csmeance

about 6 months ago, I was in the market for a new home. Well, I contacted the realtor that got me into my current home, at the time, and she told me to look into new homes that are being built. Upon her recommendation, I found KB homes building in my area and they had a house that suited my needs. Well we got all the paperwork signed, and the next day the broker called and asked when we would go in to sign the paperwork. We told her that we had already signed it so all of us went back to KB to alter the paperwork to include her in the deal. Well KB supposedly added an amendment to the original contract as it would be a hassle to draw up a brand new contract.

The sales dude told her just to write her name on the paperwork and thats it, no signing anywhere. Well it comes time to close and the realtor's mother is in the hospital up in ohio. The sales guy said that we could do the closing without her being present. My family and I go to closing and we finish up the deal.

We move in and one day while paying bills (right after closing), I realized that about 3000+ dollars is missing. I look at everything and realize that this was a down payment to KB for our home for the options we got. Well I call them and they apologize and said they would issue a check. My realtor calls about a week later saying she's coming back down to Florida.

About a month later she calls and says that she hasn't gotten anything for commission on the deal. She called the sales office and got a reply that they have submitted it to the company via e-mail. She calls back a week later and doesn't get a straight awnser. So she calls up the corporate office and the guy who handles all of this says that she was never included in the paperwork, saying that she didn't sign anywhere and she was out of luck. She proceeds to tell him how the salesmen tricked her into not signing anywhere and then the dude starts laughing at her, then says, your one person, you don't matter and hangs up.

As of today, I have not gotten a check back and she hasn't gotten a dime for all the work she put in. Also I have told her to submit a claim to the BBB and submit a complaint to the state for bad business practices.

Just a heads up to you guys, hopefully out misfortunes can help you guys out.

stogie1020

I have never heard any good things about KB homes. Now I know it's not just limited to their construction practices... How is the house itself?

csmeance

home is pretty good, just a few squeaky spots on the second floor which they are fixing, some scratched up granite and some areas that haven't been painted properly. Otherwise, its pretty good. The construction manager here is really friendly and helps out a lot. Only big problem with the home, the air handlers are on the second floor, about 10 feet away from 2 of the bedrooms, so when they are on, it makes a bunch of noise.

doopstr

I don't understand why they owe you $3k? You gave them a down payment, wasn't that deducted from the final purchase price?

phil2

I was thinking the same thing.

hypertech

It sounds like your realtor didn't pay attention.

It also sounds like you didn't read your closing documents carefully and/or didn't look at the checks being handed out.

My realtor has always been paid at closing. I'm not saying there wasn't some funny stuff going on - I have yet to receive correct closing documents, but with a little due diligence on your part and that of your realtor and this problem wouldn't be here.

Will Y.

From the OP's post, it sounds like there were handwritten changes to the sales contract which were never incorporated into an OCR-scanned final contract and the closing occurred when the agent was absent and without the buyers noticing or objecting.

By the way, NEVER sign anything, esp. for real estate, without taking the contract(s) to your home or office and reading them overnight. Most residential buyers go to the escrow office and sign without reading-- which can be a problem when the paperwork is incorrect. Have the escrow send a copy of the paperwork at least a couple of days before the scheduled closing so the documents can be read-- that keeps one from signing on a 30-year note instead of the negotiated a 15-year note, for example.

Gpump

In medicine business deals the saying goes "you have rights until you sign them away". Sounds like your realtor got screwed by the salesperson - probably the BBB is your only choice. If it wasn't in writing, it never happened.

When we closed on our house I noticed a few descrepancies in the contract (ie what they said and what was in ink was different). No deal breakers, but a few surprises that weren't necessarily in our favor. Nothing that costed us money, but things like (we did an 80/20 loan combination) the 20% of the value of the home mortgage was actually a 15 year thing and we would still owe about 85% of that loan at the end of the 15 years - we were lead to believe it was two loans for 30 years that would be paid in full. Surprise, surprise, it benfitted the lender.

Point being, never sign anything (traffic tickets, restaurant bills, home documents) without reading everything because your signature says you read/understand whatever they wrote and agree to it. Sorry, good luck to you and your realtor.

NetEditor

That $3,000 should be deducted from somewhere. And your Realtor is an idiot for not knowing what paperwork she had to sign to be included in the deal. Sounds to me like you didn't look over your paperwork properly.

csmeance

the 3000 was not included in the paperwork at closing and was not deducted from the final sales price. I was told a few days back that the check is in the mail. Hopefully it is. As for the realtor, at first when she walked in and said she was our realtor, the salesperson said she would be added. She then said that at her office, they usually scrap the old contract and do an eniterly new one with the right people being included. Then he got some form and wrote her name on it and she asked if she had to sign anywhere. He specifically said no she did not as it was paperwork that KB had to put in. But even if she had signed, it was never included with the paperwork sent to the corporate office. At closing, we asked the KB home people if we could close without her present, also we had asked the people at the title company. They said it would be fine. We trusted them and signed away, it was our mistake for not calling her and asking her. As for the 3000 dollars, like I said before, they said it would be in the mail and lets just hope I get it.

corey415

I am happy with my KB home.

MR1

1. The money I think is commission. If so, it comes out of builder profit or a portion of the listing agent commission. Not visable on closing documents provided to the buyer.

2. Not quite an idiot perhaps tricked by the other salesperson. Every builder has there own method of paying a participation commission in new tracts, some play games. Nothing is standard so a naive or non aggressive agent may come up short or unpaid. Even happened to me once.

3. Agree lots of folks either don't understood or get overexcited and trust the professionals who are on commission.