ATLANTA — Joanell Coley's dream of owning her first home was quickly soaked in disappointment.
"Since July 5, until now, I've probably had over 18 leaks in the house," Coley said.
She showed consumer investigator Jim Strickland damage on every floor of her home. The house isn't even 6 months old.
"This (wall) was redone because of a previous leak," Coley told Strickland. "Last week they came in and they put the ceilings back up and everything, but you can see it was not done properly so it's leaking again."
Coley bought her home in the Rosewood subdivision in Southwest Atlanta using down payment money from the Neighborhood Lift Program.
Strickland was there two years ago when the first recipients moved in.
Wells Fargo provided $6 million and Invest Atlanta doled out up to $15,000 for each first-time home buyer.
Nick and Stephanie Sasfy used the money toward the home a few doors down from Coley.
"We're not asking for extra stuff or anything, it's just do what you promised," said Stephanie.
The Sasfy's fireplace isn't flush and there is still no mantel. Several doorknobs are missing, and a window is so crooked, it's silly. Outside, the paint is already chipping off the one-year-old home.
"Where the paint is chipping, I licked my finger to make sure it's not what I thought it was, and it ended up being clay," Nick Sasfy said.
Neighbors blame Autaco Development LLC, which holds the repair warrants. Audra Cooper owns the company. Invest Atlanta brought Cooper and the residents face to face.
"For us, it's just an investment," Cooper told the residents. "We're not making money at Rosewood. We never have from day one."
"You have never came to my house to see the amount of damage that has been caused to my house," Coley said to Cooper.
"We were told this was going to be done in 30 days," Nick Sasfy said.
Another resident, Teneshia Hunnucutt also spoke up.
"It becomes a job to us when we have to call and say, 'Are you coming today? Are you coming today? Okay, I'm not going to work today, I'm going to take off so you can come here,'" she said. "At this point, it's about accountability and fixing it. Do what you said you were going to do. Do what's in writing from the beginning."
In an email the next day, Invest Atlanta's Arthur Mallard expressed disappointment in the meeting, saying, "The builder appeared to be simply treading water, while the media was there, offering no real solutions to the residents' concerns."
"He was trying to explain to her, if the news is here, Audra, that's not a good thing," Coley said. "But it's like it went over her head."
Cooper scheduled then canceled two interviews with Strickland. She said on the phone that since the meeting, most of the work at the Rosewood Subdivision was done.
"No. It's not done at all," Sasfy said. "We've been sitting here for a year and 2 months now, just waiting for little things to be done. So for her to tell you guys that it's done, it kind of upsets me a little bit."
Coley added, "She's disrespecting me and she's disrespecting my family with all of this foolishness that she has me going through."
Invest Atlanta issued the following statement in response to Strickland’s investigation:
Acting as an intermediary, Invest Atlanta recognized the need to bring the homeowners together with the builder to get their structural and cosmetic issues addressed. The Authority does not typically serve in this role, as its involvement in this process is usually limited to acting as a facilitator of the down payment assistance provided by the NeighborhoodLift Program.
General NeighborhoodLift Program
- The NeighborhoodLIFT Program is a subordinate loan program offered to qualifying borrowers to provide down payment assistance for the purchase of a home in the City of Atlanta.
- The NeighborhoodLIFT Program has assisted 378 borrowers in the City of Atlanta purchase homes of their own choosing.
- The NeighborhoodLIFT Program requires all prospective borrowers to attend an 8-hour homebuyer educational course facilitated by a HUD approved and NeighborWorks America approved homebuyer education provider. These courses focus on topics such as managing credit, getting the right mortgage and the importance of a home inspection in the purchase of a home.
- Borrowers of NeighborhoodLIFT assistance have the option of choosing a home anywhere within the city limits of Atlanta.
- Invest Atlanta does not have and has not had a formal or informal relationship with Autaco or any other developer or builder as a part of NeighborhoodLIFT or any other down payment assistance program it facilitates.
Wells Fargo statement:
Wells Fargo is pleased this program helped create 378 new low- and moderate-income homeowners in the city of Atlanta. Our role was to provide $8 million in funding through the program, including $6.4 million in down payment assistance through several non-profit groups who executed the program well. We are not a party to the Rosewood dispute and none of the homeowners purchased their home with a Wells Fargo mortgage. We hope the Rosewood homeowners and the builder can achieve a resolution together.
WSBTV
