Builder going bankrupt, homeowners on their own

WESTMINSTER – Neumann Homes, the builder of the Village at Harmony Park and three other local developments, is going under. People living in those communities are now wondering what will happen to half-built eyesores in their neighborhoods.

Neumann, based in Chicago, is also the builder behind Mountain Shadows in Firestone, NeuTowne in Parker and Serenity Ridge in Aurora.

The company has declared its intention to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

That is a big problem for Lori Hartman who lives at Harmony Park in Westminster.

She recalls the day her problems began.

"We heard water dripping," Hartman said. "It was raw sewage in the light fixtures."

The backup from her plumbing was leaking from the ceiling and soaking into the carpets. Plumbers told her that construction debris was blocking the pipes.

Hartman says Neumann Homes agreed to pay for repairs and then the company stopped answering its phones.

"When you call their corporate office, it tells you to just stay on the line and wait for the next available person. Nobody ever answers," she said.

On Tuesday, no one answered the phones at Neumann's Chicago office and Neumann Homes did not return calls from 9NEWS placed to local offices.

Even the vice president of the Harmony Park Homeowners Association, Glenn Potter, says he can't get his phone calls returned.

"They all want to build a house and get your money and after that, it's kind of your problem," said Potter.

There are several homes at Harmony Park that are only partially complete.

Jena Sautter pointed at one of the homes across from her own.

"That house doesn't have a roof on it," she said. "Can it last through the winter without falling down completely?"

Sautter says her biggest concern is for her neighbors who just moved into their homes. Neumann Homes offers a comprehensive one-year warranty that Sautter worries is now moot.

"There's no way they're ever going to get any help doing any warranty work," she said. "And there was always a lot of stuff in the houses that needed to be fixed."