Facebooks Zuckerberg Is Suing Hundreds of Hawaiians to Force Them to Sell Property to Him

[NWCorona]

Source: NBC

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly is suing hundreds of Hawaiians to compel them to sell the billionaire small plots of land they own that lie within a 700-acre property that Zuckerberg purchased on the island of Kauai two years ago for $100 million.

Zuckberberg-controlled companies filed eight so-called "quiet" title lawsuits in a Kauai court on Dec. 30 requesting the forced sales at public auction to the highest bidder, which would allow him to make his secluded beach-front land on the island's north shore even more private, according the Honolulu Star-Advertiser newspaper.

Currently, owners of the lands — which have been in their families for generations — have the rights to travel across Zuckerberg's property to get to their own lands. Their lands comprise slightly more than eight acres.

Many of the defendants in the suits by the social media mogul are living, but some are dead. The defendants may hold just a tiny fraction of ownership in the parcels because they are several generations removed from the original owners, according to the paper's story on the cases.

Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/facebook-s-zuckerberg-suing-hundreds-hawaiians-force-them-sell-property-n708951

[HopeAgain]

1. I'm not on FaceBook

And there's another reason not to be...

[NWCorona]

4. I joined for a hot second years ago. I didn't like it.

[PatSeg]

2. The headline

makes this appear far worse than it actually is.

[NWCorona]

3. How so?

[hack89]

11. "Quiet title actions are the standard and prescribed process to identify all potential co-owners,.."

the issue is that the actual ownership of land is uncertain or unknown. This it the accepted way in Hawaii to resolve such issues.

[NWCorona]

17. That's because the people that quiet title and partition rarely have the

Means to fight back. This move is used almost exclusively against poor native Hawaiians.

[cstanleytech]

18. And is that actually happening here or is it just a possibility you are mentioning?

[NWCorona]

19. It's hard to say at this point but I'd think that at least one person in the

Hundreds of cases that doesn't want to sell.

[hack89]

22. No - in many cases the owners are unknown

this is the only way to identify the owners. The land has no real value to the owners - if you were to actually read the article you would understand why.

[NWCorona]

28. If you read the article you'd know that not all of the property owners are unknown

[hack89]

29. And if they step forward and pay their property taxes then the land remains theirs

if they don' t want to sell.

[NWCorona]

30. Not every parcel of land is delinquent on their taxes. Where did you get that from?

[hack89]

31. It is a legal process to identify the owners of land

some parcels have clear ownership and title - others don't. It is that second group that the OP is talking about. The suits are all about determining who actually owns the land.

[NWCorona]

32. And then to force the transfer of ownership.

[hack89]

33. Only if the owners don't respond to the suits

didn't you read the article?

[NWCorona]

34. And even if they do respond. This article isn't the end all to this law

There are multiple phases involved and finding the parties of interest is the first step.

[hack89]

35. ok. nt

[marybourg]

26. A quiet title action is not a fight. Although it's good to have your

own lawyer. It's not in itself an eviction or a title contest, although one could arise out of it. It gives notice to anyone who might have an interest in the land, even if they don't know they do. All the interests are settled up, usually with money or an exchange of land, and the land then has a clear title so it can be sold again.

It's what any of us would have to do if we found out we didn't have a clear title. It's the normal and required procedure. It's why we buy title insurance. It's not a capitalist plot.

[DK504]

41. He bought that land and developed it knowing he had

to give access to the other home owners. He could have built them a separate driveway. It's not like this little shit can't afford to be descent to his neighbors.

This guy is a dick.

[hack89]

42. That is not the issue at all

the question is who actually owns the land. There is no mention whatsoever of other houses or him denying access to people.

[Jake Stern]

5. He has a chance to grab some sweet, sweet PR

by letting those families stay and showing how committed he is to protecting their traditional rights.

But he's just another rich asshole.

He should follow the example of the Robinson family, who owns Niihau. They could have made a fortune by selling the land to resort developers but have instead given the Hawaiians a place where the can maintain their language and culture .

[hack89]

12. Read the article - no one is living on those parcels of land

in fact, many of the owners of the plots are unknown - hence the law suits.

[cstanleytech]

20. So in other words its a suit meant to find out who owns the land and if they

own it do they want to sale it to him or is he trying to force them to sale it to him against their will?

[hack89]

21. It is all layed out in the article

I suggest you simply read it.

[cstanleytech]

24. I tried but it sounds like a mess with that many potential owners, makes me glad I'm not the judge.

[bucolic_frolic]

6. How can you have a public auction when only one person

would be interested in buying, and that is Zuckerberg?

That's not a public auction, that's a shakeout. The only other bidders
would be speculators who think they could get more out of him.

[NWCorona]

8. That's just it. It's not like he has a first right of refusal so someone with

DEEP pockets that hates Mark would be the only other buyer.

[ellie]

7. Idiot Trump's

face came up on my feed and according to Facebook, eight of my "friends" like him. So I unfriended every one.

[olddad56]

9. I call it Fakebook, because it has been used to disseminate fake news

[louis-t]

10. The second paragraph is not making sense.

"Zuckberberg-controlled companies filed eight so-called "quiet" title lawsuits in a Kauai court on Dec. 30 requesting the forced sales at public auction to the highest bidder"

"Quiet title" is an action to get people to sign off on property they may have a legal interest in when you want to clear defects from a title. They could request payment or may have already been paid but something wasn't recorded right. I have never heard it called a 'lawsuit' and "forced sale at auction to the highest bidder" doesn't sound right.

Usually, if you buy a property without getting a warranty deed or covenant deed, you may need to quiet the title at some point if you want to sell. Hawaiian law may differ from Michigan law, but I'm not getting why this is being characterized as "forcing someone to sell".

[Hortensis]

14. Possibly true, but since their occupancy depends on

their crossing his land, he's likely attacking a weak point based on a legal technicality. Those rights are typically grandfathered in with little scrutiny and no documentation but typically established by USE. If this were California, these owners would have to use the right of access, and fight claims to the contrary, within a certain time period to keep it.

As an appraiser I ran into this a couple of times. One belonged to an elderly woman who planned to leave a very nice property (modest little home on killer land) near Pacific Palisades to her granddaughter but who wasn't able to stay in that home once she had to move to an assisted living facility. I had to return that appraisal assignment to the bank because the neighbor over whose property she had right of access disputed that right. I never knew if she or her granddaughter had the money to fight for the property. Donald Trump would certainly know how to drag it out while legal fees grew and grew, and until the owner died and only one claimant remained (whose ability to pay those fees may well have depended winning the dispute and then selling the property).

Knowing nothing about these properties, I confess I'm biased against Zuckerberg and the huge advantages his wealth gives him. He doesn't need to do more than make a phone call to his contact at the legal firm representing him there to sic them on the other owners for years if necessary.

[TexasBushwhacker]

38. And 700 acres is plenty of fucking "privacy" n/t

[ancianita]

39. MI and HI laws are different in that no one not Hawaiian can buy land to own for more than 99 years.

There might be glitches related to that whole concept difference in ownership.

[louis-t]

43. Hmm, the 99 year figure usually means a proprietory lease in MI.

Interesting.

[ancianita]

44. In HI, it's about ownership in perpetuity by native Hawaiians.

[louis-t]

48. Got it, hence the 99 year thing.

[Cal Carpenter]

13. That's what you think you can do when you are one of the 8 men who have

as much wealth as half the world combined.

Eat the rich.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

15. And we all know how much Trump likes eminent domain.

Look up what he tried to do in Atlantic City. It's at DU.

[barbtries]

16. fuck him for this.

jeez

[GusBob]

23. Fake news for those who don't understand and never will

Title to property in that state is complicated. Nobody is being forced off their land.

Fun to watch people fall for fake news when it suits their narrative.

The subsequent hate isn't so funny, but helps to understand the basis of hate, ignorance

[obnoxiousdrunk]

27. Spoiler you ... N/t

[NWCorona]

37. Will the property owners still have access to the land once

The funds are paid to them?

[Sunlei]

47. It's not fake it's just worded in a way to make Zuckerberg look like a mean, rich man. :P

Maybe we should email him and ask if everyone on DU can come camp on his beach, please. Limit us to a week a year ZUCKERBERG DU NEEDS A VACATION

"google send this message to zuckerberg"

[Skittles]

25. a pox on everyone who made that piece of shit site popular

[chowder66]

36. Who needs 700 acres of beach? I would be impressed if he donated it but that didn't happen. nt

[Sunlei]

46. I need 700 acres of beach!

[Hekate]

40. Z can go fry in Hell.

[Sunlei]

45. anyone can do this, check your public tax rolls. It's how people in the trump crowd get cheap reales

how people in the trumpcrowdget cheap real estate to 'flip' or leverage.

[NWCorona]

49. Here's another article with a little more information

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/23/mark-zuckerberg-hawaii-land-lawsuits-kauai-estate