Dan Barry, New York Times, consults Don Sausa on Utah land article

A week or so ago, I posted some real estate problems in Box Elder County, Utah. Little did I know part of my research would go on national news.

Dan Barry, a New York Times columnist, travels nationally to look at the sight and sounds of America. On a restaurant stop, he picked up a local newspaper and found an interesting story about illegal subdividing and land sales in Box Elder County, Utah. He finds out the person doing the original subdividing and hunts down the story. He goes on Google, looks for information regarding the land owner and finds my research on my blog.

He shoots me an email, then we chat on the phone, and I give him some info, and bwam, like a master craftsman, he's got a hot story posted here.

Well, that's one more publication for the resume I guess.

A land debacle in Box Elder County, Utah

Back in the day, I looked at some investment properties in Box Elder County, UT. At $300/acre, why not? At the very least it was a paper asset. But according to Box Elder County officials, the people that were subdividing the property without permission was comitting a criminal offense. Youch!

They've sent out "notice of noncompliance" to thousands of people, telling them their property was illegaly subdivided. Most of the property buyers bought the land online from Yahoo Auctions, eBay, Overstock, etc.

One of the people that have allegedly subdivided parcels without permission, according to public records, the county, and my own records, was Larry Madsen of 13871 S. 1950 W, Bluffdale, Utah 84065.

I bought land there from Madsen or other developers, what should I do?
You can send an e-mail to the Box Elder officials at codeviolations@boxeldercounty.org. They are looking at options to alleviate this problem. Do not expect a response, since a few thousand people have already e-mailed them.

Is my deed valid?
If the deed was recorded correctly, your deed is valid and you own the property. It's just that the original owner, Madsen and others, didn't ask permission before they sold it.

What's going to happen now?
I spoke to the county attorney's office and they are still looking at their options. They could technically go after the developers and fine them and leave the properties as is, or they could ask developers to take back the properties (assuming you don't want it anymore).

Are there any other things to know?
Most of the folks I know that bought this property knew it was in the middle of nowhere and it had no electricity. It was flagged as recreational property (Madsen appropriately flagged it when he sold me a parcel). So no one really hid this fact. If another developer tried to tell you this was buildable and it wasn't, they could be held liable.

Why did the developers do this?
Well they sell land to make money, but to answer the question why they didn't ask permissions and fill out the proper zoning permits -- probably because they didn't know. I asked Madsen by email on how they are rectifying this and said, "We have contacted an attorney in Box Elder County to help us determine what needs to be done to rectify this problem. We will let you know what we find out and what we are able to do to resolve this issue with the County."

Stay tune, I'll update this post with more info. I'm expecting a call from the county attorney on Tuesday.

If you are interested in investing in land and how to properly conduct your own research, buy this helpful book below. A lot of it is based on my own mistakes experience in the past.