Complaint Review: Smart Move Realty - Joshua Beauchamp

Got a flyer at my apartment from Smart Move Realty advertising government grants to buy homes. I was in the market to buy a house and had already chosen one in Victorville. I made an appointment to see if we could be prequalified. While the broker explained the grant process to us his partners ran our credit. They had my husband sign a lot of paperwork including a listing agreement without telling him that he was signing for them to represent us. They told us we were qualified and ready to buy. They told us they put in the offer the next day and told us that another offer had already been accepted on the house we wanted. So they showed us some more homes that were ugly! During this time I told them that we had 60 days to end of our lease when we signed up to buy the house December 5, 2007. They found us a house they said wasn't even listed yet and showed it to us. It was newly remodeled. We wanted the other one we had looked at but they only put in the offer for the one they showed us. (They had my husband sign blank documents to save us time.)

They had me attend first time buyer classes through the County of San Bernardino so that we could qualify for the grant. We made a 1,000 dollar deposit to pay for the inspector, appraiser and termite. After our deposit went through I found out that there was no grant money left in Apple Valley. Upset with them they promised to still be able to get us a loan. (I thought we were approved)

The broker told me that I didn't need to go to my inspection but I insisted. They made sure I was an hour late they drove me. They told me to give the inspector some space because I wanted to see what he was doing. He pointed some leaks in the bathroom and kitchen as well as other minor problems. The broker had recommended the inspector and told me he was very thorough. I told the broker I wanted all the items fixed that were on the inspection report. They never were. I found that out when I moved in.

The fact is the broker gave our loan to someone else without telling us and restarted the whole loan process again. By now we were homeless and living with a friend. Exhausted from everything they had us sign the loan docs and escrow paperwork the same day. So we didn't close escrow until March 13, 2008. They told me to go pick up the key under a rock in front of the house.

There never was a final walk through inspection. Though every time I asked the broker assured me that everything was taken care of.

We moved in March 15, 2008 only to find out that none of the plumbing was working. No toilet could be flushed because the water would run under the walls. Mud and water was coming up in the bathtub. (I found out later that the sewer line was filled with roots and the lines were broken under the house) There still is no working dishwasher, garbage disposal, the gate is still broken, no light in the garage and there were no grills on the stove. All these things I had requested to have fixed. I was livid. They had me call the home warranty company but they would not cover it. Home Owner's Insurance would not cover it. My family has had to live in hotels, my children have slept on floors, I've had to commute the kids 15 minutes away to school, I've driven over an hour to meet with various plumbers not to mention that it left us broke and homeless for months! That's just the tip of the iceberg folks. The nightmare continues with Michael Aasand of Executive Realty who owned the house. I can't even list all of the stuff these guys did but I'm separating out the responsible parties. Next.

Jazhallas
Apple Valley, California
U.S.A.