One man had the shock of his life after visiting land he’d owned for decades only to find out it had been built on by someone else who thought they owned it.
Situated next to a home that his parents bought back in 1953, Dr Daniel Kenigsberg bought the plot of land in 1991, revealing that it had ‘long been owned by his family’.
The value of the land had clearly been growing, with the lawsuit putting it at over $350,000.
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Dr Daniel Kenigsberg who is now based in Setauket, New York state, reportedly had ‘no desire to sell the Property nor to construct any buildings whatsoever on the Property, but rather he had a long-term plan of passing the Property to his heirs in the future in its unimproved condition’.
So when he visited the plot of land last year only to discover a nearly-finished four-bedroom house being built on it, he was floored.
The Washington Post reported that the house on the plot was being advertised at a price of $1,475,000.
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Quickly the mystery of who was building this house was solved. Turns out, a real estate company called 51 Sky Top Partners LLC believed they had purchased the land for $350,000 in late 2022.
But this had all happened without any input or knowledge from the legal owner, Dr Kenigsberg, causing him to file the lawsuit and demand damages and compensation including the demolition of the near-completed house.
The scandal continued as Dr Kenigsberg alleged that a power of attorney document had been forged executing the sale of the land.
The power of attorney document in question was allegedly signed by Dr Kenigsberg in Johannesburg, South Africa, but the lawsuit states: "Dr Kenigsberg has never lived in Johannesburg, South Africa and was not traveling there in 2022."
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Gina Leto and Greg Bugaj of Sky Top Partners claimed in a statement to Connecticut news site CT Insider that they’d fallen victim to a scam.
The statement read: "We learned to our shock and dismay that Dr Kenigsberg, had not, in fact, sold the property to us.
"Rather, a third-party had impersonated Dr Kenigsberg and – through the carelessness and neglect of the various real estate professionals involved in the transaction – managed to list, market, and sell the property without anyone ever catching on."
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Leto and Bugaj said they were fully cooperating with local police and the FBI in a criminal investigation into the case.
The legal case was eventually settled in April this year, with the District Court of Connecticut ruling that Dr Kenigsberg was the rightful owner of the land.