Our experience buying our first home has been one of horror. We have been misled with lies, threats and bribery. It started with a realtor named Bertha Tarango that works for Realty Experts in Maricopa County in Arizona, we decided to buy our first home and were really excited.
After meeting with Bertha, she came across really helpful and nice and made us more excited but after signing the contract for a home, everything changed and she became really deceiving. Our loan officer was an acquaintance of Bertha from Carnegie First in Scottsdale, AZ named Nina Carpenter and we provided everything that she needed to make the loan get approved. Every time we wanted the status of the loan, we always had run-around, call Nina, call Bertha, no one knew much.
We received a faxed form to sign from the appraiser that stated that there were possibilities of the home having lead-based paint and termites which started to worry us because we have children.
After letting Bertha know our concern and that we did not want to sign the form, she said that it was standard and that if there were such problems, that they would be fixed. After sending the form, she called and said we could check if there was lead based paint with our own test and if we found lead based paint that she would give us the money out of her own pocket to fix it. We thought about it and decided that we wanted to cancel which it was two weeks before the closing.
When we called Bertha to tell her that we wanted to cancel, she got angry and said that we could not cancel and threatened that the seller's would come after us and sue us. We then talked it over, actually by this time we were so frustrated that it caused my husband and I to separate temporarily, we decided to go through with it to eliminate being sued. Still concerned, we called Bertha to find out how the termite report came back and she said everything was O.K. And that everything was ready.
We received a call from Security Title to go in and sign closing documents on October 25th and if we went in before 12:00 noon, the loan would fund and we would get our key the next day. Well, we got out from work and went to sign and made arrangements to move out of our current apartment. The next day, Bertha to find out about the key and where to pick it up, she told us to call Security Title to find out, (This is supposed to be her job). We called and Security Title said it would not fund because it takes 48 hours and we would have to wait until Monday the 29th. We made different arrangements that day with our landlord and waited until Monday. When we called back on Monday to find out about the key, (Realtor still has not called us), The title company said that the loan is not funding because there is not a clear termite report that the lenders require to fund, and that there are problems that need to be corrected. The title agency said that the inspector will be at the property at 4:00 P.M.in which I sent my husband to check what was going on and they thought that he was an interpreter for the seller's, and the inspector was angry and said that he told the listing agent about all the corrections that needed to be done and they were not, now the seller's were also angry for this. The inspector told them to correct them and he would come back as soon as they were complete, by this time (the realtor still had not called us).
Well, October 30th came and they were still working on corrections, I called the Title company and spoke to the escrow officer, Cathy Moreno, and I asked her to be truthful and let me know we could still cancel and it was about 10:00 A.M., she said yes and to fax her a letter saying that we are canceling for reason of seller's non-performance to make corrections. We sent the letter by 11:00 A.M. At about 1:00 messages started pouring in saying that they have a document that we signed that gives the seller's until October 31st to make corrections and that the loan would fund today and we could not cancel. During this time, the realtor called my husband and told him to buy me flowers and try to convince me to not cancel. The Title company was leaving messages for us to call the realtor to pick up our keys at the same time.
While all of this was going on, I decided to call the lender's which was Transnational and spoke with a Daniel who was in charge of funding this loan and she said the loan had not funded yet (and here they are telling us to pick up our keys). She was upset also about all of this and said that the loan money had been sent before and if corrections were not made by 11:00 A.M. On October 30th, the Title company had to send back the wire.
When I called back the Title agency, they said that they did not send the money back and this time I spoke with Maryann Valdez which the loan was transferred to just a few hours before and she had a bad attitude saying we have to get the house because it has been recorded and funded, I said I would not accept the keys. At the end of business day at about 5:00 P.M. Cathy Moreno leaves a message for us saying that we have until 9:00 A.M. On October 31st to send in the reason that we are canceling. It is about 8:30 P.M. On October 30th and I have just sent a letter saying that we want to cancel because before signing closing documents, we were not aware that there were problems on the termite report that needed to be corrected, (failure of realtor to contact us again), and after finding out three days after signing the closing documents, we have changed our mind to purchase the house on 112 W. Tulsa St in Chandler, AZ, because it could be a future problem for us and is not in our best interest.
In about 30 minutes they had me signing the contract and other documents that totaled about 50 pages. The broker kept saying, O'... Don't worry this is all standard, if there is any problem you can always back out. Sign here and here and here. You will get your key tomorrow! We were so excited and trusting! How could they decieve us this way? Don't they have a conscience?
The complete turnaround in her attitude after I signned and paid the $500. It was like a Jeckal and Hyde.
If we would have known about these problems before signing the closing documents, we would not have signed. The Realtor also did not ever mention to us that we had a right to a home inspection, and being a first time home buyer, we did not know these things. The termite damage, possible termites existing, lead based paint which would cancel our funding for closing costs, and all the broker could do was to bribe us with some money if we would just go through the deal. No concern for our childrens' safety with the lead paint, only caring about herself.
I let you all know out there to BEWARE of these companies and their misrepresentations and self-serving deeds. Bring your lawyer and accountant if you do business with them.
I want my expenses to move and other related expenses totaling $2,470 and my $500 deposit back. Not to mention the stress and graviton this caused both my husband and I.
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