"I couldn't believe that," Painter said when she looked up "Home Steps." "They're supposed to be helping the little people, like us, but then they go ahead and do this.
Not quite like you.
Posted on 06/20/2009 3:42:01 PM PDT by NewHampshireDuo
Earlier this year, their cramped mobile home growing smaller every day, Milford couple Lora Painter and Nick Dumont set about searching for larger, more suitable quarters for them and their three sprouting children. Times being what they are, though, scoring such a property for what they could afford was about as likely as all the nation's teens giving up their cell phones.
But then, as April showers began bringing May flowers, what Painter calls "our miracle" happened.
It came in the form of a tidy, hillside ranch with three good-sized bedrooms and a potential fourth, a couple of airy walk-in closets, shiny wood floors, lots of fresh paint, all surrounded by an acre of green just waiting for that personal touch.
Its best feature, however, was the nicely painted "for sale" sign swinging from a white post in the front lawn.
It's perfect, Painter and Dumont agreed.
If houses could talk, surely it, too, would have agreed. Vacant since it lost its previous occupants to foreclosure more than two years ago, the little house was about to once again have its own family. Dumont, a siding and windows contractor whose stream of jobs has slowed to a trickle thanks to the down economy, could easily handle any fix-ups and improvements.
The couple lowballed an offer, and accepted a reasonable counter. They did their inspections. A closing date was etched on the calendar. This should be quick and easy, Painter and Dumont told their realtors, Carroll and Mary Ellen Berg: No banks or mortgage lenders. It's a cash deal, thanks to a private loan from generous relatives and equity from selling their mobile home.
"All was going great. We set our moving plans . . . we were all very excited," Painter said.
The closing was just around the corner the day Painter answered the call she'll never forget.
"My realtors told me that some 'investment group' had bypassed the listing agent, gone straight to the bank, and put an offer on the house that was higher than ours," Painter wrote in a letter detailing the ordeal. "And the bank had taken the offer.
"My heart hit the floor."
On a misty, cool morning this week, Painter played with 4-year-old son Tyler on the living room couch while telling of the family's progression from shock to disappointment to dismay to anger.
All three kids were crushed, Painter said, but 9-year-old Devon took it the worst. He'd wanted to move ever since some neighborhood miscreant swiped his new dirt bike from their tiny yard one night. "He fell on the floor crying," she said, upon learning they wouldn't be moving. Distracted by it all, Devon started having problems in school, his mom said.
"He can't figure out why someone did something bad and isn't getting punished for it," Painter said, referring to the bike incident. "And now he can't understand how people can just take 'our' new house away."
The Bergs, who have 24 years in the real-estate business, are just as perplexed, Painter said. "They told us in all their years, they've never seen anything like this happen," she said. "Nothing about this makes any sense to them."
Attempts to reach the Bergs for comment were unsuccessful.
In tracking the chain of events, a familiar corporate name quickly jumps out – Freddie Mac, more formally the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. – the secondary-mortgage giant that good Americans like you, me, Nick Dumont and Lora Painter are helping back to its feet with our tax dollars these days.
The mystery buyer, Painter says, simply swooped in at the last minute and made an offer, sight unseen, which, even more perplexing, was a mere $2,000 more than her and Dumont's. The parties hastily set up an unusually short closing date, completed business, and it was over just like that, says Painter, who said she believes that everything was done over phones and computers.
Whether laws were broken or the whole thing grew out of a series of misunderstandings or missteps isn't known at this point. State banking commissioner Peter Hildreth was even taken aback by the unusual nature of the case, but said that because Freddie Mac is involved, it's a federal issue and falls outside of the state's jurisdiction.
Painter said the couple isn't sure where to go or what to do next, but has begun sending Painter's letter to local and state lawmakers, including Gov. John Lynch's office. Encouragingly, some have responded, she said, but surely there are no quick answers.
In a rather ironic twist to an already confounding story, the home was part of Freddie Mac's "Home Steps" program (www.homesteps.com), which was designed specifically to assist first-time and low-income homebuyers.
"I couldn't believe that," Painter said when she looked up "Home Steps." "They're supposed to be helping the little people, like us, but then they go ahead and do this.
"It blows my mind."
"I couldn't believe that," Painter said when she looked up "Home Steps." "They're supposed to be helping the little people, like us, but then they go ahead and do this.
Not quite like you.
Sometimes maybe an “investment group” is just a local realtor that has a special relationship with a local bank and can swoop in and produce the perfect outbid at just the right time.
Now they know why we didn’t want Obama or the current Congress elected. They are nothing but crooks and Freddie Mac people and that investor should be in jail.
There are nine kajillion other modest, affordable, slightly neglected fixer-upper foreclosed houses for sale in your area, wherever your area is. Stop complaining and go buy another one.
Does the law of contracts still work anywhere? If their offer was accepted, it shouldn’t matter who else came in with any amount of money. The selling bank should be sued for breach of contract.
Not if they had a valid contract they can’t. There’s more to this story than has been reported.
I hope there’s still some newspaper out there that will be willing to stay on this story in spite of the fact that Freddie Mac is a liberal organization.
Place was empty for over 2 years and johnny-come-lately Freddie Mac (demoncRAT campaign contributions company & rahmbo’s alma mater) sneaked in a deal that amounted to $2,000 over the current bid. Somebody pulled a fast one over this couple. Hope it’s investigated thoroughly.
***Does the law of contracts still work anywhere? If their offer was accepted, it shouldn’t matter who else came in with any amount of money. The selling bank should be sued for breach of contract.***
Exactly what I thought. But, the wording in the article is a bit loose: “they accepted the offer,” doesn’t say they signed a contract on the spot. I hope they did. And I hope they win.
Short sales and REOs will get tentative approval but will state that offer is subject to bank officer approval. This may not come for weeks. Until you get the signature, it’s not a contact.
“Sometimes maybe an ‘investment group’ is just a local realtor that has a special relationship with a local bank and can swoop in and produce the perfect outbid at just the right time.”
That’s right. It happens more than one may think.
Yes, I know. IIRC the article implied they had a deal. At least for me, I don’t schedule a closing until I get a contract.
Thanks.
Couple or husband and wife?
And what about the bank’s contract with the listing agent? I don’t think any standard listing contract allows this sort of transaction. If the owner finds a likely buyer, that buyer should still have to go through the listing agent to make a bid, and the the listing agent has a fiduciary duty to the owner to try to get a higher bid from anyone who has already bid on the house or seriously indicated they are planning to bid. Maybe realtors are doing some custom contracts with banks for foreclosed properties, though I can’t imagine why they would agree to something like this. This couple will tell everyone they know not to use that realtor/brokerage because they can’t be trusted.
Who gives a cr*p whether they’ve registered their relationship with the government or not? They’re obviously hard-working people, focused on raising their children in a civilized home, and are not racking up debt or relying welfare to take care of their family. Nobody should be telling them they have to have a government-issued license to do this.
Good point. The story is missing some pertinent facts.
I do not know NH law, but it cannot be that different. I also cannot believe that the Realtors would be that amateurish. Something is not Kosher.
That is the reason why I left N.H. 30 Years ago and vowed to never return. Thanks to the USAF and the state of Florida I have earned and living the lifestyle I would of never had in N.H.
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