They say that building your own home comes with about a billion challenges that you’re never prepared for. However, in one couple’s case, they now have a problem that probably no one has ever been prepared for. All Mark and Brenda Voss wanted was to build a nice vacation home in Florida that they could then use as a rental property. And that’s exactly what they did. A surveyor came out, staked out the area for the foundation, then the builder came with all of his subcontractors, and over a period of months they built a stunning 5,300 square foot home with a beautiful oceanfront view. The only problem was…they built it on the wrong damn lot.
Turns out the surveyors weren’t paying very good attention when they came to assess the property, and staked out the foundation and utility lines on the wrong lot. Now, it was a pretty easy mistake to make, given that there were 14 vacant lots on the block at the time. But subsequently, neither the builder, nor the dozens of subcontractors working for him ever noticed that they were working in the wrong spot. Even the final survey inspection of the completed house was given the thumbs up by a completely different surveying company. It wasn’t until six months later, after multiple renters had used the property, that a third party surveying group working on another lot discovered the error.
Even crazier, this mistake is apparently not an anomaly. Debi Peterson, executive officer of a local home builders association said, “I can think of 10 in Flagler County since I’ve been working here for 18 years.”
What?! People just build houses in the wrong spots willy nilly? Is this a real problem, or just a Florida problem? Given what I know about Florida, I’m inclined to believe the latter.
The builder is currently trying to resolve the issue with the lot’s actual owners without getting lawyers involved. Good luck with that, pal..
[via News Journal]
I’ve permitted numerous houses and set up utilities at wrong lots/addresses multiple times. Usually caught before house starts. If this happened I would be swiftly shown the door.
Yeah this kind of thing is more common than most realize. Addresses only tell you so much.
I’m sure at least 18 crazier stories have been reported in Florida since this story went viral. As a resident here, some of the people in this state are batshit crazy.
Florida: where extra stupid happens every day.
I live in Florida and even I agree with this statement. People here can be so dumb completing the simplest tasks.
See: #FSUTwitter
I’m currently in a property law class. Property descriptions can be incredibly vague. Many will just point to aspects of the land at the time that the property was originally formed; such as large trees, streams or roads. Well trees die, streams change courses over the year,s and roads may be widened. This leaves situations where determining the actual property and its boundaries can be exceedingly difficult. It is not exactly common for a mishap like this, but it is not unheard of either. Unfortunately the best defense is adverse possession which they have 0 claim to after only a few months.
Obviously a 1L, you have a lot to learn…