GROVE CITY, Ohio -- Buying a new home is a major investment, but it doesn't always go the way you planned. When a Grove City couple became locked in a nasty dispute with their builder, they contacted Target 4's Patrick Preston.
Tonight, he shows us how the couple used city government to help.
When Richard and Rosa Young moved into this newly-built Grove City home in February, they expected their builder to make a few fixes.
"There's a lot of problems in here. They need to come back and redo this drywall, give this another coat of paint," Rosa Young said.
But as the first six months passed, the list of fixes grew.
"When I take a quick shower, it just leaked a little bit and a little bit," Richard Young said.
The little leak became a big leak and eventually the Youngs tore open their basement ceiling to isolate the problem.
In all, the Youngs counted dozens of needed fixes.
But as time passed, their relationship with their builder deteriorated so badly that both sides hired lawyers.
"Would you want to live like this if you bought a new house and gave over $300,000 for it? Would you want to not be able to use your shower?" Richard Young said.
The Youngs were able to file a contractor complaint with Grove City's chief building official, Mike Boso, who visited the Young's house personally, observing the leak and other workmanship issues.
"There's something wrong with that shower pan. That's not installed correctly and it's something that's going to have to be repaired," Boso said. "For the amount of time they've been in the home, four or five months, that's something that should not happen."
Boso then forwarded the complaint on to Grove City's contractor board of review, which regulates those doing business in the city. After meeting with both sides, the board recommended that the builder work to satisfy the list of repairs as part of their one-year warranty.
"With any new home, you have problems that arise and sometimes that can take a while. Houses can settle. There's various problems you can have with anything," said Rob Davis, of the contractor board of review.
Davis and Boso said the builder is still in good standing with Grove City as they work to resolve the issues.
The builder told us they will follow the board's recommendation, but the issue may ultimately be decided in court.
"If you have a breakdown in communications, it's going to cause problems and I think that's one of the things we've had here," Davis said.
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