Habitat Sues Man Who Rejected House

The Case of the House on Newhall Avenue doesn’t exactly conjure up images of Jimmy Carter with a hammer in his hand.

In the beginning, Habitat for Humanity--whose best-known volunteer laborer is the former president--just wanted to help. The international charity offered to build a house for an elderly man left homeless by the Northridge earthquake.

But after 78-year-old John Novak of Newhall called his gift house a “monstrosity” and refused to accept it, Habitat sued Novak, arguing that if he doesn’t live in the house, he doesn’t get Habitat’s services for free.

And the house, vacant for more than 18 months, is now for sale.

“We’re just trying to move forward and find another family that will be happy” with the house, said Helena Delu, Habitat’s North Hollywood-based earthquake recovery manager.

An army of workers, including neighbors and schoolchildren, labored furiously for two months in 1995 to build the Newhall Avenue home for Novak. His original home, built in 1939, was destroyed in the earthquake.

But when Novak saw the new house, completed in a rush just before Thanksgiving, he threw up his hands, declared it ugly and refused to accept it.

Habitat usually requires that recipients of its largess live for 20 years in the houses to qualify for the free labor--to ensure that the agency is providing shelter for the poor, not profits for home-sellers.

Because Novak refused to do so, Habitat officials said, they had no choice but to file a lien against the property for the value of the work. A civil suit seeking $105,000 from Novak was subsequently filed last July. Two weeks ago, the house was put on the open market, with an asking price of $138,000.

Habitat representatives said they are on the verge of settling the dispute with Novak in order to sell the house and recover funds spent on the project. “We envision a full recovery,” said Valencia attorney Richard Patterson, who represents Habitat.

Novak could not be reached for comment. However, in a 1995 interview, he said the stark white, two-bedroom, one-bath house built by volunteers bears little resemblance to the quaint wooden cottage he shared for years with his wife, Kristina, who died in 1983. He accused the charity of using him to raise funds and complained about the legal hold on the property.

Delu said the lien on Novak’s house is standard on all Habitat projects, to ensure that the donation of time and materials by volunteers goes to a worthy cause. Participants also are required to contribute 500 hours of “sweat equity” by participating in the construction, working in the Habitat office or contributing other labor. Novak also failed to meet that obligation, according to the suit.

In the six years since the local Habitat group was founded to serve the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys, 11 homes have been built and 21 rehabilitated. None of the other beneficiaries have complained that their homes are ugly, Delu said.

The local organization is one of more than 1,500 affiliates worldwide, each of which is expected to be self-sustaining, said Trish Magnotta, spokeswoman for Habitat’s international headquarters in Georgia.

In just 20 years, the organization has built 50,000 houses in 47 countries. According to the latest survey, 89% of the homeowners are current on their mortgage payments, Magnotta said.

“The chances are that many of our homeowners would never be approved by a bank,” she said, adding that the group strives to provide homes for people who otherwise could not afford them. “We are willing to refinance and refinance and refinance to work with our partner families.”

Molly Hodson, a real estate broker who is trying to sell the Novak house, said: “We are getting lots of calls; the house is being shown to a lot of families.”