As far as I can tell (from trying to parse Dutch legalese), the owner of the land, county Soest in this case, gained ownership of everything built on the proper

As far as I can tell (from trying to parse Dutch legalese), the owner of the land, county Soest in this case, gained ownership of everything built on the property when the lease was nullified. The way mortgages work in this country, the man with the sledgehammer would still be responsible for repaying the loan in full, even though he was no longer in possession of the collateral. If I had known or fully grasped all this years earlier, I would never have bought a house!