Mold, flooding, defects plague new homes in San Luis Obispo

June 26, 2024

By KAREN VELIE

For years, Gina Biegel dreamed of owning her own home. Though the dream would quickly turn into a nightmare after she purchased a new home in San Luis Obispo.

Located across from Laguna lake, San Luis Ranch is advertised as a neighborhood that “embraces the natural relationship between farming and sustainable, healthy living.” The picturesque homes set a few feet from neighbors with walking trails winding behind.

Despite the appearance, many of the homes have serious structural defects including leaking windows, black mold, doors that don’t shut properly, huge holes in walls and flooding issues.

The question is not how did the homes pass inspections, but were the homes inspected?

Before people can move into a new home in California, it is required by law to have a certificate of occupancy. The certificate certifies that a newly constructed residential building has been inspected for compliance with the California Building Standards Code and local ordinances.

While homeowners are not permitted to have utilities turned on in their names without the certificate, this requirement appears to have been waved for the San Luis Ranch development.

Biegel closed on and moved into her home in Dec. 2021. However, her certificate of occupancy was issued by San Luis Obispo’s chief building inspector on Jan. 18, 2022.

Even more concerning is the inspection dates city staff provided. For example, staff reports someone completed a sprinkler and a hydro test at Biegel’s home on Jan. 18, 2022, a day that no one from the city was at her home, Biegel said.

While the city reports Biegel’s home was fire compliant on Jan. 18, she hired an inspector who found mutiple issues including failures to meet fire safety requirements such as having a self closing door to the garage, according to the inspection report.

After Biegel moved in, shoddy workmanship caused leaks in walls and ceilings. Workers came out and cut holes in two walls and a ceiling to repair the leaks, but never came back to fix the walls. In desperation, on Oct. 7, 2022 she filed a lawsuit against Coastal Community Builders and the developer – Presidio.

A search of inspection and final reports on homes in the area show all but one was recorded sold before it received its final inspection, a home owned by a public official.

San Luis Obispo Councilwoman Jan Marx and her husband bought a home two doors down from Biegal. Marx’s home shows a completed final on Jan. 11, 2022 and a Jan. 13, 2022 purchase date. In an odd twist, while other prospective buyers say the one-story style home design purchased by Marx was restricted to low-income buyers, she appears to have paid full price for her home.

Another homeowner in the neighbor, who does not want her name in the article, said issues with mold have destroyed her home and there are currently discussion of tearing down the structure. Her backyard flooded multiple times before she hired a plumber to check her drainage system, which like others in the area consisted of a decorative only drain.

The homeowner has battled with the builder over the defects, and like a handful of residents, is also considering legal remedies.