A couple is suing an Ortanna woman over backing out a real estate deal attached to an Adams County home that has allegedly cost the couple more than $15,000.
North Carolina residents Richard and Karen Hess filed a lawsuit May 20 in the U.S. Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina Southern Division against Amanda C. McBride, citing a breach of her legal duties in buying the residence at 299 Silo Road, Orrtanna and the seven acres attached to it.
The claim states that McBride was made aware of the obligations of the seven acres, which is a part of the federal government’s Conversation Reserve Enhancement Program and the Pennsylvania Farm Service Agency, when she and the plaintiffs agreed to settle the sale the property on June 28, 2013.
The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program is a voluntary land retirement program that removes environmentally sensitive land from production and introduces conservation practices to farmers, ranchers, and agricultural land owners, who are paid an annual rental rate, according to the complaint..
When McBride backed out on the deal on July 17, 2013, it forced the Hess family to pay $13,445.34 to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and $2,735 to the Pennsylvania Association of Conversation District in reimbursement fees for the acreage in the program.
The Hess family is seeking monetary damages of $275,000 from McBride. Hess is serving as his own attorney in the matter.
U.S. Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina Southern Division case 1:15-cv-01574-WWC