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Mobile home dealer not delivering on promises

4 years 8 months 4 weeks ago Thursday, June 20 2019 Jun 20, 2019 June 20, 2019 6:57 PM June 20, 2019 in News
Source: WBRZ

DENHAM SPRINGS - A mobile home dealer in Livingston Parish is in hot water again.

Last year, 2 On Your Side investigated Southern Heritage Homes after the company wasn't getting trailer titles to homeowners in a timely manner. In the last few weeks, more calls have come into the WBRZ newsroom from people saying they're owed money or haven't received what they paid for.

Todd Varnado says he paid cash for his mobile home and it's still sitting on the lot.

"It was basically like a cash sale," he said. "We actually paid them to move it and set it up, block it and do the trim."

Varnado closed on the homes three weeks ago and the check cleared the bank soon after. He'd been waiting for the house to be delivered to his property when he got a call from 21st Mortgage asking if he was still interested in buying it.

"They left a voicemail and asked me, did I want to still purchase the trailer, was I still interested in buying the trailer," said Varnado.

He thought it odd because he has already signed the paperwork and handed over the money to purchase the structure. Varnado legally owns the mobile home.

"Southern Heritage is the company we wrote the check to," he said.

According to 21st Mortgage, that check was never transferred over from Southern Heritage Homes and no one seems to know where the money went. Varnado says 21st Mortage is doing all it can to work with him, but fears without some sort of collateral they won't be able to release the trailer to him.

Thursday, 2 On Your Side spent some time at Southern Heritage Homes in Denham Springs looking for the owner, but she never came out to meet us. An employee on site told us Tiffanie Carpenter was in her office and her car was parked at the building.

The mortgage company is also looking for answers and had a representative on the Southern Heritage Property Thursday making sure nothing disappeared from the lot.

Varnado doesn't think it's fair he's caught up between the two companies.

"Why are we stuck in the middle of this, we legally own the trailer," he said. "It needs to be released, it needs to be on our property as soon as possible.

Southern Heritage Homes and Tiffanie Carpenter did not respond to calls and emails from 2 On Your Side Thursday. The law firm representing Carpenter and her business says it's working out an arrangement with Varnado to get him the home that he's purchased and says, "He's going to get the trailer, it's just a matter of when."

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