First-time buyer Teresa Aldana says her older home is turning into a money pit, and that she wasn't treated fairly by her agent or the seller. Calling everyone she can think of from attorneys to the local TV station, she wants some financial help getting some repairs completed on her home which she claims were not disclosed by the seller. She didn't get her own inspection done on the home and chose to accept the seller's and agent's word that the home was in good repair and that her new home warranty would cover any problems, she says.
Is Aldana a victim of others or herself?
Aldana's home is about 45 years old, selling for half the average home price in the Dallas/Fort Worth market. While most older homes can be expected to have problems, Aldana believes that she and her family were not treated as favorably as the seller. She says she did not sign an agency agreement, and that the agent, salesperson Victor Ugwa with Henry S. Miller Realtors Plano office, assured her that he could represent her as an intermediary, while representing the seller also.
According to Aldana, Ugwa, along with others in the transaction, including the lender, Countrywide, whom she says was also working with the seller on a new home loan, were pushing for a quick closing. She says she and her husband were told by Ugwa and the seller that the home was in good repair, and that if she wanted to save money on the transaction, she could do so by accepting an inspection report commissioned by a previous buyer who ultimately did not close on the home. She says that Ugwa also said the home warranty, which took affect at closing, would cover everything.
Three days after closing, the house began to reveal costly structural problems in the plumbing and on the roof, as well as problems with the heater, claims Aldana. She called the home warranty company who came out and told her that the expensive sewer problems are not covered under her policy and when she got estimates, she was told the repairs would be between $2,000 and $3,000. She also found out from neighbors that they had seen the seller working on the sewer line about a week before closing, which was not disclosed to her, she emphasizes.
The seller had also done his own repairs on the roof, the neighbors told Aldana. When a leak was discovered, the insurance company told her that the roof leak appeared to be coming from a poorly shingled crease in the roof. She claims that the "new roof" was a major selling point to her, but did not know to ask if the roof was done by a licensed contractor with a warranty. She is still awaiting an estimate from the insurer as to which portions of the roof damage the insurer will repair, and what a roofing company will charge to repair the remaining damage.
When she called Ugwa asking for help, he suggested she contact the seller directly, she says. The seller disavowed any knowledge of the home's problems to her, she said. When she reviewed her papers, she says she did not find a copy of the seller's disclosure, nor a copy of the previous inspection on which she had based her trust of the home's soundness.
"After that I called other people. I tried to call attorneys and they keep referring me to other attorneys," says Aldana. "They say they don't handle that kind of case. Then when I call that office, they refer me to someone else. Most want to do estate planning, they aren't interested in this kind of thing."
"That's why I called the radio show guy and haven't heard back yet," says a determined Aldana.
Aldana admits that she made the decision not to have an inspection done, but would have if her intermediary had encouraged one more emphatically. But she was anxious to save money, too.
She and her husband are only a year and a half out of bankruptcy, and she says that they were anxious to get into a home of their own. In fact, she was just as anxious for the deal to close because she and her husband were able to secure a favorable loan that would allow them to start over. This was particularly important as the couple have her mother and father living with them, and the elders are very ill, she says, so ill that she is no longer able to work and must care for them at home.
"My husband has just about up and walked out a couple of times, it's just too much for him," she says of the strain of the situation.
Although Ugwa was unable to answer questions on his manager's instructions, he did confirm that he and Aldana had spoken several weeks previously and he said he was certain that there was a disclosure form in the paperwork. His recollection was that he had represented the seller in the transaction, but when pressed for more details, he deferred to his manager.
Billie Edwards, the office manager, said she would look into the situation but that she thought it sounded like "someone might just be trying to get some money," to her. She said of Ugwa, "He has an excellent reputation. I have never known him to be unfair to anyone." She said she could not answer any questions until she had spoken with the company's attorneys.
Due to the Miller agency's inability to respond, there are a lot of unknowns at this point, such as whether Ugwa was representing the seller, the buyer or both, under Texas' transactional agency laws. Among the questions raised by the situation:
Other questions raised are why Aldana called attorneys and media before calling the brokerage for a possible solution. "Anytime a buyer has a problem, (they believe) it is the agent's fault, that is why we have arbitration and mediation," says Edwards.
While Aldana's claims are being investigated, and with arbitration possibly pending, it is unclear whether the problems the Aldanas and the Miller agency are experiencing might have been prevented by a different course of actions. Sometimes, an agent can do everything right and still end up in arbitration.
What would you have done to prevent this situation from happening and what would you do now to avoid arbitration or a possible lawsuit?
You make the call, and post your responses below.
Click Here to see a copy of the Aldanas' letter to the Miller brokerage.
