04:26 PM EDT on Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Reported by: Wayne Carter

Click to watch video

The City of Norfolk is pumping millions of dollars into revitalizing Ocean View.  

With the booming housing market, homeowners are paying top dollar for brand new homes.

Sean Regan is one of them, but he claims he’s not getting what he paid for and his year-long battle with the builder and city inspectors is headed to court.

Regan says he spent his life’s savings – more than a half million dollars - for his three-story dream home on 14th Bay, just blocks from Chesapeake Bay.  Right away, he said, he noticed things that weren’t right.

13News went there and saw water forming behind siding, cracks and holes in the walls, beams in the attic that are propped up on other pieces of wood because they're cut too short and a support beam in the attic that’s cracking in half.

“We've been told it's been adequate enough to hold it to the next major storm, so we were sleeping on the first floor until they did this temporary basis," Regan explained.

Problems in the Regan home are outlined in documents filed in Circuit Court.

Other families in the area say they have problems, too.

Alex Fernandez said he's had problems with water flooding his foyer area.

Diedrich Fellner has leaking basement walls. He claims the builder tried to use caulk to stop the water from seeping through the plaster, but the ten time repair hasn't worked.

The homeowners certainly believe in the redevelopment. They spent small fortunes on their homes in hopes they'll be worth big fortunes in the future. Now, they worry their homes may not last that long.

The city declined to comment citing litigation.

Academy Enterprises built the Regan's home and many of the others and they're building more.

Monday night, the builder's attorney gave us documents showing Mr. Regan’s siding was installed to manufacturer specifications.  He also said Regan's roof “is not going anywhere.” The attorney also said statements suggesting it's falling down just aren't true.

Reagan countered, saying he hired an engineer who believes that beam in the attic "could break like a matchstick with the right kind of wind."

There are a lot of allegations over that beam.

The builder claims someone moved it, causing many of the problems. The Regans say they didn't move it.  They’ve hired a construction consultant as an advocate to help resolve the dispute. 

The builder's attorney showed 13News how his client has tried to please the Regans. Some repairs had been made in the home – walls and seams were patched up.

But other homes have similar problems and the owners want to know why the city signed off on them.

A representative for the Regans will ask Norfolk City Council for help to resolve the situation.