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News 31/08/2025 17:12

US man accidentally buys entire street for $5,000 after thinking he was purchasing vacant lot

An Ohio man thought he had struck a bargain at a county auction. But his dream investment quickly spiraled into a nightmare when he discovered he now owned an entire street by mistake.

What was meant to be a simple land purchase quickly turned into one of the strangest real estate blunders in recent memory. An Ohio man thought he was securing a single vacant lot, but instead walked away owning an entire street serving multiple homes.

Jason Fauntleroy, a resident of Ohio, stumbled into the bizarre twist of fate back in 2021 when he attended a Butler County Sheriff’s Office auction in hopes of buying a small piece of land in Trenton, just north of Cincinnati. His plan was simple: spend $5,000 to buy a vacant lot and eventually build his dream home.

But reality had other ideas. Instead of just acquiring one plot, Fauntleroy unknowingly became the legal owner of Bloomfield Court — a private road that provides access to five other occupied homes. Suddenly, his $5,000 “deal” turned into a logistical and legal nightmare.

Speaking to WCPO, Trenton City Manager Marcos Nichols admitted the situation was unusual: “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.”

While Fauntleroy didn’t gain ownership of the homes lining the street, the mistake meant he was now responsible for maintaining the roadway itself — a duty previously handled by the neighborhood’s homeowner association. What he thought was a personal investment unexpectedly came with shared responsibility for other families’ daily lives, including snow removal, pothole repairs, and access concerns.

For years, the odd arrangement lingered in limbo. But three years later, in 2024, the City of Trenton began the process of reclaiming the road through eminent domain. The goal was to turn Bloomfield Court into a public street so that the city — not a single private owner — would be responsible for its maintenance.

That’s when tensions flared. Fauntleroy claimed he was not offered fair compensation for his accidental acquisition. He argued the appraisal covered only the original vacant lot and failed to consider the broader value of owning an entire street. Frustrated, he said his attempts to communicate with the city turned into a bureaucratic battle. “They shut me out. They blocked my calls. It’s hard to even get through anybody,” Fauntleroy told reporters.

From the city’s perspective, Nichols explained that the appraisal issue was outside his authority, saying he could “not speak to the appraised value” but confirmed the intent was to formally absorb the road into the city’s infrastructure.

Still, Fauntleroy felt cornered, suggesting the city took advantage of his lack of legal resources. “Treat people fair; do honest work. Don’t just take advantage of someone because they don’t have the means of getting an attorney,” he said.

The case highlights how complicated property law and real estate auctions can become, especially when technical details — such as whether a street is considered private or public — are overlooked. Experts note that unusual situations like this aren’t entirely unheard of: mistakes in property descriptions or outdated homeowner association documents can sometimes lead to buyers inheriting unexpected liabilities, from shared driveways to utility easements.

For Fauntleroy, what started as an affordable path toward homeownership has dragged into a multi-year dispute that underscores the hidden pitfalls of bargain real estate. While the city pushes forward with its eminent domain claim, he continues to argue that his accidental ownership should be valued more fairly

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