Protecting Homes and Neighborhoods from Construction Damage
Rep. Joseph C. Hohenstein September 22, 2021 | 12:20 PM
A family’s most valuable investment is their home. It is where we watch our children grow, where we celebrate life’s victories, and where we comfort one another during difficult times. In recent years, several issues have arisen in the Philadelphia region regarding residential construction and faulty, defective building materials and/or building techniques. It can be devastating for a family to learn that because of shoddy techniques used during construction, they now are facing repairs that could cost tens of thousands of dollars.
I believe homeowners deserve a fair deal and have introduced a four-bill package that seeks to protect family homes and increase standards and safeguards for residential homes.
This page contains information about my legislation, news stories, photos and other information about construction damage and massive out-of-scale development in our city.
LEGISLATION
H.B. 1854 - Residential Construction Lemon Law
This bill would create the same guarantee of the Automobile Lemon Law, which would provide that if there are a number of defects in new construction within the first two years from delivery to the owner, the builder shall repair construction defects at no cost to the owner within six months or could be liable for double the repair costs.
H.B. 1855 - Home Improvement Consumer Proection Act
This bill would require that a for a contractor or house flipper to be considered an “owner” under the act, they must live in the home as a private residence for one year following construction. This closes a loophole and ensures that house flippers are held responsible for the residences that they are rehabilitating.
H.B. 1856 - Adjacent Neighbor's Bill of Rights
This bill would advise homeowners of their rights and the laws surrounding construction including limitations on the hours when construction can occur, rights to clean and safe access, and rights to hold construction officials liable for any damage or disobedience to the law.
H.B. 1857 - Continuing Education for Construction Code Officials
This bill would enhance the continuing education requirements for code enforcement officers to include education on illegal construction practices and adds the Attorney General as an entity capable of providing continuing education. The legislation will also require continuing education for residential building code inspectors include education on proper installation of stucco.
PHOTOS AND VIDEO
Click here for a video of the workers snapping power lines and blowing a transformer with falling debris on May 17th. And here for the same power line snapping from another angle. Note that after PECO worked overnight to repair the damage, the construction workers came back the next day and again snapped the power lines with falling debris.
NEWS STORIES
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(March 6, 2020)
Rep. Joseph C. HohensteinXXXXX
Neighborhood Facebook groups tend to be bastions of petty squawking. That’s why I was stunned to find one that actually gets stuff done. Read more
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(September 22, 2021)
StarNewsPhillyXXXXX
When the Star asked historian Oscar Beisert if he thought the now former Penn Home building – Fishtown’s oldest structure dating more than 250 years – would be demolished if sold to new owners, he responded with a quick answer in the affirmative. Read more
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(April 26, 2021)
Temple News OnlineXXXXX
For a city that’s known for its iconic rowhouses – by some counts, up to 70% of its housing stock – Philadelphia doesn’t have comprehensive protections in place for the building structures themselves. Read more
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(May 20, 2021)
Philadelphia InquirerXXXXX
2400 E Huntingdon: If it feels as if we live in Demodelphia, we do. Read more
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(May 20, 2021)
Philadelphia InquirerXXXXX
2400 E Huntingdon: For the second time in as many months, city officials have cited Gagandeep Lakhmna’s demolition contractor with safety violations at the Kensington factory that the embattled developer is working to replace with apartments. Read more
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(April 5, 2021)
Philadelphia InquirerXXXXX
2400 E Huntingdon: Sometimes an unexceptional building project is thrust into the limelight for reasons that have nothing to do with the usual architecture or planning concerns. Such was the case last week with two proposed developments at opposite ends of Philadelphia that I have now come to think of as the poop building and the Scrooge building. Read more
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(April 1, 2021)
Philadelphia InquirerXXXXX
2400 E Huntingdon: On Wednesday, neighbors shot video of debris falling from an aging factory in Kensington that beleaguered developer Gagandeep Lakhmna wants to replace with a hulking apartment block. Read more
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(March 25, 2021)
WHYYXXXXX
2400 E Huntingdon: Dozens of neighbors in Olde Richmond banded together to protest a project from the same developer responsible for multiple construction issues and most recently, allegedly tried to evict his tenants illegally. Read more
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(March 17, 2021)
Philadelphia InquirerXXXXX
2400 E Huntingdon: Gagandeep Lakhmna’s real estate company was known to use white stretch limos in the mid-2000s to take potential buyers for tours of his latest Northern Liberties condominium. Read more
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(January 11, 2021)
STARXXXXX
2400 E Huntingdon: When Olde Richmond neighbors first saw renderings of Greenpointe Contruction’s development plans for the former hosiery mill at 2400 E. Huntingdon St., their reaction, to say the least, was negative. Read more
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(May 27, 2021)
WHYYXXXXX
Clarice Brooks, 55, a self-described “old lady,” has lived on 7th Street in North Philadelphia her entire life. Read more
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(September 22, 2021)
RedditXXXXX
Help! Flipper illegally digging out basement next door without permit! Read more
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(May 7, 2020)
Senate DemocratsXXXXX
At the request of state Sen. Larry Farnese (D-Phila.) the Senate Democratic Policy Committee held an online hearing to study the impact of overzealous and unsafe construction in Philadelphia’s burgeoning neighborhoods. Read more
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(August 14, 2020)
South Philly ReviewXXXXX
As the construction boom in Philadelphia persists into the new decade even despite the coronavirus pandemic, unfortunately so have shoddy construction practices. Read more