HomeLatest NewsFeatured HomebuildersHome Buyer ResourcesBinding ArbitrationResource LinksSubmit ComplaintsView ComplaintsTake Action 101!Report Mortgage FraudMortgage Fraud NewsForeclosure NewsConstruction DefectsHome DefectsPhoto GalleryFoundation ProblemsHomeowner Website LinksHOA Reform
Main Menu
Home
Latest News
Featured Homebuilders
Home Buyer Resources
Binding Arbitration
Resource Links
Submit Complaints
View Complaints
Take Action 101!
Report Mortgage Fraud
Mortgage Fraud News
Foreclosure News
Construction Defects
Home Defects
Photo Gallery
Foundation Problems
Homeowner Website Links
HOA Reform
Featured Topics
Builder Death Spiral
Report Mortgage Fraud
Foreclosure Special Report
Mold & New Home Guide
Special News Reports
Centex & Habitability
How Fast Can They Build Them?
TRCC Editorial
Texas TRCC Scandal
Texas Watch - Tell Lawmakers
TRCC Recommendations
Sandra Bullock
People's Lawyer
Prevent Nightmare Homes
Choice Homes
Smart Money
Weekly Update Message
News
Latest News
HOBB News
Editorials
New Jersey
New Jersey & Texas
Write Letters to the Editors
TRCC in the News
Texas TRCC Scandal
Survey
Fair Use Notice
HOBB Archives
About HOBB
Contact Us
Fair Use Notice
Legislative Work
Your House

 HOBB News Alerts
and Updates

Click Here to Subscribe

Support HOBB - Become a Sustaining Member
Who's Online
ABC Special Report
Investigation: New Home Heartbreak
Trump - NAHB Homebuilders Shoddy Construction and Forced Arbitration
Tampa Officials doing the job, but at what cost to homeowners
Tuesday, 21 November 2006

Dream house sours
...after pouring $400,000 into the construction of the home in South Tampa, Edward J. Gollobith ended up with shoddy workmanship and an eyesore that neighbors and the city want rectified or torn down. If it's not enough that Gollobith might have to demolish the half-million dollar home he has never lived in, the city plans to fine him $100 a day if he does not either apply for permits to complete the home or bulldoze it by Dec. 27. He has put the property up for sale but is not optimistic he'll get a buyer...Building officials across Florida say consumers can run into problems no matter how careful they are because several areas of the local and state construction system are broken.

Dream house sours

By IVAN PENN
Published November 20, 2006

TAMPA - On paper, it was a bachelor's dream house: a one-bedroom, two-story custom home with a swimming pool that flowed from the living room to a palatial courtyard.

French and sliding glass doors gave entree to balconies that overlooked the pool. Bamboo flooring in the master suite. Custom cabinets in the kitchen.

But after pouring $400,000 into the construction of the home in South Tampa, Edward J. Gollobith ended up with shoddy workmanship and an eyesore that neighbors and the city want rectified or torn down.

If it's not enough that Gollobith might have to demolish the half-million dollar home he has never lived in, the city plans to fine him $100 a day if he does not either apply for permits to complete the home or bulldoze it by Dec. 27. He has put the property up for sale but is not optimistic he'll get a buyer.

"Since the city and the state failed me, what should I do?" Gollobith said. "I'm the victim, not the perpetrator."

Five years in the making, Gollobith's tale is a portrait of how wrong things can go when building a home.

The builder, Michael Lane, a general contractor and window installer, blames the problems on constant design changes by Gollobith and architect Stephanie Ferrell. He said Gollobith and Ferrell made it difficult to get work done, and they could not handle the rising costs.

"It was just build it as you go," Lane said. "I should have never, ever taken the job."

Workmanship issues

Jim Greenhalgh, Tampa's chief building inspector, said he thinks that the changes overwhelmed Lane. Greenhalgh said he and his staff found serious workmanship problems with the house and cited Lane for failing to seek approval of the changes in the plans.

Greenhalgh brought charges against Lane and sought a year suspension of his contractor's license. The Hillsborough Building Board of Adjustments, Appeals and Examiners suspended Lane's license for three months and ordered seven hours of continuing education.

"The contractor needed to supervise more," Greenhalgh said. "The folks he was hiring really weren't skilled."

Greenhalgh said a home in the New Tampa area is embroiled in a similar controversy, and he hates to see potential for nice homes lost.

Construction regulators urge property owners to vet contractors before hiring them, steps Gollobith said he took.

He consulted a lawyer about how to approach construction of a home, and he had the lawyer review Lane's contract.

Moreover, Ferrell, the architect and a former girlfriend of Gollobith's, recommended Lane, who had no public complaints against his contracting license with state Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

So what does a buyer do after taking the recommended steps before construction, and still everything goes wrong?

Building officials across Florida say consumers can run into problems no matter how careful they are because several areas of the local and state construction system are broken.

There is no statewide database with all contractor information. If Gollobith wanted to check the backgrounds of Lane's subcontractors, whom inspectors called "unskilled," he would have had to cull information from the files of hundreds of municipalities, dozens of counties and the state. Then he would have to navigate the various licensing and complaint systems.

Consumers "totally have to remain vigilant ... and hope for the best," said William Brod, president of the Construction Licensing Officials Association of Florida.

Gollobith said he sought help from most every government agency he could think of, including the State Attorney's Office, Tampa police, city and county building departments and the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

At every turn, government agencies said that it was a "civil matter," as homeowners often are told. But in some cases it appears the wheels of justice have not made it through a complete cycle.

Contractor defended

Hillsborough building services suspended Lane's license, and the state business and professional licensing agency is considering action. But Lane is not without his defenders.

He built an elaborate home on Bayshore Boulevard six years ago for former developers Sam and Alyce Gross. She said the work Lane did was "excellent."

"Ours was a very complex design," Alyce Gross said. "Michael Lane is as honest as the day is long. ... He really understands construction."

Before he tackled the Grosses' home, Lane said he was the superintendent on 21 other new home constructions and the general contractor on countless home remodeling projects.

The original design of Gollobith's house, in the 4300 block of S MacDill Avenue, would have cost $770,000 to build, Lane said. When Gollobith saw the price tag, he began hacking away at the design.

"He wanted cheaper, cheaper, cheaper," Lane said.

Standing before the Tampa Building Code Enforcement Board, Gollobith blamed the contractor for poor construction and city inspectors for failing to identify it and have it fixed.

"The city's caused me this problem and it's coming after me," Gollobith said to the board.

Board members sympathized with Gollobith but said the problem has to be resolved, and he is ultimately liable. Fines of $100 a day would begin in 60 days.

"We have to enforce the code," board member Sean Donnelly told him. "That structure violates the city code and is unsafe. You can pursue the thief, as you called him, in civil court.

"I'm sorry," Donnelly said. "This is a pretty extreme case."

Ivan Penn covers consumer issues and can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 727 892-2332.


http://www.sptimes.com/2006/11/20/Hillsborough/Dream_house_sours.shtml

 
< Prev   Next >
Search HOBB.org

Reckless Endangerment
BY: GRETCHEN MORGENSON
and JOSHUA ROSNER

Outsized Ambition, Greed and
Corruption Led to
Economic Armageddon


Amazon
Barnes & Noble

 Feature
Rise and Fall of Predatory Lending and Housing

NY Times: Building Flawed American Dreams 
Read CATO Institute: 
HUD Scandals

Listen to NPR:
Reckless Endangerman
by
Gretchen Morgenson : How 'Reckless' Greed Contributed
to Financial Crisis - Fannie Mae

NPR Special Report
Part I Listen Now
Perry Home - No Warranty 
Part II Listen Now
Texas Favors Builders

Washington Post
The housing bubble, in four chapters
BusinessWeek Special Reports
Bonfire of the Builders
Homebuilders helped fuel the housing crisis
Housing: That Sinking Feeling

Texas Regulates Homebuyers
 
Texas Comptroller Condemns TRCC Builder Protection Agency
TRCC is the punishment phase of homeownership in Texas

HOBB Update Messages

Consumer Affairs Builder Complaints

IS YOUR STATE NEXT?
As Goes Texas So Goes the Nation
Knowledge and Financial Responsibility are still Optional for Texas Home Builders

OUTSTANDING FOX4 REPORT
TRCC from Bad to Worse
Case of the Crooked House

TRCC AN ARRESTING EXPERIENCE
The Pat and Bob Egert Building & TRCC Experience 

Builders Looking for Federal Handouts

Build it right the first time
An interview with Janet Ahmad

Bad Binding Arbitration Experience?
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
or call 1-210-402-6800

Drum Major Institute
for Public Policy

Tort Deform
Report Your Arbitration Experience

Homebuilding Texas Style
And the walls came
tumblin' down

 Texas Homebuilder
Bob Perry Political Contributions

  The Agency Bob Perry Built
 TRCC Connection News
Tort Reform

NPR Interview - Perry's
Political influence movement.
Click to listen 

REWARD
MOST WANTED

ARIZONA REGISTRAR OF CONTRACTORS
Have you seen any of these individuals

 Feature: Mother Jones Magazine
Are you Next?
People Magazine - Jordan Fogal fights back
Because of construction defects Jordan’s Tremont Home is uninhabitable
http://www.tremonthomehorrors.com/
You could be the next victim
Interview with Award Winning Author Jordan Fogal

Special Money Report
Big Money and Shoddy Construction:Texas Home Buyers Left Out in the Cold
Read More
Read Report: Big Money…
Home Builder Money Source of Influence

Letters to the Editor
Write your letters to the Editor

Homeowner Websites

top of page

© 2024 HomeOwners for Better Building
Joomla! is Free Software released under the GNU/GPL License.