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North Shore primary school teacher Debra Lewis is almost too upset to speak coherently about the mounting debts she faces for repairs to the apartment block she bought into six years ago.
She shuffles through piles of invoices and body corporate minutes, trying to follow the trail of debt which started last year when she learned the two-storey block had to be completely reclad, at a cost $1.4 million.
The first bill from the body corporate, for $2322, arrived in June last year. Then in October there was a bill for $12,000, a levy towards repairs and solicitors' fees, then an assessed repair bill of nearly $60,000.
Lewis paid what she could and took out a loan to try to pay down some of the debt. Then came a letter from the body corporate demanding payment of the full amount, and a $9200 Baycorp fee.
The body corporate has dropped the Baycorp fee and agreed to give Lewis time, after she pleaded her case. Most of the other apartment owners are investors, renting out 13 apartments on the top floor and commercial premises below.
Lewis hopes that once the building is repaired, she can have her apartment revalued and raise a loan.
But she will join scores of other desperate homeowners faced with spiralling leaky building costs - forced on them by body corporates, fellow apartment owners - who will be unable to pay their debt. If they are lucky they may be able to sell their apartments, pay the debt and be left with nothing. If not, they may be forced into bankruptcy.
Lewis bought the apartment in 2000, just after it was built. The plan was to eventually get herself into a first home. Now, at 42, she faces losing everything.
Lewis' unit, in Rosedale Rd, Albany, is valued at $230,000, with a mortgage of $128,000. Leaky homes advocate John Gray, who has seen countless similar cases, predicts the final repair bill will be considerably more than first estimated, and legal fees to recover costs could run into hundreds of thousands of dollars.
He estimates Lewis' debt will be up to $150,000, which will not be able to raise on the remaining equity in the apartment. Meanwhile, the bills keep coming in, including late payment fees and 10 per cent penalty interest.
"I have no idea how to pay it, " says Lewis. She says she would never buy another apartment.
Four months ago Lewis married Auckland plumber Darren Lewis and moved to a rented house in Browns Bay. She now rents her apartment for $200 a week.
The stress has left her depressed and has affected her health. "I am not coping well. I have had to take medication to help me sleep."
A spokeswoman for Centurion, managers for the apartments' body corporate, said Centurion was acting on the instruction of the body corporate in pursuing Lewis' debt.
The body corporate has engaged lawyers to pursue those involved in the development, including the original builders Cornerstone Group, which still owns some of the units.
"The court decision takes a couple of years but we still have to pay the builders for their work now," the spokeswoman said.
- By Jane Phare
