A construction company who mistakenly built a house on the wrong plot of land has been ordered to knock it down.
The confusion occurred in Hawaii after PJ's Construction got the plot in Hawaiian Paradise Park on Hawaii's Big Island confused with a neighboring one next-door.
They accidentally built on Annaleine 'Anne' Reynolds' property, a one-acre plot bought for $22,500 at auction in 2018.
She lives in California, and had plans to use the land for a home for her children.
Judge Robert D. S. Kim last week ordered PJ's Construction to foot the bill for the demolition of the house immediately, despite it being worth some $500,000.
'We are thrilled with the court's decision that PJ's Construction must bear the costs of demolishing the unauthorized structure on Anne Reynolds' property,' Reynolds' lawyer James D. DiPasquale told Business Insider.
'This ruling not only preserves Anne's property rights but also sets a precedent for accountability in the construction industry.
'While it's regrettable that the land cannot be restored to its original state, the judgment underscores the importance of meticulous adherence to property and zoning laws.'
The strange saga began last year, when Reynolds discovered the house had been built on her idyllic slice of land.
PJ's Construction, which was contracted by Keaau Development to build the house and 11 others nearby, had mistakenly built the property on the wrong plot after using telephone poles to try to identify them, legal filings said.
It had built the house on Lot 114 instead of Lot 115, located on the other side of one of the properly marked poles.
Patrick John Lawrence, Jr., the owner of PJ's Construction, was made aware of the mistake thanks to a real estate agent who identified it after the house had already been sold.
Keaau Development then sued Reynolds, saying that she was 'unjustly enriched' by the property now technically belonging to her.
Reynolds, meanwhile, rejected the developer's offer for a neighboring lot of equal size and value - arguing the land she had purchased was 'sacred' and had 'all the right qualities' to serve as the bedrock for her family for generations to come.
She repeatedly described the situation as 'awful,' and recalled how the house had attracted squatters over the past several months.
'It was so disgusting,' she told Fox19 of human feces found inside the house as a result.
She also had to pay for fencing to surround the empty home, as well as several thousand dollars in property taxes.
The developer eventually pulled everyone involved into the lawsuit so that a judge could decide who was ultimately responsible for the drastic mistake - paving the way for Kim's ruling Monday.
He said the company may seek contribution or indemnity from Keaau Development at a subsequent trial or hearing, but for now has to bear the burden of razing the misplaced home.
He also said the companies had 'seriously disturbed the peaceable use, enjoyment, and possession of real property' by bulldozing Reynolds' plot of land, which "removed all of the previously standing native vegetation,"
A 'long period of neglect' that ensued then allowed Albizia trees to 'infest' the lot, he wrote, adding how it was now 'impossible' to return the property to its original state.
He also declared the company and the developer "cut corners to reduce construction costs," citing how they excavated the lot and built the house without a survey
. He added that because the construction permits were approved for Lot 115, not Lot 114, the house was illegal. The case is still ongoing, with a trial scheduling conference set for the end of July.