Chapter 13 - The maintenance myth
Meridian hired independent engineer Dr. Stephen Ward to assess the property.
Findings:
Roof had seven to ten years remaining except one repaired section.
Drainage required $24,000 in work.
Pool equipment needed $18,000 over next year.
Electrical panel upgrade advisable:
$31,000.
Tree work:
$9,500.
Driveway:
Cosmetic deterioration.
No structural emergency.
Two-year reasonable maintenance plan:
$118,000–$146,000.
Not the:
$417,000 urgent stabilization
Carla had projected.
Then insurance.
Carla claimed carrier might refuse renewal.
Carrier said:
No.
Premium would rise modestly.
Some tree trimming required.
That was all.
Then Carla’s invoices.
Priya Shah found:
$63,000 duplicate or unsupported.
$38,000 excessive management markups beyond contract.
$22,000 work charged to trust but performed at Judith and Harold’s vacation condo.
That last category was clear.
Invoices listed Mercer residence.
Contractor photographs showed condo.
Harold said:
“Accounting mistake.”
Could be.
Three separate invoices made mistake less plausible.
Then:
$18,500 in landscaping materials purchased but delivered to Carla’s own property-management storage yard.
Some later used at Mercer house.
Inventory records unclear.
Not every dollar proven stolen.
Accounting separated categories.
The trustee sought:
$98,000 provisional reimbursement/surcharge against Bennett Residential.
Carla disputed.
Good.
Civil process.
Then Harold’s role.
He had approved many invoices electronically.
Did he knowingly approve inflated bills?
He said:
“I trusted Carla.”
That mirrored my own mistake.
May you like
But unlike me, he had also invested in the buyer.
That conflict made his approvals harder to excuse.
