Man Returned Home to Land He Bought to Find Someone Built a $1.5 Million House on It

A man returned to his family’s land in Connecticut after five years, only to discover something shocking: a $1.4 million house was being built on it.

How? A con artist had stolen his identity and fraudulently sold the land without his knowledge.

The land in question had been in Dr. Daniel Kenigsberg’s family since his mother died in 2007. Located on 0.45 acres, it had remained untouched for over seventy years despite his parents purchasing an acre. They only used part of it to build their home.

After selling the family house in 2011, Kenigsberg planned to pass down the vacant land worth $350,000 to his children and grandchildren. But things took a strange turn in August 2022.

Someone impersonating Kenigsberg used his identity to give a lawyer the authority to handle his affairs. The lawyer then sold the land and transferred the ownership to a real estate company.

Meanwhile, Dr. Kenigsberg had no idea any of this was happening.

According to legal reports, a Connecticut company called 51 Sky Top Partners purchased the land for $350,000 in October 2022. Shortly after, they hired a construction company to build a four-bedroom house on the property.

Kenigsberg is now fighting back. He wants the property’s title returned to him and is asking that construction stop immediately. His lawsuit accuses local attorney Anthony Monelli of using a forged power of attorney to carry out the sale, which falsely claimed that Kenigsberg lived in Johannesburg, South Africa.

In reality, Kenigsberg lives in New York and has never lived abroad.

“I was living my life normally until May 31st, and all of a sudden, this happened,” Kenigsberg told The Washington Post.

Meanwhile, Gina Leto, the owner of 51 Sky Top Partners, claims she had no idea they were dealing with an impostor.

“We had no reason to believe he was an impostor,” Leto said. “We would not have paid $350,000 for the property or spent so much more on construction if we had known.”

Leto also plans to ask the court to remove her company from the lawsuit.

Kenigsberg filed his legal action against Monelli and 51 Sky Top Partners in July 2023, asking the court to return the land to him and stop any further construction.

The whole ordeal has highlighted just how dangerous identity theft can be, especially when it comes to real estate.

Source: The Washington Post