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New Jersey is the only state in the nation with a warranty on
new residential construction.
And as far as the State Commission of Investigation is
concerned, it's not doing a bit of good.
During a Trenton hearing yesterday that featured homeowner
horror stories and a building inspector who conceded his
office had made serious mistakes, the SCI laid out a brutal
assessment of new construction in the state's sprawling
suburbs.
An 18-month investigation by the SCI found deficiencies at 58
developments in 17 counties, but officials said they are
focused mostly on strengthening the protections available to
homeowners who get a "lemon" of a house.
"The idea is to get the system to change," said Cary Edwards,
SCI commissioner and former attorney general. "What are the
remedies? Presently, the remedies for a person who buys a new
home with deficiencies are lengthy, expensive and inadequate."
The SCI will make recommendations to the Legislature in
January and has referred possible criminal acts by
construction officials to Attorney General Peter Harvey.
Harvey said it would be difficult to build a criminal case
against builders.
"How do you tell a builder he should have built it better?" he
asked. "What if he is bold enough to say, 'That is the best I
can do.' Then what do you have?"
Susan Bass Levin, commissioner of the state Department of
Community Affairs, which has broad oversight over local
construction officials, said she, too, is concerned about
protections in the state's New Home Warranty and is poised to
propose reforms.
She said those changes would extend the warranty from one or
two years to three years for leaks and heating and cooling
systems, and would also require housing deposits to be placed
in escrow, so unscrupulous builders couldn't disappear with
them.
Despite its focus on reform, the SCI spent several hours
grilling public officials who oversaw the construction of Four
Seasons at Wall, a 400-unit Monmouth County development built
by K. Hovnanian Cos., the state's largest residential builder.
"The biggest problem at Four Seasons was the rush, too many
houses going up at once," said Gregory Kirk, Wall Township's
construction official and plumbing sub-code inspector. "The
developer was rushing his contractors and the building
department for inspections."
Kirk conceded that one of his inspectors failed to "go up the
ladder" to inspect roof trusses because he had a bad hip. He
said no inspectors were fired, but that in conversations that
involved "yelling and screaming" he had advised his staff that
they had to do a better job.
"Unfortunately, that was after the fact," he added.
Homeowners in the development described a litany of problems,
ranging from cracked roof trusses to faulty streets and
driveways. To help explain countless sinkholes, an engineer
hired by residents showed a videotape of the storm-drainage
system, which showed faulty joints -- one was stuffed with
Styrofoam -- and collapsed sections of pipe.
Sander Kelman said he and other homeowners have spent $130,000
on inspections trying to determine the extent of the problems
but are still fighting to get necessary repairs done.
"This hearing is the best thing we could expect at this
point," said Kelman, who bought his $270,000 house in Four
Seasons nearly five years ago. "But we still have to wait and
see where this goes."
Steve Chambers covers land-use issues. He can be reached at
schambers@starledger.com or (973) 392-1674.
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