Couple Sues For Buying Land They Can’t Do Anything With

Imagine spending money – a lot of money – on your dream piece of property. Imagine the possibilities—you could build on it, develop it, create your dream home or investment property. Whatever you want. Except for one problem that you realize only after you’ve purchased it: There is no actual way to get to, or from, the property.

Lack of Access

This sounds odd but it does happen. There are properties that people buy that have no actual road access to get to them. There are sometimes workarounds, like an easement through another property owner’s property (which may be included with the sale, or which you may have to pay to utilize).

But whatever the case, you certainly have a right to know if you are buying property that you cannot access, or where an easement will need to be included to access it.

Couple Isn’t Told About No Access

But one couple is now suing for losing $350,000 when they bought property, when nobody told them that the property was not actually accessible by any publicly available road. As the couple is in the construction industry, they had hoped to build homes on the land. But the property cannot legally be developed either—you need access to property to legally develop it.

Worse, they have tried to purchase the right to use a neighboring property owner’s access to get to the property, but that neighbor has apparently denied the request.

The allegations of the lawsuit say that the property was actually initially advertised as being suitable to build new construction, something that is now plainly false. They say that they told their realtor of their intentions.

Roads Aren’t Always Public

This is not a common problem, but it does happen. Property buyers who see roads often just assume that they are publicly owned and available to all, especially when they lead to or are adjacent to the property that is being purchased. But many smaller roadways are privately owned, as this one was. That means that whoever owns the road can prevent others from using it.

The only reason this couple can sue is because they allege they were never told of this material fact affecting the use and value of the land by either the seller or their own realtor. Otherwise, they would likely have no legal recourse.

What About the City?

The city denies it has any wrongdoing (although the city is not being sued). In a letter to the couple, the city correctly points out that it does not perform inspections of property nor does it have an obligation to alert anybody as to the status or condition of property they buy, unless specifically asked. That information is included as part of the standard closing process.

The couple could buy unused land adjacent to them and develop that into roadway access—but that takes city approval, which is uncertain.

Don’t let your construction projects go bad. Call our Fort Lauderdale construction and commercial litigation lawyers at Sweeney Law P.A. at 954-440-3993 today.

Sources:

nbcmiami.com/investigations/fort-lauderdale-landlocked-development-homes/3393435/

sun-sentinel.com/2024/08/20/landlocked-dream-turns-into-nightmare-after-couple-buys-350000-lot-with-no-public-access/