Shelter Cove Lots In California
Ripoff California beach front prop. Unbuildable too steep for septic tanks

This scam has been around and in my opinion ENCOURAGED by city officials and greedy businessmen of Shelter Cove, Ca. Lots were partitioned off in 1965, into neighborhoods on the hillsides. People from all over the world bought the parcels and paid their yearly taxes. When it came time to build, in some cases years later, they asked the city for all the permits. It turns out that some lots with a slope of 30% or higher cannot be issued a septic tank permit, making the land almost worthless. So imagine buying property, making yearly tax payments and not being able to use your land in the end. What do you do? You sell it off to some other unsuspecting sucker, or you stop paying the taxes and let the land go into default. It takes a couple of years for the City to reclaim the land, and then they in turn auction it off for way cheap. Since the tax collectors are not real eastate agents, they are not required or obligated to list any problems w / the parcels. The city has a slew of excuses of why they can't warn people and just continue the cycle. They give a "Buyer beware" and "Due your due diligence" lecture.

For more info on the story of S.C. Property, please do an internet search for articles from "The North Coast Journal".
08/28/03~ 09/04/03~ 04/22/04~ 06/01/04 are the dates of publication. The articles go into more depth and should be read to start your research.

Look out for these auction sellers on E-bay:
Loan Valley
Government Auction
Time Sharing 101
jdxlosa75nw
susanmallen
pepperick
These folks are currently selling or has sold S.C. Property in the past. They may have been or could be the worthless lots, but you really can't know until you hire (and they aren't cheap) an engineer to survey the land. I wouldn't be surprised if one of these bad parcels haven't been surveyed before. But every time a survey is done, someone gets paid. Why stop that moneymaker and warn people? Ask the seller what the slope is. Remember, 30% is too steep. But my guess is that any CALIFORNIA BEACH FRONT / OCEAN VEIW PROPERTY selling for $10 grand or less, should be approached with great caution. C'mon, this is California.
Here are some City numbers:

*Humboldt County Planning and Building Dept. 707 445 7541
(building restrictions & requirements for permits)

*County Tax Collector's office. 707 476 2450
(You can find out more on parcel ownership and auction info)

*Shelter Cove Resort Improvement District 707 986 7447

*Permit Specialist 707 445 7245

Every consumer understands that due diligence is a very good idea before any purchase. But do you know what a 30% slope looks like by looking at it? Why would you hire a surveyor until you're ready to build and the seller re-assures yout that that the land is buildable? This is the kind of reasoning that the city hopes you have, that way they can scam you too by collecting taxes! Shame on you Shelter Cove! Government can make you wear a helmet to save your life, but in turn scam you out of your life savings.

Company: Shelter Cove Lots In California
Country: USA
State: California
City: Shelter Cove
Address: 780 Montague Expressway #703

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