A massive update has been confirmed in a property dispute over an uncompleted $1.5 million (£1.2m) house built on a plot of land without the owner’s knowledge in the US.
Last year Dr Daniel Kenigsberg was stunned to discover that a plot of land he’d purchased in Fairfield, Connecticut back in 1991 had been built on without his permission.
Dr Kenigsberg originally purchased the land as it was adjacent to his childhood home with the intention of passing the land down to further generations in his family. The New York based doctor also became the sole-owner of the land in 2011 after his brother passed away.
The house which had been built on Dr Kenigsberg’s property (Google Maps)
He’d previously received requests from developers to purchase the land, including an offer of $400,000 (£314,000) in 2022, which he has always turned down.
So you can imagine his shock when he returned to the land and discovered a £1.2 million, four-bedroomed property under construction there.
How was the property built on Dr Kenigsberg’s land?
According to a report shared by NBC New York, the developers behind the property claimed they had purchased the plot for $350,000 back in October 2022.
However Dr Kenigsberg alleged that he hadn’t sold the land.
He said a ‘fraudulent’ document was given to a lawyer by someone claiming to be him in South Africa.
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Dr Daniel Kenigsberg had purchased the plot of land in 1991 (Daniel Kenigsberg)
Dr Kenigsberg subsequently sued developers Sky Top Partners LLC on nine counts and was seeking damages of up to $2 million (£1.5 million).
He was also requesting that the developers cleared the property from his land and restored it to the original condition.
51 Sky Top Partners LLC would later allege that they’d fallen victim to a scam and had been duped into buying the land from a person impersonating Dr Kenigsberg.
The case has since been resolved in a huge new update, with Dr Kenigsberg agreeing to settle (per an update from Law360) with 51 Sky Top Partners in April this year.
Specific terms of the settlement have not been released to the public, however it is understood that Dr Kenigsberg received a payout.
It would also appear that Dr Kenigsberg has decided to wipe his hands entirely of the plot of land, with Patch reporting in July 2024 that the property had been sold for a total of $1.45 million (£1.14 million) after the settlement was reached between the two parties.