Couple discovers they are barred by law from building home on new property

It seemed like the perfect spot to build their home, but now a couple relocating from North Dakota discovered they can't build a thing. It's because of an unusual utility right-of-way easement that they didn't know about when they bought the vacant land. Consumer Investigator Shannon Behnken joins us live in studio tonight to explain. Josh Stacey, I have covered real estate for decades. I've never come across an easement issue quite like this one. Donna Hartle and her husband were excited in January when they bought this lot for $17,500. Nestled between Islewood Drive and Rich Barn Road in Brooksville. We really wanted to have some privacy, not be stranded out in the country. We just felt this was the perfect match. The real estate listing described the property as your dream home's canvas. The couple hired a builder to draft plans and did their homework with Hernando County Government. I was getting the green light on everything. My property was being brought up on the GIS map with the county. I got my setbacks, what I could and couldn't do. I could bring a modular home and a mobile home or I could do a single family residence. Back in January, there was a slender wooden utility pole on the land, which they say they thought would sit just behind their new home. When the couple arrived last month, they found this, a large concrete Duke Energy transmission pole, along with many others up and down the area. Came to our property on Monday, November 11th and saw that pole behind us and went, whoa, whoa, whoa. And a neighbor happened to stop by and introduce themselves and said, I don't know what you're doing here, but Duke Energy has an easement over your entire property and you will never be able to build here. Donna tells me she had numerous conversations with confused county workers who at first told her they could still build. But after she reached Duke Energy, she tells me she was provided this document that was filed in 1955, prohibiting buildings or structures within 100 feet of this right away. So we came back with our wheel and spray paint and turns out you cannot build 100 feet in any direction of that pole, which leads us to this tiny corner here of maybe 600 square feet. And you can't even build a small home because your septic and well have to be so far away from the home. So that leaves nothing. The property is zoned for agricultural or residential use. Yet the hurdles can't build a residence. Still, they are stuck paying taxes on this land used by the utility company. There is a lot to unpack here. I'm looking into why this didn't come up during the sales process and what was disclosed by the sellers. In the meantime, I spoke with Hernando's assistant property appraiser and he tells me that this is a very large easement. It's very unusual. And his office did not know about it until the hurdles notified them. Now they have decided to lower the property value by 50 percent to just six thousand six hundred ninety one dollars. Oh, this is a bad one. You've never seen something. No, no, no, I have not. OK, so there's so many questions. But if you can't build a residence there, then why is it zoned residential? It doesn't make any sense. That is one of the questions that I have been asking the county all day long because it is zoned residential. This easement means that Duke, though, doesn't have to pay any money for this land in order to use it as they are now. So I did ask Duke about this and I was provided a statement that said that they encourage property owners to do their due diligence to understand the full history and scope of the property, including understanding the terms of any easement. The county tells me that they cannot rezone this property because they don't own it. So, of course, there's more to come. Can't wait for part two. Goodness, I hope you can help. That's rough. Thanks so much.