After returning home from our last trip to Ecuador we thought we had secured an architect and once again returned to our daily routines and work schedule. The first order on the agenda was to get the roof replaced on the property and stop the leaks, but soon after we returned home it became increasingly apparent that this was not going to happen. Despite several attempts to get an invoice for the monies owed thus far and to have the architect sign a contract, there was no word from him for several months. When our lawyer finally got a hold of our architect, he said he was waiting on the balance of the deposit that we had agreed upon on our previous trip.
The money had been wired a month earlier, but we had no idea that it had never reached him. There was a number missing on the wire and it turns out that the week before it had been returned to our account minus a hefty $50.00 fee. We decided it would be better to just bring the money with us on our next trip and hand it to him in person.
In the meantime it became apparent that the lack of communication would be a huge obstacle to the progress of the house and one that we could not overcome. We informed our lawyer to tell the architect that we would no longer be needing his services.
On our last trip we had decided to return to Cuenca in September to check on the progress of the roof. We were now going to return for a different reason. We would once again be on the hunt for an architect.