Medicine Hat woman out thousands after getting scammed in real estate purchase

“The house was too big for me but the man showing me the property said he had a smaller one for sale that might be perfect, and I actually thought it was. I drove up a week later with a friend, we looked the place over and decided to buy it,” King- Laughling said.

She bought the home in June for $16,000. She completed a purchase agreement and E-transferred the down payment.

King- Laughling did some renovations and eventually moved in.

But a few months later, she said she started to grow suspicious when she couldn’t get insurance. She went to the village office.

“I did a tax search only to find out there was a lien on the house for back taxes so I decided to investigate a little further and that’s when I found out he does not own the house,” King- Laughling said.

The title was not transferred and the person who actually owned the home was a man living in Ontario.

She contacted the owner of the house and he agreed to let her live in it until the transfer of the title is resolved.

In the meantime, she has launched legal action and the ownership of the home is in question. It is difficult for her because she has already spent thousands of dollars and is living on a pension.

“I know I gave him cash of $8000. But I also got new floors put in the house, I had a hot water tank put into the house, I’ve painted the house, I’ve been doing renovations, new lights in the house, only to find out, it’s not my house,” King- Laughling said.

It’s a situation she never thought she’d be in, especially given the village’s small population.

“When you drive up to a small village and the barkeep meets you and everyone waves, and everyone appears to be very friendly, you honestly think you can trust,” King- Laughling said.

Both King- Laughling and the seller never used a realtor during the purchase of the home. King- Laughlin told CHAT News she went that route because of the small purchase price and the community’s small population.

But a local real estate expert said realtors can ensure situations like King-Laughlin’s are avoided.

“First of all, realtors will do their due diligence and will find out who actually owns the home by doing a title search. Also, the realtor will go to the city and make sure everything is in compliance with the city and everything is permitted. There’s a multitude of reasons you would use a realtor to sell and purchase a property,” said Frank Devine, president of the Medicine Hat Real Estate Board.

CHAT News reached out to the seller of the home, but they did not want to provide a comment.

As for King- Laughlin, she’s hoping her story will prevent others from falling victim to similar situations.

“People need to know how easy it is to wind up in this situation,” she said. “I honestly thought a handshake would do, and that’s not true.”

by Tiffany Goodwein

Medicine Hat woman out thousands after getting scammed in real estate purchase

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