Problems With New Home Force Owners To Want Out

After Jack and Karen Brown sold their farm in north Spokane County they looked through hundreds of home designs before finding one they thought was perfect.

With a wrap-around porch, lattice work, a breezeway and modern kitchen, the house featured both old-fashioned style and new-fangled conveniences.

They purchased a corner lot at Midway Road and Piper Glen Court and in March of 1992 signed a construction contract with builder Lyle Crecelius.

What they got for a home wasn’t even close to what they contracted for, the couple said.

The breezeway was nonexistent, the porch didn’t wrap around, the master bedroom was too small, the wrong fixtures were installed, the kitchen was finished in a way that didn’t allow for a dishwasher, the lot wasn’t leveled and part of their home’s septic system was underneath an adjacent lot. In all, the Browns cited 30 separate problems with the house.

Part of the problem with the lot, in turn, contributed to a basement flood, which caused more than $9,000 in damage, according to the Browns.

Some of the problems have been corrected by Crecelius, others by the Browns at their expense.

But since moving into the house in October of 1992, the Browns have wanted out.

“It’s just a total mess,” said Karen Brown.

Efforts to resolve the dispute were unsuccessful and the couple filed a lawsuit in 1993.

“It’s one of the crazier cases I’ve ever dealt with,” said Michael Keyes, the Browns’ attorney.

Reached by telephone, Crecelius declined a request for an interview concerning the Browns’ home or the lawsuit they have filed.

One of the ironies is that the couple walked through a Crecelius-built home in Gleneden and liked the workmanship. They chose him even though he was not the low bidder.

But almost immediately after construction started in June of 1992, the couple realized the house was not going up as it should.

“They poured the foundation and I said, ‘Where will the wrap-around porch go?’ He tried to say we agreed to let it go, but we never did,” Karen Brown said.

In May 1994, the couple said, Crecelius agreed to buy back the three-bedroom home for $164,242.60. The amount is exactly what the Browns had put into the home with no appreciation.

Relieved that the saga was behind them, the couple and their two kids planned to move into an apartment and then build another home in rural Green Bluff. They put a deposit on 15 acres off Ballard Road and began to box their belongings.

But after walking through the house, Crecelius changed his mind, according to the Browns and their attorney.

In September of 1994, Crecelius gave a deposition in the case and acknowledged the core aspects of the dispute. He contended, however, that many of the changes were made by the Browns, and said others were the fault of subcontractors.

Crecelius also stated he had built a dozen houses, but said most were spec homes, which buyers purchased after construction, rather than custom homes, as built for Karen and Jack Brown.

Crecelius said he was not at the construction site every day.

Karen Brown said Crecelius is a nice man and some of their problems came from trusting his promise to fix the mistakes later.

The Browns said Crecelius failed to communicate to his subcontractors what they told him.

The most frustrating issue still for the Browns is the septic system, which would cost $12,000 to relocate, they estimated. Connection to the new county sewer interceptor line is also a possibility, but the couple still has liability for the adjacent lot, valued at $25,000. It can’t be sold until the mixup is resolved.

In fact, Jack Brown said, their house probably can’t be sold either.

“If we were financially strapped and couldn’t make a house payment, we couldn’t legally sell this house,” said Brown. “The whole septic system is over there.”

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