The question isn’t just "Is this ethical?" but also I’m wondering if it’s legal.  I’ll give my opinion later.

An agent I know (no, it’s not me) helped a buyer about a year ago in the purchase of a new construction home.  Nice home, but there were items listed in the contract that weren’t completed by closing.  I know, I know… never close on a home until everything is done.  However, the buyer’s husband – who’d had a stroke several months before – was being released from rehabilitation, so they didn’t have time to wait. 

The builder had promised – and he was really earnest – that he’d have a wheelchair ramp built before closing, which was scheduled three days before the husband’s trip home.  Two days after closing, the listing agent finally gave up on the builder and came over himself to provide the ramp so the husband could get in the house the next day. That was the first sign of worse to come.

Also in the contract was the request that the tiles in the kitchen be either cleaned or replaced because there were inky-like stains all over them.  There were also several dings in walls that had been filled and sanded, but not repainted.  And finally, the promised window screens never materialized.

Nearly a year later the elderly couple is selling their home and returning to Missouri to be closer to other family members.  My friend the buyer’s agent now has the house listed, and said she had to have an attorney draft a letter to the builder regarding the floor tiles.  The builder did finally come in to replace those two weeks ago (under threat of litigation), but he tore out the quarter-round, breaking most of the pieces and never replaced that.  When the new tile was in, he left the place filthy, dusty, dirty (and the quarter-round wasn’t replaced).  In addition, the buyer (now seller) still has areas not painted and still has no window screens.

Now that you know the background, here is where the ethical question comes in.  The builder still has the house next door listed.  It has window screens installed and they match the windows of the house my friend has listed.  Someone suggested she just take the screens out of the house next door for her listing.  IS THIS ETHICAL?  IS IT LEGAL?

Jump down for my opinion (and I’m not an attorney or a broker, so it’s definitely just an opinion…).

*IMO* Although it feels morally like the agent should be able to take the screens from the other house, it gives me the "uh-oh" feeling in my gut.  When that feeling kicks in I know it’s just not right to do.  I think it would also be considered theft – even though the builder still owes them screens – because they’d be taking the property from the builder without permission.

You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig, right?  Stealing is stealing is stealing, no matter how justified you are.  My advice is to take the builder to court – you’ll win the case because it’s in the contract and those clauses will survive closing.  Plus the builder will have to pay your court fees.  If you just take them, however, HE could potentially see YOU in court. 

For more information about how to spot a bad builder, I’m linking to a post I wrote earlier called Top 10 Signs of When a Builder Goes Bad at a different site.

What do you think?