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Updated: May 8th, 2008 - 20:33:00 |
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When John and Barbara Warren moved into their home in Paradise Canyon in November 1999, they couldn’t imagine a more idyllic place to live.
The patio offered a scenic view of the coulees and the Oldman River, and wildlife such as deer and porcupines could often be seen wandering by.
“We really thought we’d moved to paradise,” says John, no pun intended.
It was the couple’s dream home, one they had designed and had built with the intention of spending the rest of their lives there.
But the dream, says Barbara, “turned into a nightmare.”
Within a few years, the house began slumping in places, the result of unstable soil, the couple claims. Cracks began appearing in walls, ceilings and floors, growing increasingly worse as the house shifted dramatically.
“Sometimes houses will settle,” says Barbara, “but this goes beyond normal settling.”
As time went on, the Warrens found themselves in a real-life facsimile of the Tom Hanks movie “The Money Pit,” in which a couple buys a once-grand fixer-upper that proves to be in need of major surgery.
The nightmare worsened last week when a visit from a Chinook Health building inspector resulted in the house being condemned. “Unfit for human habitation” declares a bright orange sign on the home’s front door, a testament to the fact there is in fact trouble in Paradise.
The Warrens’ home is one of nine in the area that are the focus of lawsuits targeting the City of Lethbridge, the Alberta New Home Warranty Program and several local builders and contractors.
The Warrens’ claim was filed in November 2006 and pre-trial procedures were due to wrap up this week. The couple is hoping it won’t have to go to trial, however.
“We’ve been married 45 years,” says Barbara. “We’re hoping we don’t have to wait till our 50th anniversary to get things settled.”
“All we want is for somebody to do what’s morally right,” she adds, “because how can you deny there’s something wrong?”
The Warrens, in their Statement of Claim, contend the city, for one, should have been aware of soil issues in the Paradise Canyon subdivision. The city, in its Statement of Defence, denies any negligence of its duties and argues the onus of responsibility falls on the homeowners as well as the engineers, designers and contractors involved. None of the allegations have been proven in court.
The couple admit the stress of their homeowners’ nightmare has at times been a strain on their marriage.
Barbara says it’s only in recent months that she has been able to walk into the house “without bursting into tears.”
Neighbours have been dealing with problems as well, says John, and when a next-door neighbour’s sewer line collapsed last summer, “that was the last straw.”
The Warrens purchased another home in Ridgewood and rented out the Paradise Canyon home for several months. Now it’s listed for sale. In the meantime, the couple is saddled with a mortgage they hadn’t anticipated at this stage of their lives.
A recent appraisal indicated the home, without its structural problems, is worth $590,000. The Warrens estimate, however, it would cost another $500,000 to underpin the house and do other remedial work.
Likely the best value, says John, would involve someone buying the house and moving it to another location.
The Warrens wonder how they could have found themselves in such a fix considering “all the checks and balances” involved in building a home.
“We’re not experts,” says Barbara, indicating she and her husband had relied on the knowledge of the expert parties involved.
“I don’t know what you’re getting if you’re not getting their stamp of approval,” John says.
By suing, “we’re not trying to be vindictive,” he adds. “If we can avoid having this experience happen to someone else, that’s good.” |
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by Lethbridge Herald.com
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