Building to Suit

Early last month Esmeralda Valague started getting phone calls from her former neighbors in San Antonio. They had a strange story to report. Even though Valague, 23, and her disabled mother had moved to Houston a year before and had left their house vacant, a family of four was coming in and out of the modest brick building and even turning on and off the lights.

Valague called police and soon discovered that the people living inside the house were not strangers to her. Anselmo Salazar Jr., his wife, Carol, and their two children had taken up residence inside, claiming that Valague had offered to sell them the house.

But Valague says the offer had never been finalized, and she had never given the Salazars permission to move in. Her mother had purchased the 1,400-square-foot house just after it was built 25 years ago. It is located in a modest, blue-collar neighborhood close to SeaWorld and the universities.

“I made it very clear to him: ‘I’m not going to sell you my house, I’m not going to rent you my house,’ ” says Valague, who works in public relations.

When she went back to check on the house, she was shocked. During his short time there, Salazar had attempted some renovations. But Bob Vila he was not. In addition to turning on the utilities in his name, Salazar had attempted to paint the interior — with light blue spray paint.

“The paint was on the light fixtures, it was on the switch plates and doorknobs,” says Valague. Salazar had also decided he preferred carpet to the original hardwood floors, so he stuck small carpet patches to the floor with sticky tape, ruining the wood. Valague also claims windows were broken.

“I’m going to have to fix and paint and redo everything that he did,” says Valague.

But she’s also going to have to go to court.

After being kicked out of the house he never owned, Salazar sued Valague in Bexar County’s small claims court, demanding just over $3,000 for the materials and time he spent working on the house. It’s a move Valague says she can’t comprehend.

“I was like, ‘You insulted my mother by turning on the utilities in your name!'” says Valague. “I’m like, ‘You broke into my house!'”

Valague says she first got to know the Salazars last year, when she rented the house briefly to Salazar’s mother-in-law, who later moved out. In June Salazar contacted Valague in Houston and said he was interested in buying the house.

“It’s a very desirable neighborhood; there’s a pride of ownership,” says Valague. “You can walk around at night and feel safe, and it’s close to everything.”

Valague says she and Salazar agreed on owner-financing for a purchase price of $70,000, with Salazar putting $5,000 down and making monthly payments of $625. On July 9, she faxed the terms to Salazar’s employer so Salazar could withdraw the $5,000 down payment from his 401(k) without a penalty.

But Valague says she soon talked with Salazar and it was apparent he didn’t realize he would still have to pay interest with owner-financing.

“He thought it was an interest-free, tax-free deal,” says Valague. “I said, ‘Of course I’ll charge an interest rate!’ And he said, ‘I’ll be paying for this house for the rest of my life!’ “

Valague decided Salazar wasn’t the best person to sell a home to and says she told him she was no longer interested. Valague says Salazar became frantic, telling her he had already withdrawn from his 401(k). She says Salazar began calling her four or five times a day, insisting that she sell or even rent him the house, but she wouldn’t change her mind. In early August, she stopped hearing from him.

“But someone who was that stupid to begin withsomething told me that the nightmare wasn’t over when the phone calls stopped,” says Valague. She discovered that Salazar had gotten into the house with the keys his mother-in-law still had from her rental days there.

“I didn’t change the locks,” admits Valague. “But a person doesn’t have a right to a house just because a relative used to live there.”

Salazar admits he never signed anything, but maintains the fax Valague sent to his employer was enough proof of ownership. He filed suit against Valague on August 14 and says he deserves to get his money back.

“I painted the house, I put carpet in the house, I have my receipts,” says Salazar. Oddly enough, he says he works for a painting company — although Valague claims you would never know it from the job he did on her house.

Valague also says she’s not too worried about the trial, even though she has to take a day off work to drive to San Antonio for it. She says she hasn’t decided whether to file criminal charges.

“I think it’s all darn right hilarious,” she says. “The moment it will not become funny is if the judge agrees with him,” although she doubts that will happen.

Jon Opelt, executive director of the Houston watchdog group Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, is less amused.

“We as taxpayers pay to run that court system, and when frivolous or suspect cases are brought in, people with more legitimate cases wait that much longer to get to the bench of justice,” he says.

The Salazars disagree. And they add that even if they weren’t supposed to move in, they did Valague a favor by trying a little redecorating.”You should have seen the way she left the house. It was ugly. It was terrible,” sniffs Salazar’s wife. “Now it looks great.”