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Ee bbb iii i aes \ 4- PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, December 19, 1995 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" Kd Com ORT PERRY STAIR UNITY THE 'HOUSE FROM HELL Newlyweds frustrated in search for help with problems By Jeff Mitchell Port Perry Star It was supposed to be their dream home; instead, it's become a House From Hell. Norm and Krista Smith have been plagued by problems since moving into their small house in Caesarea last winter, and are wondering now just what recourse they have. They've even taken the extraordinary step of holding back their mortgage payments in hopes someone will take notice of their plight, and point them jin the right direction. The couple are first-time homebuyers who moved to the area from Whitby last January, hoping to set up housekeeping and prepare for their marriage this past summer. The location was right -- the small home sits on a slight hill, overlooking Lake Scugog and offering them plenty of room to snowmobile, and exercise their dogs -- and the price, at $72,500, was in their range. Things were looking up... for a time. Shortly after moving in, they discovered a number of minor plumbing problems, associated with pipes being improperly installed, and fixed them. But when a winter thaw came along, the Smiths found themselves overwhelmed by what Krista, 27, calls "an awful stench" emanating from under their house. It didn't take them long to conclude something was seriously wrong with their septic system. "It literally smelled every- thing up in here," said Norm, who investigated and found, behind a wall in a small walk- in storage space beside the front deck, the house's septic tank, uncapped and sitting under the floor of the entryway. It had thawed and over- flowed, sending waste flooding into the storage space, ruining tools and automotive parts. Right away they began call- ing contractors to come and look at the home, and provide estimates on the cost of remov- ing the old tank and the soil around it, and, as they have been instructed by the region's health department, installing a new holding tank. The most firm figure they've received to date is $20,000, and that, they're told, would be subject to change if compli- ' cations were encountered along the way. They estimate they've already spent around $2,000 on various means of addressing their problem, including spend- ing $70 every couple of weeks to have the existing tank pumped, in an effort to avoid contaminating the water sup- ply of neighbors around them. The ordeal to this point has left them broke, and wondering what to do next. Several months ago they retained a Whitby lawyer, who they say advised pursuing the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, which carried out an inspection of the Caesarea house before guaranteeing their mortgage. But the manager at the Oshawa CMHC office says there's no way the agency could be considered liable. Pat Barrett said CMHC carries out cursory checks to guarantee backing the mortgage on a home is a viable risk, and does- n't get into particulars such as plumbing, septic systems, or other structural matters. In essence, CMHC checks to make sure there is a house on a lot, that it is worthy of the market value assigned it, and Krista and Norm Smith say they didn't realize the extent of the problems they would encounter when they bought a home in Caesarea last year. They are now trying to get compensation, and are wondering where they can turn next. if it is suitable collateral in the event of a default. "The inspection could be a drive by in somebody's car," said Ms Barrett. "We don't even share our inspection or appraisal with the bank, or the purchaser. "This is done specifically to gauge the risk we are under- taking." That's' cold comfort to the - Smiths, who have concluded that since they were given writ- ten assurance that the septic system was sound, they will have to pursue the vendor of the house. But they say they haven't heard from their lawyer in weeks, and don't know the status of the proceedings. The lawyer didn't reply to a call from The Star. "I've had enough," Krista said last week. "Nobody wants to help us. It's pretty disheart- ening, right from start to fin- ish." She said it was a tough deci- sion to hold mortgage pay- ments, but appears to be a nec- essary one: "This is the only way we can get anybody's atten- tion, is to stop." "We don't want to lose this house; this is the whole thing," sald Norm, a 32-year-old employee of an Oshawa elec- trical company. "As soon as we discovered what the problem was, we got on it right away. He said he and his wife are now caught in a bewildering trap that can befall first-time home buyers. "It's not that we didn't know what we were doing, we just didn't know what to expect... It's dragged us right down (financially). "We're desperate at this point. We don't want to lose this house." Concerns over huge strip mall plan are raised by councillors By Kelly Lown Port Perry Star Concerns over traffic and whether the community could support additional commerical stores were ad- dressed for a proposed strip mall on Highway 7A at a public hearing on Monday. The owners of the property are proposing two strip malls and a professional type building for the former Gerry's Produce property and stretching to the corner at the trafficlights. | The strip malls would include some 50,000 square feet of commercial space and would be built in three phases as demand calls fort. The first phase would have a central fruit and vegeta- ble store with other commerical stores surroundingit. Frank Celebre, owner of the property said they want ° to see the area cleaned nip and made attractive to the rest of the community. § While the neighbors dgreed the area is an eyesore they / expressed concern with noise and increased traffic, but for the most part were supportive of the first phase of the project. he property owners stressed they are flexible to the neighborhood's needs and will provide buffers and fenc- ing to enhance their properties. Phase one, consisting of 23,000 square feet of retail space, would see the demolition of two small homes and the former Gerry's Produce building, all facing onto Highway 7A. = Council also expressed an interest to see the area cleaned up, but are weary that with the new develop- ment proposed for the Conway property and this devel- opment that the community cannot support all the com- merical stores. "We have a market study that says we can't support, that much commerical," Regional Councillor Marilyn Pearce said. Both Councillor Pearce and Ward 1 rep Doug Moffatt raised i are that this project doubles the current commerical area and moves it to a central core on a busy highway.