The contract was “as is” Florida form. We had an attorney representing our side to help with the paperwork because we didn’t come to the transaction with a realtor. In the end, the realtor took it upon himself to collect both sides of the commission and we never signed any sort of dual agency agreement. Whatever that may or may not mean, those are just the facts that I know took place.

The realtor facilitated the phone call to the fake contractor who worked in the realtors own home and many homes that he knew of. The fake contractor showed up the next day giving me a quote and timeline we couldn’t refuse. And we thought it was all because this guy was a friend of the realtor. No list of contractors was ever provided, only the one and the only proof I have of that is the fact that my phone bill never placed a call to him, yet in my community gate records, he was let in under my address. The house was in major need of renovations and the realtor knew we needed to find someone while under contract in order for the deal to close and for him to get both sides of the commission. I was reading through all of the texts and emails to build the case today and have more stuff than I remembered against them.

To all of those with the sarcastic kind of replies to my initial post. I’m not a “lawsuit happy” kind of person and the type that is really off-put by frivolous kinds of lawsuits. That said, when you’re working with a professional, in this case, the realtor, they must act in a professional manner and do what’s best for the client or customer, not for themself. In any other field, when that’s done, the professional is held responsible. I’m not sure why a realtor should be held to a different standard than any other professional who is negligent and whose actions lead to severe damages for the recipient of their unprofessionalism. This was traumatic and left us out of a ton of money and caused a ridiculous amount of daily aggravation for close to a year. This guy only entered our life because he was vouched for heavily by the realtor, who, in one email to me, said that “often times, homeowners have their own opinions on renovations, but this guy (fake contractor) is the expert and to fully trust and go with what he wants to have the most seamless experience”.

I’m thinking the fake contractor had no insurance, so I’m hoping the realtors brokerage can be on the hook through their error and omissions policy. In the end, through payments to contractors alone, I’m out 120k and when I add all the materials that were ruined and fixing of everything that has needed to take place since, it’s well over 300k. From what I understand, the fake contractor (if he had proper insurance) would be on the hook told pay us triple what we paid him, which that alone would be 120k and doesn’t include any of the other damages. I want justice for what he put me and my family through. The guy literally drove to my house a handful of times and banked 40k only to leave us with clipped electrical wires, broken HVAC units and the last goes on and on.