ROCK HILL, S.C. — York County prosecutors said two families will bear scars for years after what their lawyer did during a routine real estate closing.
In July 2019, Art and Charlene Werner sold their home on Thistledown Drive after living there for 10 years.
During closing with attorney Tom Givens, the Werners handed over a check from the buyer for $224,000.
The money was their profit on the house, including the $166,000 they still owed on their mortgage.
Givens was supposed to send the mortgage payoff to the lender, Navy Federal Credit Union.
Two weeks later, the Werners moved out and got a letter from the credit union that told them their old mortgage was not paid off.
[PAST COVERAGE: Attorney accused of pocketing $166K mortgage payoff loses license to practice law]
They said they were horrified.
“The last year has been hell,” Art Werner said. On Thursday, the couple was in court as Givens, 67, pled guilty to breach of trust.
Charlene Werner said they had known Givens for years, and he had done two closings for them before. She said she had no reason to suspect he would steal from them.
“He’s been a lawyer here for 35 years!” she said. “Why would anybody think that anything was gonna go wrong?”
The Werners worked with the Navy Federal Credit Union and got their old mortgage put on forbearance, which means they didn’t have to keep paying on it until the matter was settled in court.
The home buyers, Clifford and Valerie Sands, bought the Werner’s home in cash, which was $224,000, and money they had saved their whole lives.
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They expected to move into their dream home with no loan.
Instead, they could be evicted at any time if the credit union forecloses, because the bank still owns the home.
“We’re facing the possibility of being homeless, because we don’t have the money to make up the difference,” Clifford Sands said in court Thursday. “We might have to move in with our children.”
Givens had his law license suspended in September 2019 after his arrest for breach of trust.
His office on Ebenezer Road in Rock Hill is closed.
In court, his defense lawyer said he’s working for a construction company now and earning about $500 a week.
They said they hope to work out a plan where his wages can be used to make restitution.
The reason Givens was able to steal the money was because he sold the Sands family a phony title insurance policy.
Therefore, they weren’t protected when the sale went through.
Solicitor Kevin Brackett said lawyers already have an image problem, and the profession certainly didn’t need the embarrassment.
He said Givens violated their trust horribly and that buying a home in full should be an incredibly happy moment for any family.
“You save all your life for this wonderful moment to come and all of a sudden, you run into Thomas Givens,” Brackett said.
The Werners told Channel 9 they were concerned that a lawyer would get a pass from the legal system and not serve time, because he has many friends and knows everyone in the area.
The sentence was a welcome surprise for the Werners.
“We were actually thinking 90 days. Five years is much better,” Charlene Werner said.
The South Carolina State Bar contributed $80,000 to help pay back some of the money.
Some of Givens' friends, who are also lawyers, raised another $35,000.
Givens will have to pay back the rest.
The judge ordered restitution along with the five-year prison sentence and five years of probation.
Cox Media Group
