I didn't smile. It was hard to smile watching a family's ex-living room collapse because of stupidity that started way above their pay grade. However, it was satisfying in the justice sense, but not joyful. Still, I cannot sit here and pretend it was not the exact outcome the law demands. When someone builds on land they don't own, if you let people take your property because it is inconvenient to enforce your rights, you don't have rights, you have suggestions.
The second house went down even faster. The third and fourth were easier because the first had softened the shock and because it turns out once sheetrock turns to mush, walls buckle like nothing. The under-construction houses got knocked down to slabs and then the slabs got jackhammered and then the lot got scraped back to grade.
The developer was on site with a phone glued to his ear arguing with someone about cost. He looked smaller than he had in court. The surveyor who testified for them was nowhere to be seen. The title company sent a representative who looked like they had aged a decade.
A week later, the developer filed for bankruptcy on the entity that owned the construction company, but that didn't surprise anyone. It is textbook to try to shield assets when judgments loom. We had anticipated that, and my attorney had been careful to tie liability not just to one shell, but to several related entities.
The HOA quickly found itself without a sugar daddy. Their assessments were set based on a budget that assumed a bunch of occupied homes paying dues that evaporated overnight. They couldn't meet obligations. The landscaping bill bounced and the water for the common area got shut off. The fountain at the entrance got turned off and algae bloomed like a swamp. It smelled like a biology lab. The fancy stone sign grew weeds at the base. A week after that, the HOA filed its own notice that it was insolvent and seeking to wind up.
People like to ask me at this point if I feel bad for the homeowners who bought in. Yes and no. I feel bad that they were misled and used as pawns in a developer's rush and an HOA's pride. I don't feel bad for the board members who wrote me emails calling me a squatter and accusing me of extortion. I don't feel bad for the developer who ignored a recorded deed that didn't fit their plan. I feel fine about teaching a lesson the only way that carries weight: through a judge's order and a demo crew.
The aftermath took longer than the demolition itself. The court appointed a special master to help untangle the mess. The buyers who had closed got buybacks from the title insurance to reset the sales plus damages. The buyers who were under contract got their earnest money back and then some, and the builder's lender took a bath. The surveyor's insurance company got involved and probably wrote a check big enough to make anyone cry. The county updated the plat maps and added a notation about the voided section so nobody can pretend it didn't happen.
My quiet rectangle was quiet again except for the sound of trucks hauling away rubble and the occasional neighbor walking their dog and giving me a thumbs up or a glare depending on their politics. We went back to court one last time to settle fees and damages. The court awarded me costs for having my property tied up for years plus the attorney fees.
And people who hear the story always ask if I could have just sold the land under the houses. Technically, maybe there's a concept called a ground lease where you own the land and someone else owns the structure and they pay you rent. It is used in some cities. In this case, I did not want to become a landlord to houses that were built because someone ignored my deed, though. Also, the buyers were never going to be happy living over a lawsuit. The HOA would have been a nightmare. The cleanest solution was to reset the board. It was not the easiest emotionally, but it was the cleanest legally. If that makes me the villain in some other universe, I can live with that.
For the record, I never wanted an HOA destruction on my resume. I know some people on here will cheer that part. And I get it. HOAs can be petty dictatorships, but some are fine and serve a purpose. Anyway, this one could have been fine if the board had done the most basic thing, which is slow down and check a map when a stranger emailed with concerns. Instead, they went full entitled and doubled down each step of the way. They made it personal and that's why they lost. Not because I'm some mastermind, because they were arrogant.
And the next one is another malicious compliance story which is titled "Making them cold just seemed like the right thing to do."