NORTH PORT, Fla. (WFLA) – 35-year-old Dustin Casey spent eight years serving our country in the United States Marines. He was deployed to Iraq in 2007 for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Now, the disabled combat veteran is trying to settle down in North Port, but he says it hasn’t been an easy process.
Back in September 2021, Casey signed a deal to build his first home. He was excited to see the land cleared and his new home built over the next several months. However, earlier this month, he learned the builder made a mistake and he may have to start the process all over again.
“For five months, I was basically led to believe that we are on par with these permits and you wake up one day, for me I was at work, finding out oh, you’ve got to start all over and you need to go to a different lot which was completely unacceptable. Now, I’m in limbo,” said the veteran.
We contacted the builder Monday. A spokesperson called the situation ‘an honest mistake’ in an email to 8 On Your Side. The lot Casey selected to build his home was mistakenly placed on two separate lists – one for investors and another for the everyday homebuyer. When the company realized the issue, they alerted Casey immediately.
“We had a special loan that is allocated to investor sales, so [we] needed to unwind that loan and put a new construction loan in place. Nothing on that end is a hold up, the hold up was permitting the home Mr. Casey selected because we already started with the other home so we will order the correct plan to go on the home,” explained the spokesperson with Palladio Homes in an email. “Our contract states we have two years to complete a home, we do this for many reasons. The permitting process is lengthy and supply chains and trades are all behind making it impossible to predict a completion date. It was never our intent to not sell or deliver a home to Mr. Casey, his deposit is held in escrow. We have told him we would honor the price and see if he wanted to select another lot, after back and forth he declined that recently,” he continued.
For Casey, the greatest concern is losing time as he spent most of 2021 trying to find a home in hopes of soon gaining custody of his only son. He has a fast-approaching custody hearing coming up, which is why he is especially frustrated with the situation at hand.
“I need to present the most stable environment to the judge or show that I am definitely on track for a very stable environment for my son,” said Casey. “If they are willing to honor that contract, then fantastic, let’s resolve the situation, but currently but this still puts me at risk of not getting custody anytime soon,” he continued.
Through communication with Casey and his realtor, the company said the veteran could continue forward with the lot he originally selected. The company spokesperson told 8 On Your Side, because of the mix up, there may be a minor delay due to permitting changes, but nothing major. He also went on to say the company would do everything it can ‘to deliver a home to him in the right timeframe’.
“Mistakes happen, but as long as they honor the contract and do so in a timely fashion and communicate with me what is going on, that is important to me,” said Casey.
