with the insurance payout" when really you just wanted the one you had.
But it's still her land not yours. She decides what she wants done with it. Regardless of if the situation changed in how remote or not the land is does not change it was hers to decide.
And leaves you enough time to close up shop, declare bankruptcy, and walk into court with Groucho glasses saying "your honor, clearly this suit is filed towards Romanes Eunt Domum. The company I run now is Romanes Eunt Domus."
Surveyors: Actually a really important job because without them nobody knows where the fuck anything actually is in any precise way, nor does anyone actually know they own the land they think they do.
Or just give the property the owner the house for free in exchange for not suing and cut their losses. Would probably be cheaper in the long run, especially counting legal fees.
Not disagreeing with any of this but it should be clear to this lady her vision was screwed the moment a developer built a bunch of cookie cutter houses all over that area. A meditation center doesn't really work in that area any longer.
The issue with the taxes, the lawsuit, and the squatters is exactly why I would have just taken the offer to trade properties, she has an enormous headache on her hands and bailed on the easy way out of it.
Squatters seldom have the "rights" to just take property as easily as the internet often seems to think they have. It very often takes years to assume those rights plus paying the taxes on it. And if it were so easy to do that it became such a common problem, it wouldn't be as big a meme as it currently is.
My question is: "Just how little are you paying attention to your personal property that you unaware of a many month's long building process taking place on your property?" Or is the property owner that stupid and has her ass that far up her own head?
I mean, I own several hundred acres of property, (farm land and forest), and a good chunk of it is 300 miles away. I KNOW what happens on that property. If someone tried to build anything on it without my knowledge or consent, I would know within a week of the start of the building and real hard pointed questions would be asked of the fools doing the building.
She doesn't reside in the state, and the state is Hawaii (an island). We can assume she also has no social connections there, at least none near the property. Do you expect her to be telepathic?
Her daughter lives there and was the one to recommend the property. That said I don't think you lose your rights by not checking your stuff regularly. This developer could have had that house up in a matter of months, Does not really need to be a long time.
Not telepathic, but you can hire companies to watch over your investment. And if you can afford real estate in Hawaii and live elsewhere, you can afford to hire such a company.
You can. But should you be expected to? Lol. It's an empty lot in a residential neighborhood. I think it's fair to NOT expect people to be putting unauthorized structures on it.
Fair or not, it happened and the actual property owner does have an obligation to know what happens on the property she owns - absent or not. So she bears some responsibility for what happened. Think about a small child falling into an abandoned well you didn't know was there. As the owner of the property, you are expected to know of it's presence and you are accountable for what happens with it. It's a part of the joys of owning property.
So if you end up owning property, understand when that if that day comes, that there are more obligations to ownership than simply making loan payments and paying your taxes.
I'm just saying it's incorrect to characterize this woman as ass-headed, because it's not a reasonable expectation to assume somebody might build on your land, or to have to spend your time and money to safeguard against that specific problem. Making sure there are no uncovered well, sure. Constant surveillance to keep out rogue construction companies? In a neighborhood? No.
And whether you found out in a week or several months, it's still a huge headache. So you notice a bit earlier if you're paying close attention. Big whoop. You've still got a huge hole and a house foundation on your property. The developer still broke the law, and you did NOT break the law or do anything dumb by expecting others to adhere to property law, and doing what is required of you by law.
The options are restore it (identical lot next door), or a fair market value, which would be the cost of the land plus repair, or a suitable replacement. She ignored two fair trades that have plenty of precedent in courts, to achieve more damages than she should be entitled too. She definitely seems like she’s trying to get her cake and eat it here too.
You aren’t entitled to the value of the house, that’s going above and beyond damages.