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A Florida couple has filed a lawsuit against a seller and real estate agent who sold them a "landlocked" piece of property in Florida. Maikel Gil Hernandez and his wife, Hani Levy, poured their life savings of $350,000 to purchase a half-acre of land in the Chula Vista neighborhood of Fort Lauderdale in September 2023.
The couple planned to construct three two-story homes on the lot. Unfortunately, when they began the building process, they learned there was no public access to the property.
The only roadway into the property was a private road belonging to their neighbor, who refused to sell them part of the road so they could begin construction.
In the lawsuit, the couple claims that the seller and real estate agent promoted the property as "build to suit residential."
"Seller and agent defendants intentionally failed to disclose to the buyer that the property was landlocked and lacked any access to be able to proceed with building on the lot, all while listing the property as perfect land to build on," the lawsuit says.
Eventually, the couple struck a deal with a neighbor on the other side of their property that would allow them to build a road connecting the property to a public street. As part of the deal, which includes the strip of property for the road, Hernandez and Levy agreed to erect a fence and build a pool for their neighbor.
The deal is expected to cost them around $150,000.
Now, they are awaiting approval from city officials to begin construction.
Levy and Hernandez told the South Florida Sun Sentinel they regretted buying the property and wished they had done their due diligence before handing over the money.
"I don't want this to happen to anyone else," Levy told the paper. "That's why I am sharing this. This has been a nightmare. I want the story to get out so other people do not run into the same problem."