Make It Right group of Brad Pitt sued for post-Katrina homes was built in New Orleans

Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation will be continued in New Orleans by two residents of the Lower 9th Ward who accuse non-profit organizations of building and selling substandard homes that are collapsing. This is the last spot on an artistic canvas that the actor began painting after the failure of Hurricane Katrina that destroyed the plaintiffs' neighborhood.

Ten years ago, Pitt led the construction of unique, yet affordable, and sustainable homes to replace those destroyed by the Katrina Floods in 2005. His foundation erected 109 homes starting in 2008, making neighborhood a tourist destination process.

A decade later, some of these homes are falling into ruin and the Pitt Foundation has failed to repair, according to the lawsuit filed Friday, Sept. 7 at the Civil District Court of Orleans Parish. Representatives of the Foundation did not respond immediately on Saturday to requests for comment.

"While the citizens of the 9th parish are grateful to Brad Pitt, they have been forced to file this claim because the Make it Right Foundation has built unhealthy homes that are deteriorating at a rapid pace while the homeowners" said the plaintiffs' lawyer, Ron Austin.

Indeed, the neighborhood Make it Right has some problems. The foundation never reached its stated goal of building 150 homes and a visit in June for the project's 10th anniversary showed that a house at 5012 N. Derbigny Street was a horror of rotten wood, tarpaulins tapered and open doors.

"Where is Mr. Pitt?" neighbor Doris Wyman asked. "I wonder, if he saw this house, what would be the first words of his mouth?"

This house was soon demolished.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Lloyd Francis and Jennifer Decuir, but as a proposed class action, it is intended to represent everyone who has purchased a Make it Right home. He alleges that the houses were "poorly constructed and constructed" with "defective products" that caused mold, poor air quality, structural failures, heating, ventilation and wood defects.

Between 2016 and 2018, the lawsuit says, Make It Right has organized inspections to "report on the status of Make It Right homes". However, according to the complaint, the owners' repeated requests for these reports have remained unanswered or have been postponed to a later date. The complaint indicates that the engineers discovered problems in the homes, but the foundation did not inform the owners of the extent of the problems even though they were expiring to file claims under the New Home Warranty. Act.

After a series of negative reports, the lawsuit says that Make It Right has given homeowners nondisclosure agreements and documents forcing them to arbitrate before agreeing to make repairs. According to the lawsuit, the documents were not properly explained to the owners, which means that the foundation "fraudulently" obtained signatures "on agreements that would deprive the owners of important legal rights while the owners are under the control. constraint".

The owners knew that their homes were in trouble as early as 2013, but thought Make It Right would actually make them effective, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit includes a 2013 Make It Right tax return section, in which the foundation cited $ 4.3 million of "guarantees and reparations".

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Doug MacCash contributed to this report.