Great Moments in Property Rights

How's this for a homeowner's nightmare:

A couple who bought and renovated an 82-year-old house in Chevy Chase must tear it down because Montgomery County officials erred in approving the project.

Marianne and Marc Duffy said the oversight was pointed out by some high-powered neighbors who pressured the officials into rescinding approval, which will force the Duffys into bankruptcy and to demolish their $725,000 home in the 3700 block of Thornapple Street.

"Our neighbors complained, then county officials informed us that they issued our building permits in error and that we'd have to seek a variance," Mrs. Duffy said. "This is after a county official testified under oath at hearings that we were truthful and forthcoming, and that they and the permitting office fully understood what it was approving."
[...]
The couple received the renovation permits to put a two-story addition at the rear of the home. But problems quickly arose when crews found mold, wood rot and termite damage, making additional construction necessary.

The damage was so extensive that more than 50 percent of the existing walls were removed, which meant the building should have been classified as a new home and subject to different zoning regulations.

The county granted the couple new permits, then voided them and halted construction when neighbors pointed out the house was originally built seven feet too close to the street and two feet too close to the home of William Hamilton, an editor at the Washington Post, and his wife, Jane Mayer, a staff writer for the New Yorker.

Mr. Hamilton and Mrs. Mayer; ABC News reporter Jackie Judd; and prominent lawyer Michael Eig and his wife, Emily, are among those who have complained about the Duffys' home.

It seems to me that if the city made the error in approving the permits, the city should pay the bills for whatever corrections are needed. That's not going to happen since the city is trying its best to put the onus completely on the homeowners, but I hope some sharp lawyer reads this and helps these people out. Without question, they are being punished for the incompetence of the city.