We just wanted a house....

This story begins with Lorri and Lisa, two first-time home buyers, moving from New York to Western Pennsylvania to take care of their elderly mothers. Having grown up in quite modest circumstances, neither had the slightest experience selling or buying property. Fortunately (or so they thought) one of them had done some babysitting years before for a child of Roslyn Neiman, a well-known Pittsburgh real estate agent in the employ of Howard Hanna, a firm of the highest scruples -- or at least that's what they'd like everyone to believe.

And so Lorri and Lisa signed on with Roz Neiman, confident she would never steer them wrong (oh no, never). Roz quickly worked on gaining their trust, sending them listings of prospective homes, complete with brief, and very candid, evaluative notes in her own hand. Several houses on the list were just "awful", another sported a "disgusting plan" but if a house was termed a "DOG" -- as several were, even some represented by other Howard Hanna agents -- we knew for sure to stay away. (See the document below, in Roz's own handwriting describing houses as "dogs" and the like.)  Thankfully Roz had taken us under her wing and provided confidential information about properties we felt fortunate to have.  

Here's what we ended up buying.  It looked so nice... on the surface.  So long as you didn't look under the cover-ups that were used to pull the wool over our eyes.  After we took ownership of the House of Horrors, though, everything changed... water damage, extensive feline urine damage, mouse and pest infestations, bowed foundation, multiple structural defects -- all concealed quite handily. 

In late April, Roz introduced Lorri and Lisa to 211 Hunt Road, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Roughly two months later (June 15), with the active encouragement of Roz Neiman, dual agent and a client of Mark Exler through his family-owned accounting practice, Lorri and Lisa reluctantly agree to forego the home inspection in order to expedite the sale. 

As she had on at least one potential purchase before this one, Roz urgently informed us that if we insisted on keeping an inspection, the whole deal would fall through, knowing that we were running out of options and preying on our vulnerability.  Then she vociferously argued that Mr. Exler was trustworthy, that she knew this because he was her longstanding accountant, and that she knew personally that 211 Hunt Road was “a great house” and that any problems we may find would undoubtedly be minor.

See below for Roz Neiman's descriptions of other houses (some for which she was herself the SELLING AGENT, and others for which her colleagues at Howard Hanna were the agents).  

Question:  If Roz Neiman is selling your house, is she describing it as a "dog" -- 

or "disgusting" or a "total gut" -- to prospective buyers?  

Competing agents -- How is Roslyn Neiman describing your listings to her clients?  

Something to think about...

So guess who ended up getting the REAL "dog" of all the houses Roslyn Neiman knew about?  Us, that's who.  And guess which house was really "disgusting" and in need of a "total gut"?  Yeah.  The one Roslyn Neiman pushed on us, that's what.

Hey -- Thanks, Roz, for all of your help!

Or just maybe not . . .

The "perfect" patio . . .

June 14 ... Lorri and Lisa ask Roz Neiman of Howard Hanna Real Estate -- who is supposed to be representing them as their agent -- to doublecheck on the backyard patio for them, to make sure it's in good shape, especially because -- as Roz knew from prior houses they'd looked at -- this was a big concern for Lisa, especially, because her mother had recently had disabling back surgery and had continued movement difficulties.  Lorri's mother was also elderly and had fallen and broken bones recently, so they wanted to make sure it would be safe for both of their elderly mothers to walk across without tripping, and they thought they had remembered seeing some loose tiles at the last visit.

June 17 ... Mark Exler informs Roz Neiman that he has ordered a new patio for 211 Hunt Road and queries whether Lorri and Lisa would like to have it put in -- at their expense! After final negotiations on June 19, Roz claims to have stated to Exler, “The girls feel very strongly they ought to have the patio installed as a condition of the sale.”

June 20 ... Mark Exler accepts Lorri's and Lisa's offer on the house. Having heard nothing more about the patio since Roz’s report of her forceful advocacy on their behalf, Lorri and Lisa assumed that the patio was included in the final sales agreement. This same sales agreement was not received by Lorri and Lisa until well after the fact, however; instead of being sent to them, Roz sent it to the mortgage broker... who just happened to be a longtime friend and client of Mark Exler.

July 1 ... Lisa and Lorri learn, after the fact -- i.e., after their offer was accepted -- that the patio is in fact not a part of the sales agreement as Roz had led them to believe. The next day, they walk across the patio with Roz Neiman and her husband Sandy Neiman, reminding Roz of her "perfect patio" comments as they step on one loose, broken tile after another, making for a very tense situation. Neither of them is very pleased with the comments being made, and neither does a very good job of hiding it, though Roz naturally makes a greater effort.

July 28 ... Three Rivers Inspection determined that the patio is almost completely dislodged from its moorings and is urgently in need of replacement with tiles actually intended for outdoor use -- as opposed to the cheap, interior tiles that the Exlers used.  

And once again, Lisa and Lorri learn that the house they've been suckered into buying by Howard Hanna's "top agent" and her friends and clients Mark Exler and his wife Robin Exler (co-owner of the Squirrel Hill Flower Shop) is not the house they thought they were buying.

Another Potemkin Village -- hey, thanks, Roz!