Help Carissa Rebuild Her Home

In Early November, Carissa closed on her home in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Since then, she and her two young sons have been homeless, staying in a single room with generous friends because her house is unsafe to live in. She was taken advantage of by a property management group who knowingly covered up preexisting damage, and all parties, from her inspector and realtor to the sellers, have denied any responsibility. She needs our help, so she and her boys have a safe home to live in. 

Carissa is one of my best friends since childhood, and she is a single mother working full time at an autism clinic here in Fort Wayne.  Her older son Henry was diagnosed with severe, non-verbal autism 5 years ago at the age of 3.  Henry is the light of her life, but he is also very challenging. He has no concept of danger, and he has a hard time understanding boundaries like staying on the sidewalk or in the backyard.  His brother Sam is 6 years old, and he is Henry’s protector and Carissa's little helper. 
 
Knowing that this house was on a no-outlet street, and had a fenced in yard, she thought this home could be a safe refuge. And while she knew the home was older and would require some repairs, she planned ahead for those immediate fixes.
 
What she did not expect, and was not prepared for, was to uncover such severe damage, damage that was KNOWINGLY covered up by the property management company that prepared the home for sale, that the home would be unsafe and unlivable.  This is despite a thorough inspection before sale, and despite hiring a realtor with many years in the business. Even though the damage found later was clearly covered up, all parties have denied responsibility.

And while she has already spoken with multiple lawyers, they've told her that it would be more expensive to pursue legal recourse, and it wouldn't be worth her time.

Henry, in particular, is suffering the effects of this displacement while they stay with friends and the home is assessed by contractors. And while it might not be "worth" the time of these lawyers, it's still substantially more than Carissa and her family are able to cover on their own.

Finally, what's been found:

First, the floors, baseboards, and walls in the upstairs are all COMPLETELY saturated with dog urine, the smell of which was purposely covered up by air fresheners and the odor of floor varnish during the inspection.  Upon gaining possession of the home, Carissa planned to lay laminate flooring throughout the upstairs.  When she started to pull out the quarter round, the smell of urine was overwhelming. She had 2 contractors come out to assess the damage.  All of the hallway floors and the floors in the smallest bedroom need to be removed and replaced before the home is safe to live in.  All of the baseboards need replaced.  A foot of the walls from the floor have to be ripped out and replaced.  Under all of the affected wood and walls has to be remediated with a lacquer-based sealant before any of the materials can be replaced.  The bathroom floor also has to be ripped up and replaced, because the pet urine was heavily concentrated at the entrance to the bathroom. 
 
Additionally, during the recent heavy rain, they found a spot in the attic, intentionally covered up by boards, that hid water damage due to a preexisting leak in the roof, as well as areas of the bedroom ceilings that had been painted over specifically to cover up water damage.  A roofer did a more thorough inspection on the roof and assessed that the previous roofer did a very bad job and the entire roof will need to be replaced very soon. 

On top of the roof and floors, she has still been shown no evidence that other issues outlined in her contract with the sellers were taken care of before closing. There have also been many minor fixes and issues she's already had to tackle herself, such as the tub drain being improperly sealed, which caused a major leak into the living room ceiling on its very first use. 
 
What Carissa and the boys need most right now is financial support towards the repairs that will make this home safe to live in for her and the kids.  In total, the issues described above were quoted at over $16,500. This includes the worst of the damages, not smaller repairs she already paid for.  She would NEVER have purchased the home if she knew there were severe issues hiding under new varnish and paint. 

At the end of the day, she was a very vulnerable person who was taken advantage of by the property management group, who knowingly covered up health and safety concerns instead of making the home ready for sale.

I know that as my family and I has been following her story, we kept thinking to ourselves, "this can't be legal." Even when buying a used car, if your bumper falls off just as you drive off the lot, there are lemon laws that can protect you. Not so with real estate. This is something that should never happen to anyone, let alone a single mother of two young boys, one with special needs. 

I know that if we all come together, we can get her the help she needs, and make sure their family has a home to live in come Spring. <3 

If financial help isn't possible for you, Carissa is still looking for licensed contractors to help with repairs, especially roofers, drywall specialists, and plumbers.

Also, her PayPal is @carissachrzan, and her Venmo is @Carissa-Chrzan