Re/Max

Below is a copy and pasted letter that I wrote to the Texas Real Estate Commission requesting an appeal. TREC wrote an advisory letter warning Janis Adams and RE/Max about Mrs. Adams forging my initials (which she admitted to on tape). The complaint is explained in detail below.

Dear Ms. Lindquist (a supervisor from TREC),

A little over two years ago I submitted a complaint to Ms. Kay Daniel, an investigator with TREC. About six months ago I was finally given a decision made by Ms. Virginia Fields, an attorney with TREC. In the letter from Ms. Fields she stated that at this time she didn't think my complaint warranted a hearing. So she sent an advisory letter to Mrs. Adams and Ed Nowak of Re/Max Associates Northeast. However, I'm having a very hard time believing that with all of the wrongdoings by Mrs. Adams, which include: forging my initials on the contract, without my permission, to benefit the Sellers; and withholding critical information from me by not giving me the Seller's Disclosure. So I would like to appeal that decision.

One of the reasons why I would like to appeal Ms. Fields decision is that after I was contacted by Ms. Daniel, I was never once asked any questions by Ms. Daniel or Ms. Fields, neither to qualify any of my statements nor to disqualify any of the statements made by Mr. Nowak, Mr. Stunja or Mrs. Adams. And I can tell from Mrs. Fields letter that Mrs. Adams and Mr. Nowak lied to Mrs. Fields or Ms. Daniels and I have evidence to prove it. For example, Mrs. Adams claims that I later ratified her forging my initials. This is absolutely false. I have the before and after forgery documents to prove it. I also have an audio recording in which Mrs. Adams admits she "put" (forged) my initials. What's worse is that she did this to benefit the Sellers. She gave them an OR option of making the repairs OR to make a monetary allowance. My wife and I didn't want that, we wanted the repairs made before we moved in. Another claim that I can easily disprove by my itemized cell phone records was that of Mrs. Adams stating that I was out of the country all of the time. That is also a lie. I was out of town one weekend from the time I met Mrs. Adams to the day of closing.

My wife and I were first-time home buyers and this whole ordeal has been a nightmare. It is very frustrating that these realtors and brokers have been able to take advantage of us, make us lose money and so far, to this day, over two years later nothing has been resolved.

I have an overwhelming amount of evidence, in the form of date-stamped pictures, voice recordings, emails, prints of original postings on www.har.com, insurance agents, checkbook records, bank statements, phone bill records and other witnesses, most of which hasn't even been looked at or requested from me by Ms. Daniel or Ms. Fields. I strongly feel if one of them had communicated with me throughout the almost 20-month process that it took to make their decision, I could have provided the evidence and we could have had this resolved by now. There was no communication whatsoever in the 20 months with the exception of some generic, extremely brief letters sent by Ms. Fields stating a decision had not yet been made. How do you conduct a 20-month investigation without at least asking one single follow up question?

Honestly, as I stated, my wife and I were first-time home buyers, I don't know a lot about the legalities of real estate in Texas, or anywhere else for that matter, but I do know when I'm being taken for a ride. I feel like I'm going in circles because the attorneys that could help me, and do know the law, don't want to take the case because it is of too little monetary value. It has been pretty darn confusing, I hear from an attorney and, I thought, from Ms. Field's advisory letter that TREC cannot force a broker to make a payment to a client, and then I receive a rebuttal from Mr. Joe Stunja, with an attachment, that looks to show that TREC can force a broker to pay a client. I really don't know the answer to that and many other questions and since I cannot find an attorney to take the case, I don't know who else to turn to for answers. Can you help me with some of these questions?

As I stated, I wasn't getting anywhere trying to find an attorney to take the case, so I sent this letter to several members of the Texas Association of Realtors.

Hello, I found your name on the Texas Association of Realtors website.

I'm writing this letter because my wife and I feel that we were lied to and deceived by some dubious realtors and brokers and, unfortunately, I feel as if we're falling through the cracks. I have contacted several attorneys, however, the attorneys know, as well as I do, that there isn't a lot of money involved in this matter - just a lot of frustration. So either the attorneys do not want to take the case because of the low monetary value; or their fees are too high where if I did recover any of the money that I lost, it would be quickly eaten up by attorneys' fees.

I submitted a complaint about the situation to TREC. It took TREC over 19 months to render their decision. The attorney from TREC, Ms. Virginia Fields, issued an advisory letter to Ed Nowak, Joe Stunja and Janis Adams of RE/Max Associates Northeast. However, Ms. Fields did not think that the situation warranted a hearing. I am going to see if I can appeal that decision because there was a great amount of foul play and deception involved here and I have an overwhelming amount of evidence to prove it. I also think there may have been something wrong with the TREC investigation because after my initial contact with Kay Daniel, the investigator from TREC, I was never once asked any questions neither to qualify any of my statements nor to disqualify any of the statements made by Mr. Nowak, Mr. Stunja or Mrs. Adams.

There is a lot of information regarding the case; I hope I don't bore you to death with the details. I'm going to paste a letter below that I submitted to the Justice of the Peace, Precinct 4, Place 2 Judge Tom Lawrence 7900 Will Clayton Parkway Humble, Texas [protected]. Before I get to the letter, I wanted to ask you some very specific questions regarding the matter:

Is it acceptable by TAR for a realtor to forge the initials of a client that he/she is supposed to represent, without that client's permission? Especially if it is meant to benefit the Sellers and you are the Buyer's Rep?

Is it okay for a realtor in Texas to take earnest money and options period monies from a client for two different houses on the same day?

Is it acceptable to withhold some or all of a Seller's Disclosure from a client?

Is it common practice for a Buyer's Rep to NOT get an initialed or signed copy of the Seller's Disclosure from his/her clients?

Is it standard, if you're the Buyer's Rep to give the phone number of the Seller directly to the client because you, the Buyer's Rep, don't want to negotiate with the Seller?

Is it required by TREC that the Buyer's Rep or the Seller's Rep to include on the contract that the Seller's Rep is the mother of the Seller?

Here is the letter:

My wife and I had our worst experience ever with RE/MAX Associates Northeast and their realtor, Janis Adams. I would not recommend her to anyone. In my opinion she was awful and her broker, Ed Nowak backed her even though I had overwhelming evidence, in the form of date-stamped pictures, voice recordings, emails, prints of original postings on www.har.com, insurance agents, checkbook records, bank statements, phone bill records and other witnesses of her:

� Breaching her buyer's agent agreement "Residential Buyer/Tenant Representation Agreement"

� Not being honest with me or my wife

� Neglecting her fiduciary duty, not working in our best interest

� Forging my initials to benefit the Sellers, she gave them the option to repair OR make a monetary allowance for items that needed to be fixed, she never asked us if that was okay with us, of course we would have rather had the items fixed before the day of closing. What's worse is Janis worded it so the Sellers can get two estimates

� Using deceptive trade practices -Withholding from us that there was an $11069.00 water damage claim paid to Sellers - who never did fix the floorboards; even after I found out about the claim on the day of closing, Janis insisted that we come down and close anyway

� Taking earnest money from us for two different houses on the same day - we subsequently found out that this is also illegal and/or a violation of TREC's rules. We have the checkbook and bank statements to prove it.

� Letting the Sellers take the "refrigerator stays" out of the deal without informing my wife and I

� Never recommending getting an inspection for insurance during the options period - which would have prevented this whole debacle

� Not doing a "Walk-through" with us - because she knew none of the repairs that were agreed on to be fixed by closing date were not done, not even started in most cases

� Accepting a $300 offer from the Sellers for something that should have been about $2000

� Never offered us the 1% cash back that was shown to be available in the sign from Cash2U Realty

� Sending me documents with the wrong Sellers name on it for me to sign

� Sending me documents with two boxes checked where the document clearly states �Check one box only�

This is the list of items that the inspector found wrong and for which Janis accepted the $300 offer from the Sellers:

� Large patch of grass in back yard is missing

� Garage door opener is missing

� The remotes that are there do not work with the garage door opener that is present

� Right side garage door is bent

� Many screens (over 10) are missing from windows around the house, many from the kitchen

� Parts of kitchen cabinets are missing, apparently chewed by dog in several areas. Several cabinets need to be replaced

� Two ceramic tiles in kitchen are cracked

� Attic steps - one is broke and needs repair

� Second floor thermostat was inoperable, this also made it impossible to check for A/C leakage. Hopefully it is only the thermostat that is broke

� A/C pan needs to be replaced; present pan is creased and very rusty

� A/C lines also in need of insulation in attic and outside

� Kitchen sink faucet needs to be replaced - it is black from

� Kitchen fluorescent light covers do not match

� Front door needs weather stripping, sunlight seen around closed door

� Front door handle sticks

� Brick joint on right side of house needs to be filled

� Paint on window sill in front of house doesn't match

� One set of blinds needs to be replaced

� Light outside at front entrance needs cover

Below is a letter that I wrote back in July of 2006, to find an attorney to take Janis Adams and Ed Nowak, both of Re/Max Associates Northeast, and Diana Carstairs of Cash2U Realty to court. I waited for a decision from the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC), which I finally received a few months ago. TREC sent an advisory warning to Janis Adams and RE/Max Associates Northeast because they were troubled by Janis' forging my initials, not upholding her fiduciary duty among other things.

It took TREC about 20 months to make that decision. TREC informed me that they could not help me recover any monetary losses so I am going to again look for counsel to take Janis Adams and Ed Nowak of Re/Max Associates Northeast and Diana Carstairs to court to try to recoup thousands of dollars that I lost in not getting my earnest money returned, losing my "options period" money, paying for inspections for the house and termites several times because I was lied to and deceived by them. I have also incurred many other expenses that occurred as a domino effect of not being able to close on the house. For example, I had to pay extra rent living "month-to-month." I had to pay for other inspections both termite and structural, other options period money, etc. This of course is not including all of the stress and anguish my wife and I had suffered because, of some insidious, deceitful, underhanded realtors. Part of the stress was that when we went to buy another house, the broker from Keller Williams would not allow her agent to work with us because we were still "contractually bound" to the deal with Janis and Re/Max Associates Northeast because they never sent us our earnest money back. It was extremely frustrating because not only did we get screwed by Janis, Ed Nowak, Re/Max Associates Northeast and Diana Carstairs, we could now not buy a house that we wanted very much. This went on for quite a while. After speaking with several attorneys, it sounds as if I would sue for breach of contract and/or deceptive trade practices and now with the letter from TREC, breach of fiduciary duty and forgery. Another attorney mentioned to me that it appears that there was some level of conspiracy and collusion between Ed Nowak, Janis Adams and Diana Carstairs pertaining to this matter.

Below is the letter, I apologize for some duplication and repetitiveness. Some of this is copy and pasted material that I sent to TREC, some I sent to the BBB and others to attorneys. The BBB's online complaint submissions severely limited the amount of characters I could post, hence the use of "&" instead of "and", etc.

My wife & I were trying to buy our first home located at 5526 Trail Timbers, Humble, TX 77346 . It is our opinion that we were deceived, lied to and received extremely poor service from Janis Adams and Ed Nowak both from Re/Max Associates Northeast and Diana Carstairs from Cash 2U Realty. Janis did many things that were either illegal, against TREC's rules or ethically wrong. Among them, she forged my initials on part of the contract, which she admitted to on tape. What's worse is that the forgery was to help the Sellers. It gave them the option to fix OR give a monetary allowance instead of them having to fix certain items that needed repair. Prior to the forgery, the contract stated that the Sellers had to repair the items prior to closing. What's worse is that we never even saw the monetary allowance anywhere on any of the documents so we would have been screwed out of that too. She also never gave us all of the pages of the Seller's Disclosure, of course we were missing the important page that contained the water damage claim. Janis never got me my copy of the survey that was to be provided by the Seller within 15 days (admitted to on tape), which I feel is more than enough time that she gave the Sellers to get it. She did not write on the contract that the Seller's agent was the mother of the Seller (in violation of TREC's rules) nor did she include, in the contract, the fact that she and the Seller's agent used to work together in the same office. Mrs. Adams, who boasted of having many years experience (I believe over 20) and being in the top 1% of the 20, 000 Houston Area Realtors, did not offer us a "Walk-through" on the house (admitted on tape). Why didn't she offer us a walk-through? Because she knew none of the agreed upon repairs were done even on the day of closing! She was never working in our best interest, I feel as if she was doing a favor for her friend, Diana Carstairs (the Seller's agent) as Janis and Diana used to work in the same office together. Janis never mentioned anything to my wife or I about getting back 1% at closing which is seen in a picture I have of the Cash2U Realty sign. Why not? Because she was never working on behalf of me or my wife. I think she was unloading a house on us first-time home buyers. I guessed she figured she could get away with anything because she was a seasoned pro and we were just some dumb first-time home buyers. She never sat with us to explain anything about the contract, everything was done via email or fax. When my wife and I found out on the day of closing, July 7, 2006, that there was an $11, 069.00 claim paid out by the insurance company she still continued to hound us and try to talk us into going through with the closing. When I informed her that the Seller's never disclosed this to us in the Seller's Disclosure or anywhere else and that we may not want to go forward because we had been lied to she tried to downplay it and wanted us to go to closing. She didn't seem shocked or try to fight on our behalf. I then told Janis that we may not want to go forward with this and if we did we would at the very least request that the Sellers drop the price by at least $1500.00. Janis, my agent, then told me that she would not ask the Sellers to go down in price and that if I wanted to ask the Sellers that I could. Janis then gave me the Sellers cell phone number! My wife and I both thought that was really strange. Why would Janis get paid a commission if she wasn�t doing her job? My wife and I then went to the house and found out that the repairs that were supposed to be made by the Sellers were never done - this is probably why Janis never offered to do the Walk-through. My wife and I were in shock when we found out about the $11, 069.00 claim and then even further shocked to find out that none of the repairs that were supposed to be completed by the Sellers were done.

My agent, Janis Adams, nor the Seller's agent, Diana Carstairs ever included in the contract the fact that Mrs. Carstairs was the mother of the Seller.

I recorded, with an audio cassette, my conversation with my former buyer's agent, Janis Adams, and she admitted to me that she shouldn't have put (forged) my initials on the contract, that she should have done a Walk-through with me and that I never received the survey as required by the contract. I also have pictures to prove that the work the Sellers promised to do was never completed. There is also an inspector who was out there on the day of closing who can verify that the work was never completed, as well as emails from Janis that prove the work was not done by the day of closing. I also have receipts and emails that validate everything I have stated in this letter. My wife and I have recordings of Janis trying to talk us into going to closing even after finding out about the $11069.00 water damage claim. Janis left a message on my wife's cell phone "Come, come, come, there are people waiting on you!"

She tried to downplay all of the wrongdoing by the Sellers. When my wife and I originally saw the listing on www.har.com, the ad clearly stated that the refrigerator would stay. Well my wife and I were looking at photos of the home after we started negotiations and there was no refrigerator anymore. I informed Janis and she said that she would speak to the Sellers. Janis then told me that since they lowered the price from $155, 000.00 to $151, 500.00 that they were no longer going to give us the refrigerator. This may have been okay if the Sellers actually told us that as a condition of them lowering the price we no longer were going to get the refrigerator. Janis went on further to say that the Seller meant to take it off the listing and that it was not her fault. She also told us that the Seller feels really bad about it. I told her that I didn't care, I don't know her and it was a business transaction. She acted as if I was supposed to take solace in the fact that the Seller felt bad. She then continued to push the issue that my wife and I should basically "eat" the refrigerator. I have a print of the original posting on www.har.com that reads "refrigerator stays."

Needless to say, with all of the wrong doings by Mrs. Adams, Mr. Nowak and Mrs. Carstairs, my wife and I were very upset. I asked my former agent, Mrs. Adams to try to get our earnest money back and have the Sellers release us from the contract. She basically told me that "she sells houses�, she doesn't get involved with this aspect of the business (I also have this on tape). In a nutshell she was telling us that we were [censored] Out of Luck. So I called her office, Re/Max Associates Northeast, located at 2940 Oak St. Kingwood, TX 77339, and spoke with her broker and (I believe) co-owner of the business, Mr. Ed Nowak. I explained to Mr. Nowak that Janis forged my initials on the document, never offered us a Walk-through, did not include in the contract that the Seller's agent was her mother, that Janis did everything via email and fax, never obtained my survey from the Sellers, did not go to bat for us as far as negotiating - there were approximately 12 items found by the inspector that needed repair or replacement, including kitchen screens, kitchen cabinets, ceramic floor tiles and the Sellers offered $300 for everything and my agent, Janis Adams, was okay with that and didn't try to negotiate that for us. I now know ultimately that it is my decision to accept or decline, however, I strongly feel that if my agent, Janis, was working on my behalf she would have laughed at that offer and asked for a lot more, perhaps, in the neighborhood of $2000.00. Also, Janis could have informed us since we are first-time home buyers that we should get insurance during the 10-day options period. If she had asked us to do that we would have done it just like we did everything else that we were told to do. If she did recommend that we get the insurance back in June during the options period, none of this mess would have happened. The insurance company would have done like they did on the day of closing, check on their computer to see if there were any claims paid out at that address. Part of the problem with Janis was that she rushed us and never spent time explaining things to us that were in the contract.

After speaking with Mr. Nowak, Janis' boss and co-owner of Re/Max, we realized that we had to take other steps as Mr. Nowak downplayed everything that I told him about what went wrong with the transaction and about all of the mistakes that were made by his agent, Janis. I recorded my conversation with Mr. Nowak too. Honestly, he really upset me when he started patronizing me and stating that "no deal is ever perfect."

That's when things got a little heated and the conversation was over. However, even with all of the things I told him that Janis did wrong and I told him that I have a recording of her admitting most of things she did wrong on tape, including forgery, he said to me that he is "going to recommend to Janis that she collects her commission." I literally laughed at him and told him that that was a joke.

Incidentally, I told my new real estate agent about all of the egregious errors that were made by Mrs. Adams and she told me that she was showing some houses to a couple in their 50's who had moved here from Alaska. The couple told my new agent that they had a terrible experience about 10 years ago with a Re/Max agent who gave them really bad service and talked condescendingly to them when they mentioned that they wanted to move to Atascocita instead of Kingwood. The couple then wanted to see some new homes from Perry Homes and the agent took them there and told the gentleman at Perry Homes that "they're in your hands now" and literally turned and walked out. The Re/Max agent collected the commission because she had delivered the couple to Perry Homes . So my new agent asked out of curiosity, who was the agent? They told her it was Janis Adams. I did ask my new agent if she could get that couple to sign a letter stating what they had said and what they thought of Janis' service. I don't know if they will do it or not. (Update: the couple did not want to get involved with writing any letters)

With all of the deception by Janis and/or the Seller not fully disclosing, the Sellers not having the repairs done that were agreed upon in the contract, the Sellers not providing me a survey, ever I feel that they should sign a release for me to get my earnest money back. Besides the earnest money, I have laid out about an additional $850.00 for inspections (structural and termite), an appraisal, $100 option fee, etc. Then I had to pay these same expenses again (twice) to find another house.

What I would like to do is:

Get my earnest money returned as well as all other money that I would not have had to do if Sellers and/or Janis were honest. I could have made an informed decision if I had known that there was such a large claim. I could have backed out or at least ordered a mold inspection.

Get released from the contract on the house

Get released from my buyer's agent agreement with Janis Adams

Get a letter to put my new agent at ease. She is very worried that I cannot make an offer on another house until I am released from my first obligation with the house where the deal didn't go through. She spoke to her broker in her office at Keller-Williams who wants basically a one-sentence letter stating that it is okay for me to proceed with the new house that my wife and I have found. Please let me know if you can do this and what your charges will be.

I am also seriously considering suing Mrs. Adams, Ed Nowak, Re/Max Associates Northeast and Mrs. Carstairs for deceptive trade practices. I would try to recover the approximately $1350.00 (update: this figure has since changed) and other damages due stress and turmoil created by these people who went out of their way to deceive us. My wife is extremely upset over this whole ordeal and we are both worried that we may not get this new house because we are still tied up contractually with the previous house. We were both very excited about the thought of moving into our first home, however, with all of the foul play and deceit we are still not in our first home. Do you think given all of the circumstances I should take them to court? If so, who?

I would like to be compensated for the money that I wasted because I had been deceived. I would also like for Re/Max & Janis Adams to release me from any contractual obligations because of the illegal and unethical things that were done to me and my wife. Honestly, if I can resolve the issue here, I will hire an attorney to go after much more money because my wife is extremely stressed out over this, she was very excited that we would be moving into our new home and then because of some shady and underhanded characters we are still now without a home. If we had not been deceived, we could have made an informed decision, maybe ordered an inspection for mold or just backed out altogether.

Other information that may be pertinent - the night of 7/7/06, Mrs. Carstairs put the listing back on www.har.com to try to sell the house. Now the Seller has given three different stories, all of which I have, about the damage to the floors.

One other situation I wanted to get your opinion on - My wife and I liked this house on Trail Timbers at the same time that we liked another house on Noble Forest . As this is the first time buying a house, we asked if it was okay to put two offers out at the same time so if we got turned down for one we may get the other. Janis agreed to this and took four checks from us. Two for $100.00 for the 10-day option periods and two for $250 for earnest money. Since then, my wife and I have learned that this is not a good idea because we could have been stuck with two houses, is that true?

Janis told me that the Sellers were considering suing me for specific performance - any thoughts? I seriously doubt with all of the things they have done that could even be a serious thought.

Another important fact, I could not get insurance on the home on the day of closing because the house was declined due to the fact that the claim was paid out on 11/15/03.

My wife and I also feel that if the Sellers were hiding the water damage claim, perhaps they are hiding other things that are wrong with the house. Also, we felt that if we had gone through with the closing, we would have had to fight the Sellers to make the repairs that were never made by closing and also that if we had bought the house that if we wanted to sell it in a few years, the new potential buyers would also be very concerned about there being an $11, 069.00 water damage claim paid out.

As I did not get anywhere with Janis Adams, her boss, Ed Nowack, my next step that I'm considering is to report Janis Adams, Mr. Nowack and Diana Carstairs to TREC. Do you think that is a good idea? If not, what do you recommend?

Do you think I need some sort of documentation stating that I am no longer involved with the contract from that house? Also that I am no longer bound to the contract I had with Janis Adams?

Is this kind of situation you would handle? If not, could you pass this on to a colleague who may handle this type of case?

I filed a complaint with the BBB against Diana Carstairs and I filed another complaint against Janis Adams and Re/Max here they are pasted below in order, they had a limit of 2030 characters so I trimmed it down quite a bit:

Please provide a BRIEF, FACTUAL DESCRIPTION of the problem you experienced. If you are notifying the BBB of an advertising claim that you believe is inaccurate or misleading, include the date and location of the advertisement.

1. Primary Classification:

Contract Disputes

2. Secondary Classification:

Selling Practices

3. Problem:

My wife and I were about to go to closing on 7/7/06 when we received a call from my insurance agency who notified us that they could not give us insurance on the house as there was an $11, 069 claim paid out to the owner on 11/15/2003. This was never disclosed to me or my wife prior to this date. Diana Carstairs, owner/broker of Cash 2U Realty purposely deceived my wife and I by not telling us that there was an $11, 069 claim paid out to her by her insurance company. Mrs. Carstairs has been very deceptive since the beginning of the failed transaction. First, her listing on the www.har.com site stated that the "refrigerator stays." When my wife and I negotiated the price down from $155, 000 to $151, 500, Mrs. Carstairs took the refrigerator out of the deal without informing us. I asked my agent, Janis Adams, what happened to the refrigerator she told me that since they went down so much on the price that they were not including the refrigerator anymore. This may have been acceptable if when my wife and I negotiated the price that they would have informed us that there was a condition for them lowering the price and that condition was that they were no longer going to include the refrigerator. Furthermore, Mrs. Carstairs agreed to do certain repairs to the house that were never done as of the day of closing. My wife and I literally found out on our way to closing that there was an $11, 069 water damage claim and then found out that the repairs were not made. Mrs. Carstairs also never provided us with the survey that was to be provided within 15 days of the contract (which is more than ample time). The house which had been off of www.har.com for about two or more weeks was placed back on the site the very same night that the closing did not go through (7/7/06). Mrs. Carstairs was selling the house for her daughter, this was never disclosed on the contract. She was extremely difficult to work with, the mortgage agent that we were working with told me that the sellers "were on a rampage."

Complaint Background

Not all of these questions are required. Please provide as much information as you have.

1. Product/Service Purchased: Trying to buy house - Full Disclosure should have been provided by Seller

2. Model Number:

3. Contract, Account, or Policy #:

4. Order #:

5. Purchase Date: 7/7/2006

6. Date Problem First Occurred:

Dates you complained to the company/organization

7. First Date: 7/7/2006

8. Second Date: 7/13/2006

9. Third Date: 7/14/2006

10. Payment Made: Yes

11. Payment Method: Check

Name of Sales Person

12. Title: Mrs.

13. First Name: Diana

14. Middle Name:

15. Last Name: Carstairs

16. Suffix:

17. Purchase Price: $1, 314.00

18. Disputed Amount: $1, 314.00

Desired Outcome

Enter your DESIRED OUTCOME below. Please keep your description within the box provided, without scrolling. A summary of your complaint is preferred, as the BBB will contact you if they need additional details. Mandatory fields are followed by a RED "*".

1. Desired Settlement:

Refund

2. Desired Outcome:

I would like for Mrs. Carstairs to sign a release of earnest money of which I am entitled as she lied by not disclosing that there was a $11, 069.00 claim paid out by her insurance company. I would like to be compensated for all money that I spent because of Mrs. Carstairs lies. I paid for inspections, I laid out earnest money and I'm being charged $350 for an appraisal from the mortgage company for the deal that did not go through.

This is the letter against Janis Adams:

Please provide a BRIEF, FACTUAL DESCRIPTION of the problem you experienced. If you are notifying the BBB of an advertising claim that you believe is inaccurate or misleading, include the date and location of the advertisement.

1. Primary Classification:

Contract Disputes

2. Secondary Classification:

Selling Practices

3. Problem:

My wife & I were trying to buy our first home & we feel strongly that we were deceived, lied to & received extremely poor service from Janis Adams & Re/Max. Janis did many things that were either illegal or ethically wrong. Among them, she forged my initials on part of the contract, which she admitted to on tape. She also never gave us all of the pages of the Seller's Disclosure. She never got me my copy of the survey that was to be provided by the Seller (admitted to on tape). She did not write on the contract that the Seller's agent was the mother of the Seller nor did she include, in the contract, the fact that she & the Seller's agent used to work together in the same office. Mrs. Adams did not offer us a "Walk-through" on the house (admitted on tape). She was never working in our best interest, I feel as if she was doing a favor for her friend & unloading a house on us first-time home buyers. She never sat with us to explain anything about the contract, everything was done via email or fax. When my wife & I found out on the day of closing that there was an $11, 069 claim paid out by the insurance company she still continued to hound us & try to talk us into going through with the closing. When I informed her that the Seller's never disclosed this to us & that we may not want to go forward because we had been lied to she tried to downplay it & wanted us to go to closing. My wife & I then went to the house & found out that the repairs that were supposed to be made by the Sellers were never done. After speaking with Mr. Nowak, Janis' boss & co-owner of Re/Max, we realized that we had to take other steps as Mr. Nowak downplayed everything that I told him about what went wrong with the transaction & about all of the mistakes that were made by his agent, Janis. This is the reason that I am contacting the BBB. I am trying to recover all of the money that I wasted after being deceived by the Sellers & by my former realtor, Janis.

Complaint Background

Not all of these questions are required. Please provide as much information as you have.

1. Product/Service Purchased: Trying to buy house - service should have been provided by realtor

2. Model Number:

3. Contract, Account, or Policy #:

4. Order #:

5. Purchase Date: 7/7/2006

6. Date Problem First Occurred:

Dates you complained to the company/organization

7. First Date: 7/13/2006

8. Second Date: 7/14/2006

9. Third Date:

10. Payment Made: Yes

11. Payment Method: Check

Name of Sales Person

12. Title: Mrs.

13. First Name: Janis

14. Middle Name:

15. Last Name: Adams

16. Suffix:

17. Purchase Price: $1, 314.00

18. Disputed Amount: $1, 314.00

Desired Outcome

Enter your DESIRED OUTCOME below. Please keep your description within the box provided, without scrolling. A summary of your complaint is preferred, as the BBB will contact you if they need additional details. Mandatory fields are followed by a RED "*".

1. Desired Settlement:

Refund

2. Desired Outcome:

I would like to be compensated for the money that I wasted because I had been lied to. I would also like for Re/Max & Janis Adams to release me from any contractual obligations because of the illegal and unethical things that were done to me and my wife. Honestly, if I can resolve the issue here, I will hire an attorney to go after much more money because my wife is extremely stressed out over this, she was very excited that we would be moving into our new home and then because of some shady and underhanded characters we are still now without a home. If we had not been lied to, we could have made an informed decision, maybe ordered an inspection for mold or just backed out altogether.

If you've managed to read all this without falling asleep, I applaud you! But seriously, is there anything here in this letter that stands out to you, as a Texas realtor? Is there anything I should know before heading into the court mediation next month? I have not received a lot of help or advice from TREC or real estate attorneys and I know next to nothing about the legalities of Texas real estate, but I do feel that there was some serious, purposeful actions made here by the realtors and brokers involved.

This is a response I wrote on 1/12/09 to the Defendant's, Janis Adams, Ed Nowak of Re/Max motion for summary judgment. They are sleazily trying to get my case thrown out before my wife and I get a chance to plead our case before the jury.

1/15/2009

To: Judge Tom Lawrence

Cc: Janis Adams, Ed Nowak and Diana Carstairs (via fax)

Re: Motion for Summary Judgment

Please let this letter serve as my, the Plaintiff�s, response to the motion for summary judgment filed by the Defendants.

As stated previously, I have an overwhelming amount of evidence in the form of:

� The contract

� Time/date stamped photos

� Cell phone records

� Voice recordings

� Emails

� Letter from my insurance agent

� Prints of original posting on www.har.com

� Insurance agents

� Checkbook records

� Bank statements

� Picture of signage

to validate my claims. Therefore, I would request the motion for summary judgment be denied and for the opportunity to present my case to the court.

In response to Defendants� Motion for Final Summary Judgment, I will address, here in this letter, some of the more critical points.

On Defendants� �II. Statement Of Facts�, item #10 the Defendants� claim that I alleged that �Seller had failed to complete various repairs��I have date-stamped photos of the repairs not being made that were agreed upon in the contract. These repairs were not even made the day after closing, none of them. This is also why Mrs. Adams did not offer us a walk through, something she admits on tape that she should have done and this was the first time in her 20+ years as an agent that she did not offer to do one for one of her clients. Why didn�t she? Because she knew none of the repairs were completed. I would ask the Defendant�s to show receipts to prove that the repairs were done. They won�t have them because they weren�t done. As stated by the Defendants, �an insurance claim had not been disclosed to him��that is true and that is the problem, the $11, 069.00 water damage claim was not provided to me or my wife. That was one of the critical problems. Also, if Mrs. Adams was doing her job she would have recommended that my wife and I get insurance during the �options period.� If she had done that, my agent would have found out about the water damage claim prior to the day of closing and this whole mess could have been avoided. Again, I would suggest that the Defendant�s show proof that they provided the Seller�s Disclosure to me or my wife. They won�t be able to because they didn�t give us the Seller�s Disclosure. Little things like facts and evidence seem to get in the way of the Defendants.

Item #11 � �Plaintiff therefore began to manufacture claims� �There are no manufactured claims but there is a lot of evidence that I have that can prove my statements. Speaking of manufactured claims, Mrs. Adams stated to the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) that I was out of the country a lot. This is false and I have cell phone records to prove it. The cell phone records also debunk another false statement made by the Defendant, Mrs. Adams, where she claims that she explained things at length. The average time I spent with Mrs. Adams on the phone was 1 minute and 31 seconds. Again, I can prove my claim by my cell phone records.

Moving to �III. Argument And Authorities�, the Defendants are focusing solely on the Earnest Money Contract, which I still don�t agree with their arguments. Regardless, the breach of fiduciary duty by Mrs. Adams is in the Buyer/Tenant Representation Agreement. That contract, signed by Defendant Mrs. Adams on May 1, 2006, states:

�If Broker acts as an intermediary under paragraph 8A, Broker and Broker�s Associates:

Shall treat all parties to the transaction honestly.�

I don�t think being treated honestly is meant to include:

� Forging my initials without my permission;

� Not disclosing information about the $11, 069.00 water damage claim;

� Taking earnest money and options periods money for two different houses on the same day and having my wife make the checks out to different title companies so one wouldn�t find out about the other;

� Not doing a walk-through because she knew none of the repairs were made

In the Defendant�s IV Conclusion, they continue to make claims that I have �suffered no loss or injury arising out of any of the transactions forming the basis of his complaints.� This is simply not true. As I�ve stated in previous correspondence, I have lost money from having inspections done, options period money, court costs, postage costs, costs in paying more rent, etc. Those are hard facts that I have receipts to prove my damages. This also does not take into account the other costs that are hard to put a dollar figure on, and are not the type that can be shown with a receipt, such as the cost of having my, and my wife�s, first-time home buying experience be a nightmare, the frustration of not being able to buy a house that we wanted because we were deceived and the time I have wasted because of the Defendant�s violation of their fiduciary duties.

Although the Defendant�s like to stray from the facts and focus on certain items to their benefit, I would like to redirect the conversation to the pertinent facts of the case:

� My wife and I were first-time home buyers; Janis was the �professional� with 20+ years experience.

� Janis never recommended to us that we get an inspection during the �options period.�

� Janis Adams was never working on our behalf. We felt as if we were battling with the Sellers and our own agent.

� Janis was not honest with us.

� Mrs. Adams FORGED my initials without my consent to benefit the Sellers. I have the tape and the before and after forgery to prove it.

� Mrs. Adams and/or Ms. Carstairs withheld crucial evidence that should have been made available in the Sellers� Disclosure

� Mrs. Adams took earnest money from my wife and I on two different houses on the same day, which is illegal and/or against TREC�s regulations.

� My wife and I went by the house on the day of closing to find out NONE of the agreed upon repairs were made. I have date-stamped photos to prove it.

� Janis did not offer us a walk-through because she knew none of the repairs were done.

� My wife and I found out on the day of closing that there was an $11, 069.00 water damage claim paid to the Sellers � who subsequently admitted never made the repairs.

� Janis let the Sellers take out the �Refrigerator Stays� that was clearly listed on www.har.com � and then made excuses for the Seller. I have the original posting to prove it.

� Janis accepted a $300 offer from the Sellers which subsequent agents laughed at. It should have been in the $2000 range.

� Janis never offered us the 1% cash back that was clearly shown to be available on the Cash2U realty sign. I have the picture to prove it.

� Janis gave me the Seller�s cell phone number so I could negotiate with Ms. Bousa. Why would she do that if she was supposedly representing my wife and I?

� Janis gave me an Amendment to the document to sign that had the incorrect Seller�s names on it, �Kevin Ristroph� and �Tiffany Ristroph�

� Janis sent me the contract and on page 3 it stated �Check one box only� where she clearly and deliberately checked both boxes because she knew she did not give me the Seller�s Disclosure.

Furthermore, I visited the Better Business Bureau website today and did a check on Re/Max Associates Northeast, where I found out, not surprisingly, that they have an �Unsatisfactory� BBB Rating. It appears that other people are having problems with them too. They�re having problems with regards to:

� Contract Disputes

� Failure to honor promised refunds, exchanges, or credit

� Service Issues

This information was taken from the www.bbb.org website on 1/12/09. This type of behavior appears to be a pattern with Re/Max Associates Northeast.

In conclusion, the Defendant�s greed, haste and sloppiness got in the way of integrity and then was subsequently followed by arrogance. I would respectfully request that my wife and I are given the opportunity to prove our case to the court.