- A million-dollar beachfront home collapsed onto adjacent properties during a tornado in January, and the owners of two homes next door still couldn’t live there.
- The owners of the damaged homes have taken legal action seeking damages in excess of $2 million after efforts to remove the fallen home were halted.
- The incident, exacerbated by previous damage from a previous storm, has left all three homes deemed unsafe by Bay County authorities.
The owners of a Florida beach house that was left leaning at a precarious angle after a tornado in January are being sued by their neighbors after the three houses were deemed unfit for habitation.
The three-story, million-dollar Panama City Beach home now appears to be resting on the houses next door, but the owners refuse to tear it down, according to a complaint filed earlier this month.
Gene P. Stienecker and William Lawrence III, both neighbors, are unable to live in the homes or repair the “extensive” damage caused to the property.
The owners intended to demolish the house, but a demolition scheduled for March 4 was prevented from taking place, a legal complaint states.
The house has been leaning since the storm hit overnight on Jan. 9, but homeowners James Sturgeon and Yik Chun Wu, who have owned the Panama City Beach property since 2014, believe they are not legally obligated to remove it under the law. from Florida.
A million-dollar beachfront home collapsed onto adjacent properties during a tornado in January, and the owners of two homes next door still couldn’t live there.
The owners of the damaged homes have taken legal action seeking damages in excess of $2 million after efforts to remove the fallen home were halted.
The house was built in April 2018 and tipped and fell once before after Hurricane Michael hit in October of that year.
The demand, seen by the The Miami Herald sees the neighbors suing Sturgeon and Wu, and seeking a court order forcing them to vacate their home.
They are also requesting compensation of more than $2 million, which would be decided by a jury.
“Stienecker and Lawrence have gone to great lengths to try to remove this property so that they can move on with their lives while attempting to protect themselves in the event that additional harm occurs in this process,” attorney Rebecca Gilliland said in a statement.
‘The lawsuit is simply an ‘attempt to try to resolve this matter and hold (Sturgeon and Wu) responsible for the damage caused by their fallen structure.’
The latest incident occurred during a tornado that struck on January 9.
This is what the house was like before it began to depend on its neighbors
Both owners live in Georgia and do not live in the beach houses permanently.
The house was built in April 2018 and tipped and fell once before after Hurricane Michael hit in October of that year.
It was the first Category 5 on record to impact the Florida Panhandle.
The house “has caused repeated and ongoing damage to plaintiff’s property,” the complaint states.
The county could now fine the three houses or try to demolish them.