TOLEDO, Ohio — A Toledo couple thought they found their dream home through Lucas Metropolitan Housing's "Parade of Homes," but it has turned out to be more like a nightmare.
Charles and Paula Ford showed Call 11 for Action all of the issues they've dealt with since purchasing the home on April 12, 2023.
There are HVAC issues, which make the temperature upstairs hot in the summer and cold in the winter. The doorbell is broken and the oven door fell off.
A vanity was installed that was too small to fit the plumbing, so there are holes where the drawers are supposed to go. A sink is coming away from the wall and a toilet flushes hot water instead of cold.
The Fords said they expected issues would pop up, but also that they would be fixed, and seemed to be unaware whether they possessed a homeowner's warranty.
"The contractor would come out and do a little bit of something, but it's still not the major thing," Charles Ford said. "We went all winter without heat."
The Lucas Metropolitan Housing (LMH) Parade of Homes program is meant to allow low-income buyers to fulfill the goal of becoming homeowners, while LMH rehabs blighted homes into livable ones.
"We were told certain things, 'The house is refurbished, everything's new, for all the appliances, everything works,'" Charles Ford said. "When we got here, it was a bit different than that."
The program offers financial assistance and financial classes the buyers must complete, which Paula Ford did.
"The program itself would be wonderful if it ran as well as they talk about it," Paula Ford said.
The couple said they have been reporting mounting issues since they moved in but have continually gotten the run around from LMH.
"We don't want anybody to get in trouble. We're not trying to make trouble," Charles Ford said. "We just want to get what we paid for."
But they're also paying more to heat water unnecessarily because the toilet tank holds hot water instead of cold.
LMH said the Fords do not have a traditional one-year homeowner's warranty but that it is committed to rectifying the issues.
In a statement emailed to Call 11 for Action, Terry Awls, Director of Lucas Housing Services Corporation said, "Lucas Housing Services Corporation regrets any inconvenience the Fords have experienced. We are reviewing their concerns, and we are committed to addressing their repair issues. We want to do right by the Ford family."
Call 11 for Action also learned that Awls is new to the role of director, and the Fords said he has been more responsive than the previous person who held the position. They're hopeful for some resolve.
"We're just on our last few quarters of life here and we just want to be comfortable," Charles Ford said.
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