What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? North Carolina
Here's the situation. My husband is retired and we recently bought a condo in Charlotte NC. He is on a fixed income (SS plus a pension) and I'm still employed. He owns a house in Winston-Salem, NC. The house was leased out for 2 years and the lessee rented it to a series of tenants who
basically trashed the place and he never had it repaired. We cancelled the lease this past spring due to his not fulfilling his obligations.
At that time, the accountant who had done our taxes for the last
7 or 8 years, offered to take the house under a lease option himself for one year, with the intention of purchasing it as an investment. He also offered to have an estimate done on necessary repairs and split the cost of said repairs with my husband. My husband was agreeable because it meant that he would be out from under the burden of making the mortgage payment on the property until the accountant actually purchased it and the
house would ultimately be sold, which was his original goal. All this was
put in writing (yes, we have copies) and the estimated cost of repairs was appr. $3000. My husband paid the accountant half of that amount.
Then around mid-July we got a notice from the finance company, saying that the July payment had not been made. We contacted the accountant who said it was an oversight and he would rectify the situation immediately. In August, we were again notified that the payments had not been made and the account was in arrears. Many different
attempts, at this point, to contact the accountant, proved futile. My
husband has always had an excellent credit rating and fearful of losing such,
he went ahead and made the payments and brought the account up to date.
He sent certified letters, faxes and emails to the accountant's
business office, cell phone #s, etc.....all went unanswered. He then
went to the building where the accountant had maintained an office, in
Greensboro NC, only to be told by other tenants that the accountant had been served by several sheriffs in the preceding weeks and had since moved out of the building. No one seemed to know where.
My husband went down to the courthouse in Charlotte to look up
the accountant by name and discovered that this type of activity seems to
be a favorite ploy of his. Lots of different complaints by other individuals.
Our question...The initial $1500.00 payment for our half of the repairs, per the contract, that were never made, plus the fact that we
are now responsible for the mortgage payment again, combined together, make this a fairly sizable amount. Is it too large to be handled in small claims court? Does the fraudulent behavior of the accountant mean that it has to be in criminal court?
And most important of all...if we are willing to study, read, learn and research is it possible for us to file the necessary papers ourselves in an attempt to prosecute this individual? We checked with an attorney and they wanted $200 per hour to do this.....we cannot afford that in addition to
paying both mortgages. But we do not want this rascal to go
unpunished for what he's done. Is there a way we can possibly do it ourselves? We're willing to do the research, learn the procedures, study the forms, whatever is required...any help or answers anyone can give would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
Dusty
Here's the situation. My husband is retired and we recently bought a condo in Charlotte NC. He is on a fixed income (SS plus a pension) and I'm still employed. He owns a house in Winston-Salem, NC. The house was leased out for 2 years and the lessee rented it to a series of tenants who
basically trashed the place and he never had it repaired. We cancelled the lease this past spring due to his not fulfilling his obligations.
At that time, the accountant who had done our taxes for the last
7 or 8 years, offered to take the house under a lease option himself for one year, with the intention of purchasing it as an investment. He also offered to have an estimate done on necessary repairs and split the cost of said repairs with my husband. My husband was agreeable because it meant that he would be out from under the burden of making the mortgage payment on the property until the accountant actually purchased it and the
house would ultimately be sold, which was his original goal. All this was
put in writing (yes, we have copies) and the estimated cost of repairs was appr. $3000. My husband paid the accountant half of that amount.
Then around mid-July we got a notice from the finance company, saying that the July payment had not been made. We contacted the accountant who said it was an oversight and he would rectify the situation immediately. In August, we were again notified that the payments had not been made and the account was in arrears. Many different
attempts, at this point, to contact the accountant, proved futile. My
husband has always had an excellent credit rating and fearful of losing such,
he went ahead and made the payments and brought the account up to date.
He sent certified letters, faxes and emails to the accountant's
business office, cell phone #s, etc.....all went unanswered. He then
went to the building where the accountant had maintained an office, in
Greensboro NC, only to be told by other tenants that the accountant had been served by several sheriffs in the preceding weeks and had since moved out of the building. No one seemed to know where.
My husband went down to the courthouse in Charlotte to look up
the accountant by name and discovered that this type of activity seems to
be a favorite ploy of his. Lots of different complaints by other individuals.
Our question...The initial $1500.00 payment for our half of the repairs, per the contract, that were never made, plus the fact that we
are now responsible for the mortgage payment again, combined together, make this a fairly sizable amount. Is it too large to be handled in small claims court? Does the fraudulent behavior of the accountant mean that it has to be in criminal court?
And most important of all...if we are willing to study, read, learn and research is it possible for us to file the necessary papers ourselves in an attempt to prosecute this individual? We checked with an attorney and they wanted $200 per hour to do this.....we cannot afford that in addition to
paying both mortgages. But we do not want this rascal to go
unpunished for what he's done. Is there a way we can possibly do it ourselves? We're willing to do the research, learn the procedures, study the forms, whatever is required...any help or answers anyone can give would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
Dusty