Follow-up on Oak Island lawsuit

Wednesday, News Channel 3 mentioned the lawsuit against the Town of Oak Island. Friday, we have more details surrounding the suit.

The plaintiff is the widow of the former Oak Island town attorney. She said the building intended to house her real estate appraisal business, became infested with deadly mold.

For Oak Island resident, Karen Edwards, finding and purchasing this building seemed like a dream come true. “Well I wanted to operate my real estate appraisal business out of this office until I retired. I loved the location across from Food Lion and direct beach access just down the road,” she said.

But Edwards said her dream quickly turned into a nightmare. “Well, everything was going great until July of 2006, when we discovered some serious building code violations, and we had to vacate the premises.”

According to the lawsuit, the roof, foundation and framing were allegedly built incorrectly by the building contractor, Imperial Builders. As a result, moisture crept into the building, and filled it with a deadly mold.

In addition to suing the contractors, she is also suing former Oak Island building inspector, Fred Fulcher. She said he let the building pass inspection, when it clearly wasn’t up to code.

Johnnie Vereen, the Mayor of Oak Island said, “We have been served by mail, and I verified that after I spoke with you, and of course we’ll answer the suit.”

As for the fact that Oak Island has been sued before, Mayor Vereen said these allegations happened before his time.

“Well it’s another suit in Oak Island, but it’s from another time, an another administration, and another group at the helm,” Vereen said.

This lawsuit has been two years in the making. Edwards bought the property in December of 2005.