Real estate officials will not refund a Florida man who bought a strip of grass between two houses for US$9,100 (NZ$13,980) because he thought he was bidding on a house.
Kerville Holness won an online auction for what he thought was a villa worth US$177,000 (NZ$271,921).
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However what he actually bought was a 30 centimetre wide 30 metre long strip of grass in between two villas. The actual value of the land is US$50 (NZ$76).
The land was for sale at an auction of homes which had defaulted on their taxes.
"It's deception," Holness told The Sun Sentinel.
"There was no demarcation to show you it's just a line going through [the villa duplex], even though they have the tools to show that," he said.
But this is disputed by county officials and real estate experts.
"He may go to court and find some error in the sale procedure," real estate attorney Gary Singer told the Sentinel.
"Generally speaking, he bought what he was supposed to have bought."
The county has now put a warning on the online auction site, warning buyers to "do your research" and that "Tax Deed sales are not for the uninformed."
Holness says the pictures linked to the auction showed the villa as the site he was bidding on. However, the Sentinel reports the sites' information said the building had no value and was only 30 centimetres wide.
"If I'm vindictive enough I can cut right through the garage wall and the home to get to my air space, but what use would that be to me?" said Holness.
Holness was not the only person fooled by the listing - he was one of four bidders on the land.
Newshub.
