Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 3, 1994 TAG: 9404030026
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Billy and Karen VanDeusen were thrilled when they bought the three-bedroom house in Castle Rock Farms.
For Billy, the move to Southwest Roanoke County meant the long hours he put in as a supermarket meat cutter finally had paid off.
For Karen, it meant their two daughters would attend good schools and that she would enjoy the status of living in a house once owned by a lawyer.
"We had four of the happiest days of our marriage in that house," Karen recalled. "And then the bottom fell out - literally."
The house, which the couple bought for $92,500 in 1991, turned out to have structural problems that one expert said are so severe that the cheapest solution may be to bulldoze it and start over.
The house meant more than financial ruin for the VanDeusens; it destroyed what was left of their fragile marriage.
"We have never had a marriage made in heaven," Karen said. "But we worked hard at it. This was just more than we could handle."
The VanDeusens' misfortune is a worst-case scenario of what can happen when people unversed in real estate law step into a deal that turns sour.
Like many inexperienced home buyers, the VanDeusens failed to understand that no one involved in the transaction - including "their" real estate agent, who showed them the house - had a duty to look after their interests.
They didn't hire a home inspector, who could have spotted the warning signs: patched cracks in the foundation, windows out of plumb and gutters that sloped the wrong way.
In fact, one couple who made an offer on the house withdrew it after their inspector noted that the foundation had settled since the house was built in 1962.
"It's prudent in all cases for a buyer to get an inspection of the property," said Lawrence Marshall II, a Richmond lawyer who represents the Virginia Association of Realtors. "I don't understand why anyone would rely upon everyone but themselves for the most important information."
The VanDeusen family fell apart a year after moving into the house at 5744 Brahma Road.
Karen VanDeusen and the two girls moved out of the house just before Christmas 1992. Billy stayed, but stopped making mortgage payments.
First Union Bank seized the house last month when no one bid on the property at a foreclosure auction.
Most people would put the foreclosure behind them and try to get on with their lives.
Not Billy VanDeusen. His mission in life now is to get even with the professionals he believes wronged him: W. Ben Snead Jr., the attorney who owned the house; Patrick W. Graves, the real estate agent who listed the property; and Carol Walker-Fitch, the agent who showed the house to the VanDeusens.
VanDeusen's attorney has advised him that the odds are against him. State law gives little recourse to disgruntled home buyers. In Virginia, the rule is "caveat emptor" - let the buyer beware.
VanDeusen, 38, doesn't understand Latin phrases. All he knows is that he lost his family, his house and his life savings.
He learned early in life, growing up poor in Wytheville, never to go down without a fight.
"Nobody gave me nothing," he said. "I worked like a dog to get here. I've taken so many punches. Now let's see if they can take my punches.
"I may lose this deal, but they will know they've been in a fight."
The flailing VanDeusen has yet to land a legal glove on Snead or the two real estate agents, all of whom say they did nothing wrong.
The Virginia Board of Realtors threw out a complaint that Graves and Walker-Fitch knew about the structural defects and kept the information from the VanDeusens.
Roanoke County Circuit Judge Kenneth Trabue dismissed a lawsuit against Graves, Walker-Fitch and Snead.
In February, however, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that Trabue should have heard more arguments before deciding whether allegations against Snead and Walker-Fitch warranted a trial. Graves was dropped from the suit.
The case now goes back to Trabue, but there is no guarantee that it will go to trial.
"He's a long way from getting his day in court," said Dennis Brumberg, the attorney handling the case for VanDeusen.
The deck was stacked against Billy and Karen VanDeusen from the start.
They both grew up in Wytheville, but they moved in different circles at George Wythe High School. Billy was a country boy who proved his worth on the football field; Karen came from a middle-class family and dreamed of going to college.
They began dating a few years after high school. Karen put her dream on hold to marry Billy in 1979.
Their first child, Kelly Nicole, was born mentally handicapped and needed constant attention. Karen stayed at home, and Billy worked cutting meat at a Roanoke grocery store.
Things got better. They bought their first home, a starter ranch house on Nelms Lane Northeast, in 1982. Their second child, Amy Lynette, was born a year later. Billy spent the weekends finishing the basement. Karen took night courses toward a four-year degree in business administration.
For a blue-collar couple living on one salary, the VanDeusens were doing pretty well.
Then they decided to sell their home and move to more-upscale Southwest Roanoke County.
They hired Walker-Fitch to sell their house and help them find a new one. Karen VanDeusen had met Walker-Fitch at night classes and considered her a friend.
Later, Karen would feel betrayed. She recalled how Walker-Fitch, when they were selling their first home, had instructed her to disclose any defects, down to a small nick in the kitchen counter that Karen kept covered with a cutting board.
Karen later realized that their relationship with Walker-Fitch changed once they began looking at the Snead house. Walker-Fitch was no longer working for them. She was working for Snead.
Still, Karen thought that Walker-Fitch should at least have explained the importance of a home inspection. "We were friends," Karen said. "I trusted her."
Walker-Fitch said she feels sorry for the VanDeusens, but said she fulfilled her professional obligations to the couple during the transaction.
As for the inspection report that killed an earlier contract on the Snead house, Walker-Fitch said she did not know about those findings until after the VanDeusens had closed on the property.
"If I had known about the report, I certainly would have told them that they would want to look at it," she said. "I have to get up every morning and look at myself in the mirror. I don't do business that way."
The weather turned chilly on their fourth day in the house on Brahma Road. They noticed a draft, so Billy went down to the basement to make sure all the storm windows were shut.
He found cold air blowing through some boards nailed to the upper part of the workroom wall.
Karen came running when she heard him yell.
"The look on his face was awful," Karen recalled. "He looked white as a sheet."
He had pulled down the boards to expose bowed support beams, beneath which pieces of wood were wedged to prop up the house. "This house has sunk!" Karen exclaimed.
Months later, L.W. Garst, a private home inspector, confirmed that the foundation had settled and recommended they hire an engineer to determine whether the house would continue to sink.
The VanDeusens never paid for such a study, but they accept Garst's conclusion that the house could be "virtually worthless" because of the unstable foundation.
Snead, the attorney who lived in the house for 15 years, said he never had any problem with the house settling.
Snead said that he knew there had been problems in the past, but said he and his family never noticed any further settling.
"We could see that a crack in the living room ceiling had been patched," Snead said. "It never reappeared in that entire 15 years."
Snead contends that Billy VanDeusen has gone out of his way to paint the house as a wreck. "He's blaming all of his problems on the house," Snead said. "He has some other problems. Most people would not have a problem with that house."
Billy said the house speaks for itself. The crack in the living room ceiling has reappeared. The back wall has pulled away from the house about an inch.
"If this happened in just two years, how can he say nothing happened in the previous 15 years?" Billy asked.
In their lawsuit, the VanDeusens allege that Snead fraudulently put up fresh plaster and mortar to conceal some of the cracks in the foundation.
They also contend that Walker-Fitch was negligent in failing to disclose the contents of the earlier property inspection.
Snead and Walker-Fitch both deny the allegations.
Snead and Walker-Fitch said they find it hard to understand why Billy VanDeusen doesn't go away and leave them alone.
"Mr. VanDeusen has done everything in the world to hurt us," Snead said.
Tom Ely, who coached VanDeusen in high school football, said the defendants should hunker down for a long fight.
"He played with pure grit, orneriness and anything else you can say about a scrappy athlete who doesn't know how to quit," Ely said. "Once he is mad, he's mad. It takes a lot to calm him down."
What makes Billy madder than anything is that he doesn't know how to fight back against lawyers and other professionals.
"I'm more in my element over there fighting in the ditch," he said. "This is a mental game."
by CNB