Carol J Truss

We hired Ms. Truss to represent us for the sale of our principal residence of 30+ years in 2020. She asked us to sign a retainer. The retainer stated that anticipated cost would be about $1350 and additional costs may be added if needed for help with negotiations and difficult closings. I thought ...that was a bit odd, but I anticipated a simple closing since we hired an experienced realtor and accepted all cash offer (no mortgage or appraisal problems). The inspections went well and our realtor handled all negotiations. The fun started 3 days prior to closing. We went to Ms. Truss's office to sign the paper, since we did not plan on attending the closing. She explained to us that I would receive a buyer’s rebate of $1500. We informed her we were the seller. She said it didn’t make a difference since we paid the commission we would get the rebate. That was a mistake. A buyer’s rebate goes to the buyer, not the seller. You do not need an advance degree to figure that one out. The calculation of the state tax was also incorrect. We were over the age of 62 and entitled to a reduced charge. She missed that. We were overpaying by $2200, so we needed to get that fixed. And, finally we almost fell out of my chair when we saw her charge of $3600!! She said we signed the retainer and were liable for the charges. We argued that this was a simple closing with no issues. She did not agree, so we immediately notified the buyers, the buyer's attorney, and both realtors we were unprepared to close. Ms. Truss knocked it down to $2500. We still refused. She finally agreed to $1350 and that offer was through our realtor. Ms. Truss didn't bother to pick up the phone not once. Also, Ms. Truss did not attend the closing opting to send the closing papers to the buyer’s attorney. We were unaware of this and had no choice. We signed the final papers WITHOUT our attorney present at closing. It was a terrible and stressful experience. I would not recommend Ms. Truss for any real estate transactions.