Susan Aprill Wins Another One

This time the UM grad and Fowler White attorney is doing God's work:

Two years ago, Frank Ordziejeski heard a $175,000 offer over the phone from a Boca Raton real estate agent he had never met.

"He was very excited. He thought it was a fortune," said his attorney, Susan H. Aprill.

From Indiana, Ordziejeski signed and faxed back the contract agreeing to sell his Deerfield Beach home for that amount. Five days later he found out through appraisers his house was worth closer to $300,000.

Ordziejeski tried to back out of the contract, but Freudenberg sued, claiming breach of contract. Ordziejeski countersued claiming Freudenberg took advantage of his lack of knowledge of Florida real estate prices.

"If you are away 1,200 miles you don't read the papers in Florida. You don't know what's going on," Aprill said.

Freudenberg claims that's not what happened at all.

"I gave him the base prices. He agreed," he said. "Nothing I ever said to this man was not true."

But the jury two weeks ago found that Freudenberg acted with "unclean hands" on the matter. The verdict means Ordziejeski can keep the house he bought for $48,000 in 1988.

Aprill says her client's original idea was never to sell it. A plumber by profession, Ordziejeski had moved to Indiana to take care of his elderly parents. A new tenant for his Deerfield Beach home is what he was looking for when he got the "unsolicited offer."

"He got swept away with the sale pitch," Aprill said. "He was also very naïve."

"It's like once he signed Dave said: 'gotcha.'"

Freudenberg said Ordziejeski originally called his Village Point Realty office, saying he wanted to sell the one bedroom, one bathroom house.

"I don't want to own this thing anymore. How do I sell it?" Freudenberg claims Ordziejeski told him. Freudenberg said Ordziejeski also lied about having another offer so that the real estate agent raised his original offer of $150,000. He did, to $175,000.

Freudenberg said the owner agreed and Freudenberg said he then put money into surveys, inspections, financing the property and having appraisals done.

Then came the call from Ordziejeski calling everything off because two appraisers told him his home was worth much more.

"I've seen them. I see appraisals done all the time. We got it appraised at $179,000," Freudenberg said. "If someone tells me this was ever worth $300,000 ... give me a break. It never was."

Freudenberg said he pursued the lawsuit for two years to recover the money he spent in putting the agreement together.

"I don't want the house," he said. "All I was trying to do was enforce a contract that was properly drawn up and signed."

So Susan won the jury verdict on her client's counterclaim?

Again, the law of unintended consequences rears its ugly head. Freudenberg's claims sounds fishy -- he got a call out of the blue, and then rather than list the property he offers to buy it himself? If he did do what was alleged, he should have allowed the deal to crater and moved on.