New construction - EV Charging
m v
5 years ago
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (30)
mtvhike
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agom v
5 years agoRelated Discussions
New construction - misrepresentation by agent. Long story.
Comments (7)I agree that you should probably do your best to get out of this deal BEFORE they start actually building the house. If you've had this much grief already just over the lot itself, imagine how bad it is going to get when house building starts! Do you REALLY want to go forward with building a house that cannot be situated to take advantage of views and must sit 5' from a cul-de-sac (did you mean a gully or escarpment of some sort?), on a lot that is considerably smaller than you were originally led to believe it would be, while trying to work with a builder who wants to charge ridiculous premiums to upgrade fixtures and finishes to the kind and quality you want, who is already calling you "difficult" and who you already fear will cut corners on your build to make up for their "lost profits" in other areas.... all to wind up living in a neighborhood where all of the houses are duplicates of one of just four designs??? Sorry but I can't help but cringe just envisioning the resulting neighborhood. Even back in the 1960s when my folks bought their first 1600 sq ft tract house, the developer had 12 designs for them to choose. Still the song "little houses made of ticky-tacky" applied all too well to our neighborhood! Yes, go hire a good real estate litigation attorney. But before you go see him/her, spend some time getting the details of exactly what you've experienced down in writing in a more comprehensible way. I'm not trying to be harsh but your post here on GW rambles around so much that it is really difficult to understand what the important issue are. I can tell immediately that you are distressed but it is difficult to tell whether you have a cause of action or not. Based on what sense I can make of your story, I think you probably have a good basis for having the contract rescinded but it depends on exactly what you were told, when you were told it, and what opportunities you had to discover the truth for yourself prior to signing the contract deeds. But, as an attorney I can tell you that when someone comes into my office with such a jumbled explanation of their problem, if I take them as clients I find that I invariably wind up having to spend hours and hours simply untangling the whos, whats, whens, wheres, and whyfores of their story before I can even determine IF I might be able to help them... much less figure out how best to go about helping to resolve the situation. I absolutely HATE taking on a client, charging them for the time spent untangling their story only to have to tell them that I can't do anything for them. I usually wind up giving them their money back. Much as I sympathize with distressed people who have clearly been hurt, in order to survive financially myself, I simply can't spend those kinds of hours for free very often. So a lot of the time when someone comes in with a disjointed story, I wind up trying to shuffle them gently out of the door as quickly as possible without taking them on as clients. So, before you go see an attorney, sit down at your computer, open a word document and create a table with four columns. Label the first column "DATE", the second column "EVENT," third column "NOTES" and the fourth column "SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS". Now, using the table, organize everything that has happened in your relationship with this development company chronologically. The beauty of using a table format is that if you're halfway thru telling what happened in March and you suddenly remember something that happened in February, you can go back, insert a new row in the table, and add in the event. The date column should have exact dates when you know them...if any communications were by email or letter, dig those out and copy the dates down as well as the pertinent info. If you don't know an exact date, provide the month/year or the closest approximation of it that you can. The event column should list FACTS only without any commentary. (For example, "Sales agent told me the lot was X acres extending XXX feet from front to back and XXX feet from side to side at the widest point.) Use the "NOTES" column to add explanations/commentary such as "I later found out that the lot is considerably smaller - see date." So, if the builder told you something and you later found out that the thing he told you was not true, your table will have two entries related to that fact. The date he told you X and the date you found out that X was not true. Each of these two entries will reference the other with a "see date in the Notes column. Make sense? Finally, if you have any documents that support what you're saying, indicate what the document is in the supporting documents column. For example, if you have an email from the sales agent where she tells you that the lot is a particular size, in the Supporting Documents column you would write "email from sales agent (name) dated XX/XX/XXXX, subject line YYYYYYYYYY. Start at the very beginning which would be how and when you first heard about this particular development. Do your best to put down, in chronological order, all the things that happened, all the things you(or your relative) were told by the builder/developer/sales agent prior to entering into the agreement that made you want to purchase this particular lot, the dates when documents were signed, and all of the things that you have been told by the builder since entering the contract. In your Notes column, also identify each person that you mention. (You only have to do this the first time you mention a person but, as an attorney, I would want to know your relative's name and how to contact her for verification, the name of the sales agent, etc.) When you have all the details you can think of laid out in chronological order, go back thru and highlight those details that seem MOST important to your story. Then when you go see the attorney, use the highlighted portions of your document to tell him in a very cogent manner what has happened to you. He'll be much more likely to want to take you on as a client. And, when he agrees to take you on as a client, you can give him the entire history with all the rest of the little details. He may see something in that that seemed trivial to you but may help bolster your case. The other thing you need to do before seeing an attorney is to decide what solution you would be really happy with and then what LESSER solution or solutions you would be willing to live with even tho they wouldn't make you totally happy. For example, you might to have the contract voided, and get your money back with interest on it plus have the builder pay you attorney fees. Certainly if your builder has been defrauding you and lying to you, that would be fair. But Realistically tho, if it would save you from further aggravation, would you not be satisfied to have the contract voided and get, say, 90 percent of you money back even if you had to pay your own attorney fees as long as they were less than say $5000? I ask because you need to totally aware that in situations like this, it is HIGHLY unlikely that you will come out of it totally unscathed. That is a nice way of saying, do NOT bet on getting your money back with interest. If you hang on thru a full trial, and if you have all the facts and all the law on your side, you might win a judgment that says you get your money back with interest...but then you'd have to collect it and builders have a notorious habit of declaring bankruptcy. Unless your judgment says your builder defrauded you and that your damages are due to his fraud, your builder can totally wipe out your judgment by declaring bankruptcy. Happens all the time. And the homeowners are left paying hefty attorney fees and court costs on top of the damages they've already suffered. So while it might be galling to do, it would probably be better to accept early on a settlement offer that gets you out of the contract and actually gets you some portion of your money back. I do wish you the best of luck....See MoreNew Years Eve Babysitting -- long
Comments (31)As you look ahead toward this summer, you might want to check out the opportunities to work in your town's summer recreation program (if they have one--if not, ask around to see if there's one in another town). Our town offers great enrichment classes for kids ages 4 thru high school, it's a great opportunity to work with kids doing something you might not otherwise be able to do--we have elementary teachers teaching drama, juggling, something called Wiggle and Giggle, fun science, etc. I've been involved for the past 15 years and love the fact that while I'm actually a high school teacher, I get to teach cooking to elementary-aged students (Storybook Cooks is a fun literature-based class for the 5 & 6 year-olds; Kids Cook is gourmet Cooking for 3rd -6th graders). We--all of us, teachers and students--have a ball. And the pay is great--over $26/hour, so even working parttime, I'm making fairly good money. Other good summer jobs for college students--working at a summer camp; day care centers often need extra help in the summer (and you'd gain valuable experience if you do decide to go off on your own in the field), the zoo, children's museums. Keep in mind that a 'real' job will look a little better on your employment history than babysitting or childcare will when you do finish school and go out looking. Another consideration might be whether or not your employer will let you come back to work during your winter break--DD's waitressing job ALWAYS lets the college kids come in when they're home on vacation. That's a nice 'extra' and means you don't have to scrounge each time you come home. Good luck--I do hope you're taking up something to do with working with children. We need more caring, interested adults like you teaching our precious little ones....See MoreA New Year's Eve mini-disaster
Comments (25)Thanks, everyone! I'm going to look into the product that smothers chimney fires. I hadn't heard of it. There's a store that sells woodstoves and fireplace equipment in town; they should have it. I'm normally conscious of woodstove safety. All our wood comes from our property, and we burn only maple and ash--except for the kindling, which includes sticks of fatwood, whatever they are. The chimney is inspected and cleaned once a year. As I mentioned above, the present situation was caused by me burning some wood that shouldn't have been burned till next year. Big mistake! We had a chimney fire in the barn many years ago, and at the time--coming fresh from the city--I had no idea how dangerous it was. Cheryl, it's hard to say if I get much dust from the woodstove because I live on a dirt road and get plenty of dust that way. Looking at the living room in the light of day, the piano was the hardest hit by far. The whole room will need to be cleaned, though, of course, and I have a supply of microfiber cloths ready to go to work. They look far readier than I. :-) I'm afraid to call that his wife will say he's dead... Lily, I felt the same way when I called the last time to have the piano tuned. And now that it's time for another tuning, I feel the same way again. I'll try not to sound surprised if he answers the phone. :-)...See MoreNew Year's Eve Brazillian Dinner
Comments (9)Below is the as-made recipe: FEIJOADA -- BRAZILIAN BLACK BEAN STEW 6 lbs pork (cubed) 2 lb linguica (cubed)(Portuguese smoked sausage) 8 oz thick bacon chopped 3 oz Armour dried beef (chopped fine) 5 large sweet onions (chopped) 2 Tbsp minced garlic 5 29oz can Black Beans (drained) 1 15oz can Refried Black Beans w/ lime 2 Tbsp adobo sauce (optional) 4 chipotle peppers (seeds removed and minced) (optional) 3 cups water In large pot over medium heat cook bacon until most of the grease is out and the bits are lightly browned, remove bacon from pan and reserve. Raise heat, and add pork and cook, stirring frequently, until the outside of the pork is completely cooked and lightly browned. Remove from pan and reserve. Add onions to bacon grease, and cook until onions are soft and translucent. .Add the garlic, the sausage, the dried beef, the adobo sauce and the (optional) peppers and return the bacon and onion to the pan and cook and stir for another 10 minutes. Add the beans including the water in the bean cans using about 1/2 cup additional cup of water per can to rinse out the cans. Bring to a low boil and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the can of refried black beans and stir it in well. Keep warm over low heat until ready to serve....See Morem v
5 years agoweedmeister
5 years agomtvhike
5 years agom v
5 years agogreg_2015
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agogreg_2015
5 years agom v
5 years agogreg_2015
5 years agogreg_2015
5 years agoworthy
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agodan1888
5 years agoDavidR
5 years agomtvhike
5 years agoDavidR
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoBruce in Northern Virginia
5 years agoweedmeister
5 years agoDavid Cary
5 years agoDavidR
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agogalore2112
5 years agoDavid Cary
5 years agoJamie
5 years agomtvhike
5 years agoDavidR
5 years agoopaone
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agogalore2112
5 years agoDavidR
5 years agorobin0919
5 years ago
Related Stories
PRO TIPSTo Charge or Not to Charge for Consultations
Our community shares insights on handling initial consultations
Full StoryREMODELING GUIDESWhat to Consider Before Starting Construction
Reduce building hassles by learning how to vet general contractors and compare bids
Full StoryBUDGETING YOUR PROJECTConstruction Contracts: What Are General Conditions?
Here’s what you should know about these behind-the-scenes costs and why your contractor bills for them
Full StoryWORKING WITH PROSYour Guide to a Smooth-Running Construction Project
Find out how to save time, money and your sanity when building new or remodeling
Full StoryBUDGETING YOUR PROJECTConstruction Contracts: What to Know About Estimates vs. Bids
Understanding how contractors bill for services can help you keep costs down and your project on track
Full StoryBUDGETING YOUR PROJECTDesign Workshop: Is a Phased Construction Project Right for You?
Breaking up your remodel or custom home project has benefits and disadvantages. See if it’s right for you
Full StoryBUILDING A BUSINESSHow to Start a Construction Company
Learn the basic steps for getting started running your own business as a residential contractor
Full StoryCONTRACTOR TIPSLearn the Lingo of Construction Project Costs
Estimates, bids, ballparks. Know the options and how they’re calculated to get the most accurate project price possible
Full StoryTHE HARDWORKING HOMEA Hidden Charging Cabinet Corrals and Juices Family’s Electronics
The Hardworking Home: Laptops, phones and tablets now have a safe space in this kitchen, keeping the countertops uncluttered
Full StoryMOST POPULARSummer Camp for Girls, Construction Edition
This summer, girls will learn to swing a hammer and wield a chop saw. More important, they’ll learn to believe they can
Full Story
worthy