Land sharks prey on newbs

Predatory land speculators find easy pickin’s

by Pollywog Gardenvale

A group of land speculators shoots the breeze and talks shop. They roll on the floor laughing, talk about devaluing land, and making quick money.

In January, one of these guys evicted sixteen people from their homes without notice. Although the tenants thought that they had purchased the property free and clear, they were, in fact, paying rent as subtenants through a PayPal account. The tenants lost thousands of U.S. dollars—not to mention their homes and many possessions.

How could such a thing happen, and how can you avoid being victimized? If you find yourself in a similar situation, where can you turn for help? What kind of people are these, anyway?

Shhh! They’re in their hideout right now! Let’s listen...

Here’s the story as told by Creston Odell, one of the evicted tenants:

I had heard about SL on the news and decided to make a chacacter and explore the game. I met some very nice people from all over the world and decided to make a long term investment and purchase property.

I had not purchased a premium account so was limited to private party purchase. I found a quiet isle and bought a 4096 sqm lot. The seller was a very nice lady who had recently decided to sell her lot she purchased from (the land speculator). I talked with her a bit and decided to go through with the deal. There were appx 16 other people on this isle who were living on property originally owned by (the land speculator).

Well, I purchased a castle to place on my land and decorated and furnished it. The tasks involved were quite enjoyable.

I had established contact with (the land speculator) regarding tier payment a week earlier and was informed I was current untill March.

In about 10 days after I purchased the property I was evicted and banned without any notice. I was not alone, every other lot owner had logged in to find the same situation. I tried to contact (the land speculator) but he did not respond. So I began to contact the others who were also evicted. Some others had been in contact with him and were told “he was developing that land” and so he evicted all the people he sold property to.

We all banned together and hired a lawyer. We proceeded to sue for damages in an attempt to recover our losses. (The land speculator) denied any liabilty and showed no remorse. He implied he was not interested in any compensation. After some badgering and legal implications he began to seem as if he might give us our money back. He did pay 3 land owners for the land he took, and the rest of us were reimbursed our lawyer cost.

Time has passed and it seems he is not intending to compensate the rest of us. As for Second Life and ‘The Lindens’ They refuse to do anything. Leaving the impression they condone private land scams. We all filed abuse reports, which should have resulted by terms of game, in (the land speculator) being banned. But it has left him free to continue to rip innocent players off for thousands of USD’s. This loop hole in the game is easily closed, yet it is not. The only way for this situation to be corrected is through real life criminal charges and all aspects of press coverage, real life and second life.