A DISABLED veteran claims that city vehicles have ruined his concrete driveway, damaging his wheelchair-accessible van.
The Florida man, Craig Kreisler, said that city garbage trucks have caused his driveway to crumble.
The US Air Force veteran became a wheelchair user nine years ago after falling off a ladder.
“I laid on the concrete floor for about three hours, until I saw somebody across the street coming for his mailbox,” he told ABC WFTS.
“I started screaming for help.”
“Wound up going to the hospital and they said that I would never walk again.”
After the accident, Kreisler had to have garbage services via his backdoor, as he couldn’t bring his trash to the curb.
Polk County Solid Waste offers the services to residents with disabilities or those who cannot bring their trash out.
He told the local station that he started noticing the cracks last year, and blamed it on the city’s garbage trucks.
Since then, the cracks have continued to spread.
Video footage shows a giant hole in the driveway, with fractured concrete surrounding it.
Now, Keisler has struggled to use his own wheelchair-accessible van, which cost almost $100,000.
The cracks have pulled off the bumper of his vehicle after driving over the damaged driveway.
“It got ripped off by going down the driveway, and it goes into the ditch, and it’s ripped off.”
After contacting the city and the waste management company, garbage trucks stopped coming on the driveway completely.
“They used to bring the big garbage truck down; then they brought a medium-sized garbage truck down, then they brought the little garbage truck down, with like a pick-up truck with a dumpster in the back,” he told the outlet.
What are your rights in a newly built home?
New home warranties vary per agreement but there are general rules about coverage that apply to most homes.
As per the Federal Trade Commission for Consumer Advice, most newly constructed homes come equipped with a builder warranty that covers essential infrastructure such as electricity, plumbing, and concrete flooring.
Nonetheless, this protection is generally confined to the quality of workmanship and certain materials like windows, heating, and plumbing, with the warranty specifying how repairs are to be conducted.
Each section of the house generally has its own length of coverage under warranty.
After the first year, the coverage for the workmanship and materials usually runs out which includes coverage for stucco, doors, trumps, drywall, and paint.
However, small cracks in brick, tile, cement, or drywall are not usually covered.
Coverage for larger systems in the house such as plumbing and electricity tends to expire after two years.
Sometimes a decade of coverage is given for “major structural defects,” that make the property unsafe and put residents in danger like a roof collapse.
Homeowners should check warranty cover and are advised by the FTC to put all claims in writing and ask for receipts.
Mediation or Arbitration may be needed if disputes arise regarding a claim and if taken to the level of Arbitration, most warranties stipulate that both parties accept the Arbitrator’s decision.
“Now, they won’t even bring any garbage truck down. They just have somebody walk down the driveway and get my garbage can.”
One official told WFTS that the driveway services two homes, and is private property.
But Keisler thinks the city should fix the cracks.
“They all know about it, but they’re not doing anything about it,” he said.
“I’ve contacted them many, many times.”
Officials have now said that they’re investigating the issue.
