Media Post, Inc.

Pursuant to your request and our commitment to the quick and equitable resolution of disputes, our response to the referenced complaint is contained herein. Our firm, Edwards, Lien & Toso, Inc(ELT), was initially and directly contacted by *** H***, Esq., representing Ms
***, in late January of regarding the assets held by Mr& Ms*** and/or *** IncMr*** requested that we provide a proposal to appraise a property in Amador County and a property in San Joaquin CountyWe provided that proposal on January 26, for a total fee ranging from $11,to $12,Our firm received a signed authorization to proceed (from ***) and a retainer for $6,(from ***) on February 7, It is important to note that the client for this project was identified as *** H***, EsqThis is fairly standard practice for the retention an expert witness regarding potential litigation / dissolution of marriageAlso standard practice is the payment of a retainer for appraisal services, especially in dissolution of marriage action as collecting fees after the fact is very nearly impossible due to the often acrimonious nature of martial disputesOur report due date was days from acceptance, which would have occurred during the week of April - 7, 2017. Three weeks later, on or near March 1, 2017, Mr*** requested that we cancel the Amador County portion of the projectWe ***ed the property owners for a total of $550, which was allocated from the retainer. I arranged to meet separately with Mr& Ms***, on March 28, My meeting with Mr*** was interrupted by Ms***, who initiated a heated argument at the residence with her husbandI maintained my position at the drivewayAfter approximately minutes they emerged and went their separate ways on the propertyMy presence was not addressedI waited another fifteen minutes presuming either party would return, whereby we could possibly proceedI eventually left the property and informed Mr*** (again, my client) of the incidentMr*** understood my reluctance to continue with the inspection and informed me that he would interveneOver the course of the next week, Ms***, dismissed Mr*** and requested that I not proceed with the project, which I had already done after my failed site inspectionAlso during this time period I fielded several phone calls from Ms*** and *** *** regarding work completed on the project up to the date they would eventually dismiss ELTMs*** repeatedly claimed we were charging her a fee that exceeded the nature of the projectThey had both made it clear that they were unhappy about the initial fee and the portion of the retainer that was not going to be returnedPlease refer to the attached final Invoice dated 4/13/2017. As the final invoice will indicate a total fee of $for the cancelled property in Amador County was identifiedThe final Invoice also indicated a total fee of $for the San Joaquin County property, which included my travel time to and from *** and time I was on-siteThe retained fees totaled $1,250; the returned fees totaled $4,750. A retainer fee is an up-front cost incurred by an individual in order to pay for the services of a consultant, freelancer, lawyer or other professionalA retainer fee is most commonly paid to individual third-parties that have been engaged by the payer to perform a specific action on their behalfThese fees, almost always paid up-front, only ensure the commitment of the receiver, and they do not guarantee an outcome or final product The retained fees are noted in the Invoices and are validThe client and/or property owners are not entitled to any work product, whether partially completed or completed, by virtue of having committed the funds to acquire ELT's services. As for the complaint, we were hired directly by Mr*** who is clearly identified as our client in the Appraisal Service AgreementAlthough we had not visited the property as early as we would have liked, we were on time with the project and would have delivered the report as agreed uponI never once made any statement that our firm "had not started on it yet"Lastly, and as described above, the property owner is simply not entitled to any of our completed or incomplete work product and/or file data. ELT is very committed to our clients and the property owners we serveWe have returned thousands of dollars in retained fees over the last twenty years when in fact it was appropriateWe have also retained all or portions of retainers when our firm had expended resources in the process of meeting our commitments

I am rejecting this response because:
He is being dishonest.  I'm not going to keep going back and forth with someone who is unreasonable and dishonest.  We went and got 2 more appraisal quotes on the property, both came in around $2,000.  If he has done work, he should be able to show it to his clients that paid for that work, whether it is finished or not.  He doesn't have the right to withhold it from us.   We signed no such agreement.

1) I remained in the parking lot for 15 minutes after the fact and in plain view of Mr. & Mrs. [redacted], who both left without responding to my presence. Essentially, I was ditched.
2)Before I was even out of the driveway, I contacted my client (again, Mr. [redacted]) to inform him of the days events and for some direction.
3) Lastly, I (not the receptionist) ran the project and kept a run on the hours expended.