Homebuyer hits seller with fraud complaint

A Philadelphia woman is suing the development company from which she purchased her first home for fraud after it was discovered that the tax abatement that was promised as a condition of the sale never went through.

Philadelphia attorneys Harper J. Dimmerman and Olivia Gabriel, of the Law Office of Harper J. Dimmerman P.C., filed the fraud complaint June 7 at the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas on behalf of Hannah L. Tran.

The defendant named in the suit is Huntingdon Valley, Pa.-based Metro Development, LLC, and the company’s president, Vitally Polyachenko, of Richboro, Pa.

According to the civil complaint, Tran, a first-time homebuyer, purchased a rehabbed property from the defendant in May 2008, with the understanding that the property was a tax abated property; it was marketed as such.

Settlement took place in early July 2008, the suit states. The seller did apply for a tax abatement on Nov. 2, 2007, with the Philadelphia Board of Revision of Taxes, but subsequent to taking possession of the property in September 2010, Tran discovered the anticipated abatement had never actually been obtained by the seller.

The complaint states that the plaintiff has attempted to rectify the situation on her own, but to no avail.

Tran seeks judgment against the defendants in an amount not in excess of $50,000, together with interest, attorney’s fees and other court costs, for all three counts listed in the lawsuit, which are breach of contract, unfair trade practices and consumer protection law, and negligent misrepresentation.

The non-jury matter is scheduled for an arbitration hearing on Feb. 9, 2012.

The case number is 110600359.