COCHRAN, Ga. — For many people, receiving more than $45,000 in a home improvement grant would be like a dream come true, but a Cochran woman says after her renovations, that dream turned into a home improvement nightmare.
As far as the eye can see, renovations in Betty Love's two-bedroom Cochran home aren't bad. However, things are different from the perspective of the woman living in it.
"The bathroom door needs to be changed, and that backdoor needs to be changed. It isn’t right," Love said.
Betty Love and her daughter Sandra Watkins say Love was approved for a Community Home Improvement grant in 2019.
She says under the contract, work was set to begin six months late but didn't start until March of 2021. From there, they say roofing, electrical, and plumbing problems fell by the wayside.
"Her hot water heater wasn't working and the subcontractor that was here, he put up the new pipe to run it up into the roof on top of the hot water heater that wasn't working," Love’s daughter Sandra Watkins said.
Last August, Love received this letter from city manager Richard Newbern that said renovations were complete. Watkins says due to conditions of the home, before and during renovations, Love lived with her. That letter told Love she needed to move back into the home by October of 2022, or they would ask her to reimburse the money.
"She didn't have any heating, she didn't have any air, she any have no hot running water or none of that, so I couldn't let my mom come live back in here without having none of that," she continued.
Now that renovations have ended, under the contract Love must live there for five years and any additional repairs will be the responsibility of her and her daughter, something they say is disappointing.
"We're just going to have to come together and get what little bit, some of the stuff that needs to be done, done," Watkins said.
Watkins says she paid for a new water heater for the home which was installed two weeks ago.
We did speak with her contractor Jay Okafor who says he did what he was contracted to do.
He says Love wanted more work done that was not included in the contract budget. Cochran's city manager Richard Newbern says as an extra measure the city added more federal funds to fix the interior of the home. They both say work was completed up to code and their contracts were fulfilled.