Stuck
Coincidentally.. also the name of one of my favorite kids stories by Oliver Jeffers. Definitely worth checking out. Anyway….
Our former new roommate is working on gathering documents and completing taxes so she can potentially pay off the existing mortgage on the gutted townhome and proceed with getting a home equity loan. (Are you asking how she can get a home equity loan when the home is stripped to the studs? I am. But that isn’t my line of work so I’m going with it. )
And the contractor we hired has started preparing the property for the work that is to come.
And made some discoveries.
Like how the plumbing isn’t connected.
And the heating / air conditioning isn’t connected.
And how the connection points have actually been covered.
So it’s worse than the things that were noticibly incomplete or completed wrong previously. Way worse. It is negligence. And it cannot be ignored. And there is no way that work passed inspection. And the city doesn’t make their building permits or results public like almost every other city does so I cannot look it up. And there is no way an old woman could tell a contractor to just not do something when that very thing will need to be completed for the home to be livable. Especially when that very same old woman was going behind our back to ask a different contractor to get the washer and dryer hooked up down there “for when she washes her sheets”. (Even though we all know she doesn’t use sheets because she sleeps on the couch.) I digress.
So do we call the city and ask for a reinspection? And then obviously discover that either a permit wasn’t pulled or the work wasn’t done to code? And then I meet with the homeowner to ask her to engage with the association to suddenly start to care about the horrible contractor they have overpaid for work under a claim that wasn’t done?
Nope. We all know that won’t work. We also know insurance doesn’t care because that is how it goes. Insurance will trust the contractor. So if the contractor lies and is allowed to lie they win. Bare walls policy means studs to sheetrock must be complete. All the electrical. All the plumbing. All the HVAC. All of it. No changes. Same to same. I know the claim. I have spent days on the claim.
And our former roommate isn’t speaking to me. So a friendly conversation is also out. I need to force the issue. I need to tell her that it appears that the work wasn’t done. And that if she needs to pay out of pocket for that work (that her HOA probably already paid the contractor to do) that she will definitely not be able to move back there. I know we cannot sue for neglignece but we can ask them to do the work that they were paid for, right? How miserable that I even need to ask that question.
I hate this feeling of being stuck more than anything. I hate feeling powerless and taken advantage of and ignored. I hate being lied to. I hate being forced to work with an HOA and a contractor who are actively working against my old roommate. And I hate that she can’t think clearly enough to do anything about it. (and that she can definitely think clearly enough to manipulate other situations to her advantage). Mostly, I hate that we are still talking about this and that we are completely alone in it. It is S and I. Period.
But wait. Hold on for one second. I can think. My brain works. My superpower is actually weeding out the nonsense, dealing with the facts, and creating a resolution. Why didn’t you just remind me of that a minute ago when I was stuck? Oh right. I write. This is the new plan.
I will ask my the contractor I hired to itemize the items he discovered that were not done and give me a price.
I will locate those items on the claim.
I will tell my former roommate that there is an issue and it possible that the contractor and property manager stole from the HOA - affecting the condition of her home.
I will tell her not to pay that deductible until it is resolved.
I will tell her we need to go to the association and make them aware and convince the to take action.
They don’t have a meeting for “complaints” until July 22. Watch me move that up.
Just watch me.
And then when they do what I think they’ll do (nothing) I actively communicate their indifference to every homeowner in the association.