US man accidentally buys entire street for $5,000 after thinking he was purchasing vacant lot
Jason Fauntleroy had just wanted to buy land to build a house
These days you're usually lucky if you get get on the housing ladder with years of savings under your belt - but one man has shown that just a few months of hard work could land you with enough money to buy an entire street lined with houses.
Okay, admittedly a few mistakes have to be made in order for this to happen, but still, it can be done!
Jason Fauntleroy, from Ohio, learned that first hand when he attempted to buy a plot of land in Trenton, just north of Cincinnati, in order to build himself a home.
Fauntleroy saw a plot come up at a Butler County Sheriff’s Office auction in 2021, and so put in $5,000 to buy the land.
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As it turned out, however, Fauntleroy hadn't just bought one plot, but also an entire road called Bloomfield Court, which served five other occupied homes.
Speaking to WCPO, Trenton City Manager Marcos Nichols said he wasn't entirely certain on how the mistake took place, saying: “I’m not sure how that occurs other than it was a private drive that was created through a homeowner’s association.
"The homeowner’s association was responsible for maintaining that property and upkeeping it.”
Fauntleroy did not purchase the other five homes on the road, but because the road maintenance was previously taken care of by the homeowner's association, that left Fauntleroy responsible for maintaining the road for its other users.
Three years after the mistake took place, the city of Trenton began the process of reclaiming the land through eminent domain.
However, Fauntleroy argued he wasn't being offered what he deserved for the land, claiming that only the lot he'd bought was appraised, rather than the rest of the street.
He claimed his attempts to contact the city had been a 'nightmare', saying: "They shut me out. They blocked my calls. It’s hard to even get through anybody.”
Nichols told WCPO he could 'not speak to the appraised value', but said the city wanted to obtain the road so it could convert it into a public roadway, meaning the city would be responsible for maintaining it.
But Fauntleroy argued he should still have been given a better offer, saying: "Treat people fair; do honest work. Don’t just take advantage of someone because they don’t have the means of getting an attorney.”
UNILAD has reached out to the City of Trenton for an update on the matter.
Emily Brown