View for sale: $30,000 New owner of a lake fences it off when homeowners wouldn't pay.

St. Petersburg Times ^ | May 14, 2002 | ROBERT FARLEY

[E Rocc]

THEY were the ones who tried to defraud HIM out of HIS land!

I'd use the word "bully", not "defraud". They learned they couldn't do that.

-Eric

[Boatlawyer]

Not everywhere. As I said earlier, I know someone who bought lots that a POA lost to the state, and they were prohibited by state law from enforcing the deed restrictions (i.e., mandatory POA membership/dues/obedience) against him, because when title reverted to the state, ALL encumberances were wiped clear.

This case seems distinguishable from the one described in the article because 1) the property consisted of "lots" (presumably undeveloped and therefore no "members") and 2) title reverted to the state, which is what happened when tax certificates are not purchased or if purchased, not redeemed for tax deeds. If you are really interested in the process, have a look at Chapter 197, Florida Statutes.

[Protagoras]

but hubby is takin' me swimmin' now it's 100° here on desert now

See I hate that! It's 60 deg here and I'm freezin!

And your husband keeps breaking up our relationship, I hate that too! :-)

Have fun

[Lazamataz]

Man, I'm embarassed for you.

Jest makin' dem frien's where-ever he be....

LOL!

[Wm Bach]

My long driveway is not your "roadway", Comrade, even if it IS the sortest way for you to get from A to B.

Actually it IS, if a town engineer decides that it is our roadway. I'm suprised you tried to draw this analogy since the road access takings are among the most mundane of eminent domain transactions. You might as well argue that the military draft violates your right to free assembly.

[Boatlawyer]

One more time, read the article. He started out nice, but they spit in his face, drove stakes into HIS property to claim it as their own, and basically told him to FOAD. It was only at that point that he erected the fence.

My objection was not to his building the fence, it was simply an observation that the $30K he was asking from each homeowner will make the decision to litigate that much easier. If there are just 20 homes affected Speculator would realize a $600K yield on a $1,000 investment. If he had asked 1/3 of that, he still would have made $200K on a $1K investment and the decision to pour money into litigation would have been tempered by the relatively low asking price. Now that everyone is "stirred up" they would likely contribute $5K each to a $100K war chest, thereby forcing the whole matter to court.

[E Rocc]

Connolly said he was shocked by the vitriol from some of the residents. The offer to sell small pieces of land to individual homeowners is off the table. Connolly said he is now negotiating with one homeowner interested in buying the entire 4.7-acre property.

There's the answer to the access question. One of the homeowners dealt with him in a mature manner, and is probably going to buy the entire lake property for 50-100K.

He shouldn't have been suprised by the vitriol, though. There's nothing quite as nasty as a freeloader finding out that the gravy train is shutting down.

-Eric

[bvw]

Eminent Domain has quite a history of abuse. You mentioned the TVA, in my lifetime I am familiar the Tocks Island taking (for a never built dam on the upper Delaware that took the homes of families who had lived there years before the Revolution), with the Cape Cod National Seashore (where I know one of the National Parks people who *regrets* to this day that he didn't pay less and take more!), and with local rotten efforts where homes and farms are claimed for golf courses and industrial parks.

And given that as far as infer from the article, this lake is surrounded by private property, I do not think public money should be used to buy it, thus don't know how eminent domain would apply.

I would like to see a Judge or Council hammer out a sale -- forced or not -- to the homeowners by Connolly. How can that be done? It depends on the local and state laws, and on the title, filed subdivision plans and minutes of town meetings where the subdivision was discussed. In those, as others have suggested in this thread, there may be legitmate recourse to force a sale.

Failing such recourse, I think the homeowners best engage in legal but perhaps offensive tactics to make the fence as expensive as possible to Mr. Connolly, and by that motivate him to sell.

[RetiredNavy]

AppyPappy,

Please try to understand that the fence is on the DEVELOPER's property, NOT the homeowners property. There is NO WAY that building a fence ON HIS PROPERTY can affect the homeowners enjoyment of THEIR OWN property.

The lake and strip of land belong to the DEVELOPER, the fence is on the developer's land. The only thing that can be affected by the fence is the homeowners enjoyment of a view/land that the DEVELOPER OWNS.

[tacticalogic]

Give it a rest. He tried being reasonable with them, but they wouldn't have any of it. They tried to strongarm him ("extortion" if you really like the term as much as you seem to like it), they spit in his face, tore out his property markers and threw them in the lake, and tried to do a "squatters rights" move on him.

I'm just playing a little "devil's advocate". I think the guy is being a jerk about it, but he bought the property legally, and it's his to do with as he chooses. If anything, I blame the tax and property seizure laws that give him the means to do it.

[the bottle let me down]

If I were a homeowner I'd be sure to contact the local asessors office to make sure the new owner was being asessed properly for each $30,000 section.

I'm guessing his asking price would drop quickly.

Until he makes a sale $30,000 per section, that's not the fair market value. Before the assessor can value the property, there has to be deal. Right now, the last sale of that property was for $1000. That means that each section is worth very little. And I doubt that there are other comparabel sales to support a higher assessment.

To put it more clearly, I'd sell my house to anyone who offered me $1 million. That doesn't mean that the fair market value of my house is $1 million. It's worth what a willing buyer would pay a willing seller. Without a completed deal, all you have is a willing seller, but no buyer.

[sandydipper]

Thugrepublic kicked me out - said I was too passive.

[medved]

Sounds like somebody needs to introduce the homeowners in the situation to Paladin Press and George Hayduke...