The Figaro's Housing Nightmare

In 2006 Mike and Patrice Figaro spent most of their savings on a house in South Fulton County. When they arrived to Georgia from California to live in their new home, they were immediately confronted with a nightmare of a home. Their wiring was hazardous, causing hot water heaters, televisions, ovens, and a jacuzzi bathtub to blow out. They had designed the home to be handicap accessible for Patrice, so they had an elevator installed. The elevator promptly failed.

When they investigated these wiring issues they found that the permit for 220V power to their home had never been approved. When looking deeper into the paperwork they found that the building permit for their home had never been notarized, and that the signature on their certificate to occupy was forged (according to the county employee whose signature allegedly graced the certificate).

These issues all stemmed from the builder, John Wieland Homes. Mike and Patrice went to their County Commissioner, Bill Edwards, for support to right the wrongs that had been committed against them. The Commissioner held a meeting with the Figaros, Occupy Our Homes Atlanta members, county employees, and representatives from John Wieland Homes.

At the meeting Commissioner Edwards was very straightforward. He admitted on camera that there were serious issues with evident fraud on the certificate to occupy among other issues Figaros. Commissioner Edwards committed to look for into the case and meet again with more information, he also said that he would be willing to testify in court that there was wrong doing if it come down to it. Since then Edwards has back tracked, refused to meet, and has basically had his staff tell the Figaro’s that if they want more out of the County they can just file a lawsuit.

Why the change of tone? Well we know that John Wieland is the biggest home developer in the state of Georgia, and that come with a lot of power. Power to commit fraud and influence elected official with impunity.

Today we took the fight right to John Wieland’s door step, making it clear that this will not go away until John Wieland Homes does the right thing and return the money they took from the Figaro's.

About a dozen people converged on John Wieland’s corporate offices today around 1pm with signs and leaflets to pass out to folks. We made it clear that we will continue to put pressure on John Wieland Homes until this issue is resolved. The sad truth is that John Wieland is one of the richest people in Atlanta and the Figaro’s lost all of their lifetime wealth purchasing what they thought would be their dream home from John Wieland.   

Please consider signing the Figaro’sonline petition.

John Wieland Homes Get's a Mayday Visit

Today the Figaro family led a letter delegation and picket outside the headquarters for John Wieland Homes, the contractor that built Mike and Patrice's home without proper permits and caused them years of suffering.

Before the street protest outside the office Mike and his sons were joined by ten of us as we walked inside the office and asked to meet with whoever's in charge. During our meeting it was clear that John Wieland's staff was unwilling to take Mike's case seriously.

After the meeting we stood outside the office and passed out leaflets to folks driving by and folks coming in and out of John Wielands office for business.

Here is the letter we delivered:

To John Wieland Homes,

Our names are Mike and Patrice Figaro. In 2006 we paid in full for you to build us a home in Fulton County. After moving into our home we discovered that John Wieland Homes had cut corners getting permits and building our home. There was never a permit approved for the 220V line into the house, the signature on the certificate to occupy was forged, and a sinkhole grew in our yard. As a result of your negligence and lack of accountability, we went through multiple water heaters and electronic appliances. As we tried to have you repair the problems you caused, our home was condemned by nearly every institution aside from the Fulton County government. Because there was no electrical permit, people refused to make repairs. Now we have lost the house to foreclosure after having to take out a line of equity to survive all the pitfalls in the house you built us.

We demand justice. We demand that you fix the problems in the house you fraudulently built, and compensate us for our pain and suffering.

We expect a response by this Friday at 5pm.

Mike and Patrice Figaro

Why I Was Escorted Off Fulton County Property Under Threat Of Arrest

Over the last few months one of the residents we’ve been working with, Mike Figaro, seems to be a victim of fraud ( more on their story ).

Mike set up a meeting with district 7 Fulton County Commissioner William “Bill” Edwards. He set the meeting up and made it clear that he would have guests. Mike had asked if I could join him, as I’ve been one of his main advocates. Mike also asked Rob Call, with Occupy Our Homes Atlanta, a close personal friend, and two members of the local clergy to be in the meeting as well.

The meeting was to be fact finding for us, not contentious. When we were called back to the office I immediately noticed a shocked look by Edward’s chief of staff Deloris Baskin face when she saw me. I’ve never met Deloris in my life.

We all sat down in a conference room and Deloris came in and asked who each person in the room was. I introduced myself as Tim Franzen, Economic Justice Program Director with the American Friends Service Committee, the Rob Call Introduced himself as with Occupy Our Homes Atlanta. Deloris then said, “Occupy Atlanta will not be in this meeting”

She at first claimed that only Mike and his wife was scheduled for the meeting, but then it was clear that his other guests would be permitted to stay. Mike said that he wanted us to stay. When Deloris said the meeting wouldn’t happen with Rob and I in it, I volunteered to leave stating, “This is unjust, but I want this meeting to happen, Rob and I will wait in the lobby and we can deal with this later”

When we got in the lobby of the Fulton County Services Center, Where Commissioner Edward’s off is, there was a team of about five cops waiting for us. They informed us that we were not welcomed in the building, and that we would be arrested for obstruction if we didn’t leave.

We walked outside and police followed us, letting us know that we were not welcomed outside the building and that we would need to be escorted to the property line.

Since the incident a lot of people have called into Edward’s office demanding an explanation. Most callers have been ignored; a few have been told that Rob and I were not on some list. The fact is, there was no list. Mike had made it clear that he would have guests, and even if he didn’t it’s rather bizarre that Rob and I would be treated as criminals while other guests were welcomed without question.

It seems clear to me that Edward’s chief of staff Deloris Baskin recognized my face from something Occupy Atlanta related and decided that there was a threat. The ironic thing here is that we were there to deal with a real threat; the Figaro family losing their home as a result of a fraud committed in their contractor’s permits applications.

There was a silver lining to all this. After Rob and I got kicked out hundreds of people around the country started calling into Edward’s office. The Figaro’s told us that they believed their meeting was taken very seriously after the phone lines were effectively shut down. Edward’s office has agreed to open a fraud investigation around the Figaro’s case, and they admitted to documents looking forged.

What happened to Rob and I was not only unacceptable, it’s actually quite illegal. I don’t believe we can afford to allow elected officials or their staff to make up laws on the spot and abuse their perceived power on a whim.

While I’m not sure what AFSC’s response or my personal response will be to Commissioner Edward’s staff behavior, I am sure that there will be a response. In the meantime I really appreciate all the calls people have made on our account. If nothing else It really helped the Figaro’s and perhaps it Edward’s office will think twice about being loose with basic civil rights of Fulton County residents, which Rob and I are both.

Tim Franzen

American Friends Service Committee