Pine View Estates lawsuit seeks to clear up title

The original owner of the property where Pine View Estates sits said Friday it’s not his intention to evict the community’s residents.

Mark Kizer said he filed the lawsuit to clear up uncertainty around the title to the land.

“I did not start this lawsuit with the intent to evict any of the residents of the Pine View development from their homes,” he said. “My preferred outcome would be to transfer ownership of the land to the residents. This transfer would also provide an opportunity for me to receive the fair market compensation required by federal law.”

Kizer said Pine View residents bought what they thought was a valid interest in the land where they built their homes.

“The residents’ interests should be protected by their title insurers, who are in the business of verifying a property’s good title before insuring it, and are responsible for losses resulting from a defective title.”

Kizer is suing the developer, PTP Inc., more than 260 homeowners and the Pine View Estates Homeowners Association.

“Nearly 20 years ago, the Bureau of Indian Affairs negotiated a long-term lease of my property with the developer that built the Pine View Estates in Gardnerville,” Kizer said. “The terms of the lease also failed to provide me with fair value for my property, also in violation of federal law. The lease’s invalidity has caused a great deal of uncertainty for me and the residents of Pine View Estates.”

According to the federal lawsuit filed on Feb. 26, the agreement would allow the developer, or the homeowners’ association, the right to purchase the property for $500 a lot or $100,000 for the whole property after 10 years.

Indian trust lands must be sold for fair market value at the time of purchase, according to the lawsuit.

The 99-year length of the lease was also in question since the longest lease possible for the site was 50 years.

The 240-unit subdivision sits on 62 acres in the Pine Nut Mountains south of Gardnerville.