Reader “Politics of Smoking” has sent along an article illustrating why you want to buy owner's title insurance, and not limit your coverage to just the lender's debt
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maybe jay silverheels will intervene on behalf of the real owners, the paugussetts
A property owner returns to CT, finds a new $1.5M house on his land. Now police are involved
…. [The rightful property owner] Now … stood eye-to-eye with a cleared, dirt building lot containing a 4-bedroom house, nearly completed but with no siding yet on his parcel at 51 Sky Top Terrace. It had popped up without his knowledge after a land transaction that appears to be an elaborate scam, according to a lawsuit Kenigsberg filed this month in U.S. District Court in Connecticut.
Town records point the way toward the story. On Oct. 18, 2022, Daniel Kenigsberg of Johannesburg, South Africa granted the power of attorney – the right to sign legal documents on his behalf -- to Anthony Monelli, a Trumbull lawyer. That same day nine months ago, a firm known as 51 Sky Top Partners LLC purchased the lot from Kenigsberg, or so the land records show, for $350,000.
By January 24 of this year, a local construction firm affiliated with 51 Sky Top Partners had a building permit in hand. The development was off to the races. And a real estate nightmare, exactly what land use law is designed to prevent, was about to unfold.
The lawsuit, citing Connecticut trade laws, names as defendants Sky Top Partners, which it says is owned by Gina Leto and Greg Bugaj; and Monelli. It claims Kenigsberg “is suffering irreparable damage” and that he “never authorized the sale of his Property to anyone.”
It seeks a voiding of the 2022 sale and a jury trial with damages and compensation to Kenigsberg that could reach $2 million, court documents show.
Today the house, 4,000 square feet with five bathrooms and spectacular amenities, is shown in a “contingent” offer for $1,475,000 as “Lot 2, Sky Top Terrace,” according to at least two websites, complete with a computer-generated interior tour of the open-floor layout.
“Stunning new construction built on quiet side street by respected local builder,” the website chirps. “Great location…Great back yard. Room for playset, kick a soccer ball or a swimming pool.”
It could be some family’s dream. But those pristine hardwood floors, that painted outdoor patio, might never hold the soft footsteps of children or anyone else.
The lawsuit seeks an order for the defendants “to remove any structures and/or materials from the Property and restore the Property to the condition that it was in prior to Defendants’ trespass upon it.”
Fairfield Police Lt. Michael Paris confirmed that a criminal probe is underway, in which detectives are attempting to find out who received money from the buyers. “It’s still under investigation as of this point,” said Paris, the department spokesman. “It’s a bank account transfer.”
The lawsuit doesn’t accuse the defendants of masterminding the alleged fraud and there is no indication that they are targets of the criminal investigation. “It looks like somebody from South Africa reached out to maybe the broker and maybe Attorney Monelli,” said Peter M. Nolin of Carmody Torrance Sandak & Hennessey LLP in Stamford, who brought the lawsuit for Kenigsberg.
Still, the civil action in federal court lays blame on the defendants, who, the lawsuit says, “knew or should have known” that a fraud was taking place and that the person purporting to be Kenigsberg was not him. “The Defendants committed their improper acts and/or practices intentionally, with a specific intent to injure the Plaintiff and/or with a reckless disregard for the Plaintiff’s rights,” the lawsuit alleges.
Peter Nolan was a good friend of mine at UConn Law, one of only three (openly) conservative students out of our class of 100 — I’m sure he’ll kick ass here, but really, like that poor fellow from Brazil we posted about yesterday, I don’t believe that the buyers have a leg to stand on. The intriguing question to me is whether title insurance will cover just the money paid for the land, or if the insurer will have to reimburse its insured for the costs incurred building the house as well.
It will probably all end up as a fascinating case study in law school.
