Dallas County Case DC-20-14158
10. On or about June 11, 2020, the Plaintiff (as the Buyer) executed an Unimproved Property Contract (the “Original Contract”) with Defendant (as the Seller) to purchase the real property located at 1735 Morrell Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75203 (the “Property”). Ms. Haley Howard and Ms. Oana Marmalichi executed the Contract on behalf of the Buyer. The original sales price was $135,000.
11. Without Plaintiff’s knowledge or Consent, Defendant’s agent Jennifer Guzman altered the Original Contract and sent the altered document to Patriot Title. A true and accurate copy of the altered document is attached as Exhibit B and incorporated by reference herein. In fact, Ms. Guzman sent the altered document to the title company of Defendant’s choosing without permitting Plaintiff to view and/or approve the altered document. Neither Defendant nor Patriot Title informed Plaintiff that changes had been made to the Original Contract.
12. During the parties’ initial discussions Ms. Guzman was made aware that Plaintiff was in the business of wholesaling, and that Plaintiff intended to market the Property to its vast listing(s) of potential purchasers. Upon further consideration, Plaintiff opted to close on the Property instead of assigning its contract interest to another party. Due to the changed circumstances, Ms. Marmalichi contacted Ms. Guzman for an extension on the closing date to July 30, 2020. Ms. Guzman agreed to the extension request on condition that Plaintiff agree to release the $5000 earnest money (that had already been deposited) and agree to pay an additional $3000, making the revised sales price $138,000. Accordingly, the date in Paragraph 9A of the Original Contract was changed to July 30, 2020. Further, the 5-day extension set forth in Paragraph 11 of the Original Contract permitted until August 6, 2020 for Plaintiff to close on the Property.
13. During July 2020, Plaintiff disseminated its marketing package regarding the Property to more than 10,000 potential buyers. As the end of July drew near, and Plaintiff requested additional time to close on the deal, Ms. Guzman flatly refused. Apparently, Ms. Guzman had secured backup offers from parties who had been made aware of the Property through Plaintiff’s marketing efforts. So, Plaintiff made necessary arrangements to obtain temporary funding to close by August 6, 2020.
14. However, on July 30, 2020, Ms. Guzman was wholly unresponsive to Plaintiff’s numerous attempts to reach her so that closing documents could be timely prepared and executed. Suspiciously, Ms. Guzman did not respond back to Plaintiff on July 30, 2020 until after 5:00 p.m., knowing that it would be too late to prepare and/or execute documents by the applicable deadline. Then, Ms. Guzman informed Plaintiff that she would “pull the contract” unless Plaintiff agreed to match the offer of one of the backup offers of $150,000. Then, Ms. Guzman informed Plaintiff that $150,000 was no longer acceptable; that the sales price would be $160,000.
Source: Plaintiff’s Original Petition filed 9/28/2020 (emphasis added)