A single mom of three whose home burnt down says an architect has swindled her out of R7000 and has left her homeless.
Florence Adams says she has been trying to get Marshall Adams, an architect from Bayview in Strandfontein and not related to her, to either submit her building plans to the council or refund her, but he is refusing.
Thursday, following a query from the Daily Voice, an angry Adams first threatened legal action, but then said he would refund Florence.
Florence, 48, of Bayview, had been renting that house and lived in a Wendy house in Elsies River with her three kids, aged 28, 21 and four.
Her plans were to move back into a separate entrance at the Bayview property, but it burnt down in 2013.
‘I’LL PAY HER BACK’: Marshall Adams. Photo: SUPPLIED
“I was renting out my home in 2013 and I was living in Elsies River,” she explains.
“The cause of the fire was electrical and unfortunately I didn’t have insurance as I had paid the house in full after my husband died in 2008.
“Last year I was referred to Mr. Adams because he is from the area (Bayview) but after nearly seven months he has not submitted my plans or shown me proof of a council reference number or a tracking number.
“He promised to refund me. Then he said I owed him R7000 for the work he did drafting the plans.”
Adams told the Daily Voice he would “rip [Florence] to pieces and leave her to walk on her socks”, and sue her for defamation if Florence spoke to the media.
In an email, he said he would repay her the full R7000. “I have indicated I will refund Mrs. Adams the R7000 in 2 parts, R3500 end of Feb 2019 and the last R3500 will be paid end of April 2019.”
He claimed he did not submit the plans as he was waiting for a power of attorney and land surveyors document. But Florence says she signed these forms.