Jesse Jones: Flipped House Dispute

When Bianca Williams purchased a property in south Tacoma in 2023, she thought it was her dream home.

However, she and her family have not moved in due to the electrical and wiring problems found while buying the home.

“ This is going to be our first home, and in a few years it was going to turn into a rental for us,” Ms. Williams tells us. “I don’t see how that can even be possible now.”

The Williams house was flipped in five months. Contractor Chris Cunningham purchased it in May 2023 and sold it to Bianca Williams in October of the same year.

During the home inspection, an electrical issue was found with the panel.

We’ve asked Vitaly Karnafel, from the construction company Renco, for his professional opinion.

Karnafel says, “ It cannot be in front of a wall like this or in any sort of enclosed area. An electrical panel is to have about, I believe, it’s three feet of clearance to stand in front of it. And all these open wires need to be either inside of a wall, or if they’re open like this, they need to be inside of a metal cable like that to protect it from surges. Not to get an electrical shock, essentially, is what they’re for.”

I asked if the work was up to code. Karanafel says, ”No, 100% not.”

As part of the closing, a company named Emerald City Home would perform the work to make it right, and a person named Jesus Areyano would do the work as part of a seller credit for $5,000.

But once the work started - there was a problem.

Ms. Williams discovered, “ He was not licensed and he was not an electrician. He was posing as an electrician.”

Brian Hornback, Deputy Assistant Director for the Field Services and Public Safety Division of Labor and Industries, says they filed three citations against Areyano in Bianca’s case.

Hornback says, “ Obviously, the work he’s doing is not legal, under the table or underground economy or whatever you want to call it. But no, he should not be doing that. And he’s not licensed. No ability to do it legally.”

We also learned that Areyano has three other citations filed against him for unlicensed work.

The question then became - would anybody actually be staying in Ms. Williams’ house with the electricity in its current situation?

“ I don’t know exactly the extent of the safety issue, but I would suggest no, I certainly would not do that”, Hornback tells me.

Ms. Williams says she didn’t hire Areyano, her real estate agent did.

Labor and Industries make the same allegation in its documents.

Cunningham’s lawyer, in a response to Bianca’s Attorney General’s complaint, says his client offered an electrician who quoted $7,200 for the job, “Which Mr. Cunningham offered to pay,” adding that the Williams, “instead chose to pay a different electrician to complete the work.”

Bianca says that’s not true. Bottom line - the job was never completed, so Bianca wants the whole house sale rescinded, claiming fraud.

“ I’m doing everything I can to try to get out of this,” Ms. Willams says.

There’s more, the seller’s business, Chris’s Plumbing in Auburn, was cited for offering or performing plumbing work without a license or registration at the south Tacoma home.

The inspector’s statement says, in part, that Cunningham “…confirmed that he performed some plumbing work.”

Since then, Labor and Industries have cited Cunningham five more times.

All for allegedly performing electrical work without having a valid certificate in the Spanaway home, and for making a false statement to the department.

Cunningham is appealing those cases.

In the meantime - the Williams are renting while their home, and their dream, gather dust.

“My children have been affected. Me, as a mother, not being able to provide the roof that we just paid for them… It’s been a lot because we thought we were entering into, you know, a lovely dream... and it turned into a nightmare,” says Bianca Williams.