City Botches Inspections with Incompetent Inspectors: Distresses Yet Another Family, Contempt Ensues

Letter To the Editor:

    Am sure by now many of you are aware of the situation regarding the construction of our home and the inspection process associated with it hence it is not my point to belabor those issues but address ones associated with them.

    Certainly many of you realize that this past weekend there were numerous open houses hoping to showcase properties for sale and the corresponding reason for the banner we hung at our home.  It was not our intent to discourage prospective buyers from either building or buying a home as we remember the excitement we felt deciding to build our retirement home on an island we had come to love; after meeting and being welcomed as friends by so many wonderful people we are still proud to call Marco Island home.

    It is imperative, however, that we urge people to be careful on Marco Island and frankly exhibit caution in all of Florida when either building or buying your dream home.  Please be open to the following:

    1  If building a home consider hiring private inspectors as opposed to utilizing local building departments; the Florida legislature has implemented this change as of 2004. It is clear from the dismissal of our lawsuit based strictly on the concept of sovereign immunity that not only negligence in the inspection process itself is forgiven but that protection is extended to negligent hiring, training, and supervision. It seems this refers back to English law which basically states the king can do no wrong; we think you will also will be as confused and disturbed by this reasoning as we are if you study the legal ramifications of our hearing.

    2  If buying a home demand the accompanying inspection reports associated with construction and depending on the property you might want to negotiate that the seller provide you with a current inspection report that will note code violations or construction defects should any be present. In an initial DBPR hearing probable cause was found noting the failure to document inspections made and passed.  Obviously we have requested the DBPR to reconsider this case on the grounds initially of sheer logic; as examples how can missing flashing, insulation, roof vents, and shower pans be written off as clerical errors. Other inspections not noted as completed are explained as quirks in the software program. The reports prepared by the expert hired by the DBPR do not concur with all the concerns expressed in the report prepared by Mr. Franklin but find Mr. Mahar in violation of Florida Statutes related to ensuring that our home was built to applicable code and licensing issues as well. The CD we have obtained from the tape of that hearing not only reiterates those concerns but supports our contention that a CO should never have been issued.  The hearing to reconsider this case on 4/14/10 should reflect these facts.

3  If you would be open to reading the material that Dr. Sanchez has offered to post at my request on his website in order to facilitate access to these documents.  Once you review these we believe you will understand our frustration with both our city council and city management and disbelief at how they have chosen to respond to our situation. Our hope is still that an amicable and fair resolution can be found as it would appear is occurring with the recent seawall sinking and shell driveway controversies.  Neither Tim or I ever wanted initially or do we now want to personally cause harm to any individual associated with our city nor do we wish to be the reason for any more negativity cast upon the city we all call home but quite frankly we are appalled that we felt compelled to initiate legal action when all other attempts on our part to seek a resolution were rebuffed. The fact is though that if necessary we are committed to an appeal of the court case and continued complaints with the DBPR to change the way Florida law is construed and implemented not only for our benefit but all Floridians and Marco Island might as well be where this endeavor begins.

    Many of you have personally called, e-mailed, or spoken to us conveying similar situations and offering support, but I am appealing now to your conscience and courage to make your voices heard to city council and city management as well for the strength of many far outweighs that of a few.  Please realize that not only would you be helping us which we would be very grateful for but hopefully it will change the manner in which citizens are treated in Marco Island in the future when honest and legitimate problems arise.

Regina L. Dayton
524 Spinnaker Drive
239-389-0371

 

Documents related to this case:

Complaint Against Mahar

Mahar Violations Identified

Inspection of Property

Supplement Complaint Against Mahar

Transcript of Hearing on City's Motion to Dismiss

 

Suggestion: Move the case out of Collier County court, and sue Mahar and all his supervisors personally.