Document text
Home applicant�s hope dashed Company�s accounts of incidents conflict By Shari Downhill The idea of owning their own home turned sour for a Medford couple after a Homes America employee who was supposed to have processed their application was fired for violating company protocol. After spending time housed at the Medford Salvation Army homeless shelter, and now staying with friends, Lisa and Pat Kissane said they had applied for credit to finance a manufactured home from Homes America at 3490 S. Pacific Highway the first weekend in December. "They were having a $99 special and we thought we might be able to do it," Lisa Kissane said. What started out as a glimmer of hope quickly turned into suspicion for Kissane and her husband after the store�s assistant manager, R.J. Rogers, allegedly destroyed the couple�s credit application and failed to deposit the money in the bank. "I kept calling and he kept telling me he needed more time," Kissane said of her conversations with Rogers. Rogers asked for additional employment information from her husband and then disappeared, Kissane said. Store manager Brad Blanchard, in a telephone interview Tuesday, said applications were destroyed and customers� money was embezzled. "He�s thrown the applications away, kept the deposit and took off," Blanchard said. "As far as not following through with his customers, that�s our fault for hiring an idiot. That�s up to us to get to the bottom of (this)." But Homes America Regional Vice President Randy Rempher said Blanchard�s explanation was inaccurate and his behavior toward Kissane after the incident was unacceptable. Rempher said he personally fired Rogers for not following company protocol and that all customer down payment money had been accounted for. "I wouldn�t have let him go if all the money wasn�t there," he said. Rogers could not be reached for comment. Kissane said she became alarmed after her initial request for the return her down payment was denied. "They said I couldn�t get my money back because they didn�t have any record of me," she said. "They didn�t even have my application. The only thing that saved my butt was that I kept the receipt for the down payment." Blanchard confirmed Kissane�s receipt was legitimate and that Homes America was returning the down payment. He said Kissane had come to the Homes America office upset her money wasn�t being returned more quickly. "She was mad because her credit had been denied," Blanchard said. "I told her we had up to 30 days to return the money. It�s right there in the contract. If they�re so stupid they don�t read the paperwork, that�s their problem." But Kissane said she was never told her application had been denied based on her credit. "I have never received a letter or a call telling me my credit was denied," she said. "Besides, how could I be denied if they didn�t even have any record of me?" Instead, Kissane said, she had been told by Rogers her application had been submitted to the corporate office and had been approved. "He (Rogers) said they were just waiting for the lender," she said. "That was the last we heard from J.R." Rempher said Kissane�s treatment by both Rogers and Blanchard is unfortunate and does not reflect the company�s business philosophy. "We are in the process right now of cleaning house," Rempher said. "Professionalism is important for our company, both in terms of personnel and attitude." Confirming Kissane�s refund had been expedited from the company�s corporate office in Reno, Nev., he said customer confidence was important and remains a high priority. Although Kissane said during a telephone interview Wednesday she was happy to get back her down payment, she said she is concerned others may not be aware there could be a problem with their credit applications. "Yea, Brad (Blanchard) called me and said, �So, you want your money?�" she said. "When I got there he gave me an extra dollar �for my trouble� ... and patted me on the back." Blanchard at first said the applications of several customers had been destroyed, but later recanted, insisting Kissane�s was the only case in which the application was destroyed and the money taken. "They told me they had no clue how many customers this involved," Kissane said. "That worried me." Problems plaguing Homes America are limited to the South Pacific Highway store, Rempher said, and are not shared by either the White City or Klamath locations. Reach reporter Shari Downhill at 776-4463, or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.