Posted on 08/23/2007 5:40:40 AM PDT by Hydroshock
She wasn't an investor. She didn't have a subprime mortgage. But when Jordan Fogal's house became uninhabitable, the 62-year-old grandmother says foreclosure became her best alternative.
Fogal's troubles began when she and her 72-year-old husband, Bob, moved to a new housing development near Houston in 2002. That first night in the new house, the dining room ceiling collapsed. Bob had pulled the plug in the Jacuzzi tub upstairs, and 100 gallons of water came crashing through the ceiling downstairs because the plumbing drains were not connected.
"That was a preview of coming attractions," Fogal says. Later, the roof and windows leaked, the yard flooded, the shower walls started bowing out, the floor in the kitchen started sinking, and mold began to grow all over the house. The smell was terrible, she recalls, and eventually Fogal's doctor ordered her to leave the house because of the dangerous mold levels. A construction company hired by the Fogals estimated that it would take $150,000 to repair everything. "I could afford my mortgage payment, but I couldn't afford $150,000 in repairs," says Fogal, who had a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at the time. The home — appraised at $408,000 the day the couple bought it — ended up selling for $234,000 at a foreclosure auction.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Yes, Texas has a building code. Not sure which but I would guess for plumbing it is the international plumbing code. But Texas may also allow private engineers or architects to perform inspections and submit an affidavit of code compliance. They are thankfully few but there are engineers/architects who turn a blilnd eye to violations as long as the money is green. So the house may not have been inspected. Or the municipality could have hired a blind inspector under compliance with ADA. Who knows these days?
As some one said, everybody has a price and if you find that price, you're in like Flynn.
I've seen a building compliance officer sign off on two chimney throat inspections sight unseen for a jelly donut. True story.
"Hey Carl, there's fresh coffee and Dunkin' over in the office."
Good point my parents are always upgrading their house or hiring people to do the usual like roofing or painting. Anyway they always shop around then buy 'the best', or someone highly respected that they like his work. The cost is very high, but the work is incredible.
Anyway a talented contractor has just as much right to make good money as anyone else. And hes got to earn a lot per hour because the work isn't as consistent as say a career job. Some people seem to think that even skilled tradesmen should work for a pittance, but then the work should also be high quality.
Good point! It was ultimately the bank or whoever was holding that mortgage that got hammered.
I sure would hate to explain to St. Pete why I decided to be a no count thieving polecat for a doughnut. Even Jacob held out for a whole bowl of pottage.
Meddling kids who pay visits to the construction site to pour boxes of nails down drains and other crap also contribute to these problems, I’m sure...
I have had 2 new houses in the last 8 years. We, wife and I, have been fortunate to not have any major problems. Homeowners need to learn how to look for things, especially if you make any changes to your house. We put some plastic coverings over our window wells so the kids wont fall into the wells. Problem was this caused rainwater to collect on one well which caused a crack in our foundation and water leaked into the basement when it rained. We fixed the leak and will watch the site for any future problems and I expect I will be waterproofing that section every year.
Our problem has been in items put into our house. Our carpet needs to be restrecthed again since it is bunching up. Talked to the carpet guy who first came out and he said that carpets are now made more enviromentally friendly. These new carpets all have be restretched more often than a carpet that was made in the 80s.
What do you expect, when envirowhackos drive up the cost of lumber?
OSB sheathing is bad enough, but the part that really scares me is the "engineered I-beam" floor joist, which is basically an I-beam made of OSB.
Never ever buy one of those places.
Yes, we have a building code. Having lived in CA, NY, MA, and WA in addition to Houston, I think the housing here is on average better built and far more affordable than in those states. It may well be that the journalist decided that the woman’s story, rather than the builder’s, had more audience appeal. Or, perhaps, she really did play no contributing role in the problem. Hard to say. In any event, the main construction issue in the Houston area is making sure that the foundation is done right because we have unstable soils.
I remember a class action where the builder was reusing the same foundation ribar. foundation is dug, ribar laid in, inspector checks off, ribar moved to next foundation hole, and concrete poured in.
There was also reported here on FR, the story of the people who discovered the illegal alien workers were using the bedroom as a urinal during constriction.
There ARE good homes being built now but they are few and far between, all we have are these Monotony HOA developments.
Esau
Yikes, thanks for the correction. I know better. Sheer carelessness on my part.
My buddy has a problem home in Arizona....first it was mold in the bathroom, then the PVC water main broke. There were some other things.
He gets mad when I say he had illegal alien workers etc.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.