> Homeowners ask for federal help as homes remain unfinished in state-run program
Homeowners ask for federal help as homes remain unfinished in state-run program
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The problems continue for Florida homeowners who signed up for a state-run program to fix their hurricane-ravaged homes after Hurricane Irma. It’s been 6 years since the state said they would help.
Now, with the deadline approaching for homes to be complete, homeowners are asking for the federal government to step in to help while still waiting for Rebuild Florida.
It’s problem after problem from the outside of Denise Rotolante’s home where plants are growing out of her gutter, to the inside where she says “electrical wires are all over the place.”
She says her home was damaged by Hurricane Irma in 2017. That’s what led her to sign up for the state’s Rebuild Florida Hurricane Irma Repair and Replacement Program. Never did she think the program meant to fix her problems would only create even more struggles.
“I could have fixed my house for a fraction of what they billed — two Pods, hotel rooms, you know, all this money they've spent on no work being done here,” Rotolante said.
She says she’s been warning Florida Commerce, formerly known as the Department of Economic Opportunity, for years that shoddy work was being done on her home.
“I call the guy at DEO, and he just sends my complaint back too — Nobody wants the response to it. No one says 'the buck stops here.' There's no one,” Rotolante said.
All while she says this isn’t the only battle she is fighting.
“I lost four inches of height. My vertebrae are all fractured because of Multiple Myeloma. [It's] is a blood cancer that eats your bones and stress is the number one bad thing. And guess what? I got nonstop stress,” Rotolante said.
Stress she can’t seem to stop when her home is still not livable.
MORE: https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/investigations/10-investigates/rebuild/rebuild-florida-unfinished-homes-irma-federal-help-ask/67-687cac9b-6dea-411f-9d79-81a5f257fdaa