Residents continue their fight

EAST COUNTY — Frustrated with water intrusion and other ongoing construction-related issues, homeowners in the Willowbrook community are going full-steam ahead with their grievances against their community’s developer, KB Home.

Residents appeared before the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners Tuesday Aug. 21, after the East County Observer went to press, to plead their case and to ask for help holding KB Home accountable for structural and other problems with residents’ homes.

“KB Home put us in this danger, both physically and financially, and we want to be made whole once again,” said Armando Oyola-Delgado, one of the residents spearheading efforts to have KB buy back homes. “They can do that by buying us back.”

Additionally, more than 50 homeowners gathered Thursday, Aug. 16, at the Traditions of Palm-Aire Clubhouse, for a Willowbrook Condominium Association meeting, at which the Association’s attorney took questions from residents about their homes.

Media was not allowed into the meeting, as is common practice for homeowner and condominium associations, and a representative of the association declined to comment on behalf of the association board. The association’s attorney, Sanjay Kurian, also declined comment as he left the meeting.

Residents said Kurian confirmed the board was working on some sort of settlement or agreement with KB Home, but did not provide any details. No lawsuit is pending at this time, they said.

“The attorney gave no specifics,” said resident Harold Holmes, who is still having sub-floor problems after KB sent sub-contractors out to complete repairs.

In recent weeks, Willowbrook homeowner Neysa Buckle also has launched an online petition asking KB to make “homes safe and inhabitable, compensate buyers for damages and buy back KB homes from buyers who want to leave.”

“We want people to get their social networks involved,” Buckle said of the petition. “The hope is to lay the foundation for a class-action lawsuit, to get national attention. We want people to know what KB is doing. They have a track record.”

Buckle’s site, kbhomewillowbrookproblems.com, chronicles her experience with KB from the time she began purchasing her home in March 2008 to present. It also provides links to pictures of damaged homes, consumer reviews, lawsuit information and more.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].