Homeowners

Brickbat: Wrong To Repair

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St. Louis officials are investigating after residents say the city billed them for home repairs they did not agree to and that, in many cases, don't appear to have been performed. One owner said he was billed for repairs to the second floor of a commercial property he bought, plus a new roof. But he said that neither he nor the previous owner signed off on the work, and besides, the building only has one story, and the roof wasn't completely nailed down. The repairs are part of a federally funded effort to stabilize and rehabilitate privately owned buildings. But a local TV station found that the company hired to do the work doesn't have a website, and for its business address, it lists an unmarked house, where no one answered the door when reporters visited. The company's previous business address is an apartment where the ex-wife of one of the two city officials overseeing the program lives.