Coldwell Banker Burnet

We feel that Marty Siegel and Coldwell Banker Burnet Edina failed in their duties as a Realtor. A backdraft issue on the boiler and hot water heater was identified in a city inspection so it was written in the purchase agreement that the sellers were to provide a safety certification on the boiler and hot water heater prior to close to ensure any work done has properly addressed the issue. We asked Mr. Siegel for this documentation on the day we had a signed purchase agreement, and multiple times a week going forward. He did not supply any documentation to us until the day before closing. When the documentation was provided we had some concerns because the "certification" that was given did not explicitly state that the backdrafting was evaluated or fixed. As we are not professionals in Real Estate, and were new to Minneapolis we wanted confirmation that the terms of the purchase agreement had been met, but more importantly that the boiler and hot water heater were safe to operate. Mr. Siegel casually dismissed our concerns, stating on multiple occasions that the vent/airflow issue had been addressed, and even told us that we "could be confident" in this because the previous home owners had two children. He also said that there is no such thing as an "official" certification and that any licensced HVAC contractor performing an evaluation is equivalent to a "certification". His claims turned out to be untrue. The day after we moved into the house there was a funny smell in the basement so we called the gas company. Upon arriving, the gas company shut down our boiler and hot water heater for backdrafting. We had to replace the units at a cost of over $10,000. Based on the service we experienced from Marty Siegel/Coldwell Banker Burnet outlined below, we would caution anyone from hiring them. 1. He spoke with authority on items he did not have a correct understanding of. He led us to believe that an official certification does not exist, which is not true. The City of Minneapolis has a safety check certiciation form for HVAC units. Unfortunately since we didn't get the documentation until the day before closing we were not able to discover the truth until after the closing when the problem arised. Someone with 20+ years of experience should know the required documentation, or have quick access to resources to get questions answered. Instead of giving us a factual response based on research and understanding, he gave a general answer that intimated the problem was addressed and we could have confidence in this. We based our decision to close on his statements and his statements were false. 2. He did not provide full disclosure to us. We did file a lawsuit on this matter and as part of the discovery we got emails from Marty to/from his clients. The day before closing we asked Marty if the documentation provided was a full certification. He forwarded this question to his sellers and they responded that "we don't know, but we were never told to ask for that". The certification was required per the purchase agreement and we sent multiple requests to Marty asking for the documentation, so we were shocked to learn that the sellers did not even know one was required. Despite Marty hearing first hand from his clients that they did not ask for a certification and don't know if what they did qualifies as a certification, he did not disclose this information to us. 12 minutes after learning this from his clients, he stated that "In all my years selling real estate, I have never seen and 'official' furnace 'certification' certificate either, people tend to use that terminology loosely". So instead of either disclosing to us that a certification was not asked for, or put the effort in to explore what a certification actually is, he made general statements that led us to believe the unit was safe and that the terms of the purchase agreement had been satisfied. 3. Mr. Siegel on multiple occasions put the responsibility on us to do his job. When we questioned whether or not what was provided was a certification, he told us "You can call them (the gas company) to verify". We actually tried to call them directly and because we were not the account holder they would not give any details. We asked Mr Siegel for authorization on the account but it was never granted. In hindsight it seemed like he was trying to keep information from us. As an agent of the seller he did have access to this information and certainly had access to request this information from this sellers, yet he pushed it back on us and when we tried to follow up we couldn't and were never granted access. This is not the type of response I would want in an agent. A common arguement we heard from Coldwell Banker during the trial was that "we told them they could inspect the furnace prior to closing". While this might technically be true, this suggestion did not come until 2PM the day before closing so we would not have had time nor availability of a licensed HVAC provider to perform this check. Regardless of this, it was clearly stated in the purchase agreement it was the seller's responsibility to fix the boiler/hot water heater and thus a responsibility they were legally obligated to perform. Working with Mr. Siegel was a terrible experience. He did not address our concerns, provide us full disclosure, or complete the tasks that were required of him. We would not recommend Mr. Siegel or Coldwell Banker Burnet Edina for any services.