Help for Sinking Homes

[Surfing USA]

Amherst Homeowners Get Help for Sinking Homes

Story Published: Aug 3, 2007 at 7:11 PM EDT

Story Updated: Aug 3, 2007 at 7:11 PM EDT

By Ginger Geoffery

Amherst Town Supervisor Satish Mohan on Friday began a series of meetings with contractors and homeowners with the purpose of coming up with the best long term solution to correct the sinking homes in the town. "By August 24, three weeks from now, we will finalize that plan," says Mohan.

Mohan wants to make sure repairs done to homes are not just temporary fixes, "What is happening today is individuals are hiring contractors and the contractors are doing some things that may not always be the best method," says Mohan.

Town leaders are approaching this problem with new vigor now after the state legislature approved, and the governor signed, a bill to provide tax relief to homeowners who make needed repairs to their sinking homes. "I think this will encourage people to keep their property up and get these problems taken care of and continue to reside in the homes," says State Senator Mary Lou Rath, R-Williamsville.

The new law won't help Darlene Torbenson because her north Amherst home needs more than $100,000 worth of repairs that she doesn't have the money to do, but Torbenson still sees this law as a good start. "For someone sitting on a small repair cost wondering if they should do it I think it's a good incentive," says Torbenson.

Town leaders traced the sinking homes problem to issues with the soil and have since enacted stricter building codes that require more soil testing before new homes can be built. That doesn't solve the problem with existing homes though. Some estimates put the number of sinking homes in Amherst at 2,000 out of a total of 33,000 houses in the entire town. Some homeowners have already taken it upon themselves to get their cracked foundations and other structural problems repaired, but the new state legislation as it is stands now won't give them the tax breaks.
"If we could work on a local level and grandfather in some of the people who did their repairs before this bill was passed because a lot of people made sacrifices, tapped retirement college funds and got no compensation back from town," says Torbenson.

Torbenson plans to work with Mohan and other town leaders on the plan to enact the legislation at the local level. "We want to put all forces together that this problem is taken away and never happens again," says Mohan.

[forreason]

Quite interesting. I do believe this issue was on the forefront of the Supervisor's campaign that got people with potential foundation problems to help him get elected (over 1 1/2 yrs ago). Not to defend the former Supervisor, but she worked basically in the same manner, but told these individuals that it would be a long if not futile process to obtain any meaningful help. As stated in the preceeding article a couple of days ago, the Town Assessor was already providing basically the same type of relief without any State or local law being passed. Also it was stated that the affected people and their organization and TB formed committee were never consulted to see what enhancements could have been made to provide additional relief (example: to be transferred to individuals that would purchase an exisitng homes with problems). The issue in regard to placing the blame on a certain group of people and the possibility of developers providing $$$$ in some sort of fund was just deflecting the overall inability of the present Supervisor to consult, negotiate, build support and come to some meaningful resolution. He did have a meeting with some of the home builders the other day and from what I hear, no decisions or agreements were remotely close to becoming reality. A press conference was to be cancelled, BUT as true to form, it continued as scheduled.
Some of the same "News" info continues to provide exaggerated # in the amount of homes with substantial subsidance problems (2000 is not a realistic #). Many problems exist do to poorly designed exterior foundation walls that MAY have met the code at that time, but would not be able to be constructed under the present STATE NOT LOCAL code. What I feel is ironic is that the Supervisor has built, added onto and/or renovated several homes (including his own) in these same areas of town. He proclaims to be an engineer, but with what background since this is the case? To blame others when you did the same is totally hypocitical. If this seems like a harsh blog, I am sorry. But for what he blamed the former Supervisor for, continues under his "reign" (even though all this knowledge and expertise was brought to the Town when he was elected).
As a side note, this is only one of the major problems that are presently confronting town government under his watch. Tommorrow night there will a discussion on one of the many others.

[etc]

forreason!!!! This is the BEST intrepretation of the problem I have EVER read!! You hit ALL the nails on their heads, concisely and factually. Thank you for cutting through the smoke and mirrors.

[Townsfolk]

I am curious to know-- is it possible that the soils are not the problem and that the homes were just poorly designed/built? I have heard people say that their home is sinking, but the home next door is not. Has anyone ever put together a list of homes that are sinking along with the builder, or the sub-contractor who constructed the foundation?

[Liberty]

Satish Mohan has a plan he says to fix the sinking homes but he can't reveal it yet.

Satish Mohan says today in the Buffalo News that "Amherst will become known nationwide and that other communities will be clamoring for the management and technical solutions that the town is working on.

“What we are trying to do will work. We are coming to a workable solution,” he said.

Does anyone believe this one? More promises that can't be kept?

[forreason]

Not many bloggers getting involved with this discussion. Once again the Supervisor is spreading false hope to those looking for answers. There is no pending solution to this matter (believe me). As I stated before, the meeting with home builders, developers, etc. was short with no negotiating of a memo of understanding. The Supervisor is looking for a bail out by the groups in attendance. Not hundreds or thousands of $$$, but much more. How he can make statements like those in today's paper is beyond me (many, many others believe the same). Businessman that supported him cannot believe what they are hearing. He makes unbelievable statements, changes his mind or simply forgets issues that make everyone shake their heads in disbelief. This continues day after day, week after week, month after month. "Nationwide model"? Yeah, sure!
* note: He stated that he was asked not to provide details by others ( because there is no actual approvable solution at this time). Pure political BS as usual.

Two issues that are being discussed tonight at the TB meetimg are:
1) The Supervisor's mishandeling of the assessment process (sorry it is true). Regardless what you think of this process, it is determined by State law, not local political interpretation. His intimidation of the Assessor that is well documented could end up legally affecting the Town as well as the Supervisor himself. It appears taht the Town may bee too late for the second yr.
2) His resolution to place a stay on the construction of office buildings for two years is once again ill advised. He is concerned with the 10% vacancy rate and wants it down to around 5%. This is totally unrealistic when the national average for large cities such as Atlanta, LA, NYC, Dallas, etc are in access of 20-25%. The lowest % of large cities in the nation is Washington, D.C. (our nation's capital) at around 10-10.5%. So the town's vacancy rate is equal to the lowest in the country. If anything, they could eliminate AIDA incentives.

When the next time some of you start b#!?ing about the lack of jobs for your children, remember that recent history shows that if it were not for the town's like Amherst, Cheektowaga, Tonawanda, Lancaster,etc. this area would have been dead like Allentown, PA in the 1980's.

Remember, I was looking for some change, but like others, NOT THIS!

[forreason]

Sorry for some of my spelling errors (should spend a little more time checking my statements).

[left wing]

Not many bloggers getting involved with this discussion. Once again the Supervisor is spreading false hope to those looking for answers. There is no pending solution to this matter (believe me). As I stated before, the meeting with home builders, developers, etc. was short with no negotiating of a memo of understanding. The Supervisor is looking for a bail out by the groups in attendance. Not hundreds or thousands of $$$, but much more. How he can make statements like those in today's paper is beyond me (many, many others believe the same). Businessman that supported him cannot believe what they are hearing. He makes unbelievable statements, changes his mind or simply forgets issues that make everyone shake their heads in disbelief. This continues day after day, week after week, month after month. "Nationwide model"? Yeah, sure!
* note: He stated that he was asked not to provide details by others ( because there is no actual approvable solution at this time). Pure political BS as usual.

Two issues that are being discussed tonight at the TB meetimg are:
1) The Supervisor's mishandeling of the assessment process (sorry it is true). Regardless what you think of this process, it is determined by State law, not local political interpretation. His intimidation of the Assessor that is well documented could end up legally affecting the Town as well as the Supervisor himself. It appears taht the Town may bee too late for the second yr.
2) His resolution to place a stay on the construction of office buildings for two years is once again ill advised. He is concerned with the 10% vacancy rate and wants it down to around 5%. This is totally unrealistic when the national average for large cities such as Atlanta, LA, NYC, Dallas, etc are in access of 20-25%. The lowest % of large cities in the nation is Washington, D.C. (our nation's capital) at around 10-10.5%. So the town's vacancy rate is equal to the lowest in the country. If anything, they could eliminate AIDA incentives.

When the next time some of you start b#!?ing about the lack of jobs for your children, remember that recent history shows that if it were not for the town's like Amherst, Cheektowaga, Tonawanda, Lancaster,etc. this area would have been dead like Allentown, PA in the 1980's.

Remember, I was looking for some change, but like others, NOT THIS!

You are absolutely right. This mess is not going to be resolved by this latest silver bullet. I am not an engineer and have no background to assess these things but it appeared to me to be much ado about nothing. I was not at all impressed with what Satish has said or the Hayes proposal. If I were a sinking home owner, I would be furious. Sounds like much too little, much too late.

But people just read the headlines and believe the man. As I have said before, they deserve what they get. But we don't. It should be a real warning when businessmen are this unimpressed and think he is full of it. Isn't he supposed to be running the town like a business? Yeah, right.

[etc]

My basement repairs were $15K last year. In 1986, I put $5K into basement waterproblems/preventative work. Adequate, no frills, still a cellar. I didn't expect a helping hand from taxpayers; I bought a house in the wrong place, on the wrong soils, by the wrong builder and realize that life is a roll of the dice. BUT, if my conscientiousness and proactive attitude toward the infrastructure/maintainance of my home will cost me tax dollars to help other people who waited for a bailout, THAT JUST STINKS! What ever happened to personal responsibility? I struggled paying back that first $5k loan, at a time of raising children, saving for college, and so on. And thank the Lord for home equity loans with this current loan. I'm probably ranting for no good reason. Moron, ooops, Mohan, is just flapping his gums. It's against the law to use public monies for an outright bailout, but it will still cost every taxpayer to make up the money that gets deferred in assessments.

[Darth Vader]

...His resolution to place a stay on the construction of office buildings for two years is once again ill advised. He is concerned with the 10% vacancy rate and wants it down to around 5%. This is totally unrealistic when the national average for large cities such as Atlanta, LA, NYC, Dallas, etc are in access of 20-25%. The lowest % of large cities in the nation is Washington, D.C. (our nation's capital) at around 10-10.5%. So the town's vacancy rate is equal to the lowest in the country. If anything, they could eliminate AIDA incentives...

forreason: I have no clue who you are or what you are. but I can tell that your statements represent a misguided twit that doesn't understand the area in which you live! The only reason you could possibly have for repeating those numbers is tyo make a comparison. It's obvious that you don't know what you are talking about! Amherst is a TOWN in a still declining (population) area. It's not a "large city". So your comparison is just wrong. If you are going to compare commercial vacancy rates to ATlatnta, Los Angeles, the big apple, Dallas asnd DC, then you better damn well compare EVERYTHING to those same locations. But you probably would be afraid to do that. Because it doesn't make sense. You used those numbers to try to make Satish Mohan look bad, didn't you? The only thing that looks bad is your brainpower.

[Dvoakley]

Actually Mohan has sent an email to Greece NY and asked them what they would do.

[Incognito]

BUT, if my conscientiousness and proactive attitude toward the infrastructure/maintainance of my home will cost me tax dollars to help other people who waited for a bailout, THAT JUST STINKS! What ever happened to personal responsibility?

No one is more responsible than myself. I put myself through college and grad school. I have been employed since I was 17. I have never gotten anything back from the government other than roads and safety. I have never even collected an unemployment check. The price to repair my sinking home is much, much higher than $15k. I have watched my tax dollars go to many victims of natural disasters, and I have never begrudged them this. If someone in government sees fit to help me put my house back in order, I would be more than happy to accept the funds. I think I've paid my dues.

Sinking homes put all of Amherst in a bad light, and devalues all of our homes.

[forreason]

I truly feel sorry for individuals such as Incognito, but giving people unsubstantiated hope is not warranted.

As for the statements by Darth Vader, I can only say that I am sorry that I may have tried to make some comparisons between vacancies of large cities and those in a smaller market. Last night at the TB meeting, several individuals that are very knowledgable in the office lease business gave the Supervisor some real insight in the reality of the market place. It was so conviencing, that he withdrew his resolution. I have to believe that if we had more forward thinking people in the political field, we may not have the "down turn" that D V states that we are experiencing. Many bloggers have stated that we should be concentrating on the older areas of the town and I agree.

As for trying to make the TS look bad, he has no none to blame but himself. Several times last night he had to be explained the reality of his actions and could not come to grips with his mistakes. I once again have to say that he must allow people with experience in the applicable field to advise him on the true course of action to follow. He does not have to always agree with them, but at least give them the oppurtunity to explain their position and how it would benefit the outcome of the issue at hand. But I do not believe this will happen.

So I believe we will continue to follow this current path that will continue to cost the taxpayers for years to come. With the second consecutive cancelling of the assessment process, I wonder how much additional loses will be incurred by the school districts and especially the seniors in their STAR program (outside of the Jim Hayes announcement of a special STAR rebate program). Do not ask me how to explain the formula for 100% vs less than in regard to State to school funding, STAR vs Enhanced STAR, etc., but someone lurking on this board must know.

[atotaltotalfan2001]

Actually Mohan has sent an email to Greece NY and asked them what they would do.

Hey, you made me laugh! I didn't think that was possible.

[atotaltotalfan2001]

No one is more responsible than myself. I put myself through college and grad school. I have been employed since I was 17. I have never gotten anything back from the government other than roads and safety. I have never even collected an unemployment check. The price to repair my sinking home is much, much higher than $15k. I have watched my tax dollars go to many victims of natural disasters, and I have never begrudged them this. If someone in government sees fit to help me put my house back in order, I would be more than happy to accept the funds. I think I've paid my dues.

Sinking homes put all of Amherst in a bad light, and devalues all of our homes.

I'm so sorry about your home. Personally, I think the town does bare some responsibility. Driven by its obsession with growth, its leaders, years ago, lobbied hard to get permission to allow building on unstable land.

Talk about people being responsible for themselves. That should include those former town officials, and the developers as well.