Posted on 07/30/2023 7:41:59 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
Kenigsberg never lost his fondness for the town. For decades, he held on to a vacant parcel of just under a half-acre next door to his childhood home. His father had bought that land, also in 1953, directly from Eleazar Parmly Jr. -- the family that settled the area in 1716.
...On May 31 of this year, Kenigsberg received a call with bad news from a childhood friend still in Fairfield. His closest pal growing up was in a hospice in the town. And by the way, the friend mentioned, they’re building a house on the lot next to his old home.
They're doing what? "I said, ‘I own that and I never sold it,’” Kenigsberg recounted this week. “I was shocked.”
...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 --
(Excerpt) Read more at ctinsider.com ...
Same thing happened to me not long ago. I could not act to snub either the intentional action or mistake. Turns out it was a mistake by the county treasurer’s office. Allegedly just paying the taxes does not imply or build evidence of possession but I’m not taking any chances on that.
Waives red flags and sets off all kinds of alarm bells to me in this article.
For one thing it reminds me of “squatter’s rights”. What the heck is that? A neighbor was victim of that and the sheriff threatened him if he set foot on HIS property until it was “sorted out”. What part of a recorded deed is invalid? What part of not having one is valid?
That out of the way, this reminds me to check my own property more often but how often is often enough? Here are a few reminders:
1. Always get a title opinion and title insurance. Notice a clause in policy of title insurance that requires you to inform of change in value and potentially pay additional premium. Who ever does that? How many have actually read their policy of title insurance? I just finished buying land that the seller said, “has a good title”, it had been in the family for about 100 years but the title opinion revealed they didn’t legally own it because of a series of errors in transfer upon death and one outright fraud. It took months to clear title by use of a quiet title settlement. It also has easements that are a mess and I did not buy the associated property for that reason.
2. Check your property for squatters and take immediate action to remove them if you have any.
3. Build good fences on the property line and maintain them.
4. Have a professional survey in hand
5. Most shocking to me of all in this transaction is the prices of the lot and the house.
6. Be greedy with grant of power of attorney. Even with restrictions you are signing your rights away and you will find too late that people you thought you could trust are not trustworthy. If you do assign a POA it needs to be task specific and have an automatic termination in time or upon completion of the specific task.
7. The unsolicited offers for land I get in the mail I used to throw away. Now I answer them in a forceful negative reply via certified mail with a copy to my attorney. If they want the land bad enough to scour land records and solicit sales they are only a step away from some other nefarious means of taking it. It is coveting your neighbors property.
8. When you do get things people immediately begin to try to take them from you. It is best to maintain a low profile but that is getting harder all the time with open access to information.
I assume that law firm did the title work and close .
https://www.deeds.com/articles/an-opinion-of-title-what-home-buyers-should-know/
If the Title Opinion Looks Good, Why Get Title Insurance?
An attorney’s opinion reflects the status of a property based
on information in the public records. It does not explore the many kinds of undisclosed title defects that might lurk in chains of ownership.
In contrast, a title insurance policy is assurance against those unknown title defects and unrecorded easements. Title insurance also covers fraud and forgery, defective deeds, recording errors, and other possible title problems.
Another difference is the buyer’s recourse for reliance on these different kinds of assurances if something goes wrong. Consider the scenario where an attorney relied on a hasty
search, and erroneously stated the title was free and clear of recorded claims. In this case, an owner who relied on the faulty title opinion would have to ask a court to determine that the attorney was negligent.
In contrast, the title company issuing an insurance policy, for a one-time fee, already agrees to help the owner resolve covered title defects, for as long as the owner has the house. Title insurance is commonly purchased with a home, except in Iowa, which offers a state-backed title guarantee.
Iowa is unique. The lawyer pays for the state backed title insurance, leaving it first to the lawyer to be VERY careful and resolve it before doing a claim on insurance. A good way.
I assume that law firm did the title work and close .
“How many have actually read their policy of title insurance?”
In my working life I underwrote commercial real estate and both I and our attorney studied the title policies in great detail.
Many deals died or had long delays because of them—title policies sometimes are complex puzzles where the pieces are scattered all over the place.
That was fun!
Not mean or derogatory name-calling.
FUNNY!!!
—”Whether the builders remove the structure or not, it seems to me that the true title holder owns the building.”
Unknown if the builder is involved with the fraud.
If ZERO connection, IMO the owner should ask for a price to complete to the owner’s specs.
Paying NOTHING for the existing work.
It can be difficult to change contractors in the middle of a project and for the contractor, half a loaf ...
“The best revenge is to live well.”
—”Some guy can walk into the assessor’s office with all the right documents and an ID that has your name on it and everyone thinks it’s legit.”
The blockchain of Cyptro fame is touted as a cure for this problem.
: )
Someone Built a House on His Land W/o His Permission from www.lehtoslaw.com
—”a lake cottage near Detroit Lakes, MN. “
A friend built a place on acreage he owned way north in Wisconsin near Minnesota and sold plots to family and friends. Mostly summer and some winter hunting/snowmobile use.
All very nice.
But they were forty-plus miles from the nearest police and had frequent break-ins.
The local Indian tribe had no concerns about going to jail for the winter months! And a major snowmobile trail was adjacent to his property...
They built a small cottage and provided it rent-free in exchange for a local couple to keep an eye on the place.
Not perfect but worked very well.
One issue in this case (even if the title insurance specifically covered fraud) is that the policy may not have been maintained many years after the fact.
Title insurance does not cover the title forever—the details are in the policy.
Is it identity theft when he signed a POA?
—”I’ve never had a squatter problem but have heard enough horror stories about them.”
A friend had a house he rented, where the renters were out of town and a motorcycle gang moved in for a holiday weekend.
A nice house on over an acre slightly secluded.
I helped him carry the contents of the house to the dumpsters.
EVERYTHING inside the house was broken, EVERYTHING!
Most panels of drywall had a hole, all doors were broken off...
The tenets were top-notch and worked locally, with no kids.
Somebody knew something and took advantage to have a party house.
With all that in mind when a long-term tenant in a rental house we had moved, WE SOLD IT!
Who signed a Power of Attorney? I don’t remember reading that.
The original owner did not sign a POA.
The scammer in South Africa with the same name as the owner fraudulently signed a POA. Or that is how the fraud was perpetrated.
LOL!
The county I lived in developed a plan that went through the checks and balances of the legal system.
Basically you pay $50 at the Assessors office and in return they guarantee no one but you can transfer the deed and you have to do it in person. Otherwise anyone could just call and tell them to transfer it. I don't know why it's so easy but this is one way to prevent this kind of fraud. I don't think it should cost $50 though. I think it should be a free service covered under the property taxes every homeowner pays. I'm sure a death certificate and power of attorney through a will would also suffice but they would verify it.
They were in on the scam.
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