If you plan to buy a home, please read this post first!
On February 15, 2017, my husband and I bought a home from the Cosgriffs. The seller disclosure sheet looked great as did the inspection reports.
We allowed the Cosgriffs to remain in our new home as long as they needed to without paying any rent because they are older and it was winter, even though we were making mortgage payments. There was lots of snow on the ground and we did not want to force older people to move twice, once into a temporary home while the construction of their new home was completed and a second time when their new home was complete.
On May 5, 2017, they finally moved out. Right when we moved in, we noticed carpenter ants everywhere–under the rugs, walking on the walls and the kitchen cabinets. Immediately we called Orkin to eliminate this problem because we know how destructive these pests are–they can destroy a home! After we had paid Orkin for a whole year to deal with this problem, a new Orkin tech named Adam finally found the nest. Unfortunately it was in the wood in our home in the between the basement and the first floor. Both Adam and the contractor who replaced the wood found proof that the infestation is well over three years old.
Unfortunately, these pests had been dormant in the winter when we bought our home.
So we spent thousands of dollars to replace the rotted wood. Frustrated with the amount of money this had cost, we reread the seller disclosure sheet. To add to our frustration, we found that the Cosgriffs, an older couple who claims to be Christian and attends church regularly, denied that any pests were in this home on this document.
So I emailed the Cosgriffs. In John’s reply to my email, Mr. Cosgriff was concerned that we were calling into question their integrity and honesty as Christians.
Eventually we had to get an attorney to write a letter to the Cosgriffs. He described the issue with the house and what the Cosgriffs could expect if they did not settle this out of court.
Finally, we received a letter from an attorney named Mr. Bedard on the Cosgriffs behalf. He said that the Cosgriffs had no knowledge of this ant infestation. Also, he stated that Mr. Cosgriff has now has cancer and does not want to counter sue but will do so for defamation and another bogus charge if this matter goes to court.
Mr. Cosgriff’s threats of counter suing are bogus. We know this as does our attorney. So today we contacted our attorney to begin a lawsuit in court for fraud. Today we have also contacted our state police to file a police report, because we would not have bought this home had the Cosgriffs informed us of the presence of carpenter ants. We believe the Cosgriffs committed felony fraud by not admitting this home was infested with carpenter ants.
Never buy a home in the winter in the colder parts of the US! In the winter, certain major issues go dormant. Also, never trust a seller’s disclosure report, regardless of his religion.
If you are buying a home, please remember our experience and heed our warning. You do not want to end up taking a seller to court like we now are.
Let the encouraging words in these bobbiejrae posts help you
soar like an eagle above life’s storms.
You never know what you will get!
How can you know what the real story is?
Another person’s negativity is never about you…
We now know that the Cosgriff’s true colors are. What are yours?
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