Tart 1: 'Buying a 3-fouse
Smoke Signals
Legal service available to all members and staff
By Gayle Patterson
Jan and David were tired of paying
rent. They had always wanted a home
for themselves and their three children.
The wanted their children to grow up
with a yard to play in and a place where
the children could have a dog. Jan and
David knew that they were eligible for a
down payment program from the Tribe,
and thought that if they qualified, that,
at last, their dream of becoming home
owners would come true.
Jan and David soon became discour
aged when they started house hunting
because of the prices of existing, estab
lished homes. Then they heard from a
friend about Acme's Manufactured
Homes. A company which, they learned,
would allow them to buy a manufactured
home of the size they wanted for about
$20,000 less than what they could buy
on the open market. They were thrilled
because the house they purchased would
be brand new, and they could pick some
"luxury" features, and not have the re
pair and renovation expenses of buying
an older place.
When Jan and David went to Acme, they
were shown lovely model homes which
appeared bigger and better than anything
they had seen before in their price range.
They were told that for $59,000 the house
would be assembled on land owned by
Acme in a place called Dream Home Gar
dens; that the house would be fully war
ranted for a year, and any repairs or other
difficulties would be taken care of by
Grand RondeOregon Legal Services Offices
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Acme without cost to them during the
period of the warranty.
They did not think of what it would
mean to have their dream home built
on someone else's land. When they were
presented with the sales contract for the
home, they noticed that in order to get
some of the extra features they wanted,
additional money was added to the pur
chase price. They noticed that charges
for items they did not ask for, such as
landscaping, were listed in the sales con
tract. They asked about these additional
charges, and were told that these were
normal charges that any home buyer
would have to pay. They had never
bought a home before, and were afraid
if they refused to pay these extra charges,
Acme would reject their application for
financing and they would never get the
house.
In the case of Jan and David, if they had read carefully, they would have
known that having a home built on someone else's land did not give them the
independence and rights that they expected as homeowners. They were still just
tenants, and subject to any whim of the landowner as long as they remained on
his property. And yes, if they broke any of the landowner's rules, they could be
thrown off the land like any other tenant. They did not do their research.
What if they got a job in another town or state? Could they sell? Could they
rent it? What legal remedies were they allowed if the deal did not work out?
What if their one year warranty passed and requested repairs had still not been
made? What is arbitration anyway? All of these were questions that should
have been answered to their satisfaction before they signed the contract. This is
where using the legal services program provided by the Tribe can help.
A few simple rules for consumers when buying a house are:
TT Always arrange your financing plan before you start to house hunt. Com
V parison shop for interest rates, then get to the least expensive loan pre
approved so you will know in what price range you should be looking.
Land is wealth and freedom. Avoid building a home on land owned by
someone you don't know.
Never sign any sale or financing documents without bringing them to an
attorney for review before signing them. Grand Ronde Legal Services will
review documents and discuss them with you for free. Call us and fax the
documents if time is of the essence.
JT Learn to walk away from deals you don't like. It is amazing how many
Kjr sales are made because buyers did not want to disappoint the seller or
realtor. It may be the seller's house, but it's your money. Do not promise your
family a house before you know all the terms. Family members can stampede
you into making an emotional purchase that everyone will regret later.
Buyers should know that when a case comes before a judge, with rare excep
tions, the judge is required to apply what lawyers call "the four-corners rule."
This means that whatever is written down within the four corners of each page
of paper that the contract is on is what will be enforced. Nothing that a realtor
or salesperson says to you verbally or when you are negotiating means anything
in a court of law if it is not written down within these "four corners."
If a seller will not give you time to let your attorney look at a contract before
you sign it, walk away. You do not want to do business with that person. Fax
machines can add speed, where needed.
They also noticed that the contract
was accompanied by three pages of small
print consisting of rules and regulations
for people who lived in Dream Home
Gardens. They tried to read all the rules
before they signed the contract, but
they were just too excited. They didn't
understand some of the language in the
contract and the rules, and they did not
want to ask the salesman what they
meant. They decided to just sign all the
papers, and hope for the best.
Over a year later, Jan and David were
anxious. Despite repeated requests for
repairs, their ceilings were leaking, sag
ging, and covered with mold. Their
floors were buckling, with ripples and
cracks appearing. They were surrounded
by a sea of mud because there was no
landscaping. On top of all that, they
had received a notice form Acme that
they were in danger of being evicted be
cause they had acquired a dog. Dogs
were not allowed under Dream Home Gar
dens' rules and regulations.
Evicted? How could that be? They
were homeowners, not renters, they
thought. They had to move, but a neigh
bor had told them they couldn't rent
their house to anyone else. It was against
Dream Home Gardens' regulations. They
put up a "For Sale" sign. Acme made
them take it down. Acme pointed to
their sales contract. They couldn't sell
their house unless and until Acme said
they could sell it, and Acme would have
to approve any buyers. And if they just
move out, Acme said, they would still be
legally liable to pay for the house.
Jan and David threatened to take Acme
to court.
"You can't do that," Acme said. "Look
at your contract. You gave up your right
to sue us. You're only allowed to go to
arbitration, and, you know, the arbitra
tor is a friend of ours."
Jan and David were miserable and they
were stuck. They went to see a lawyer.
Grand Ronde members are fortunate in
that receive Member Benefits, and quali
fied first-time home buyers are entitled
to get down payment money to establish
a home for themselves.
Almost all the merchants in this area
are aware of these benefits, and will use
this knowledge too exploit, and some
times even cheat tribal members who
come to them for goods and services.
The problem with getting large sums of
money at one time, is that it causes some
people to overestimate their financial
abilities, and become "impulse buyers."
Jan and David did not do their research
before they became buyers, and called
Grand Ronde Legal Services only after di
saster had struck. Buying a home is the
most expensive consumer transaction in
which most people will ever be involved.
They involve thousands of dollars and
years of debt. You would think that since
this is the true, people would be ex
tremely cautious before buying a home.
This is often not the case. For some rea
son, buying homes are highly emotion
driven transactions for people.
When we talk to clients about the de
tails of the disastrous sales contracts they
got into, the most frequent statements
we hear are that,
1) the buyer did not read the sales docu
ments before they signed them, or,
2) they read the documents but they
were incomplete (or they did not un
derstand them, and signed anyway), and
3) they trusted the salesperson to keep
verbal agreements that induced them
to buy, and did not object when the
verbal agreements were not included in
the written contract when they signed
it.
Legal Services offices are all over the state. You can call your nearest office
for assistance with a consumer problem. Be sure and tell them you are a Grand
Ronde member when you call.
If you need assistance your nearest office cannot give you, call the main
office of Grand Ronde Legal Services in McMinnville.
Other consumer resources available to you are the American Association of
Retired Persons which will give you information on how to avoid becoming
a victim of a fraud. Call 1-800-922-8716.
The Oregon Attorney General's Financial Fraud and Consumer Protection
Division wants to know about financial and investment frauds, including
telemarketing and work-at-home scams. Call (503) 378-43 20, Salem or (503)
229-5576, Portland.
If you've been a victim of medicaid fraud, report it to the Attorney General's
office at (503) 229-5725.
If you want to check out how many complaints have been filed against a
specific business, call the Better Business Bureau at (503) 222-2255.
To get information on home improvement scams or to make a complaint,
call the Construction Contractors' Board at (503) 378-4621, ext. 44900"
PROTECT YOURSELF. BE A WISE CONSUMER.