Go Bottombought some land
 | chrbranic1
Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 16 Pittsburgh PA 
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2010-11-14 175140
looking for some ideas. I bought some property,undeveloped and woody, 35 acres. During a walk thru of the land the seller said he sold some timber to a lumber company and pointed to marks on a tree and said it was just a few. Now after the sale went thru two weeks later the trees were cut and now we have about 20 acres of stumps and tree tops. It truly looks like a tornado went thru the property. What trees were not cut down the others were run down by equipment. Its a hugh mess and great disappointment. In short a few trees means 10 maybe 15 not hundreds. I bargained in good faith and feel like i was taken advantage of. Any ideas of what to do if there is any?
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 | earthwrks
Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 3853 Home Office in Flat Rock, Michigan 
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2010-11-15 175141
Yes, get a lawyer because he breached his contract. Or tell him he either reimburses you for the damage----say $500 for each stump---or you'll sue him. And if you went through an an agent, you may be able to sue the agent too.
I had a situation years ago where the realestate agent told me there was 100 acres. My buddies and I rode and walked it. Spoke to neighbors who told me they bought 10 acres years before off that same plot. Then we found high tension power lines running through it and that reduced it another 20 acres. We were told there was a pond on it. Found the so called pond. Another neighbor owned half of it, and the other part was on swamp or untouchable wetlands. All in all there were only 70 acres and only 15 was buildable---we were going to subdivide. Told the agent what we found and all I got was "Oh" ....
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| chrbranic1
Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 16 Pittsburgh PA
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2010-11-15 175144
thanks for the post, thats were i will start. By no means am i afraid of working to clean the mess, which one man and some good equipment, should take a few years. I feel like its work that i should not be doing. At this point thats about the only thing i know to do to get this property in a condition to either use it to build on or resale it, because its very easy to say not a person in their right mind would buy it in the condition its in. Any other input is greatly welcomed. ....
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| hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 3583 iowa
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2010-11-15 175145
Sorry for your bad experience, but do you have any sort of written signed contract with the seller that gave a number of trees that would be harvested? Have you discussed this with the seller or the logger? Perhaps they were in kahoots? Did anyone witness the agreement? You can sue, yes, but if you have nothing in writing you're going to have a hard time even getting a reputable lawyer to take your case let alone court going your way. Fourtunately I've never been sued or had to sue, so I have no first hand experience in a lawsuit. About the only lever you may have is if you haven't made full payment yet.
The days of handshake real estate deals are about over.
Back in the 70's abnd 80's I bought three farms or parts of farms with handshake agreements, all were solid with no problems.
Frank. ....
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| chrbranic1
Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 16 Pittsburgh PA
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2010-11-15 175146
No not anything in writing about the number of trees only a verbal statement (not being many trees) from the seller during the walk thru. The seller will not answer my calls. The best witness is the man that apprased the value of the land before the purchase went thru, being a witness of the amount of damage that has occured. And yes its paid for. ....
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| hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 3583 iowa
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2010-11-15 175147
I'm far from being a lawyer, but If the appraiser gave a broken down value of the property, like value of any tillable land, value of the standing timber, any buildings or improvements, etc. you may have a thread of hope.
Frank. ....
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 | auerbach
Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 2168 West of Toronto
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2010-11-15 175149
Of course talk to a lawyer. Some offer the first half-hour free to decide if there's a case. I'd recommend one from a different community because lawyers don't like to sue a profession they get business from. Preferably one who specializes in rural real estate. Real-estate law is relatively standard but rural properties have their own wrinkles. Still, all civil law can be jurisdiction dependent so don't go too far afield.
Happens all the time: people move into the house to find the major appliances have been taken or replaced with cheapies. They pick up their car and later find the real spare had been replaced with a temp, or the two-year-old truck somehow has a four-year-old battery.
The first comment to you will be "How much is the change worth? Emotional losses can be hard to establish; financial losses are more solid." Another question might be the financial worth of the potential defendent.
Verbal agreements can be enforced if the Court accepts that they existed. A notice of legal action can motivate the other side to want to settle. But a judgement in your favor is not the same as money in your pocket. He can appeal, move away, divest himself of assets, fabricate a counter-suit, etc.
In any case, immediately take photos of the stumps that show how big and how recent and try to find out who did the cutting, skidding, selling and buying in case they need to be called as witnesses or you can "attach" the lumber before it's processed. Good luck. ....
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 | kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2010-11-15 175156
Seems to me that if it's not in writing a case could be made for theft.
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