Mr. Kerville Holness of Tamarac, Florida, thought he’d scored big when his $9,100 bid for a $177,000 villa in South Florida was accepted. The home was part of an online auction in March of properties that had been foreclosed on. Only later did he find out he paid thousands of dollars for a one-foot-wide, 10-foot-long stretch of grass between two driveways. 

Now the first-time bidder wants Broward County to void the deal and return his money. 

“It’s deception,” Holness told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “There was no demarcation to show you that it’s just a line going through (the villa duplex), even though they have the tools to show that.” 

Broward County officials aren’t sure why the strip of land was put up for auction separately from the properties on either side of it, but they say they can’t refund Holness’ money.