Fullerton : Condo Buyer Backs Out of Deal Amid FHA Flap

After winning a four-month battle for an FHA loan, a buyer has decided not to purchase a condominium owned by a Fullerton couple who live near the McColl hazardous waste dump, the owners said Friday.

Charles and Debra Morrison said they were told by the real estate agents involved in the deal of the buyer’s decision Thursday, the same day the first news reports of the Federal Housing Administration’s decision appeared.

The Morrisons said they had heard the buyer backed out of the deal partly because “she didn’t appreciate having her name appear in the newspapers without her permission.”

The buyer, Sarah S. Asbury, could not be reached for comment.

The FHA had suspended approval of a loan on the Morrisons’ two-bedroom condominium on Coventry Circle in the Coyote Hills development when it learned that the property was within 2,000 feet of the World War II petroleum waste dumping site.

But the federal agency rescinded its decision after Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton) intervened. An FHA environmental review is pending.

The Morrisons have bought a new home, still under construction, in Corona and will have to put their condominium back on the market.

“Know any buyers?” Morrison asked. “If you do, tell them we’re willing to knock a couple of thousand dollars off the asking price.”