Six Bedford Stuyvesant homeowners are accusing developer Delight Construction and indicted Department of Housing Preservation and Development official Wendell Waters of demanding extra cash for their city-subsidized homes, they told the Daily News, and of leaving them with subpar construction on the buildings.
The homeowners, who won a housing lottery for homes along Lexington Avenue, made their down payments in 2005, the News said, but have since run into problems related to move-in delays, requests for more money to clean up suspected contamination, and plumbing and heating malfunctions.
“Either we paid the money or we could walk away from the contract,” said Onika McLean, one of the owners. “We knew we were being yanked around…We had a contract in black and white.”
Delight and the HPD asserted to the News that the maintenance problems are not serious and that the request for more money was an appropriate response to cost overruns.
HPD spokesperson Eric Bederman said: “It is our understanding that given the delays in construction due to necessary site remediation and the subsequent additional costs incurred by the developer, the homeowners were asked if they would be receptive to a possible increase. They declined and the issue was not revisited, and the prices were never increased.”
One homeowner, Ben Sangare, is even suing Delight over problems with his heating system. [NYDN]