FOX- A man who snagged a $177,000 villa for $9,100 now believes he was scammed by the Florida county that put the property up for auction for unpaid property taxes.
The villa turns out to be a 1-foot-by-100-foot strip of land that separates two villas in Tamarac and is worth $50, the Sun Sentinel reports.
Broward County sold the parcel to Kerville Holness at an online auction of tax delinquent properties in March.
The land, which holds two mailboxes, starts at the curb, goes under a wall separating the garages of two adjoining villas and then extends out to the back, the paper reported.
“If I’m vindictive enough, I can cut right through the garage wall and the home to get to my air space, but what use would that be to me?” Holness told the paper.
If it sounds too good to be true…it is.
The old saying about not buying a pig in a poke comes to mind.
At least it’s not swamp land. He could ride a bike on his property.
Trying to get something for nothing. We have vultures like that around here who wait for maw maw and paw paw to miss their tax payment on the farm. Then they swope in and steal it for pennies on the dollar. Fuck him. I’m glad he got screwed
Guido stuck up some guy on the street. Guy lost his wallet, rather than “let” Guido kill him. Guido lists the wallet on eBay. Fine, upstanding citizen, who “wins” the bidding war for “Stolen Wallet” (that’s the actual title of the listing), is shocked, SHOCKED he says, that it’s just the empty wallet. How could Guido rob him!? HOW!?
“Florida Scams” – by Victor M. Knight
https://www.worldcat.org/title/florida-scams/oclc/35243464
I’ll be rich when he finds out that I have a bridge in Brooklyn for sale!
It’ll depend on local ordinances, but FL state law allows a land owner to set up a target range on his own property as long as he has a good back stop and observes good safety practices. Neighbors complaining about the the noise is NOT considered adequate grounds to prohibit shooting on your own land.
I know what *I* would be doing if I found myself in his place!
Broward County.
Says it all….
Caveat Emptor… just sayin’
Sell it to the two landowners or threaten to demand the tear down the buildings that occupy his land blocking his sky. Don’t get greedy just get the 9K plus costs back. It’s not fair to the two landowners but they (or their agent) should have checked,
He can put up a fence for half the usual cost as one run would work. That’s a plus he’s not looking at.
So they guy didn’t read up on what he was bidding on…
A fool and his money…
“Starting at a point that is 35 degrees seventeen minutes northwest of the westward point of that survey dated April 1, 1901 and continuing north by northwest 528 feet more or less and thence west by southwest exactly one foot hence south …..”
Don’t ya just HATE those metes and bounds descriptions!!!? Sucks to be him!
Selling strips of land to pay back taxes is often used to allow destitute homeowners to stay in their homes for at least a little longer. It also makes any subsequent development of that property a nightmare.
There are people who regularly buy these strips of land on speculation so that they can be used to “blackmail” owners of the surrounding property.
Some states and counties are attempting to eliminate these strips of land, as they are an impediment to development.
Even if he bought the whole villa at a tax auction, it doesn’t mean he owns the property outright. There is a predetermined amount of time (as much as 5 years) that the original owner has to pay off the delinquent taxes, (some counties require additional payment of the value of any improvements made).
That being said, the buyer in this article is an idiot. The property description would have given the lot size. If it didn’t, then he could have grounds for suing the county.
He saved a few hundred dollars by not hiring a lawyer or doing a title check.
They store property tax records in the same room with voter ballets in Broward Co. No wonder he got shafted.
Look at the bright side he can probably mow his lawn in less then five minutes.
Sounds like a great opportunity to open a foot long hot dog stand.
The question is, will people love it when they show up and the stand is only one foot long and he’s selling Vienna sausages straight out of the tin?
@Dadof4: How about a foot wide hotdog stand?
OK.
Need to work Choad into that biz name. Choady’s?
Going to have to look that one up yourself if you don’t know..
Where’s the eggplant emoji when ya need one?
One fence would be the limit around here.
You have to be 6 inches from the property line.
Wait – NO fence allowed if the property is exactly 12 inches. Any thickness at all would eat into that 6 inches.