I am a Realtor whose client is also my sister. She has a home warranty with First American Home Protection and has renewed for the last couple of years since she moved into her condo. Saturday, December 27th, my sister called the warranty company because she woke with no hot water. They told her someone would be out the following day. The following day the plumbing company called and said that they don't do service calls on Sunday's that she would have to wait until Monday afternoon. She called the warranty company back and explained that she could not take the following afternoon off as she works for a doctor's office and she has to schedule her time 2 weeks in advance. They suggested that she heat some water on the stove.

After her calling and advising me what they said I then placed a call to the warranty company. They told me that this was not an emergency situation and that she would have to wait. My husband and I then left an event we were attending so that my husband could go see what was wrong with her hot water heater. In a nutshell, my husband replaced both heating elements and both thermostats.

I contacted the area manager, Terry Armstrong and he apologized and said that he would see what he could do to reimburse my sister for the parts for the hot water heater. I gave him her info and he never contacted her.

New Years Eve she called to tell me that water was running and the Pop Off Valve was allowing water to escape from the hot water heater. My husband told her where to turn off the water and she then called the warranty company again. Once again, she was told that she would have to wait until the following Saturday, January 3rd. I again contacted Terry and he contacted the sales support at the warranty company. He told me that they would be contacting both my sister and myself. They called at 5:30pm and told me and my sister that they had 2 hours and then after that we would be allowed to get our own plumber.

The next day on New Years Day, they denied that and stated that they couldn't find anyone else to take the call that they were all busy. I informed the claim representative that I know numerous plumbers and that in fact most were laying off because of the housing issues in our area. We still had to wait.

The plumber showed up and advised her that the thermostats were set too high (135 degrees) and that state law requires 120 degrees. He also told her that her water pressure was too high but he could install a pressure reducing valve for her for $379. We advised her that we would have to call the local water department to have them test the pressure on the city side of the meter and see if there had been any pressure increases in her area since this just started.

The plumber called the warranty company and the next thing we know he is telling us that the claim is being denied but he didn't know on what grounds. The grounds were 'misuse' of an appliance due to the water temperature being set too high and the water pressure being too high.

If the warranty company would have dispatched someone out immediately then the thermostat issue would never have been an issue. Also, there is not a state law that any of the plumbers are aware of and they all have told me that 140 degrees is typical.

My sister needs a new Pop Off Valve and I am waiting to hear from the water department to see if she does need a Pressure Reducing Valve. I guess the family will have to pitch in to pay for that too.