Scott woman pursuing lawsuit against company that built her home

SCOTT, La. (KLFY) – A Scott woman says she’s frustrated with the company she’s hired to build her home. She claims the building company is refusing to fix cosmetic and structural issues they promised to when she closed on her home, however, the company is disputing her claims.

Amidst her battle with the construction company, Tamika Collins has hired a lawyer, who is now threatening to take the company to court. Collins says she closed on her home with Shiver’s Home Builders in March, but since then, no one has fixed the things she wanted repaired in the home. She claims her home is unlivable and is now pursuing legal action. Shiver’s says they addressed all her complaints.

She pointed out several issues in her home, including doors that do not properly close, broken locks, unfinished moldings, nails in the walls, floors starting to buckle, and broken windows. She says she has a plethora of issues with her new home. “The whole house needs to be repaired. To me, it’s not livable,” she said.

Collins says while the house has problems, there’s another issue. Her home was robbed. “During the time that Shiver’s was supposed to be fixing my house, someone came into the house and stole from me. They took TVs, they took clothing, they took my jewelry, they took purses, tennis shoes. They took over $100,000 worth of stuff from me,” says Collins. She filed a police report, though no one has been arrested or charged.

A representative of Shiver’s says that they are aware of the robbery. They say their subcontractors did not break into the home, and Shiver’s fixed everything the robbers broke.

In response to Collins’ claims that Shiver’s is not fixing issues in her home, a spokesperson says before Collins closed, she hired a private inspector to do the home inspection, and everything on that list was completed. They also say right now, Collins does not have any legitimate warranty items that need to be changed. Collins disagrees. “What I would like to see happen next is that my house get completed, and I can move on with my life,” she siad.

Collins’ lawyer says that he has filed a claim under the New Home Warranty Act, a Louisiana law that governs the warranties for new home construction. He says he’s also sent a list of defects that inspectors have identified to Shiver’s, though they have yet to respond. He says the next step is to take the company to court.