Willowbrook residents want answers from contractor

Manatee County resident Armando Oyola-Delgado is not a happy homeowner.

It's been that way since shortly after he moved his family into the Willowbrook subdivision a few years ago.

"This is my living room what you're seeing here," Oyola-Delgado explained Saturday. "This is what they left me with."

He adds that there's very little comfort inside his house. Due to all the problems it feels less like a home and more like a building blunder.

And Mr. Oyola-Delgado is not alone.

"These houses are all falling apart," he says, pointing at other homes on his street. "We have water intrusion, we have mold; we have children getting sick."

At least 40 residents of the Manatee County Willowbrook subdivision say the community's developer – KB Home – has constructed sub-standard housing. There are visible gaps in walls, faucets leak and mold can been seen on drywall.

That's just a few of the problems.

"I've been in this community for six years," Oyola-Delgado added. "Frustration is an understatement about what we feel."

To voice their displeasure homeowners in the 227-unit subdivision banded together Saturday morning for a letter writing campaign. The group sent out approximately 2,000 handwritten notes to anyone who will listen – KB executives, lawmakers, whoever.

Sally Urbaniak is another upset homeowner who took part in Saturday's letter writing campaign.

"[KB Home needs to] do the right thing I want my house bought back," she said. "Many of us do. This is a dangerous living condition that has overtaken our lives."

So far residents say KB has been unresponsive to their requests. The home builder did issue a statement on the issues with Willowbrook.

"KB Home is committed to customer satisfaction and has been working diligently to resolve the issues. The Willowbrook Association recently presented KB Home with a claim on behalf of its members and we have worked with the association to inspect their concerns and [we] look forward to fully and fairly resolving the homeowner's concerns."

The release did little to soothe the nerves of homeowners like Urbaniak.

"We're not going to stop until this is resolved," she says.