Complaint Review: Building A Better Tomorrow LLC

After i accpepted a posotion in Atlanta, GA in January, 2008 we could not sell our house due to the motgage crisis that hit the counrty.

We put our house on the market in December, 2007, and it remained listed until August, 2008.  Because the house was empty, and the change in weather, mold was found in the basement and had to be remediated, it disqualified us from the government buying our house. This was after we spent over $13,000 getting the mold fixed in August 2008.  Because we could not continue to pay the mortgage on the house in Cheverly, and lease a place in Atlanta, we were referred to Vadie and Elijah Reese, owners of Building A Better Tomorrow, LLC in Waldorf, Md, by a friend, http://fasthomesavers.net/ContactUs.cfm who assist individuals who need to lease/sale their home.

We signed a 36 month agreement with Building A Better Tomorrow, LLC that state that they would lease my home, pay the mortgage on time, even if the house had tenants or not, and at the end of the 36 months, they would purchase our house at the price of $359,999 at the end of the agreement. We were to pay $756.35 to Building A Better Tomorrow, LLC every month to supplement the rent that they collected, which was deducted out of our checking account to cover the mortgage payment, because they could only lease my house for around $1,500 per month. 

We agreed to this arraignment, because it did give us some relief from having to pay the full mortgage amount of $2,300 per month.

All was going well until the summer of 2009, when I started getting phone calls from Citi Mortgage saying that my mortgage payment was being paid late each month. I spoke to Ms. Reese about my concern, and she informed me that they were making the payments at the end of the month. I told her that I had a problem with that, because of the late fees and my credit rating.  She informed me that it would not be a problem.

Well, move forward to the summer of 2010.  My job offered me a position back in Washington in June, 2010.  I met with Ms. Reese in her office, on May 27^th in her office to see what we could do about my family moving back into the house. My wife called into the office while I was there. We were told that the current family has a lease that did not end until January, 2010, and she and I had an agreement, if we wanted to move back in the house, there would be costs that we would incur in order to make that happen, such as paying for the family to move, paying their security deposit for another place, plus costs to Building A Better Tomorrow, LLC for their expenses.  She advised me that she would run some numbers and get back with us. 

We moved back to the Metro area into temporary quarters in Old Town, Alexandria for 60 days, until August 2, 2010.  The government only allows 60 days of temp housing for relocating employees. During the summer, we repeatedly called to speak with Ms. Reese, about her running the numbers, and how we could deal with our situation, but she would never return any of my phone calls.  My wife and I had to find permanent housing, so we signed a lease for a house in NW DC that we moved into on August 4, 2010.

We stopped making the $756.35 payment to Building A Better Tomorrow, LLC in August, 2010 after repeated attempts to speak with Ms. Reese regarding this issue, repeated calls from former neighbors about problems that the tenants were causing with the police constantly coming to the house due to disturbances from these tenants. I was able to reach Ms. Reese one Friday evening and was told that she would look into the disturbances, and that she would get back in touch with me the next day, but she never did.

On Thursday, September, 23^rd, 2010, we received an overnight package from Citimortgage, stating that they will start foreclosure proceeding on our house because the mortgage had not been paid for 3 months at that time. On October 1, 2010, it would be 4 months.

I went to Ms. Reeses office on Friday, September 24, 2010 to find out what was going on.  I met with the Property Manager, a Ms. Kenya Hunter 301-219-2221 who informed me that Ms. Reese was out of town, and would not be in the office until Tuesday, September, 28, 2010.  I was also informed by Ms. Hunter that the tenants have not paid their rent in 3 months. I asked her why havent they been evicted, and she said that Ms. Reese would have to initiate that procedure. I asked her why Building A Better Tomorrow, LLC hadnt paid my mortgage in accordance with the contract that I signed, and she said that Ms. Reese would have to talk to me about that when she returned.  I have yet to speak with Ms. Reese about this. Her voice mail is not accepting any messages, and she never answers her personal phone, 773-551-7003. Her husband, Mr. Elijah Reese never answers his phone either 301-535-4465. The phone at their office goes directly into voice mail, 301-638-0004 every time you call the number. They have a sign posted on the door to their office advising visitors that they only see individuals by appointment only, and if you want to make a payment to slide it under the door.

Since we could not get anyone from Building A Better Tomorrow, LLC, to return any of my telephone calls for text messages, I drove out to my property on Tuesday, October 12, 2010 to speak with the tenants. I spoke to the tenants who said that she was the renter.  I explained to her that I was the owner of the house, and I needed to speak with her about the late rent payments.  The tenant stated to me that she was receiving Section 8 housing subsidy, and that she paid $520.00 per month in rent to Building A Better Tomorrow, LLC, and that she was current in her payments. She showed me receipts of payments for July, August, September and October, 2010.  She said that section 8 pays $1,520.00 directly to Building A Better Tomorrow, LLC. 

This was all news to me. I advised them that I was told by Ms. Kenya Hunter, the property manager that the reason Building A Better Tomorrow, LLC had not paid my mortgage payment, was because they (the tenant) had not paid her rent. She said that, that was a d**n lie.  I told her that I received a Notice of Intent to Foreclose on my property since the mortgage had not been paid in 3 months. She said that she would go down to the Section 8 office in the morning, and call me once she was there.  She provided me with a copy of her rental agreement. Also, her husband told me that his cousin used to work for Building A Better Tomorrow, LLC, and he called him while I was there, and let me speak to him.  His cousin told me that Vadis and Elijah Reese have another company called Matrix, and that they use the money they receive from Building A Better Tomorrow, LLC to keep this business afloat, and that I was not the only person that they are doing this too. He said that the reason he quit, was because they were doing some shady business and that he was not trying to go to jail.  He advised me to take over managing this section 8 contact myself.

I also told the tenant that Ms. Kenya Hunter, the Property Manager would not answer or return repeated messages to me. He said that she will answer if he called her, and she did, and he handed me the phone.  I asked her why hadnt she returned any of my calls, and if she had spoken to Ms. Reese about this foreclosure notice, and about making these back mortgage payments on my property? She said that Ms. Reese is aware of this and that she was told that Ms. Reese would be contacting me, which to this day; I have not received a call from Ms. Reese. Ms. Hunter said that she is not authorized to make any financial payments as part of her responsibilities. She said that she would let Ms. Reese know that I needed to speak with her ASAP.

I contacted the Prince Georges County Government Department of Housing and Community development rental assistance division on Wednesday, October, 13, 2010, and spoke with a the Director of Finance, and explained to her what had transpired.  She stated that all their agency could do was terminate the agreement with Building A Better Tomorrow, LLC, and start an agreement with me directly, and advised me to send her a letter requesting that I receive the rental payments beginning November, 2010.  I faxed her a letter, a copy of a cancelled check, and completed a W-9 form to initiate this action. 

I contacted an attorney, Mr. Mike Morin, in Annapolis, MD and he advised me that Building A Better Tomorrow, LLC appears to be a scam, that they were not registered with SDAT, and for me to stop the payments from being deducted from my checking account, contact my insurance company to take Building A Better Tomorrow, LLC off my policy, and to notify my lender to not to mail anything to Building A Better Tomorrow, LLC, and to get the names of the tenants living in the property.

My wife and I do not want to lose our house, and we dont want it to be foreclosed on to ruin our credit.  We know we are responsible for this mortgage, but we have been taken advantage of, and are seeking a solution to this problem that is not going to ruin us financially. Any and all help you can offer us will be greatly appreciated.