Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/05/2023

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I am filing a complaint against Howard Hanna Horseheads **** ******** for not disclosing everything that was wrong on a property I was in the process of purchasing. I hired an inspector to inspect the property at **** ***** ***** *** ******** ** on 06/30/2023. The seller of the property also used this inspector in Oct of 2022. The inspector said he had disclosed to the seller the property isn't livable and needs major repairs. None of this was disclosed on the paperwork or in the initial listing. I went into this deal under false pretenses and the real estate agent for Howard Hanna misrepresented the home in general. The seller lied on the disclosure forms. The realtor never notified my realtor of any of the issues they were notified about in Oct of 2022. Black mold, collapsing foundation, no furnace, basement flooded. I wasted $425 on an inspection that the seller knew wasn't going to pass. If this was disclosed via disclosure forms or in the listing, I would have never pursued this purchase and would have never got the inspection. Due to this I am facing being homeless in an overpriced market on both rental and home buying. This was all around absolutely terrible to go through and I am extremely horrified that practices such as this exist in todays age and something needs to be done about it.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/13/2023

  Howard Hanna Management has reviewed the complaint and reached out to our Agent **** ******** who representants the Seller. Ms. *********** had her own Agent and was represented by ******** ********. The market is frustrating for all Buyer's, lack of inventory and many Buyers. That we don't control! This particular property was priced to reflect the work it needed and the Buyers understood that. Home Inspections are encouraged so a Buyer knows beyond the cosmetics what future repairs and remediation are needed. The cost of the Home Inspector services is borne by the Buyer, Ms.*********** did not move forward with the purchase, and the contract was release by all parties. It seems the Home Inspector had been to this property for a previous Buyer and he shared his information. Clearly though the Inspector never met the Seller, who lives in a different State.  This following is an account from Howard Hanna Agent **** ********: According to this complaint, it says inspector went to do home inspection for seller back in October of 2022. This is untrue, the seller never did a home inspection for the seller. **** ***** the home inspector, was hired on March 1st or 2nd, 2023 for a buyer to do the home inspection. The buyer did not share the home inspection with seller and said there was an issue with insulation that could cause asthma issues for her 4 children and wanted to back out due to this.  No assessment or remediation has ever been done to assess whether there is black mold or not. the foundation is not collapsing (but it is **** house with field stone and is not straight in one corner), the buyer's agent was told the furnace didn't work, the basement has a brand new sub pump to keep water out of basement.The home is livable and was being lived in until the day I listed it, and seller has never spoken to the home inspector.  On last note, this home was inspected by another inspector and no issues were brought to light. On my seller's behalf and mine, neither of us have viewed a home inspection report. There was no wrongdoing on the part of our Agent or Howard Hanna. We do wish Ms. *********** the best of luck on her home search.Respectfully submitted, ******** ******* Howard Hanna Real Estate Services Regulatory Compliance Department