Complaint Review: Crown Communities Inc

August 19, 2015 my wife and I placed a house under contract at the Arbors of Grayson In Grayson GA with Crown Homes LLC of Conyers GA. During the discussion between us and Kim C we made it extremely clear we had to sell our Texas home prior to having a down payment to complete the closing on the home. The lender Southeast Mortgage also asked during the prequalification about needing to sell the home and we advised him as well we DID need to do so.

Kim wrote up the contract with the option "does not have real property to sell" which was exactly the opposite of what we told her. As we went through the contract review we felt rushed and there were several distractions and we did not notice this until the 18th. Later that day I sent Kim an email about the possibility of delays in closing and inquired about a $65 a day closing stipulation if delayed. She advised since we used the preferred lender that would be waived.

I sent David H at Southeast mortgage an email at 3:09 am CT explaining we had some timing issues and other things that threatened to derail the September 30th closing, primary of which was length of time to sell our home, some repairs that popped up needing resolution prior to listing, etc. I was called later that day by David advising he could still finance us if I took out a home equity line of credit on our existing home to pay off student loans saying he could finance us even without selling the house. I advised I had serious reservations about encumbering the house we were selling further and that I did not want two mortgages. There was no indication whether a declination letter would be provided on that date.

August 22nd, 2015 12:56 am CT, I sent Kim a detailed email outlining issues asking for a later closing date (November 2015) again advising without the sale of the house we could not provide a down. She responded that her boss wouldn't wait that long but could write us a contract on another lot with the same floor plan for later in the year.

August 29th we returned to Atlanta after learning there would definitely be slippage of the September 30th date and after a lengthy discussion with Kim advised we wanted to terminate the contract and wanted to get our earnest money back. August 30th, we received an email saying earnest would not be returned but no reason was given and would we consider doing business with Crown in a different community using (maybe) the earnest money for that, but she'd have to find out from her boss's boss. I told her I would look into arbitration further and would file complaints as appropriate based on our experience, that we did not feel anyone suffered a loss but us.

We think distraction was used to slip past us the fact the contract was written opposite to what we indicated on numerous occasions that we DID have property to sell in order to purchase. Printer problems, internet access issues, phone calls, etc. We would like a reason as to why the earnest is not being returned and why the contract was written contrary to what we told Kim (and the lender). We do not believe anyone has suffered any loss here but us, since it appeared nothing had been done to the home since signing the contract. We also feel we gave early warnings of issues that would derail the process, including financing issues and the lender did not provide a declination letter based on that information within the 7 day limited financing contingency period.

I would URGE others dealing with Crown to be cautious about distractions and very carefully read the contract, despite any distractions that may be present.