Vacate or Else

(Guangzhou, China) It appears that real estate developers use innovative methods to encourage homeowners to sell their property. Here's a case where the developer gave a lone holdout some added incentive to move. A moat was dug around the property.

According to Ms. Li, the family was awaken on early morning of October 13 by loud machine noises. They came out and saw that seven or eight workers operating a bulldozer. The neighbors tried to stop the work. "The workers said that they were digging out the steel beams underneath the earth. But this was just several meters from our house. What if they collapse the building?" Although Ms. Li and her neighbors protested, the digging continued. In one week's time, a crescent-shaped moat appeared.

"This is cutting off our connection to the outside world!" Ms. Li said the moat caused a number of senior citizens with poor health to stay trapped inside their own homes. It also caused great inconvenience to them." In July this year, someone let loose some snakes into their home. They suspected that it was a way to get them to leave.

A moat? Snakes? I wonder what else the developer will try.

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