House was built on someone elses property?

As unbelievable as it sounds a contractor/land owner did not survey his property before building and erected a house on the lot next to his which he does not own. The house was just finished this year 2008. What rights does the owner of the land he built on have. Does he have to sell the land to the contractor and if so at what price or does he thank him for the new house.

House was built on someone elses property?
Actually the house now belongs to the landowner.





He can make nice and let them move it, but he is not legally obligated to do so.





A lot of people had to screw up for this to happen. The title company will be suing everyone. The county should not have even issued a building permit w/o a survey. That is completely messed up.





But, regardless of who is at fault the property is legally the land owners. He does not even have to agree to sell it, move it, nothing.
Reply:I guess it would depend on what the owner of the land says. he could charge him land rent or tell him to remove the house, or make him buy the land. Landowner got him by the britches.
Reply:Well, this has happened before in this case the landholder got a house for free. Bad luck
Reply:there are some messed up folks.


this one is a great laugh.





the house owner needs to contact a house moving company to get the house moved.





the house owner needs to get a land restoration company to restore the land of other property owner.





if the land owner 'wants' to sell he can at the price of his choice or he could do a 99year land lease to house owner.





the 'house owner' has a BIIGG bill coming their way.
Reply:The owner absolutely does NOT have to sell his property. The contractor is in deep trouble, because the land owner has the absolute right to tell him to remove the house. He can't force the builder to leave it there, but he can tell him to move it to demolish it, and restore the land to it's former state.





In the meantime, while they are hopefully negotiating, the land owner will probably not have right to enter the home, but neither will the builder have the right to enter the property, except that the courts would probably allow him access to ensure the building is protected (keep the heat on in winter, etc).





The landowner is in the driver's seat, the builder risks losing the entire amount he put into the house, or at the very least the cost of removing it and restoring the land. The best option would be it the land owner either wants to sell his land at market value (or a little more to compensate him for the trouble), or if he is willing to buy the house for some reasonable price.





To be frank, can't say as I would want a house built by a builder so dumb he did this, though.
Reply:1. Why is the owner of the property finding out after the house was built?





2. How did this builder get title insurance?





3. How was the U and O permit handled?





4. Seems like the owner of the property owns the house now.
Reply:It really depends on a lot of factors.





You need to contact a real estate attorney.





Good luck.
Reply:The problem is, the contractor doesn't have any rights either because you don't get rewarded in our judicial system for not doing due diligence and making sure the alledged owner did, indeed, own the property.





Think about it...let's say you had a track of land that you bought in a remote area for $50K and let's say that you gained $5K in equity a year.





Let's say that a contractor came along and just built a house on it....you had no knowledge....do you think it's fair that a court would force you to sell your property...stripping you of all future equity and value, for something that was NEVER your fault?





Neither does our court system.





Nope..contractor and owner is going to lose on that one and the contractor can't even file a mechanics lien b/c the law requires a contract IN ADVANCE with the property owner and he won't be able to produce such document.





It will be a very, very expensive for all.....and a very lucky break for the homeowner.





There are too many public records for that to ever happen....that is why courts will have zero sympathy for the owner and the contractor...the contractor should have required the land to be put up as collateral (as a land contract) before starting work....and that is where the mistake would have been discovered...and no one would have lost anyhing.