Many parents can relate to those nights when you are woken up suddenly and it’s a tummy ache or a flu. Some parents, like my husband and I, had one of those nights, but this wasn’t a cold or bad dream. This was an event that meant our lives would now be very different. Our once healthy daughter was not healthy anymore. It’s a story we never thought we’d tell, one that began with a new construction home build, a ceiling collapse, regulators turning a blind eye, and corporations getting away with what feels like proverbial murder. But here we are, sharing our experience in the hopes that it will resonate with others who have been harmed by the adulterated regulatory systems once designed to protect us.
Our story begins in 2020, just before the pandemic took hold. Our family had outgrown our home and the market seemed perfect for a new construction home purchase. We had been considering the move for years, and for my husband and I, two kids who came from public housing and apartment life to have gotten this far, it was a version of the American dream. We chose a small, Christian company thinking that it would be good to support a young family owned business backed by one of the larger realty firms in the area. But that dream quickly unraveled. There were several leaks, we just had another a few days ago, but the biggest was when an improperly designed HVAC system caused a massive ceiling collapse. It wasn’t just a structural failure — it was a failure of oversight, accountability, and regulation. Not to mention the absolute waste of paper a whole home warranty is, in my opinion of course.
What followed was an uphill battle that revealed a much larger problem: Virginia’s deregulated, corporate-friendly environment prioritizes deregulation at all costs. We are one of only two states in the entire country that do not allow class action lawsuits. Governor Youngkin used his executive power to veto that bipartisan bill along with the most vetoes in our state’s history at 201 vetoes. Youngkin’s Executive Directive Number One was to promise to reduce regulation in the state by 25% as part of a “job creation” initiative even though Virginia is dealing with a surplus of jobs the state can’t seem to fill. As it stands, 7 out of 10 Virginia nursing homes are lacking basic inspections while Virginia’s Department of Health (VDH) can’t seem to hire enough inspectors. This is directly affecting care for seniors, and causing needless deaths from that lack of care. Virginia currently ranks in the bottom 3 of all states for care. However, VDH also does NOT have any authority to penalize offenders who violate regulations. Our home building experience led us to the regulatory agency for construction, the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR), who similarly has the title of regulator without the institutional means to actually regulate. DPOR, like VDH, has absolutely no power to penalize offenders with fines, legal repercussions, or offer monetary restitution to victims.
Our story has many twists and turns, but what I want to leave you with in this first introduction is that we built a new construction home in the state of Virginia. That home had a ceiling collapse after hundreds of gallons of condensation collected in our ductwork. We’d been in constant contact with our builder trying to get help. Our builder ignored our calls, lied directly to DPOR, DPOR found the evidence of the lies and blocked that information at our hearing. Mold developed in our home, our daughter now suffers from a host of breathing issues, neurological issues, tics, and at one point even stopped growing.
We submitted independent inspections, proof of unlicensed subcontracting, outlined lies the builder made in writing, but DPOR’s hearing officer recommended to the board a ruling of ‘no violation’ because of a “lack of evidence”. For over a year we submitted photos, inspections, emails, third party assessments, over 500 pages in total. These documents were all in the possession of the assigned DPOR investigator. However, at the hearing, adjudicator, Free Williams, stated on the record that they were not part of the investigation and blocked us from objecting to his interference. That act cleared the file, prompted the hearing officer to write his recommendation, and ultimately the board of DPOR rendered a decision of “no violation” based on 9 documents, at least 3 of which were not related to our case at all, one such document being an article about covid.
No one at DPOR is concerned about my daughter. My builder is not concerned about my daughter. The governor is not concerned about my daughter. They don’t have to hold her down so she can receive iv’s. They aren’t there when she can’t figure out where she is from the delirium of her illness. They don’t wipe her tears away when kids at school repeatedly ask her why she’s so short or wonder if she’ll return to the happy healthy kid she once was. All we wanted was to give her a nice home, a healthy safe space.
I find it alarming that homeowners are unaware that since 1997 the Home Builders Association of Virginia has worked hard to remove regulatory statutes so that builders are unencumbered by lawsuits for faulty installations or poor workmanship. Consumers went from 10 years of protection against poor workmanship to a measly 3 years protection and the industry is pushing for only 1. The governor seems to agree stating that regulation is a “burden” that the state should not bear. I wonder if the thousands of families affected by the recent water shortage because of the reduced regulations in Richmond Virginia agree. I mean, who needs safe drinking water? What a burden.
I also wonder if citizens in the state are aware that political parties hire PR students to make the case for reduced regulations. More on that soon.
This isn’t just our story. It’s the story of countless homeowners, small business owners, and consumers who are left powerless in the face of broken systems that value corporate interests over public safety. Through our journey, we’ve learned that the problem isn’t just one bad contractor or one failed inspection. It’s a systemic issue rooted in deregulation, lack of enforcement, and political indifference.
The goal is to make this issue relatable to anyone who has felt the crushing weight of systems designed to protect corporations at the expense of individuals. Through this series, my hope is to spark conversations, inspire accountability, and connect with others who want to see change.
If you’ve ever wondered how deregulation impacts real lives or why consumer protections seem to fall apart when you need them most, I’m with you. This is more than just our fight — it’s about holding systems accountable so no one else has to go through what we did.