We sold our house on January 4th of this year. We could not attend the closing (because we were still in Hawaii) but had a power of attorney present at the closing. Over the next week or so we received all the settlement papers, the proceeds, etc. We were done. Or so we thought.
Now, today, I received a handwritten, roughly written statement from the realtor. He says we owe HIS WIFE over a thousand dollars. We paid almost six thousand dollars for necessary repairs to the house in order to sell it (we did not dispute that - it was an older house and we understood that certain things needed to be done in order to pass inspections, for the buyer to get financing, and for the sale to go through; these were things like gutters, a new stove, new windows, etc).
His wife is not a business associate of his (legally). She does some errands for him, but she is not a realtor, not a professional.
She is involved with Amway and through her Amway business she gets discounts at some stores like Home Depot. Not big discounts, but hey, anything's a help, right?
So our realtor told us that she personally charged the thousand dollars on her personal credit card at Home Depot in order to purchase the stove, some gutters, some siding materials, and miscellaneous items related to the repairs. We never knew this until today!
I called our realtor and he said "hey, she could save you a few bucks so I figured I'd help you out". I did not want someone else charging my home repairs on their personal card.
And to wait five months before informing us of this?
I'm pretty furious. What would you do?
Oh, P.S., although we are not socially friends with the realtor, I am friends with his wife, I knew her before she married him a few years ago. We would never do business with him again, but I don't want to stiff my friend.
The repairs were done, and the realtor, I'll call him R, told his wife, I'll call her W, that he had billed us last December when they were done. That was a lie. R told us that the funds we gave him were enough. Another lie.
R considers himself to be a realtor and a mentor of sorts. Admittedly, our buyers could use mentoring, but by someone qualified, not a realtor or the plumber or a sign painter. The wife has frequent health issues and is quirky, to say the least, and the husband is scatter-brained, but none of their issues prevented them from legally and in good conscience buying our house. They're middle-aged and employed. So we discovered that R continues to call them "to encourage them" and they continue to call R for advice. They called him recently to complain about a dripping faucet - not a leaky sink or a burst pipe, simply a drip. R gave them a lot of sympathy and listened to their rant (they were angry, saying the faucet shouldn't drip after they purchased the house). And R told them he'd contact us about getting us to pay for some electrical upgrade. Not an issue like a safety issue, but some kind of upgrade like dimmer switches instead of regular ones. And the house, prior to sale, was completely legally inspected, appraised, and approved by the county, the title company, the lender, etc. Also, R is not their friend, their realtor, or anything else. He just likes to counsel people but he is not a counselor, never has been.
So this is our decision: we are going to pay W, my friend, the thousand dollars. We are going to hand her the check directly, not mail it to R. We did get receipts, the expenses are legit, the repairs were done. R just did not bill us for these until now. And these were things we could not have known about - things like stuff that goes under siding, or stuff that is needed to install a gutter, or things that go under a floor.
And we are going to get a statement in writing from R, signed and dated. It will say that he has finalized all the house sale, that any further "expenses" that he discovers are his responsibility, and that he will not discuss us in any sense with the buyers.
Also, W is never again going to recommend her husband, R, as a realtor or property manager to anyone she personally knows. Sad lesson.
I thank all of you for your answers and advice. We've learned a few lessons ourselves.
Featured Answers
J.C.
answers from
Philadelphia
on
I would remind him that you already paid $6,000 in repairs and you thought the gutters and such were included in that amount.
Tell him you will need an itemized list with receipts for the original $6,000 as well as the new $1000 he now wants you to pay. Until you can verify this is a legitimate expense, I would not pay a dime.
His timing is off and the fact this wasn’t communicated to you months ago is just strange. If he had said this expense fell through the cracks or gave some excuse it may make more sense. As of now though, I’m questioning this. To receive a roughly written note 5 months later seems pretty shady. If I were him I think I would have just eaten this.
Good luck!
6 moms found this helpful
Report This
More Answers
M.6.
answers from
New York
on
Yikes! My question to the realtor would be "why wasn't this listed as a line item on our settlement statement at closing"?
First, I'd be checking the line items on the settlement statement to see if you actually weren't already charged and the realtor isn't double-dipping.
Second, I'd ask for an itemized listing AND copies of not only the receipts but the credit card statements itself. I'd maybe even ask the new home owner to cross check the serial numbers from the appliance to the one on the receipt.
Finally, I think I would reach out to my friend directly rather than deal with the husband. This is no longer a "business deal" - it stopped being business as soon as the home was closed on. If your friend used her credit card to make purchases, while it was unprofessional of the husband to not include it on the settlement statement, now it is basically just a personal loan/advance from a friend and dealing directly with her will allow you to treat it as such.
Good luck - I know the move was tough enough on you without this nonsense!!!
10 moms found this helpful
Report This
M.G.
answers from
Portland
on
So they did the repairs for you, etc. and you already paid $6000 for this, and you thought that was it.
Then you get this additional bill for $1000 five months later that you didn't know about.
I don't know. That seems really odd to me. So did you get to see the bills? I would want to see all the bills - like what you paid for. Maybe I'm not reading this correctly.
If I was going to fork over $1000 all this time later, for someone's Home Depot bill (on her personal card), I'd want to see what for.
I get she's your friend, but that's just odd.
I know our realtor socially - quite well. That seems very unprofessional. Ours would never have done something like that.
8 moms found this helpful
Report This
C.C.
answers from
New York
on
Call or email HER (the wife) directly:
"Hi Suzy, this is E.. Your husband Bill tells me that you paid for some of our home items on your personal credit card...? Hubby and I had no idea about that. I certainly don't want you to be out any money for our home repairs, but could you please forward along the receipts so Hubby and I can see exactly what we are all talking about with this?"
7 moms found this helpful
Report This
M.D.
answers from
Pittsburgh
on
I would ask her to send copies of itemized receipts for the entire repair - what was paid for previously by the contractor (I assume a contractor did the repairs), and what was on her credit card (the actual itemized home depot receipts) so that you know what you are paying for, exactly, and to make sure that nothing is duplicated. The charge dates should be on her credit card statements and Home Depot should be able to print out these receipts for her using those dates if she can't find the original receipts after 5 months.
Assuming the charges are legit, I think it's fair to pay her.
6 moms found this helpful
Report This
J.C.
answers from
Anchorage
on
The time frame thing is all wrong, if you are not billed for something in a timely manner that is a huge red flag. Do they have itemized receipts for all these items and proof they went into the home or it this hand written "bill" all they have given you? Without proof of where that money went I would not pay a dime.
6 moms found this helpful
Report This
D.B.
answers from
Boston
on
The 5-month time frame bothers me. A lot.
Do you have the paperwork and receipts on the $6000 you did pay? If not, ask for it. I guess that would be from him. Just a short, business-like request for the records. Then email your friend (bypassing him entirely) and say what ChaCha said. Don't say, "I'll pay you" or "send a list of what we owe you." Leave it more vague - friendly but asking for records, not just the amount. Also, I would think the new owners would want that info for things like warranties, but you would need to cover your own behinds in that regard as well. If they say they don't have them, tell them to just stop by Home Depot with the credit card statements showing the date of sale, and have the store print out a duplicate.
Make both of these about completing your files. After all, you would need this info for taxes, right? You've sold a piece of property so you need records. So say it's for back-up for the IRS. That should get him (and her too) to give you something precise (not handwritten).
5 moms found this helpful
Report This
S.T.
answers from
Washington DC
on
this stinks to high heaven.
if indeed your friend paid for some of your home repairs on her personal credit card, then yeah, i too would want her indemnified.
but a handwritten note from her husband 5 months later?
stinky stinky stinky.
send a certified letter to BOTH of them requesting an itemized list with receipts of what she purchased. ask them why it wasn't presented at or prior to the closing. compare it to whatever expenses you DID see and pay for.
if it all pans out, well, send her a check. but i sure wouldn't without doing due diligence first.
cuz this stinks.
khairete
S.
5 moms found this helpful
Report This
W.W.
answers from
Washington DC
on
How do you think the repairs were done? WHO paid for the repairs? I'm not getting the whole story here.
If you are NOT in the same state and had a power of attorney - WHO was the power of attorney granted to? WHAT responsibilities did they have to make sure the house closed? Was there a financial obligation to them?
Yes. I'd be pissed too. But I don't get WHO was responsible for what and HOW and WHO paid for the $6K in repairs????
I would ask for the receipts and itemized list of things that were purchased, any pictures that might be relevant - like them being used IN YOUR FORMER HOME and then pay if everything checks out.
3 moms found this helpful
Report This
B.C.
answers from
Norfolk
on
If you don't want to stiff your friend - his wife - then talk with HER about it and settle it between yourselves.
Dot your I's, cross your T's - make sure you have a receipt - have it marked final payment - and then you BOTH tell her husband the matter has been dealt with.
Waiting 5 months is odd.
I'd be sure to settle this with her - because I'm not sure he's doing this with her knowledge and I'd be sure he's not trying to get some money out of you without her knowing about it.
3 moms found this helpful
Report This
J.G.
answers from
Chicago
on
Sue is right. Request an itemizes list with receipts via a certified letter.
