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Ryland Homes Ceilings Collapsed & Update
Friday, 15 July 2005
City staff passes buck on ceiling problems
Ceilings collapsed in the bedrooms of two homes in Frederick's Overlook development in the last five years due to what city officials cite is faulty construction.City of Frederick staff knew about the collapses, but chose not to notify other homeowners in the development of the potential danger...

The Gazette
City staff passes buck on ceiling problems
by Katherine Heerbrandt
Staff Writer
July 14, 2005

Photos courtesy The City of Frederick - In March, the bedroom ceiling in the home of Winifred and Donteray Pettigrew fell in. The Pettigrews filed a complaint with Frederick's code enforcement office on March 29. After a lengthy investigation, city staff deduced that the cause of the collapse was defective construction.

Gaithersburg - Ceilings collapsed in the bedrooms of two homes in Frederick's Overlook development in the last five years due to what city officials cite is faulty construction.

City of Frederick staff knew about the collapses, but chose not to notify other homeowners in the development of the potential danger due to legal concerns, according to e-mails obtained by The Gazette this week.

The collapses occurred in 2000 and in March 2005.

In March, Winifred and Donteray Pettigrew heard a creaking noise above their heads and rolled out of bed just before the ceiling caved in onto the bed, according to a complaint filed with Frederick's code enforcement office on March 29. After a lengthy investigation, city staff deduced that the cause of the collapse was defective construction.

The Pettigrews did not return calls for comment by The Gazette's press time this week.

But their home on Hollyberry Way was not the first to experience a ceiling collapse in their development.

Charlene Edmonds, who rented a townhouse on Cascade Way, filed a similar complaint with the city in 2000. The drywall and the sheathing in Edmonds' ceiling was improperly installed at the time of construction, according to a letter from the city to the townhouse's owner, Melinda Dodson. Dodson was cited for a violation of city code and told that if she did not correct the problem, legal action would follow. The Pettigrews were not cited. Dodson did not return a call for comment by The Gazette's press time.

Though both collapses were brought to city officials' attention, city attorneys advised against notifying other homeowners in the development, recommending instead that the Pettigrews contact the state Attorney General's Office division of consumer complaints as well as the home builder, Ryland Homes.

Assistant city attorney Rachel Depo wrote in an e-mail to code enforcement officers on May 9 that they should contact Ryland Homes, and give the company a chance to rectify the situation and call other homeowners in the area.

According to city building manager Roger Twigg, 182 similar units were built by Ryland Homes in that area.

"Notify Ryland Homes of the problems you have encountered and your concern that there may be other homes with similar defects that are unknown as of yet. ... [T]he rationale behind this suggested course of action is to balance the desire to help the affected (and potentially affected) homeowners with their problems while keeping the city out of it to the greatest extent possible," Depo wrote in the e-mail.

Depo's boss, Chief Attorney Saundra Nickols, defended the advice, saying that the situation was handled in the same manner as other similar situations.

"The city contacts the affected homeowner and the builder to gather facts and to assess the situation before taking any further action," she said.

Catherine Parks, who took over management of the city's code enforcement office at the end of May, said Tuesday that the city plans to contact Ryland Homes to sort out the situation. Parks was not familiar with the case until recently, but said she believes the city should protect public safety. Her daughter's family, she said, lives in the Overlook development.

No hope for help 

Overlook homeowners with damaged ceilings will likely not find restitution from the builder, the Attorney General's office, or their homeowners' insurance.

Ryland's Frederick County offices are closed, and their phone numbers are disconnected. A review of Ryland's home warranty on the company's Web site says it is "one of the industry's best home warranty programs." It is good for 10 years and does not cover "nonstructural components," such as drywall. The Overlook homes that suffered damage were built in 1992.

Jodi Nanda, Ryland's corporate spokeswoman in Calabasas, Calif., said the company hasn't received any complaints from Frederick homeowners or city officials. She declined further comment until she could speak with the company's warranty department.

The Attorney General's office cannot help either, according to spokesman Kevin Enright.

"Since this home was built in 1992, and we only monitor new homes, this case would not have fallen under our jurisdiction," Enright said.

Files obtained from the city indicate that the Pettigrews' homeowners' insurance would not cover the entire cost of the damage because the problems resulted from faulty construction in violation of standard building codes.

An in-depth inspection of the Pettigrews home by city building and code enforcement officers revealed that only four nails were used in a 4-foot span of the roof trusses. Building code requirements at the time the home was built required two nails every 2 inches. Inspectors also discovered that the builders did not use enough adhesive on the drywall and trusses and that it was not applied in accordance with manufacturer specifications.

City worried about 'public perception' 

The inspection report, written by code enforcement officer David Violette, stated that Mike Blank, code enforcement manager, disagreed with the city attorney's advice.

"Mike feels this is a colossal mistake (no one knows when any more ceilings will collapse and there is not ramifications for waiting to the city) and feels it is the city's job to notify homeowners of pending danger. [Planning Director Chuck Boyd] won't budge, follows legal's advice," Violette wrote in the report.

In an e-mail chain between Depo, Boyd and Blank, Blank wrote that in the 2000 case, Ryland Homes "had not been responsive."

"You need to fix this before someone gets injured," he wrote on April 6.

Blank is on active military reserve, and will not return to City Hall for seven months.

Boyd told Blank to check with the legal staff before taking action.

"The code enforcement department should notify people only after the legal department has evaluated our responsibility, liability and public perception," Boyd wrote.

The city's building department inspects new homes and uses the building code to verify compliance before issuing a use and occupancy permit, according to building manager Twigg.

But the city cannot count every nail in every building, said Paul Lee, director of engineering. "We do due diligence, but rely wholly on the contractor to do a professional job," he said.

Mayor Jennifer P. Dougherty (D) said the city is handling the situation now, and that she was unfamiliar with it until The Gazette filed a Public Information Act request with the city last week.

"I can only guess at the reason this matter was slowed down, but it is being handled now," she said. "It is quite sad to think that someone would ignore a public safety issue to play 'gotcha.' On a regular basis, I have city employees who inform me of situations that need management oversight. It might be parking, concrete pours or grass cutting, but employees make me aware if they think their supervisors are ignoring our first goal -- to serve the citizens. [The Overlook situation] certainly rises to the level of 'dropping a dime to call the mayor.'" 
http://www.gazette.net/200528/frederick/news/284969-1.html

UPDATE
July 21, 2005
by Katherine Heerbrandt
City to contact Overlook homeowners

The City of Frederick, with the approval of homebuilder Ryland Homes, will ask owners of 182 units in The Overlook development to contact the city or the builder if they have any problems with the ceilings in their homes.

The city planned to alert the neighborhood following a July 14 story in The Gazette about two townhouses in that development whose ceilings collapsed due to defective construction techniques. The goal, according to city spokesperson Nancy Poss, is to ascertain whether or not the problem is widespread.

Homeowners Derontay and Winnifred Pettigrew contacted the city in March after a bedroom ceiling in their home caved in. Derontay Pettigrew said the incident occurred about a month before he contacted the city. He tried to get help from Ryland, he said, but was told that his warranty did not cover nonstructural damage and had already expired on the 1992 townhouse. He was unaware that another home had the same problem in 2000.

The Pettigrews, who have two young children, are having similar problems in other rooms of their home, Derontay Pettigrew said.

Pettigrew said his homeowners insurance only covers what was damaged when the ceiling collapsed. A contractor estimated that the Pettigrews would have to pay $3,500 in labor costs alone, he said, to have the ceiling repaired.

"It's bad that it had to happen, but my concern is that our whole neighborhood might be having the same trouble and there are lots of families with children," he said.

The fliers will be distributed today. If residents have concerns about the ceilings in their homes, they can contact Ryland Homes at 800-533-5547, or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Or, call the City of Frederick at 301-360-3802, or e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

 
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