Yet Another Hearing Set For Ringneck Trail Home
March 21, 2017 at 4:17 p.m.
By David [email protected]
Kyle Babcock, a former Warsaw city councilman, had the home built more than 10 years ago, but it went into foreclosure in 2009 after problems with window wells, leaking water and mold became apparent. He and his family soon vacated the property due to the problems, and the property entered into litigation.
At the Feb. 21 Code Enforcement Hearing, Brian Tekulve, attorney representing the mortgage company Deutsche Bank, said a court hearing for summary judgment on the home was set for April 20 now that Babcock has hired legal representation.
During an Oct. 17 hearing on the property, Hearing Officer Lawrence Clifford took demolition of the property off the books because substantial repairs had been made to the home. In a code hearing in December, representatives for the bank said there continued to be problems with mold in the house.
At the Feb. 21 hearing, Jeff Woken, regional field service manager at Altisource, Columbus, Ohio, working for Deutsche Bank, said a professional remediation company did some air quality testing and “everything came back clean.” From his perspective, he said all the work needed for the home has been completed. Building Commissioner Ray Behling said the city was reviewing the test results and a new inspection was scheduled for after the Feb. 21 hearing.
At Monday’s hearing, Behling reported he did the new inspection and there were issues that were not completed. Those issues were given to Woken, who contacted a structural engineer to go out and look at them. The engineer agreed with the city’s assessment, and now those items are being addressed.
Warsaw Building Department Administrative Assistant Zannie Powell said Woken was told to make the corrections the city needed and plan for another hearing on the property at 1:30 p.m. May 15. Another inspection of the property would be required no later than 11 a.m. that day by the city and Woken was to schedule that.
Hearing Officer Lawrence Clifford asked if the five items were still present as of the Feb. 21 hearing. Behling said they were.
The work that needs to be done includes: basement bearing walls replaced with beams and columns but additional columns required; hole in beam near west end of home from drain pipe; water indication on floor near west end of home and near pipe entering home through basement wall; no railing on stairs north side and last floor joist beside stairs not supported by new beam or wall that was removed; no fastening from beams to floor joists.
“Not very effective,” Clifford said.
“No,” agreed Behling. “And the engineer agreed that those are the items that need repaired.”
Of those five items on the inspection findings, Clifford asked if they were on the original violation list. Behling said they were.
“So we’re still in that original violation. OK,” Clifford said.
“And they created this problem when they removed all the walls,” Behling said.
Clifford reset a hearing for the Ringneck Trail property for May 15. He told Behling to include a new violation list with the letter that is sent out about the hearing.
Behling also reported the air quality report came back fine, with the state saying all the findings were fine.
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Kyle Babcock, a former Warsaw city councilman, had the home built more than 10 years ago, but it went into foreclosure in 2009 after problems with window wells, leaking water and mold became apparent. He and his family soon vacated the property due to the problems, and the property entered into litigation.
At the Feb. 21 Code Enforcement Hearing, Brian Tekulve, attorney representing the mortgage company Deutsche Bank, said a court hearing for summary judgment on the home was set for April 20 now that Babcock has hired legal representation.
During an Oct. 17 hearing on the property, Hearing Officer Lawrence Clifford took demolition of the property off the books because substantial repairs had been made to the home. In a code hearing in December, representatives for the bank said there continued to be problems with mold in the house.
At the Feb. 21 hearing, Jeff Woken, regional field service manager at Altisource, Columbus, Ohio, working for Deutsche Bank, said a professional remediation company did some air quality testing and “everything came back clean.” From his perspective, he said all the work needed for the home has been completed. Building Commissioner Ray Behling said the city was reviewing the test results and a new inspection was scheduled for after the Feb. 21 hearing.
At Monday’s hearing, Behling reported he did the new inspection and there were issues that were not completed. Those issues were given to Woken, who contacted a structural engineer to go out and look at them. The engineer agreed with the city’s assessment, and now those items are being addressed.
Warsaw Building Department Administrative Assistant Zannie Powell said Woken was told to make the corrections the city needed and plan for another hearing on the property at 1:30 p.m. May 15. Another inspection of the property would be required no later than 11 a.m. that day by the city and Woken was to schedule that.
Hearing Officer Lawrence Clifford asked if the five items were still present as of the Feb. 21 hearing. Behling said they were.
The work that needs to be done includes: basement bearing walls replaced with beams and columns but additional columns required; hole in beam near west end of home from drain pipe; water indication on floor near west end of home and near pipe entering home through basement wall; no railing on stairs north side and last floor joist beside stairs not supported by new beam or wall that was removed; no fastening from beams to floor joists.
“Not very effective,” Clifford said.
“No,” agreed Behling. “And the engineer agreed that those are the items that need repaired.”
Of those five items on the inspection findings, Clifford asked if they were on the original violation list. Behling said they were.
“So we’re still in that original violation. OK,” Clifford said.
“And they created this problem when they removed all the walls,” Behling said.
Clifford reset a hearing for the Ringneck Trail property for May 15. He told Behling to include a new violation list with the letter that is sent out about the hearing.
Behling also reported the air quality report came back fine, with the state saying all the findings were fine.
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