A judge ordered a developer to rip down a $500,000 house in Hawaii that was built on the wrong property and overrun by squatters.
Annaleine “Anne” Reynolds scored a legal victory after the two-bed, three-bath home was mistakenly constructed on her acre of land in Puna’s Hawaiian Paradise Park when it was supposed to be built next door.
“This was not an instance of minor encroachment, but an entire house was built on Lot 114 instead of Lot 115,” according to a court order, SFGate reported.
Reynolds bought the plot for $22,500 in 2018 with plans to move from California to host meditative healing women’s retreats with a view of the ocean.
But she then discovered last summer that a home was built on her property and sold by the developer.
The fiasco began when a stunning error by the contractor for the developer Keaau Development Partnership and builders PJ’s Construction was missed by the County of Hawaii when issuing permits, SFGate reported.
“Mr. Lawrence testified he built the home on Lot 114 instead of Lot 115 because he counted out the lots using the telephone poles,” according to the order.
“But he built the home on the wrong side of the telephone pole.”
The judge also reportedly alleged the two companies “cut corners” to reduce costs.
While a judge demanded the construction company pay to remove the home, the land doesn’t need to be restored to its original condition, according to Hawaii News Now. The case will next head to trial.
“While we didn’t get everything we wanted, this is a significant step in the right direction; the house is going to be taken down. She has a little bit of closure to that,” attorney for Reynolds, James Dipasquale, told the station.
During the showdown in court squatters descended on the home. When Reynolds visited in February, the house was littered with feces.
“There was poop on the floor. In the hallway bathroom. And on the toilet seat,” she said earlier this year.
The developer sued Reynolds at one point because the business insisted she was “unjustly enriched” the construction of the land,” SFGate reported. That case was later tossed.
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