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Construction problems cited with $1.4 million home

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

A Peachtree City couple battling the builder of their $1.4 million home over construction problems asked the City Council to support a state law requiring contractors to be licensed.

But Thomas and Lynn Fedor found out at the meeting that such a law was passed in the General Assembly last year, but it went unfunded. Bob Barnard of the Georgia Homebuilders Association said the law, which creates a board to develop guidelines, should be funded this year after a pledge from Gov. Sonny Perdue.

Lynn Fedor said their home at 115 Peninsula Drive was built on a debris pit and thus had numerous foundation issues. The city ultimately condemned the home’s basement area as unlivable, and the family ultimately moved out because of the safety issues, she said.

The house also has over 100 tears and leaks, Lynn Fedor said. The cost to fix everything has been estimated at $58,000, but the latest appraisal on the house saw a drop in the price from $1.4 million to $650,000.

The house was closed on in January 2003, and many of the structural integrity issues have gone unresolved by builder Richard Bearden, Regency Homes and Alpha VI, Fedor said.

She also noted that Bearden failed to get enough insurance to correct the home’s problems, and the structural problems caused the Fedors’ homeowners coverage to be dropped.

Fedor also questioned why the company wasn’t held responsible for its actions by the city. She was steered to make complaints with the city’s building and code enforcement departments, but not before councilman Steve Rapson suggested putting a stop work order on all the company’s buildings in the city until they could all be inspected for problems.

City Attorney Ted Meeker said it would be inappropriate for the city to single out one developer over any other for such an action. Stop work orders typically apply to one property or parcel of land at a time and are lifted once certain issues are resolved.