Last summer, Gov. Martin O?Malley stood in front of Erik and Crystal Swanson?s Dundalk home ? which they bought with the help of a state program ? to tout efforts to help homeowners get in and stay in their homes.
Now, in the house that stood as an example, the Swansons are wrestling with a leaking roof and thousands of dollars in repairs for problems they said should have been caught before they bought the home.
“Why go through a first-time homebuyer?s program where the government is supposed to help you [when] they let this happen?” said Crystal Swanson.
When the Swansons purchased their nearly 50-year-old home in August 2006, they were told the roof had been inspected and certified, Swanson said. After a rainstorm a few months later, the roof leaked into the bedroom, according to the Swansons.
Despite a patch job, the roof was leaking again by October, Swanson said.
This week, the contractor agreed to repay the Swansons $400 for the cost of the roofing certification, but Crystal Swanson wants a new roof.
Add to the roof woes mounting repairs for problems missed in the initial home inspection, Swanson said.
O?Malley?s spokesman Rick Abbruzzese, who has been kept in the loop on the case, said he shared the Swansons? concerns with the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation and gave them instructions on filing a complaint with the Office of the Attorney General.
Swanson said the state should do more to support first-time homebuyers who purchase with the help of a state incentive program.
The complaint through the Maryland Home Improvement Commission was closed March 18, said labor, licensing and regulation spokeswoman Rhonda Wardlaw.
Wardlaw said she could not discuss the outcome of the case.
