Those who lost their homes in a New Jersey condominium fire have to rely on their homeowner's association and its management company for overseeing the reconstruction efforts.
You have to feel sorry for Tara and Billy Jones who were displaced from their condo when a powerful gas explosion rocked their South Fork neighborhood in Ewing on March 4, 2014.
The blast destroyed 11 houses - including the Joneses' - and damaged dozens more and killed one resident and injured seven utility workers.
As if the initial shock of losing your home through no fault of your own was not enough grief, the Joneses also had to endure more than a year of frustrations and building delays before they could move back into their rebuilt home.
They had to contend with a host of construction problems, such as cracks in the walls, sloppy patchwork, crooked window frames, water damage and even noise coming through the walls from their neighbors - something they say was never a problem before the blast.
Even now, seven months after they were allowed to return, they still have a list of items yet to be completed or fixed.
Unfortunately, the difficulties Tara and Billy Jones had to endure were experienced by other displaced residents.
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Cara Hinton-Fort described similar problems with her rebuilt home. She cited doors that do not close properly, lumps in the carpet because of improperly installed subflooring and drywall that is so thin that her husband punched a hole in the wall trying to install hardware in the bathroom.
"This really is a mess," Hinton-Fort said. "It's really hard for me to be excited about being in a brand-new house and being home after two years."
So who is to blame?
There has been a lot of finger pointing and a fair amount of contradictory statements.
Repairs started in earnest several months after the explosion, when Iowa-based disaster restoration company GC3 was hired to oversee the process by P&A Management, which manages the condos for the South Fork Homeowners Association.
Frank Esposito Construction Co., Inc. of Pennsylvania was chosen to complete much of the repair work and later the reconstruction of the 11 homes that were destroyed.
Esposito said he stands 100 percent behind his work and disputed the claims made by the unhappy homeowners.
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"I worked on 90 houses there and there are a lot of people who love the work I did," Esposito said. "I've done everything I possibly could for these people. I poured myself out there for two years."
Part of the problem seems to stem from the homeowners association's insurance policy that only covers the cost of restoring or rebuilding homes to their original specifications when the development was built in the 1980s. Upgrades made by the homeowners after construction would not be covered.
Unlike homeowners who can hire and oversee their own contractors, residents in South Fork were at the mercy of their homeowners association and its hiring decisions.
In the end, it is the homeowner's association and its management company that should go to bat for the residents to ensure that the repairs and rebuilding are done properly.
These residents have already paid a high price and they should not have to put up with shoddy or incomplete work. They should be made whole.