Help Me Please

[Carol Perales]

Hi, In 2002 my husband and I made a mistake of purchasing a palm harbor home. Since june 2002 palm harbor has turned and twisted our lives upside down. We were promised a $600.00 payment per month, instead we got a $945.45 payment per month. The house was uneven, walls were cracked, driveway was trash, counters were cracked as were the cabinets, our septic tank was exposed and the pipes too, there were holes in the ground that were never covered, we had four piles of dirt and rocks in our backyard that were never cleaned up. We called palm harbor over and over and they never answered and when they did they said it was our problem! We later found out that they FORGOT to tell us that the community had problems of robbery and shooting, can you believe that! My husband and I now have bad credit and we live in a piece of junk apartment because the house got foreclosed. I also found out that they manipulated numbers on the financial sheet so that it showed that we could own a $100,000.00 home, because the numbers we gave them weren't the numbers that were on the sheet I later saw. I know what your asking why wait so long to fight back, when the paper work was being done as well as the house had pregnancy problems with our first child. This house was for her but everything was a nightmare and now I'm fighting back! Please if anyone has had similar problems with palm harbor please contact me at my e-mail address [email protected] so we can fight back together.

[rmurray]

First...I hope that you and all readers of your post learned to read a contract before you sign...How could you possibly sign a contract with payments 50% higher than you had expected.....It was your hand that signed the contract...how is PH responsible?

Just about as important...you should have taken responsibility for finding a good location...How is the local crime problems anything to do with PH????????..You freely chose the location...maybe the salesperson pointed you..but the choice was all yours...

Another lesson in reading contracts....part of the paperwork you signed was an explanation of the warranty..especially cosmetic items...also a disclaimer for the level of the home past the original delivery...You signed a walk through..after which level and cosmetic items are all yours...The best lesson here...read and understand everything...

As far as fraud in relation to your loan is concerned...You might very well have gotten a bad salesperson...BUT..again ..you signed the credit application...which makes you just as responsible...Read everything...be sure all is correct...do not sign any blank documents...

Your best route now..might very well be a bankruptcy...Chapter 7..to clear your record..start over...MOVE ON..

[John]

This is another very good reason to get an lawyer to review the contracts and all aspects of home buying. It is one thing to buy a pre-existing home because everything is already in place but when building a home a lawyer is well worth the cost and even buying an existing home it is a good idea. I assume this was a land home deal in which case they found the land and you looked at it for approval. The loan application and truth in lending statement said what your payments would be so you should have caught it and not signed the papers.

[Roger1322]

Why were you so hard on this person? Not everyone is savey in these matters. I am, you are, but not everybody. She had a cry for help and you piled on. I don't have the answers but I sure would not kick her while she is down. You come across like the schoolyard bully. Don't bother to respond. I won't be back on this board.

[Linda]

I would guess that only about 10% of buyers really understand everything in the paperwork they are required to review and sign to purchase a home. I depended on a very sharp and experienced realtor to evaluate the mountain of paperwork.

Yes, some mistakes were made by the buyer, but lets put the blame where it really belongs - on the seller!

Carol - Good for you for taking action and warning others! I hope you get resolution to this nightmare.

Linda

[Craig]

did the dealer give you a RESPA (GOOD FAITH ESTIMATE) ?
the dealer I am purchasing my Homes of Merit from gave that to me to sign & indicated that my monthly payment could possibly be lower but definately would not be any higher than what was on the RESPA.
does anyone know if this is true ? or am I going to end up in the same situation as Carol when I do the final closing ?

[rmurray]

Final payments can be higher OR lower than the RESPA forms..I am afraid that there is no teeth is the federal disclosure laws..

RESPA forms are generated prior to the approval of the loan..interest rates usually are only final quoted at closing..so...your payment might be nothing like the RESPA forms..

Good loan originators alway over estimate the costs and interest rates..makes final closings much smoother when payments are lower than expected...but this IS NOT a law..just the style of some in the loan business..

You should be very vigulant about those things that can make a payment go up a lot...Final approvals interest rate...appraisal....cost over runs..

Good Luck