Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Virginia

I lived with my ex fiance at his home and rented my home out. He is a welder and a licensed builder as his occupation, or so I thought. He had asked me about building a garage on my property a couple years ago and I said no. A couple months later I find out by him that he already had started building one, against my consent. So, by the time I found out the foundation and half the walls were already up. I couldn't do anything and thinking that I was spending the rest of my life with this man, I thought oh well, he knows what he is doing. I completely trusted him at the time, but I really was left with no choice b/c he took total control and let me in on very little. Anyway, it was a garage for a few months, then he slowly started making it into a home and built an addition on it with a kitchen and bathroom (had no plumbing though, he said county wanted too much money to hook it up, but now I know why it never got hooked up, we had running water b/c he ran water lines to the well on the property so that didnt involve the county) and he moved us in to it. He let the banks take his home we were living in, he said he got tired of paying for it. We had renters in my home, so I thought that's why he was having us live in his new garage/home he built with no plumbing, I figured we wouldn't be there long and would move into other home when the renters lease was up. Anyway, long story short he has since left me and I am finding out that he never got proper permits for the building, the power hooked up to the building is illegal, he is not a licensed builder at all in any state of the US, his license expired a long time ago, and the county is after me now and I have to pay 750.00 and go in front of the board for this building. What are my options? What can I do? I really trusted this person, I had no idea he would desert me like this, not only that, when the renters left, I come home one day from work and he completely gutted my original home on the property, never asked me, and he began remodeling it, but has since left me and never finished the home so NOW if the county tells me I have to demolish the building he built, I have no home b/c that house is not finished, he ruined it. I wish I could tell you that I did something really bad to deserve all of this from him, but I honestly didn't do anything to him, I just found out he was cheating and he just up and left leaving me with all of this plus major debt he put me in. Anyway, what can I do about the county? I had a good job as a banquet manager making good money, but the company went under a couple years ago when the economy fell and now I'm a cafeteria lady for an elementary school making only 20k a year. Please I need to know what to do, he left me to sink and drown.


Asked on 2/02/11, 12:05 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Deal with the zoning board first to determine what can be salvaged from

this mess and what must be demolished/done away with. If at all possible,

you should have an attorney representing you who is knowledgeable and

experienced regarding land use matters in your local area, but if you

cannot arrange to hire such to represent you, then at least consult

with one before you go before the zoning board.

As for your claims against this ex-fiance who has now absconded, apparently, to parts unknown, I'm afraid your chances of ever collecting anything from this bum are about the same as your capturing a firefly in mid winter.

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Answered on 2/02/11, 12:50 pm


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