In March, 2015 Kristie Sours Atwood and her family experienced a house fire that destroyed their Bentonville home. She hired a local construction company, owned by Martha Buracker, to rebuild her home.
It’s been three years since that tragic fire, which Ms. Atwood says was “a nightmare” to endure. Despite the fact that Warren County issued a certificate of occupancy for the home in July, 2016, Atwood and her attorney, David Silek say there are at least 60 state building code violations noted by a third-party inspector. Atwood says the county has played a role in allowing her family’s post-fire nightmare to continue.
Following the March, 2015 fire, Atwood hired Buracker Construction LLC to clean up debris and rebuild her home.
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The rebuild contract was signed on July 6, 2015. On July 8, 2015 Martha Buracker completed a Residential Building Permit application and listed the contractor name as “Buracker Construction LLC”. On that same application, she inserted the Class A contractor license number of Buracker Construction.
Warren County’s Department of Building Inspections issued a permit to Buracker Construction on Aug. 4, 2015 and work began on the new home.
As construction proceeded, Atwood says there were major issues, which were not resolved by the builder. Despite the fact that some items were not finished at the home, she says, the county issued a certificate of occupancy for the home in July 2016.
It was only after she filed a complaint with the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulations (DPOR) in November, 2016 that she learned that Buracker Construction LLC is an unlicensed entity and has never held a contractor’s firm license in the State of Virginia, though it has operated as a business in Warren County since 2002.
In fact, DPOR, issued a Consent Oder on August 8, 2017, requiring Buracker to undergo remedial education and pay a $950 fine.
Mary Broz-Vaughan, of DPOR, confirmed to Royal Examiner in an April 26 email, “Our records do not reflect a contractor license under the name BURACKER CONSTRUCTION LLC.”
“Board for Contractors Regulation 18 VAC 50-22-230 requires licensed contractors to operate under the name in which the license is issued. Contractor licenses are not transferable, and a change in business entity (e.g., from a sole proprietorship to a corporation) requires a new license pursuant to Regulation 18 VAC 50-22-210.”
Because Atwood had, in effect, hired an unlicensed contractor, she was not eligible to collect damages from the Board of Contractor’s Transaction Recovery Fund. She estimates, based upon an independent inspection, that there are at least $150,000 worth of repairs, unfinished work and corrections needed to her home.
In an April 29 interview with Royal Examiner, Buracker stated that the licensing issue was a “bookkeeping issue” and that she had attempted to change from being a sole owner to an LLC, but DPOR required her to obtain a new tax identification number. She said the Internal Revenue Service would not grant her a new number, as her tax status had not changed.
Buracker stated that in 19 years of home construction business, she “had 95.9-percent satisfied customers.” She did not include Atwood in that percentage, saying she had tried to please her client, but “there was just no pleasing her.”
Buracker gave no answer as to why she continued to use the Buracker LLC entity name to represent herself as a licensed contractor. Asked about why she continued to advertise as “Buracker Construction LLC” on her website, she said she might consider changing the page or taking it offline, though as recently as Wednesday, June 6, the website still listed the company as ‘Buracker Construction LLC.”
On Tuesday, May 22, the Warren County Building Code Appeals Board heard from Ms. Atwood and her attorney, and also from Warren County Building Official David Beahm. During the meeting, David Silek, representing Atwood, told the panel that Beahm, in allowing permits to be issued to an unlicensed contractor, had committed a Class 3 misdemeanor, under Virginia Code § 54.1-1111. Beahm did not dispute that claim during his response to Silek’s presentation.
At the conclusion of that meeting, the board decided to take no action, but to hold a second hearing.
The Appeals Board will hold a work session at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, June 7 in the Warren County Government Center, followed by a meeting at 3:30 to resume discussion of Ms. Atwood’s appeal.
After corresponding with Beahm, Warren County Administrator Doug Stanley and County Attorney Dan Whitten for over seven months, attempting to get the issues regarding her home resolved, Ms. Atwood recently sent a letter to the Warren County Board of Supervisors, formally requesting them to conduct “an internal or third-party investigation into the Warren County building department and for Mr. Beahm to be held accountable.”
She states in the letter that there were violations in “plain view” that should have been identified during the initial inspection of her home, as well as raising concerns about Beahms’ oversight of a department that issues permits to unlicensed entities. Atwood says that her home does not currently meet the Virginia Uniform Standards of Building Codes, which governs Beahm and all contractors.
She writes near the end of her letter to the board, “Enough is enough!”
NEXT: The permitting process. What are the County’s responsibilities?
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