LA MARQUE, Texas — A La Marque home built less than three years ago sits vacant after its owner says it has been deemed uninhabitable.
Ashley Frazier decided on a one-story, new construction built by Lennar in a subdivision in La Marque, not far from her parents and close to work and school.
“I was 25 years old getting my dual doctorate, I had been a critical care nurse for five years, I was just ready to move out of my parents’ house and get a home of my own,” Frazier said. “I thought it was a good price, but looking back, maybe it was a good price for a reason.”
But after less than two years, strange things started happening. Frazier said the light fixtures in her ceiling started filling with water.
“And my microwave was fogged up every day. I started getting confused, trying to figure out what was going on,” she said.
Frazier decided to go up into the attic to investigate, and that’s when she discovered everything was wet.
“The only dry spot in the attic was the drip pan,” she said. “The only thing that’s supposed to be wet.”
She then contacted the builder, Lennar, because the house was still under warranty.
She said Lennar first sent out an HVAC technician to check out the air conditioning unit, and then the company sent a mold inspector.
“And so I asked, ‘Are you all going to check behind the walls, because it seems like the condensation is coming down the walls and the mold is growing out of the cabinets,'” she said. “And he said, ‘Oh no, that’s not part of the protocol.’ And that’s when the red flags started going off.”
Frazier said that according to the report from Lennar’s mold specialist, there was no cause for concern, and except for one spot near the front door, the mold counts were all within normal levels.
It was also during this time that Frazier started getting sick and began having respiratory problems. She said her doctor took chest X-rays that identified a nodule of scar tissue that had started to form.
That’s when she decided to hire her own mold inspector.
“The highest mold counts my company got was 2.2 million per cubic meter and my house was deemed uninhabitable and unsafe to live in,” she said. “I moved out immediately.”
Frazier said she decided to get a lawyer.
“This is probably one of the worst mold-infested houses I’ve seen doing these types of cases in over 20 years,” said attorney Ernest Freeman.
Freeman said he has seen several cases like Frazier’s grow exponentially in recent years.
“To put it simply, her house was not sealed well enough and that’s caused high humidity and mold growth,” Freeman said.
Freeman said you can’t see much of it because it’s hidden.
“You have water droplets forming on the inside of wall cavities and that grows mold,” he said.
It’s an expensive fix.
“Houses like this, it’ll take well into six figures to make it right,” he said. “It costs money. And so the reality is that it’s not in the builder’s best interest to do that.”
In response, Lennar sent KHOU 11 News this statement:
“Lennar is committed to safety, quality construction and homeowner satisfaction. We work hard to promptly correct issues that are our responsibility. Unfortunately, despite our repeated efforts, this homeowner has not allowed us to inspect the home since last summer or to perform any proposed remediation.”
Frazier’s lawyer sent KHOU 11 News this statement in response:
“In order to pursue a legal claim for construction defects Texas law requires each homeowner to conduct an exhaustive investigation of the various problems on the front end and present all (required) expert reports to the builder. Due to the severity of the issues at miss Frazier‘s home, there are a variety of consultants we have had to involve so the process is time-consuming. We are close to completion of this process and once it has been accomplished, Lennar will have an opportunity to do the right thing and resolve this matter to everyone’s satisfaction. Time will tell on that.”
Frazier said this is not how she planned to start her life on her own.
“This house was supposed to be my dream home, my starter home; it was supposed to not have any problems,” she said. “Now I just feel like I’m living in a nightmare.”