Building a new house for your family is the dream of many people, but sadly, that dream can quickly become a nightmare.

What would you do if the builders you had working on your new home did everything wrong and the bank demanded payment anyway?

That was the situation the family in this story was in, but they got a good lawyer who was able to turn the situation around fast.

Check it out.

An Attorney’s Dream Case: My Parents vs the Bank

In 1973, my parents had enough money to build a little ranch house in the country.

The small bank in town approved the mortgage & the bank signed a contract to give “Bob” the money to build the house.

He is just in it for the money.

Bob, as it turns out, was overbooking himself all over town, leaving his clueless minions to do the actual work.

The build took longer and longer, with more and more work having to be ripped out and redone.

We’re not talking about using the wrong color paint or nailing up some wonky trim, here.

The architect forgot to fully erase a line on the blueprints & the framers built a wall through the bathtub.

My mother was told “Don’t put anything heavy in the kitchen cabinets” bc they were attached to the drywall – not the studs – using a few roofing nails through the back of each cabinet.

The garage door opening was framed into the living room instead of towards the driveway. And so on.

When the bank’s representative showed up for the final inspection, my parents met him in the front yard & refused to sign off on Bob’s work.

Then representative became angry, as the bank had paid Bob a lot of money.

This is completely unacceptable.

He strode to the front door & pulled on the doorknob, whereupon the entire door – casing included – fell on him.

It had simply been wedged (not nailed) into place.

The bank called Bob, who finally showed up to supervise the work himself.

The only problem was that Bob wasn’t any better at building a house than his minions were.

My parents still refused to sign off on the house.

My mother was a SAHM in a nasty rental with two tiny children while my dad was working two jobs while this was going on.

Throughout the entire process, the bank & Bob treated them very poorly, bullying my mom & lying to my dad.

What should have been an exciting time for my parents was ruined.

My mom cried a lot. My dad got depressed.

Finally, the bank threatened my parents with foreclosure & Bob threatened to sue my parents for breach of contract bc the bank refused to pay him any more money.

So my exhausted parents went to an attorney & gave him the rundown.

Plumbing, electrical, tiling issues – the whole sorry mess.

My parents were scared.

All they had was their small downpayment savings, so if this became a lengthy court battle the bank & Bob would win.

The attorney, “Tom”, was kind, but my dad said he could tell that he and Mom were doomed from Tom’s facial expressions as he sorted through the paperwork.

Oh, he found something good.

Then, abruptly, Tom smiled. “Let’s get everyone together for a meeting,” he told my parents. “Tomorrow.”

So my parents, Tom, the bank’s representative, the bank’s attorney, Bob, & Bob’s attorney met at the bank.

Tom didn’t give anyone else time to begin.

He said, “Well, my clients have decided that they no longer want this house. Please remove it.”

Everyone else start to laugh. “Remove it? Have you lost your mind?”

Tom, in a sweeping, theatrical gesture, placed a deed on the table.

“My clients own the land the house is sitting on outright. They no longer want the house. Get the house off my clients’ land.”

Bob’s attorney stared at the deed, & then turned & stared at Bob. “You built a house on land YOU DON’T OWN?”

Bob nodded.

The bank’s attorney started yelling at the bank’s representative. “YOU DIDN’T FINANCE THE LAND THE HOUSE IS ON?”

The representative stammered, “Uh…no…?”

This attorney knew exactly what he was doing.

Tom said firmly, “As I said, gentlemen, you’re trespassing on my clients’ land. I expect the house to be removed & the land returned to its original state, AT ONCE.”

My Dad said he’ll remember the blank looks everyone on the other side of the table passed to one another for his whole life.

Sure, the bank could foreclose…on a house that wouldn’t exist by the end of the week, with no way to recoup the money.

They didn’t even own the land it was on.

Bob was out the 50% he’d paid out of pocket, plus he was on the hook for tearing down the house & removing it.

On top of that, the bank would undoubtedly want him to repay the initial 50% they’d given him.

Could they have gone after my parents?

Sure. A foreclosure would have meant bad credit for my parents moving forward.

They might lose their downpayment.

But to sign off on the house in its condition at that time would have meant thousands and thousands of dollars in cash to replace/repair everything from the roof to the basement before the house could be safely lived in.

The bank knew my parents didn’t have that kind of money; they’re the ones who approved the mortgage!

Oh, of course they are now willing to do the right thing.

Suddenly, my parents were good people, it was all SUCH a misunderstanding, & the bank & Bob couldn’t do enough for them!

The house was brought in line with the original blueprints & specifications immediately, at no extra cost to my parents (but at considerable cost to Bob).

My parents signed the mortgage.

Bob got the rest of his money (& just about broke even on the build).

The bank’s representative was fired.

And Tom, attorney extraordinaire, got a stinging tale of triumph to recall to fellow attorneys for the rest of his life!

This is a story filled with incompetent people who got what was coming to them.

Read on to see what the people in the comments say about it.

This is almost certainly true.

This commenter is confused on one of the details.

Here is someone who works with contractors.

This commenter points out that banking was much different back then.

This person would have tried to get more.

A good lawyer is worth the money.

When you need them, you need them.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.