Expert Answer :Martin has decided to retire after many years

Solved by verified expert :PROPERTY CASE STUDYPROPERTYMartin has decided to retire after many years as a deputy in a small North Carolina townand as a detective in Raleigh. Though Martin sometimes appeared to be a bumbling lawenforcement officer, it turns out that he was a dutiful saver and a shrewd investor, andnow he owns an interest in some prime real estate in the North Carolina mountains, aswell as a second home on the North Carolina coast.Mountain Property:Martin purchased the mountain property 31 years ago as joint tenants with a right ofsurvivorship with his friends Peter, John, and Thomas. All of the friends have passedaway, and Martin has not been back to the property in more than 20 years.Peter had apparently indicated in his will that he was leaving his interest in the propertyto his son Andrew. A few years back, Andrew took out a personal loan using hispurported interest in the property as collateral. When Andrew defaulted on the loan lastmonth, the lender initiated a legal action to foreclose on the property. Martin hired an oldfriend with whom he used to go to church, who is now an attorney in Raleigh, to addressthe lender’s legal action. The matter is still pending.Remembering that a trout-filled stream ran through the property, Martin decided to do alittle fly-fishing. When he drove out to the property, Martin was surprised to see smokerising from the stone chimney of a little cabin that someone had constructed in the centerof the land since the last time Martin had visited. When he approached the cabin, Martinsuddenly heard a shot ring out and a bullet whiz past his head. Ducking for cover, Martinheard a familiar voice. It was Otis, from the small town where Martin had been a deputy,yelling and telling him to “Git off my land.”Gathering his senses, Martin identified himself and told Otis it was actually his land andthat he had the deed to prove it. Otis replied that he didn’t care about the deed, and that hehad lived on the property openly and notoriously for some 20 years, and, as far as he wasconcerned, it was now his. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, Martinhopped into his 1966 Pontiac GTO, which he had bought at auction from the sheriff’soffice, and headed back east. He stopped in Raleigh to contact his attorney and asked himto deal with Otis’s claim as well.Coastal Property:Since his fishing trip was spoiled, Martin decided to head to his beach house inWilmington, NC. Martin noticed several signs for a new Tar Heel Family Resort alongthe way. The signs all said, “Coming Soon.” Martin half-smiled as he thought about howsorry he was for whatever poor souls owned property next to that tacky place. Turning thecorner to the street where his beach house was located, Martin was horrified to seeseveral of his neighbors’ properties were being torn down and that there was a signstating, “Future home of the Tar Heel Family Resort” positioned right next door to hisbeach house. When he pulled into the driveway, Martin noticed a bright orange envelopeattached to his front door. Inside the envelope, Martin found a notice from the cityauthorities saying his property was being taken by eminent domain in order to make wayPage 1 of 3 for the new resort. The notice had a letter attached talking about all the new businessesand jobs the resort would bring to the community.Having just survived the encounter in the mountains and now being faced with the loss ofhis beach house, Martin became enraged and marched down to the city offices tochallenge the city’s actions. The city attorney told Martin he was sorry, but that there wasreally nothing he could do about the seizure of the house. He assured that Martin wouldreceive the full market value for his property in compensation.Martin returned to his property and placed another call to his attorney for assistance indealing with the seizure.Personal Property:As Martin was hanging up the phone he heard a knock at the door. Upon opening thedoor, Martin was pleased to see a former girlfriend, Miranda. After exchangingpleasantries, Miranda told Martin that she had decided to leave the small town where theyhad both lived and resettle at the beach. Caught up in the excitement of the reunion,Martin invited Miranda out to dinner at the swankiest restaurant in town: the RiverboatBistro. Embarrassed, Miranda said she wasn’t sure she had an outfit that was fancyenough for the Riverboat, but Martin assured her that even the fancy restaurants at thebeach allowed casual attire, so her casual dress and his polo shirt and shorts should befine.When he drove up to the restaurant, Martin noticed a sign that indicated valet parkingwas available. A young man in a neatly pressed Riverboat uniform, who identifiedhimself as Benjamin, approached the vehicle and asked Martin if he would like his carparked. Martin handed over his keys and walked around to the other side of the car toopen the door for Miranda. Taking her arm under his, Martin proudly escorted his dateinto the Riverboat Bistro as the young man drove off in the GTO.When he entered the restaurant, Martin was horrified to see that everyone inside waswearing formal dress attire. He quickly ushered Miranda back out the door and looked forthe valet. Not seeing the young man anywhere and noticing the sign indicating that valetparking was available was now folded up and lying under some bushes, Martin went backto the entrance and asked the hostess if she could call the valet to retrieve his car.“Valet?” asked the hostess. “We have no valet service tonight sir. Only on weekends.”“But what about Benjamin?” argued Martin.“We had a valet name Benjamin,” she responded, “but he quit yesterday. We are stillwaiting for him to return his uniforms.”The Wilmington police officer couldn’t help but snicker as he took the police report.“1966 Pontiac GTO, huh? Shouldn’t be too hard to find that.”On the cab ride home, Martin felt a mixture of anger and mortification. “It’s fine,Martin,” said Miranda. “I never was that fond of seafood and I’m sure your car will turnup.”Martin’s car was found three weeks later at the Classic Car Show in Mount Olive, NC.The man showing the car had purchased it from a used car lot in Kinston, NC, which hadPage 2 of 3 taken the vehicle from a young fellow matching Benjamin’s description, as a trade for a1967 Mustang convertible. Neither the man who was showing the car nor the used cardealer had any idea that the vehicle had been stolen. Martin asked for the car back, butthe man in possession said he was not giving it up until somebody reimbursed him for the$5,600.00 that he had paid for the vehicle. Martin placed another call to his attorney.Page 3 of 3