Toxic drywall found in Tampa housing community
VIDEO - Four years ago, Claudia Woods went through a homeownership class at the Tampa Housing Authority and received $90,000 in grants to buy her first house...
VIDEO — Four years ago, Claudia Woods went through a homeownership class at the Tampa Housing Authority and received $90,000 in grants to buy her first house.
“I was so, so happy,” said Woods, a single-mother whose husband died earlier the same year she move in. “I would get out here and holler out, ‘Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah. Look at my home; it’s so beautiful.’”
But shortly after she and her two young daughters moved into the blue bungalow in the redeveloped Belmont Heights Estates, they experienced respiratory problems, nosebleeds and rashes. Her neighbors, many who went through the same program, also had health problems. It wasn’t until last fall they discovered why. The company contracted to build 12 single-family homes in the middle of the housing authority’s master-planned community used toxic drywall.
The residents, once filled with the pride of homeownership, are now worried about their health and their finances. Homeowner’s insurance doesn’t cover defective drywall, and the county property appraiser says the homes are close to worthless. The builder is out of business and the housing authority and developer say they’re not liable.
There are thousands of Floridians suffering with Chinese drywall, but what makes this different is that taxpayers also stand to lose. Like Woods, many of her neighbors received tens of thousands in down payment assistance.
The drywall, imported from China, emits a corrosive gas that destroys appliances, air conditioners and anything metal. Some homeowners say the sulfuric gas causes health problems.
“It’s not my dream anymore,” Woods said. “It makes me sad. I had no idea I was buying a sick house.”
Builders typically use domestic drywall but resorted to the imported wallboard during the housing boom. The federal government recommends affected homes be gutted and the drywall replaced. It’s an undertaking builders say can cost about $100,000.
Many builders have relocated homeowners and remediated homes. But the builder who constructed the Belmont Heights houses, Tampa’s Banner Homes, is no longer in business.
The housing authority points the finger at the company it hired to develop the site. That company, however, says it has no liability because it didn’t build the homes. Homeowners are left in the middle.
During the housing boom, the Tampa Housing Authority received a federal Hope 6 grant to raze its east Tampa housing project, Belmont Heights Estates. It hired New Jersey-based Michaels Development Company. Michaels built apartments, which are used by housing authority residents, but it hired another company, Banner Homes, to build the single-family houses. Three phases of homes were planned, but only 12 were built. All 12 have defective drywall.
“Ultimately, somebody needs to get their problems resolved,” said Jerome Ryans, CEO of the Tampa Housing Authority. “And frankly we think that is the responsibility of Michaels Development Co., not the Tampa Housing Authority.”
But Milton Pratt, senior vice president for Michaels, said the responsible party is Banner Homes and, “it’s unfortunate that they’re out of business.”
“We’re very sympathetic to the families, but we’re limited in what we can do,” Pratt said. “We are extremely supportive of the families and will try to help them seek remedies through Banner Homes.”
Woods’ situation got much worse last week. Her washing machine malfunctioned and flooded her upstairs, causing her ceiling to cave in. Her homeowner’s insurance company said the toxic drywall is to blame. It ate away at the metal piping and wiring inside the machine.
Wood’s has a $1,000 insurance deductible, and the insurance company has placed fans inside the home to air it out, however, homeowner’s insurance doesn’t cover defective drywall, so the company won’t cover most of the needed repairs, Woods said.
“They said I have to pay for the piping and anything directly caused by the drywall,” she said. “I don’t have that kind of money.”
And even if she can come up with the money, she says, it won’t fix the drywall problem. Woods, who has a steady job making about $29,000 a year, qualified to buy the $165,000 house because of the down payment assistance. Now, the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser’s Office says it is worth about $5,229, because of the bad drywall.
Without the drywall, Zillow.com says the home is worth about $86,000, in current market conditions. That’s less than the tax money Woods was given to help buy the house.
“I’m paying a mortgage,” Woods said. “The mortgage company is not listening to us. They want their money.”
Woods received $60,000 from the city of Tampa for down payment assistance. She received another $30,000 from the housing authority, as long as she agreed to move into Belmont Heights. That money was part of the federal grant to revitalize the housing complex and help qualified applicants move in.
“I actually wanted to buy other houses, but they kept pushing me to buy here,” Woods said of housing authority employees.
Ten of the homeowners have hired a lawyer and filed a lawsuit in January. They named Banner, the manufacturer and the distributor in the suit. Their attorney, Allison Grant of Boca Raton, represents about 75 homeowners in the Tampa Bay area. She said this is the first case she knows of where taxpayer money was used to buy homes with Chinese drywall.
“These homes are worthless now,” she said. “The public invested in these houses, and the public shouldn’t lose that investment.”
But Cindy Miller, director of Tampa’s Department of Business and Housing Development, said there’s nothing the city can do about the situation.
“She could have bought a home anywhere in the city,” Miller said. “We may be aware of where there is affordable housing, but no one made Woods buy that house.”
