The government calculated figure will be the lowest value that similar homeowners would accept at that point in time.
Always understand the property seizure laws for any region when purchasing property, and especially determine whether seizure processes are already in progress, lest the story end up highlighting a catastrophic failure to perform (or, more likely, respect the outcomes of) due diligence. Someone did do an excellent job with this grift, but that’s not theft, that’s fraud.
(Sadly, this lesson has a tech parallel: review of the dependencies of a project or of a curl | bash script. Most don’t, and the occasional grim reminders do nothing whatsoever to influence an individual’s risk-taking behaviors when the alternative is further delays and effort of reaching one’s goals.)
"[the homeowners] do fault their real-estate agent and [the seller], who signed a purchase-and-sale agreement, a copy of which was viewed by The Wall Street Journal, stating that [the seller] did not know of any future public use of the land."
Should be pretty cut-and-dry, especially given the seller's statements earlier in the article.
"Louis Gallo, who sold the Hendels the vacant, 0.64-acre parcel of land for $165,000 in December 2023, said there is no way the couple didn’t know the bridge relocation was a possibility. 'They’ve been talking about this bridge for 40 years, at least,' said Louis, who lives across the street in a house that will also be taken by eminent domain."
So, Gallo's claiming everyone knew the bridge was coming. The buyers have a signed document stating that Gallo didn't know that. Gallo's claiming he never signed such a document.
They'll get something from the state for the house, and probably either a settlement or damages from Gallo, assuming the document isn't an elaborate hoax.
Fast forward decades, many delays and many unscrupulous sellers and real estate agents, and you’ve got people that don’t realize that the house they own sits on land they don’t, and the federal government wants it vacant because the Congress has finally turned the national lakeshore into a national park.
But I lived in that area. People absolutely were scammed because FedGov didn’t bother to evict heirs or tear down the houses for decades. And then they did. Indiana is a very lax state for real estate transactions. Attorneys are not required and real estate agents drive the process. A shady agent and a buyer that doesn’t know any better can very easily get scammed.
This quote glosses over a LOT, but I couldn’t find anything better online:
> there was a movement to purchase all the homes in Beverly Shores and incorporate the entire town into the National Lakeshore. This initiative did not succeed, but many local properties were acquired, especially those in the wetlands that constitute the southern portion. The acquisition process is ongoing. The owners of lots fronting on the beach were granted lifetime leasebacks with the proviso that the property would revert to the National Lakeshore; many of these houses have since been demolished.
This buyer on Cape Cod: why did nobody that he paid to be on his side tell him that they’ve been contemplating a bridge through the property for 40 years?
impish9208•5mo ago