5 On Your Side

Chatham County will not recheck buildings ok'd by disciplined inspector

Despite the mistakes, WRAL 5 On Your Side has learned the county will not recheck the safety of any other buildings inspected by that inspector.

Posted — Updated

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video.


By
Keely Arthur
, WRAL consumer reporter

A Chatham County building inspector missed dozens of serious code violations while the Muehlbach family’s home was being built.

Despite the mistakes, WRAL 5 On Your Side has learned the county will not recheck the safety of any other buildings inspected by that inspector.

People have had a lot of strong reactions to WRAL 5 On Your Side’s story. Since then, there have been more than 1,000 comments and 4,300 reactions on WRAL consumer reporter Keely Arthur’s Facebook post about the report.

The Muehlbachs said the building code violations missed by inspector Daniel Gunter have led to serious structural concerns with the house. The Muehlbachs say they’ve been told by structural engineers it would be cheaper to tear the house down and rebuild it than to repair it.

WRAL 5 On Your Side asked Chatham County if in light of those missed code violations, there were any plans to review other buildings inspected by Gunter.

The county provided the following statement:

"Chatham County Central Permitting and Inspections responds to and investigates any complaint from an occupant/owner within a year of occupancy, as we did in the Muehlbach situation," a county spokesperson wrote. "We have not received any additional complaints about the inspections by Danny Gunter, who has not been employed by Chatham County since September 2021. Thank you."

"Chatham County can’t ignore us anymore, we aren’t going away," said homeowner Jake Muehlbach during Monday night’s county commissioners meeting.

Muehlbach spoke directly to commissioners during the public comment portion of the meeting. He called for a deeper investigation into his situation; including emails WRAL 5 On Your Side reported on, exchanged between county officials about the safety of Muehlbach’s home.

"There needs to be closer oversight and peer checking for building inspectors to make sure this never happens again," Muehlbach also said in calling for more accountability.

"The negligence by Chatham County has cost me our life savings, the equity in our home and a safe place for my family to live," Muehlbach continued in his speech. "This county has the funds to make this right, you choose not to."

The current page does not support this embedded media. To view this story with fully functioning media, please visit this page on our full site.

When Muehlbach sued the builder and county in civil court, the county claimed governmental immunity and the judge agreed.

After Muehlbach spoke, Chatham County Commission Chair Karen Howard made the rare move of responding directly to a public comment, to remind everyone of the county’s position.

"We don’t ordinarily respond to people that speak in public input," Howard said, "But I do want to confirm with the county attorney that this immunity is not unique to Chatham County and that the plaintiff did get judgment in his favor against the builder?"

"That is all correct," someone replied.

Even though the Muehlbach’s won their civil suit against Lindley Builders, Inc. of Chatham County, they haven’t gotten any money from the company. Muehlbach also told 5 On Your Side the company doesn’t have any assets that deputies could seize.

The family may eventually become eligible for compensation from the North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors Homeowners Recovery Fund, but it’s unlikely the amount they could recover from that fund would cover the cost of repairs and legal fees.

A GoFundMe for the Muehlbachs has raised a little more than $4,500.

 Credits 

Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.