Victims of Botched Home Repairs Await Settlements

When contractors arrived at her home six years ago, they told Thelma Franks not to worry. Their saws and sledgehammers were to knock out cabinets, not walls.

But when Franks returned from a doctor’s visit with her ailing husband, two walls had been razed and the toilets taken out. That was the beginning of the couple’s star-crossed involvement with a county-sponsored program to rehabilitate low-income housing.

Even after the work was done, the disabled couple complained of cabinets angled forward from walls, shower doors that wouldn’t open and holes big enough to stick your hand in.

“From the first day it was bad,” recalled Franks, 54. “That night we had to go to a hotel because we couldn’t stay here.”

The Frankses were not the only ones who were dissatisfied. After they and 200 others filed a federal lawsuit in 1998 alleging contractors did poor work, the county agreed in January to pay as much as $3 million in repairs.

But six months after the settlement, no checks have been issued to the Frankses and more than 200 others. Under the settlement, both sides agreed that building inspectors would examine each claimant’s house and provide an estimate for repairs.

“Like me, everybody’s still waiting. We haven’t gotten a penny,” said Anita Marcario, whose roof leaked after repairs were made.

Theodor Albert, a Costa Mesa attorney who represented 15 of the plaintiffs, accused the county of delaying payment.

“We had an inspector, and his numbers were supposed to be gospel,” Albert said. “Now, the county is doing all kinds of nibbling around the edges. The settlement is clear. But the fact that no one has been paid says a lot.”

County officials denied Albert’s assertions and said some repair estimates included work the county did not perform and consequently is not responsible for paying.

“Because they are open claims, we continue to work on them,” said Sharon Lightholder, the county’s risk manager. “We have made a commitment that we will get these claims resolved within terms of the agreement, and we are continuing to do that.”

Albert said the county has been slow in providing release forms to the claimants and is trying to reduce the inspector’s repair estimates.

County officials would not respond to the allegations.

The case arose from the county’s Housing Rehabilitation Program, which provides about $1 million a year in federal grants to low-income residents for home improvements. The program, which began in 1978, was suspended in 1997 amid allegations of substandard work. A Sheriff’s Department investigation resulted in criminal charges against a homeowner and a contractor on suspicion of receiving payment for work never completed.

The investigation involved more than 230 rehabilitation projects. The probe found that half of all contracts awarded during a two-year period were given to only four contractors. Much of the work was done without permits and in violation of state law, the investigation found.

Ena Simpson, 49, of Laguna Niguel recalled answering an advertisement in a local newspaper that featured the program in 1996.

“I wanted a new roof, and they also did all this work on my house,” Simpson said.

But the work left her with illegal wiring in her garage, shower doors that don’t fit, a garbage disposal that doesn’t work and other problems.

After the settlement, an estimator said her house needed $15,000 in repairs. That figure was reduced to $13,000. She recently received a document in the mail requesting her signature to release the county from liability, but the estimate was reduced $1,500 more.

“This has been dragging for I don’t know how long, and just when you think it’s finally resolved, something happens again.”

Still ahead is the settlement’s next phase. The county also has agreed to pay claims for losses other than property, including emotional distress, loss of home value and other related claims, said attorney Patrick J. Thistle, who is representing about 20 claimants.

“We will be handling pain and suffering, lost time, lost wages, stolen property, and even costs of estimates,” Thistle said. “But [this next phase] seems like it’s going to last even longer.”