Cause of Death: Strangulation By "Home Warranty" Red Tape

I call it a strained economy when the market is crawling with companies selling "protection" from the costs of property maintenance, the sort of bills which our grandparents were more likely to cover with their own savings.

We needn't explain why you should avoid "extending or reinstating your car's warranty" when prodded eighty-some times a month by a raspy drawling girl whose cold canned calls never reveal a business name. Less obvious is why the same scrutiny applies when Ice-T and his ad hoc barbershop crew appear in cheap TV slots twenty times a day to hawk CarShield. (No, Officer Fin, it's not "game over" just because the inscrutable "check engine" tally starts glaring.) Ditto the suspicion when every other week the mailbox yields pieces dressed up to resemble various governmental or legal warnings, which are all from one or two hucksters for home maintenance contracts.

It's insurance by another name, often outside the reach of regulation, which becomes badly needed as customers learn the hard way that the dishonesty of its fearmongering promotion also penetrates its business model. My distrust in predatory commerce always inspires rebuffing, along the lines that I'm ignoring the "good" providers. Well, my new Exhibit 'A' was filed last week in a Nevada court. Now we see the worst that can happen, which prepaid "protection" should avert, is actually invited by the merchants of menace.

In the middle of last August, elder of 82 years and longtime friendly neighbor with lung cancer Virginia DeSapio found her outdoor air conditioning unit conked out. In desert country that's almost as bad as losing water or power. Not to worry, her state law considers that an emergency job for renters, and she had friends obliged to respond to the crisis within hours. Said friends were Fidelity National Home Warranty, whom she'd been steadily paying $635 per year for her peace of mind and a plan which plainly covered service to all kinds of HVAC issues. She submitted her claim on 11 August and away Fidelity went. Really, it's like they went away.

The tech visit was set for the next day, which Fidelity pushed ahead another three days, then delayed again. At first DeSapio was told they were "looking for a technician". Across several subsequent contacts she was told the job was on hold for a "technician researching pricing". Five days after her claim submission she was promised a repair by 22 August at latest.

Fidelity, however, kept calling and emailing with more delays and excuses, resetting the target to the end of August. Partial good news came via email on 31 August that needed tools were on order, while advising that delivery could take another two weeks. DeSapio had stopped responding to them maybe a week prior, so away they went.

Her distant nephews, aware only that some service call was pending for their aunt, had become worried by their own unanswered phone calls. On that blown 22 August deadline a neighbor was sent over on a wellness check. Ms. DeSapio was found dead from heat stress, and her dog Jesse soon joined her for the same reason. The news stories don't mention how long she'd been that way.

Perhaps before "researching pricing" Fidelity might have researched local weather reports, which during that late Summer routinely charted a daytime temp breaking a hundred degrees. The coroner's report noted an interior 120F at the lady's home. Someone should definitely have researched Fidelity's own contract, which, independent of any statute, the lawsuit claims promised a functional A/C within 24 hours of the woman's first plea for help.

Fidelity National, apparently not yet advised of their customer's status, sent her one last email on Labor Day, declaring that repairs to her A/C were complete. Yippeeeee! Only three weeks and change to turn around a one-day emergency job. Surely that was worth her $53 a month.

DeSapio's three nephews are demanding $15,000 minimum to help them bury their aunt and compensate suffering, among the expected punitive and other damages. I think her killer-by-inaction gets off cheap at anything under six figures and a tough love note from AG Aaron Ford.

. . . . . . . . . .

On first blush, Fidelity National does not appear to be mixed up in illegal phone spam blasting. Given the extreme secrecy measures taken by such fraud campaigners, nothing here is certain. There is one number thread here which names FNHW as a repeat irritant. Complaints spring from some retentions department which nags homeowners to renew their lapsed policies. Maybe a third of commentors had acquired coverage by default as a perk of the home purchase. Many indicate difficulty in getting the sales callers to knock off. Remaining comments divide between customers with upsetting customer service and cheerful praise, with a subset of defense of that praise.

Profiles on BBB and Yelp bulge with complaints and nearly agree on a score of one-point-wiggle out of five stars. They suggest that Aunt DeSapio's experience was far from atypical. Patterns emerge of incompetent "in-network" tradesmen, jumbled claims administration, upfront fees for services never or faintly provided, vendors who game the system by urging "cash out" deals, and call center reps who rudely hang up on unsatisfied members.

Insider remarks on job hunter sites like Glassdoor and Indeed well complement the end users' scoring and complaints, citing poor training and morale, high turnover, infighting managers, contradictory orders and practices, and sympathy for the steamed customers who are made to wait in queue a couple hours for any meaningful discussion.

A few days before the company's posthumous "all fixed" mail to Virginia DeSapio, one "Former Employee" may have summed up the tacit plan as a "redesigned business model so customers cannot effectively use their policies and would give up trying to use the service". Sounds about right for the whole business sector, and now we add "... or roast until dead at home".

. . . . . . . . . .

https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-800-308-4010 - Fidelity National number thread, Jan 2014 to Jun 2018
Lawsuit: Elderly woman died from heat after requests for A/C repairs - Las Vegas Review-Journal, 12 March
Woman died waiting on home warranty company to fix her AC, lawsuit says - Washington Post, 14 March
Virginia C DeSapio obituary

No actual contractors want to work for those warranty companies because they won't pay a full bill.  They cut the price down to where the contractor would end up losing money.  I'm not sure why tools would have been ordered since the contractor should have their own tools.  Yeah, I would have sued them for at least 6 figures.

FIDELITY HOME WARRANTY AKA FIDELITY NATIONAL FINANCIAL, INC. AKA FNF CAPITAL LEASING, INC AKA FINELITY NATIONAL CAPITAL VENTURES, LLC.

Website give no address:  https://www.homewarranty.com

Whois info for this site:  https://www.whois.com/whois/homewarranty.com
 Domain:
homewarranty.com
Registrar:
DNC Holdings, Inc.
Registered On:
1996-04-25
Expires On:
2023-04-25
Updated On:
2022-03-12
Status:
clientDeleteProhibited
clientTransferProhibited
clientUpdateProhibited
Name Servers:
ns-1243.awsdns-27.org
ns-2033.awsdns-62.co.uk
ns-361.awsdns-45.com
ns-982.awsdns-58.net
Registrant Contact
Name:
Fidelity National Financial, Inc.
Organization:
Fidelity National Financial
Street:
601 Riverside Avenue
City:
Jacksonville
State:
FL
Postal Code:
32204
Country:
US
Phone:
+1.9048548974
Email:
@fnf.com

Florida Department of State information has two listing for them, one active and the other not.

https://search.sunbiz.org/Inquiry/Corporation ... 20F030000030150

Foreign Profit Corporation
FIDELITY NATIONAL FINANCIAL, INC.
Filing Information
Document NumberF03000003015FEI/EIN Number86-0498599Date Filed06/12/2003StateDEStatusINACTIVELast EventWITHDRAWALEvent Date Filed11/29/2006Event Effective DateNONE
Principal Address
601 RIVERSIDE AVE.
JACKSONVILLE, FL 32204

Changed: 03/15/2004
Mailing Address
17911 VON KARMAN AVE.
IRVINE, CA 92614
Registered Agent Name & AddressNONE
Officer/Director DetailName & Address

Title CD

FOLEY, WILLIAM PII
601 RIVERSIDE AVE.
JACKSONVILLE, FL 32204

Title P

BICKETT, BRENT B
601 RIVERSIDE AVE.
JACKSONVILLE, FL 32204

Title CFO

STINSON, ALAN L
601 RIVERSIDE AVE.
JACKSONVILLE, FL 32204

Title COO

STINSON, ALAN L
601 RIVERSIDE AVE.
JACKSONVILLE, FL 32204

Title D

LANE, DANIEL D
14 CORPORATE PLAZA
NEWPORT BEACH, CA 92660

Title SVPS

JOHSON, TODD C
601 RIVERSIDE AVE.
JACKSONVILLE, FL 32204

Annual Reports
Report Year    Filed Date
2004    03/15/2004
2005    04/13/2005
2006    04/26/2006

https://search.sunbiz.org/Inquiry/Corporation ... 20F030000030150

Foreign Profit Corporation
FIDELITY NATIONAL FINANCIAL, INC.
Filing Information
Document NumberF05000004759FEI/EIN Number16-1725106Date Filed08/15/2005StateDEStatusACTIVELast EventNAME CHANGE AMENDMENTEvent Date Filed11/29/2006Event Effective DateNONE
Principal Address
601 RIVERSIDE AVENUE
JACKSONVILLE, FL 32204
Mailing Address
C/O MADELINE G. M. LOVEJOY
3210 EL CAMINO REAL STE 200
IRVINE, CA 92602

Changed: 02/24/2017
Registered Agent Name & AddressC T CORPORATION SYSTEM
1200 SOUTH PINE ISLAND ROAD
PLANTATION, FL 33324
Officer/Director DetailName & Address

Title CD

FOLEY, WILLIAM PII
1701 VILLAGE CENTER CIRCLE
LAS VEGAS, NV 89134

Title VC/D

QUIRK, RAYMOND R
601 RIVERSIDE AVENUE
JACKSONVILLE, FL 32204

Title EVP/GC/S

GRAVELLE, MICHAEL L
1701 VILLAGE CENTER CIRCLE
LAS VEGAS, NV 89134

Title EVP/CFO

PARK, ANTHONY J
601 RIVERSIDE AVE.
JACKSONVILLE, FL 32204

Title CEO

NOLAN, MICHAEL J.
601 RIVERSIDE AVENUE
JACKSONVILLE, FL 32204

Title AUTHORIZED PERSON

LOVEJOY, MADELINE G. M.
3210 EL CAMINO REAL STE 200
IRVINE, CA 92602

Annual Reports
Report Year    Filed Date
2021    02/12/2021
2022    02/14/2022
2023    02/14/2023

There is no BBB page listed for them at the Florida or California addresses.

Triple-B puts them in Concord, CA
https://www.bbb.org/us/ca/concord/profile/hom ... anty-1116-50776

I really enjoyed the lead shill testimonial on their home page, possibly written on Opposite Day:
"... when something happens, we make one call - to Fidelity National Home Warranty. The service people are pre-screened, and we never worry about getting cheated. When service is required, they respond quickly and effectively. Year after year, this policy pays for itself ...."

The complaints are interesting reading.  Especially the one about the guy who wanted his "facets" repaired! :)  I wonder what the letter that they claim to have sent out says?  My guess is that it contains the clause in the policy where they don't have to pay.

On Yelp the same executive has issued the same boilerplate reply a few dozen times. It's a curt apology and a "call me and I'll fix it" offer, my paraphrasing. This of course can follow days or weeks of hair-torn runaround, and often after complainants gave up and got their repairs outside the contract's reach. My vote is that the vaunted BBB letter is more of the same softsoap, issued mainly to prop up FNHW's response rate and hollow A-plus rating.

The fa(u)cet job is a good example of your point, how these service plans drive away good talent. Respectable tradesmen don't tear out fancy-pants fixtures for total replacement after a cursory glance under the basin. The leak issue was probably a same-day job, barely worth the plan's service fee.

Local TV station KLAS has filed a second report, which doesn't advance the story but does echo the Washington Post on Aunt DeSapio's beverage mastery. Quoting nephew Gregory Kelley, "she made this incredible ice tea, the best ice tea I have ever had in my life".

The latest to pick up the story is People magazine, fulfilling its "human interest" mandate with quotes from the family's attorney Christian Morris.
  "She was an incredibly independent and sweet woman. During her life, she had worked as an individual stock market investor and was incredibly close to her siblings and nephews. She was also a life-long animal lover and an active and friendly neighbor."

Morris has missed no chance to lob bricks at Fidelity: "They failed at every level for her ... Every time they set up an appointment for her, they canceled it. ... Then they put her claim on hold after they accepted it. ... They took her premium payment and failed to come up to their end of the bargain ..."

This reads like a story by a seasoned journalist.  Did you write this?   If so...well done!

These companies will try to sell you a Bill of Goods or a Pig in a Poke.

Oh man.  I just flashed on National Lampoon's European Vacation, where the Griswolds won a trip to Europe from the fictitious "Pig in a Poke" game show.  Good times.

I laugh every time I see those "Home Warranty" commercials where I would be libel for the breakage of water lines leading to my house. First, those pipes belong to the water company. I pay to be hooked up to THEIR pipes in addition to being charged for the water I use going through their water meters. If a water line breaks in my yard, that is the water company's problem--not mine. They would be lucky I do not sue them for the muddy mess caused by THEIR pipe breaking.

That may be true in your case but it is not true nationally.  In my town the city stops at the curb box and everything from there into my house is my problem.  So before you make a blanket statement that you assume covers everyone you should look into it otherwise you end up looking foolish.

You should double check your logic and legal reasoning with the water company before you end up with a ruined yard, no water, no money to fix it, and a water company employee telling you, "Sorry, it's not our responsibility." Unless you rent, or have some type of special circumstance like a grandfather clause, the homeowner is responsible for all of the pipes that attach to, and run from, the water meter that is situated near the sidewalk, through the yard, and into the house. And your homeowner's policy doesn't usually cover flooding in the yard like it does inside the house; you must have separate flood insurance for that. In case you are wondering, the average cost to fix a broken pipe in the yard can easily run $5,000 and at least a month or more, depending upon the type of yard you have.

Third party car warranties are often useless, and they suck the money out of your wallet and then fail to pay for repairs. I had one years ago and the air conditioning failed on the vehicle. The warranty company said to take it to the dealer for inspection, and that woulkd determine the needed repairs. Dealer found the AC unit had failed internally, charged a hundred dollars to look at it and then the warranty company denied coverage stating they were only responsible if the outer casing cracked or broke. What? Never saw an AC case break; there are no moving parts on a case to break, it's all internal save the pulley and refrigerant connections. Rip offs that take advantage of people who can't afford a new vehicle.

Actual working journalists did most of the footwork, but the content here is mine. Absent primary informants, I guess I lean toward columnist-slash-blogger. I'd prefer to have both the DeSapio family's complaint and FNHW's contract to review myself. The court paywall is out of my budget.

In the spirit of accuracy, I have to revise one second-hand contract detail. I believe it promises a repairman response within a day, not necessarily a finished job. However, given Nevada's statutory time limit and the high risk of exactly what happened to this poor lady, one should hope that translates to either cold air supply restored by the second day or some temporary arrangement on the company's dime.