Complaint Review: Lori Carnes - Russell And Jeffcoat Realtors

Two years ago I bought a home in South Carolina. The home had been foreclosed on and was being sold by an out of state broker for Bank of America. Like most bank-owned repossessions the property disclosure was choc full with every possible problem from A-Z. But what really scared me was that the broker had foundation problems listed in the property disclosure.

Before I put an offer on the house I wanted to know how much the foundation would potentially cost to be fixed. My real estate agent suggested a foundation repair company named TerraTec. I called and asked them to provide a worst-case cost scenario assuming foundation problems did in fact exist. My understanding was that this was not to be a formal estimate but rather a worst case cost scenario to help me use as a baseline for negotiations. Some days later I was given the cost estimates along with the companys methodology for fixing foundation and cement.

In the mean time, my loan officer at Palmetto Citizens FCU called another company she dealt with on foundation issues, Mount Valley. A highly respected, professional sales engineer named Jim McLeod from Mount Valley went out to my house to give the bank a real estimate for fixing the foundation. He concluded that the crack in the concrete was not caused by movement in the foundations. He said that the concrete could have separated during the curing process when it was first poured. I called Jim McLeod myself and asked some pretty tough questions. He told me that in his opinion, the property did not have any foundation issues and recommended I hire a flooring repairman.

Based on this information my lender decided to approve a loan for the house and I submitted an offer which was accepted by the bank. I then put over $35,000 into the house for numerous repairs and upgrades because I thought I would be living there for many years. The tile installers alone spent almost three weeks working at the house. To repair the crack, they used a chipping hammer to break out a long section of the concrete where the crack was. They re-enforced the widened crack with small rebar-like metal rods and poured super strong, latex-modified cement into the gap and let it dry for two or three days. After it was dry they bought over $500 dollars worth of anti-fracture membrane in long rolls and layed a six-foot swath of it over the top running the entire length of the crack. After this they trowelled on another layer of red anti-fracture compound over the top of the membrane and two or three feet on each side of the membrane. The concrete repairs went above and beyond what was required under code. After two years (two seasons of 14 degree cold to 105 degree heat) the tile is in perfect condition.

Now flash forward two years. I had to relocate to Atlanta for work. My house has been on the market for eight months. I was finally close to selling it to an older couple moving from Florida who absolutely loved the house. But as you will find out, their realtor Ms. Carnes decided single-handed to kill the deal. In the first minute of our first conversation Ms. Carnes rudely informed me that she had read the previous home disclosure and went on to accuse me of intentionally omitting foundation problems in my disclosure! I told her almost verbatim what I wrote above and suggested that she contact Mount Valley and TerraTec to confirm.

Ms. Carnes apparently had a contact at TerraTec and got them to fax her the original worst-case scenario cost estimate I had requested two years ago. I later called the president of TerraTec for an explanation. She told me that they informed Ms. Carnes that the information she was being faxed was out of date, may not be accurate and was not meant to be used as a finding of fact.

Instead of doing proper due diligence (her job) by contacting Mount Valley, the company who did the official estimate for my lender, Ms. Carnes gave the worst-case cost estimate to her clients with apparently no qualification and told them I was committing property disclosure fraud!!! Before this I had established a very good relationship with the gentlemen from Florida. His last email to me echoed Ms. Carnes false accusations against me and he said that I was unlikely to find any more potential buyers like himself. Given all of the money, time and effort I have poured into my house, this was

Ms. Carnes false accusation that I committed property disclosure fraud is considered slander by most definitions. It is also highly offensive to me personally as my integrity has been publically tarnished and it has caused further financial losses on my house. Ms. Carnes failure to perform proper due diligence before publically accusing me of a crime is grounds for disciplinary action or suspension of her real estate license under South Carolina Real Estate License Law.

Finally, for the record - my house does not have foundation problems and never did. I would not have purchased it if there was any doubt about that. I would never try to conceal known problems with my house to any buyer! Because Ms. Carnes accused me of committing fraud on my home disclosure and communicated that view to others, including her clients, she has left me with no choice but to respond to her false allegations. If left unanswered, her false statements could devastate the value of my home in the local market, making it virtually unsellable.

James
Irmo, South Carolina
U.S.A.