I was closing on a house in Rosendale NY. On sept 8 and during the traditional "walk through" my Weichart representative and myself and my pregnant girlfriend noticed two gaping holes where the garage doors used to be. Upon further examination we also noticed that the cellar doors were also missing. When we entered the basement which had been a maze of pipes wires and drains and heating systems the week before now was completely void of any systems.
The furnace was missing along with the circulators, the plumbing, the drains, and the hot water heaters, along with the sump pumps, and associated plumbing and all wires. The owner Duane Merton showed up with Pietro Altomare and stated Pietro Altomare had told him to take whatever he wanted AFTER he signed dated and initialed the contract dated 7-15 2008. I told them I can't move in and live there since everything was gone and the property was now uninhabitable and they voided the as is clause in the contract.
Duane Merton and Pietro Altomare agreed to refund my 20,500.00 and put the house back on the market. A few days later I was notified by my Weichart Realtor they were refusing to release my escorow money. They now denied any involvement with the theft. The neighbors on both sides of the house have given statements as to the removal of two trailerloads of systems from the house on sat. Sept. 6.2008 and are willing to testify after the fact. Along with a rosendale police lieutenant eating lunch who witnessed the theft. Other agencies notified are the Better Business Bureau, the Consumer Fraud Department, The Department of Consumer Protection, and The New York Department of Licensing, and also the Ulster County District Attorneys Office I expect his license to practice real estate will be suspended upon their review of the evidence.
Jeremy
kingston, New York
U.S.A.
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