Woman purchases vacant Hawaiian lot only to have a house built on it by mistake

She is now embroiled in legal troubles stemming from the turmoil.

Annaleine “Anne” Reynolds purchased an acre (0.40 hectare) of land in Hawaii Paradise Park, a subdivision in the Puna District on the Big Island of Hawaii, for about $22,500 at a county tax sale in 2018.

She was in California during the pandemic last year, waiting for the right time to use it, when she received a call from a real estate agent informing her that he had sold the house on her property, Hawaii News Now reported.

Local developer Keaau Development Partnership hired PJ’s Construction to build about a dozen homes on property the developer purchased in the subdivision. But the company built one on Reynolds’ land.

Reynolds, along with construction companies, architects and others, are currently being sued by the developers.

“There was a lot of finger-pointing between the developer, the contractor and some of the contractors,” said James DiPascual, Reynolds’ attorney.

According to court documents, Reynolds rejected an offer from the developer for an adjacent parcel of equal size and value.

“If you can build anything you want on someone else’s land and then sue that person for its value, that sets a dangerous precedent,” DiPasquale said.

Peter Olson, an attorney representing the developers, pointed out that most of the lots in the jungle-like Hawaiian Paradise park are identical.

“My client believes she is trying to take advantage of PJ Construction’s mistakes to obtain funds from my client and other parties,” Olson told The Associated Press on Wednesday, rejecting offers for the same parcel.

She has filed a counterclaim against the developer, saying she was unaware of the “unauthorized construction.”

An attorney for PJ’s Construction told Hawaii News Now that the developer does not want to hire a surveyor.

One neighbor told a Honolulu news station that the empty homes attracted squatters.