A Concord woman is now being sued by the property development company that accidentally built a house on her lot instead of a neighboring lot.
In 2018, Annaleine "Anne" Reynolds purchased a one-acre vacant land in the Hawaiian Paradise Park for $22,500 at a tax auction. She had plans to one day build a home for her two children on the property and also a healing retreat for women.
However, in June 2023, Reynolds said she received a call from a realtor notifying her that they had sold a house sitting on her land.
It turned out the lot was bulldozed and a three-bedroom house had been built on her property by developer Keaau Development Partnership, which hired PJ's Construction to build about a dozen other homes on lots owned by the development company in the subdivision.
Upon discovering the mistake, the construction company asked if she wanted to swap lots, which Reynolds refused. Now, she is being sued for accusations of unjust enrichment and constructive trust, as reported by Business Insider, who obtained court documents.
"It feels like I did something wrong," Reynolds told the outlet.
What Led to the Mistake
It is not exactly clear how the builders mistakenly bulldozed and built a home on Reynolds' lot. According to SFGate, Reynolds believes they miscounted the number of telephone poles on the street, which were used to identify lots. A lawyer for PJ's Construction who spoke to Hawaii News Now claimed Keaau Development did not want to hire surveyors. This was later disputed by Keeau's lawyer, Peter Olson.
"Best efforts were made to ensure that the home was built on the correct property," a letter sent to Reynolds read, per SFGate. "The home was not maliciously built on parcel 114."
The mistake in construction was only realized once construction was complete and the house was in the process of being sold. The discovery nullified the sale by the developer. An MLS listing, which put the house up for $499,000, has also been taken down.
Reynolds said Keauu Development offered "any other plot of land" on the street in exchange for hers, but she turned them down as the placement was special to her.
"It needs to align with me with my zodiac sign, basically," she said. "Also, the position of the land in relation to the stars and north, south, east, and west coordinates, the sun rising and setting - all these things go into consideration."