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Homeowner tells Port St. Lucie council new townhome has toxic mold, construction defects; building staff to review records
Summary
A Port St. Lucie resident told the City Council she has lived with toxic mold and multiple construction defects for nearly two years in a newly built townhome she says was sold by K. Hovanian; the building department said it will review the records she provided.
A Port St. Lucie homeowner told the City Council during the public-comment period that her newly purchased townhome has had “toxic mold levels” and several construction defects for nearly two years, and that the builder has not adequately addressed the problems.
The resident, identified in the meeting as Miss McDaniels, said she bought the townhome two years ago and that “nothing was up to code when we moved in.” She said the family paid $20,000 for upgrades and later found mold problems that led to two emergency-room visits for the speaker’s autoimmune condition. “This house was $420,000,” she said. “My granddaughter was 4 years old at the time, and she was sleeping over every weekend, and she was going home with nosebleeds.”
McDaniels described multiple alleged defects, including missing insulation and an uncut AC vent in the ceiling; she said attic trusses were broken and that insulation depth measured about six inches where it “was supposed to be at 13.” She said a company representative provided a signed affidavit certifying work was complete, but that she remained sick and the company would not acknowledge the toxic mold test results.
Mayor Shannon M. Martin and staff asked for the commenter’s contact information and for the building department to review the materials she brought. A city staff member who responded at the meeting said the building department would obtain her records and perform a review. The staff response at the meeting: “We’ll go ahead and get all the records you have, and we’ll do a review of the record and get back with you.”
At the meeting McDaniels said she had tried to reach the Department of Permits, Planning and Development (DPPR) without success and had consulted attorneys; she said pursuing litigation would require tens of thousands of dollars. She told the council she planned to provide a timeline and copies of test results and photographs to the city clerk.
The speaker referred to the builder as K. Hovanian and named a company representative, Maria, who McDaniels said declined to review the mold test results. The council did not take formal action on the complaint at the meeting; staff said they would review the documentation McDaniels provided and follow up.
The council did not discuss any enforcement action or next steps in public session beyond staff’s pledge to review the submitted records. The building-department representative did not provide a timeline for that review during the meeting.
For transparency, the council record will include the materials the resident gave to the clerk if she submitted them; the meeting transcript shows the resident offered to provide a timeline and documents to the clerk at the meeting.
