For nine long years, Steve and Yvonne Slusser have been
wondering what will happen next in a drawn-out property dispute,
not knowing if their Croy Road home is on property they sold to
someone else.
Morgan Hill – For nine long years, Steve and Yvonne Slusser have been wondering what will happen next in a drawn-out property dispute, not knowing if their Croy Road home is on property they sold to someone else.
“This is just so crazy,” Yvonne said. “Sometimes I just can’t believe it’s happening to us.”
The two parcels of land in question are in the remote area in the hills west of Morgan Hill, where much of the terrain is steep and rugged, and residents lead independent lives, many of them with no paved road leading to their homes.
The dispute began, Steve said, when he and his wife wanted to sell the 21-acre portion of their property. The Slussers wanted to sell the land to someone who would fit in with the “mountain community,” so they were willing to wait until they had just the right offer for the property.
The Slussers were asking $220,000 for the parcel, which adjoins their 40-acre lot. What they didn’t realize at the time was that part of the home Steve, 66, and his friends had built was on the 21-acre plot.
When they were told by their realtor Thomas McDaniel with Century 21 Alpha that he had an offer for them, they were pleased because they had been waiting for a while. He also told them he thought Gilda Jones, the prospective buyer, would be a good fit in the close-knit community.
McDaniel said he was advised by his attorney not to comment on the issue until arbitration on the matter is completed.
The sale finally went through, and the Slussers dropped the land’s price from $220,000 to $168,000 for Jones, Steve said.
Jones, however, said she paid $186,000 for the property.
Two months after escrow, the Slussers received a letter telling them that their house was on the parcel Jones had purchased.
“The property had not been surveyed since the end of the last century – the 1800’s, not the 1900’s – and we understood the property lines to be in a certain place,” he said. “We built in (where) we thought was the center of our parcel.”
A lot-line adjustment is an easy remedy to the situation, the Slussers said, and they wanted to pursue that course.
A lot-line adjustment is a method of adjusting common boundary lines between two or more parcels of land without creating new parcels.
Jones said that solution is not an option in this case.
“A lot-line adjustment is not a simple procedure,” she said. “The county has informed us we won’t be able to do a lot-line adjustment because the property is non-conforming.”
The Slussers said they wanted to take the matter to the courts directly.
“But, because we checked a box on our (realtor) contract that said we wanted all contract disputes to be settled by arbitration, we could not take it into the courts,” Steve said.
During two days of arbitration costing “several thousands of dollars,” the Slussers said, Jones reportedly wanted them to pay her $208,000 and pay for the lot line adjustment, which would cost approximately $5,000.
The Slussers said they did not agree to Jones’ reported offer.
Jones disagreed, saying the Slussers wanted her to pay them.
“Actually they have not offered to compensate me; their lawyer said I need (to) pay them even though they are in the wrong,” she said.
Several months went by, they said, then they received a notice that they needed to be out of the home in five days, or sheriff’s deputies would evict them.
“All of our belongings, all of our animals, everything would have to be out of there,” Yvonne said.
“We would have lost our home, I would have lost my place of business,” Steve said. He has been restoring antiques in a building on the property for years.
Their attorney stayed the execution of the order.
Steve and Yvonne said they offered to give Jones another acre or two to mitigate the approximately .5 acre that their home, which they said had been appraised three years ago at $1 million including the property, encroached on the 21-acre parcel.
Jones said the home “does not encroach on the property, it is entirely on my property.”
They said she walked the property several times, but could not find an acre she wanted, except for a flat area that was 19-acres into their property, so that area would have to be annexed to her property as well.
The Slussers again did not agree.
“The home is on the only building site,” Jones said. “Their property is topographically challenged. It’s very steep. The only other flat space is up at the top right hand corner, it’s landlocked … I told them, if you want to trade property, give me something that is a like property.”
Later, Steve said, there was an unlawful detainer order, and they were ordered again to vacate the property, this time within three days.
“Not very neighborly,” said Yvonne. “This whole thing has been incredibly frustrating, emotionally very trying.”
Jones said she was only following the advice of her attorney at the time.
“They needed to make up their mind,” she said.
This order was stayed as well.
Time continued to pass, and the Slussers are waiting for binding arbitration.
“We are ready to go, we were last summer, but we received a letter that (Jones) was not,” Yvonne said. “We’re still waiting.”
Jones said the attorney that the Slussers and Century 21 Alpha picked for arbitration has not been available for approximately a year because of another case he’s involved in.
The Slussers filed suit against Jones, Century 21 Alpha and McDaniel in May, but the judge threw it out of court. They have now filed a motion to have the court reconsider the action. The case is still pending.
Steve said that McDaniel has pointed out that they did not have a building permit for their house, which is in unincorporated Morgan Hill. He tried to get a permit, Steve said, and the county advised him to go ahead and build the home without the permit. Most of the homes in that area have reportedly been built without permits, he added.
“One thing I would advise is that when signing a real estate contract, do not check the box that provides for resolution by arbitration,” Steve said. “And surveys of property are very important.”
