'Your house is worthless': Massachusetts homeowners are grappling with crumbling foundations that insurance won't cover and tanks the value of their homes. Can lawmakers help them in time?
Insurance won't cover these at-risk Mass. homes
Jeff and Kim Haynes had their home in Rutland, Massachusetts, hoisted six feet into the air to make way for a new foundation after discovering deteriorating concrete in their basement.
"It was about a year and a half ago that I noticed some cracking," Jeff told WCVB Channel 5 Boston. "I obviously wasn't thinking it was going to be this."
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It was only after the Haynes had their basement drywall removed to inspect the issue that they found the concrete was infected with pyrrhotite — a naturally occurring mineral found in parts of New England that can compromise structural integrity if present in the aggregate material used to make concrete.
It’s a problem that homeowners insurance won’t cover and banks won’t provide loans for, since the value of the property sinks, according to WCVB. The Haynes say they’ll be coughing up over $250,000 for the work to fix it.
"All of the sudden, one day, you start to notice cracks in your basement, and you come to find out that your house is worthless," state senator Peter Durant told WCVB.
"That's devastating for anybody to have to face."
Thousands of Massachusetts homes are at risk
So far, state officials believe around 7,500 homes across Massachusetts could be at risk of pyrrhotite contamination.
"If you are thinking of buying in this area, you absolutely have to have the seller test the concrete first," Haynes said.
A cluster of homes run by a condo association in Westminster, Massachusetts, has had at least 10 of 96 units, all built in the 1990s, test positive for pyrrhotite — racking up repair fees of $115,000 to $130,000 per unit — according to Spectrum News 1. This caused homeowners association (HOA) fees to skyrocket.
“I don’t know how many increases on the HOA that I can justify,” Tammi Roscoe, who moved into her home in spring 2021, told the news outlet. “That was a huge jump. It went from $366 to $434.”
Homeowners and state officials are calling for help
Starting in July, Massachusetts is mandating quarries test their product to ensure it doesn’t contain any traces of pyrrhotite. However, homeowners and some state officials are calling for financial aid to help cover the costs of new foundations.
"It's time for legislators and the governor to act on this," Haynes said. "There's a very real chance there's far more people affected by this than we even realize today."
Tens of thousands of homes in Connecticut constructed between 1983 and 2000 are believed to be impacted by the same problem. But the state has set up a trust fund to help — with homeowners receiving up to $190,000 toward foundation replacement.
The fund is paid for by a $12 per year surcharge on every home insurance policy in the state.
“Connecticut has done this; Massachusetts needs to follow suit,” Michelle Loglisci, a founder of Massachusetts Residents Against Crumbling Concrete, told MassLive. “Massachusetts is probably going to be in worse shape than Connecticut.”
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