Eighteen thousand dollars is a significant amount of money by any standard.
It’s not a typical amount people have lying around or consider “chump change.”
Often, it can mean the difference between financial stability and financial ruin.
It’s an especially large amount of money when you have to spend it on something you have no say in or control over.
Unfortunately, this is what happened to Bernadette Hagan.
Texas resident Hagan contacted KPRC2 Investigates to ask for help when she was forced to pay thousands of dollars to fix damage caused to her house by a contractor she did not hire.
Hagan lives in Kingwood, Texas on a property that backs up public greenbelts.
The fence that separates her property from the public area is owned by the Sherwood Elm Grove Trail Association.
Last August, the association hired a contractor to replace the fence.
The project was completed without a hitch, and it seemed everything went well.
However, in early December, Hagan suddenly lost power to half her house.
She called in several experts to inspect the situation and they all told her the same thing – the underground electric line was damaged during the fence install.
Hagan was forced to repair the damage, even if she was not the one who hired the contractor.
Even worse, it wasn’t as simple as fixing the damaged electric line.
“My house is an older home. It’s grandfathered into older codes. So, in order for them to legally do the job, they have to bring up the house to code,” Hagan shared.
The total cost for the entire repair was an incredible $18,293.94.
Hagan did not know the name of the fencing company and the trail association did not want to help her, so she was forced to shoulder the entire amount herself.
“Eighteen thousand two hundred ninety three dollars, which pretty much put me in a heart attack, but I needed power. I don’t have eighteen thousand dollars. ” Hagan said.
She financed the whole job herself and continued to reach out to the trail association for assistance.
When the wire was being repaired, crew members told her that the damage could have only happened when the concrete was poured for the new fence.
It was confirmed that the damage happened when the fencing company replaced the fence.
In April this year, the fence company filed a claim with its insurance company to pay Hagan back and cover the costs.
However, the insurance company called her and said they were denying the claim.
She said that the insurance company told her that they felt the line marker, or the 811, didn’t mark the wrong lines.
The fencing company did not return the calls of KPRC 2 but a representative said that the company told the client that they are not responsible for damage to any unmarked utility lines.
However, Hagan is not the client.
She did not hire the fencing company.
The real client is the Sherwood Elm Grove Trail Association who dealt with the company to replace the fence.
Unfortunately, it was Hagan’s home directly affected by the mistake the fencing company made.
Since then, Hagan has spent her time reaching out to the association for help to no avail.
After numerous calls and emails from KPRC 2, the association released a statement.
It reads, “The Sherwood Elm Grove Trail Association is actively working with the relevant parties to resolve this issue and settle any claims for damages caused by the Association’s contractor.”
According to a homeowner’s rights attorney, it is not clear in this situation if the fencing company or the trail association is responsible.
However, KPRCS 2 reports that what is clear is that Hagan is the only party that did not do any action that could have caused the damage.
In hindsight, Hagan wishes she took more photos of the utility flag markers when work was being done.
The news reporters also remind anyone having any repair work done that they should have the names and contact numbers of the people working, in case any issues come out in the future.
We hope Hagan is able to resolve the issue and get back her money soon.
Watch the video of Hagan dealing with an $18,000 repair bill below!
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