Owners of burned townhouses must rebuild

RALEIGH -- The displaced homeowners of Pine Knoll Townes were told this week they must use their insurance settlements to rebuild there -- whether or not they want to move back.

Most of the fledgling neighborhood was destroyed Feb. 22 in a major, wind-driven fire that consumed 27 units and damaged 11. The builder, Beazer Homes, broke ground on the complex off Capital Boulevard in 2005, and residents began moving in about a year ago.

The townhouses, priced from $118,290, appealed to first-time homebuyers and others of relatively modest means.

Buyers were required to sign a homeowners association agreement. Some homeowners say they became aware of certain provisions in it only at the second-ever meeting of the association Monday night at a nearby church. The legal agreement dictates that if their units are damaged or destroyed, the owner must repair or replace it.

"I can understand if my home was the only one that burned, it is my responsibility to rebuild," says Patina Robinson, 27. "But when my whole block was destroyed, I thought they might be a little more helpful, more willing to work with us."

About 30 people attended the meeting, which was called by William F. Spang, president of the homeowners association. He is also the president of BILLSCO Inc., the developer that subdivided the complex and sold the individual lots to Beazer Homes.

Once 70 percent of the lots were sold, the presidency of the association was to revert to the homeowners. Of 110 original lots, about 60 had been sold -- with about 45 homes built or under construction -- when the fire broke out. So the threshold had not been reached. Spang has sole control of the homeowners association.

He was at the meeting Monday, as were representatives of Charleston Management, the firm Spang hired on behalf of the homeowners association to maintain the complex. A lawyer was also there to explain the association's rules to homeowners.

A spokesman for the Community Associations Institute, a national group that advises homeowners associations, said agreements typically include provisions requiring a property owner to rebuild in the event of disaster.

"The vast majority of governing documents include those provisions," said Frank Rathbun, the organization's vice president for communications.

Robinson, who is single and works at WakeMed in Cary, said she didn't read all the fine print when she closed on her new townhouse in August. She lost everything in the fire -- photo albums, a letter jacket from Raleigh's Sanderson High School, class rings. Even her copy of the homeowners agreement burned.

Now she's living in an apartment. The rent is being paid by her insurance company, but Robinson is responsible for the mortgage payments on what is now a charred heap, as well as the $85 monthly dues to the homeowners association.

She said her preference would be to use her insurance check to buy a new place somewhere else. Instead, she must wait until her townhouse is rebuilt and then try to sell it.

She won't move back to Pine Knoll Townes, she said.

"It's just too many memories," Robinson said. "I was actually at work. ... They had the TV on in the conference room, and I could see which one was mine and watched it burn to the ground. It was very traumatic."

Spang said Thursday that he sympathizes with homeowners, but that the homeowners covenants are necessary to ensure the complex is rebuilt.

Each building contained four townhouses, and Spang said it wouldn't make sense to restart construction on a building until all four property owners participate.

Investigators say the fire started from "discarded smoking material" in the part of the complex still under construction. The speed with which the complex burned has the Raleigh City Council considering stricter building codes.

Spang said Beazer, the original builder, has volunteered to construct the townhomes a second time. That arrangement would potentially allow the builder to profit twice from each lot.

"It's a difficult situation and certainly a very emotional one," Spang said. "What we're trying to do is provide an efficient means for them to get back to their lives as soon as possible."

Robinson said friends have urged her to hire a lawyer, though her money is tight. She questioned whether her homeowners association president really has the residents' best interests at heart, given his own financial stake in the unsold lots.

"How is this dude who didn't even live there supposed to decide what's best for us?" she asked.