Westhills LTD. Realtors

Review: We purchased a house from Westhill Realtors and the house was listed on the MLS listing as having connection to the public sewer system. We found out 6 months later that the house was on a septic system from a neighbor and contacted Westhill Realtors who ignored us for awhile and then finally conducted a test in September 2013 and verified that house is indeed not connected to the public sewer system but to a septic tank. Their response is that they are not responsible for incorrect MLS listings (and I know the law changed on that on July 1, 2013 but we started our communication in June 2013) Because of this, we bought a house we never would have purchased, my husband HATES septic tanks.Desired Settlement: to be connected to the public sewer system at Westhill Realtor's expense since it was their mistake.

Business

Response:

See Attachments: Thank you for the opportunity to respond to a Complaint filed by a purchaser of property who discovered eight months post-closing that the property is serviced by a fully functioning and operating septic system, but is not, however, connected to a public sewer system. Please be advised that this individual was not our client or customer. We neither represented this individual nor had a contractual arrangement with this individual. This individual was represented by a different real estate agency. Westhills represented only the seller, a lender who had foreclosed on the property. The lender had neither actual use of nor firsthand or physical knowledge of the property. Further complicating the matter is the fact that this property is the only property in the neighborhood which is not serviced by the public sewer system. The contract of purchase, written by the purchaser and the purchaser's agent, deleted all material- including representations and warranties - regarding the septic system. The buyer then accepted an extensive addendum to the contract acknowledging the foreclosure waiving warranties and agreeing to purchasing the property "as is," "where is" and "with all faults. A copy of the addendum is attached hereto and incorporated herein. The buyer utilized a home inspector to inspect the property and make a report to the buyer prior to sale. The buyer's home inspector missed the fact that the property was serviced by a septic system. The buyer made no physical inspection of the property themselves, but relied upon the home inspection report and other family members. The buyer failed to examine utility bills for the property which would have revealed that the property is serviced only for water and not for both water and sewer charges. Although Westhills has no contractual relationship with the purchaser, by letter of October 3, 2013, as an effort of goodwill, we offered to resolve the issue and provide a cash compromise. The purchaser refused. A copy of the offer is available for review on your request. I appreciate the opportunity to respond to this Complaint. If you need any additional information, please contact me. [redacted] Broker

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.1. We did not reject the accepted offer of the goodwill gesture for $1,000 from [redacted] of Westhill Realtors. The letter and the check were sent to our home in Waynesboro, VA and that is our second home. Our primary residence is in [redacted]. We just traveled to Waynesboro, VA on Saturday, November 23 when we found the letter in our mailbox. Mr. [redacted] was made aware of the fact that our house on[redacted] in Waynesboro was not our main residence and that we would not receive his letter or offer of a settlement until the next time we traveled to Waynesboro, Va. 2. I do not agree that it was our home inspector's fault for not finding a septic connection. Why would he be looking for one when the MLS listing showed public sewer. He had no knowledge of a septic system. 3. How does Mr. [redacted] know that we have a fully functioning septic system when we don't even know where the septic is located, what size it is, if there is a permit for it and when was it last inspected? We didn't know we needed to doublecheck the MLS listing. I thought that was the seller's job to make sure the MLS listing was correct. 4. Why would we even think to check to see if we had a septic system or not? It was stated on the MLS listing that it was connected to the public sewer system. 5. Our lender, [redacted] required an inspection of a septic system prior to granting our loan. However, we said there was not a septic system and the inspection was not done. 6. We are aware that the law changed on July 1, 2013 stating that a realtor could not be sued for an incorrect MLS listing. However, we started this complaint in June of 2013. It took over a month for [redacted], the realtor who made the mistake on the MLS listing, to even acknowledge my emails.Regards,[redacted]