Corvias Mold, Rot, Lead in Housing at Fort Bragg Class Action

Congress passed the Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI) in 1996, the complaint for this class action says, “to improve the quality of housing conditions for active-duty military personnel.” However, the complaint alleges that Corvias Group, LLC and its subsidiaries and related companies have built and maintained housing for military members and their families with “potentially harmful environmental and structural defects” that they concealed.

Corvias rents out housing for the military at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Military members at the base are paid a Base Allowance Housing, which they are expected to pay in full to the party who rents them their home, in this case Corvias.

The complaint alleges, “[The Corvias companies] knowingly leased substandard homes and charged grossly excessive fees given the abhorrent condition of the houses. Even worse, once service members signed lease contracts, [the Corvias companies] instructed workers to conceal defects from tenants.”

It also alleges that the companies “maintained an intentionally misleading method of maintenance record keeping in an effort to hide tenants’ dissatisfaction.”

Part of the problem, says a report dated April 30, 2019, is that the “complicated web of subcontractors and subsidiaries … undermines accountability for substandard conditions … and makes it difficult to track revenues, profits, and the flow of funds.” There are also no “accessible or centralized records and protocols” for addressing complaints and problems. The report also claimed that the companies providing the military housing were making large profits, even when there were substantial quality control problems.

The complaint alleges that some older buildings have lead paint, and there is lead contamination in the soil around the homes. Renters were not informed of this before they signed leases.

Houses also “lacked effective moisture and air barriers between exterior cladding and wall cavities.” The complaint says this led to mold and structural wood rot.

When one of the plaintiffs reported water damage in his son’s bedroom, the complaint says, “It took weeks for Corvias to act, and they painted over the water damage instead of repairing its cause.” When water leaked from the top of the home, contractors called in to fix the problem said they could not stand on the roof because it was structurally unsafe. Later, black mold and wood rot were found in the walls.

The two other plaintiffs reported other problems, included a damaged roof and collapsed ceiling, dead electrical outlets, mold throughout the house, and squirrels living in an attic with squirrel urine soaking through the ceiling.

Two classes have been defined for this action.

The first is all named tenants, current and since June 24, 2017, who leased military housing from the Corvias companies at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, which lacked effective moisture and air barriers between exterior cladding and wall cavities.
The second is all named tenants, current and since June 24, 2017, who leased military housing from the Corvias companies at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, that contained lead-based paint.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Home Defects

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