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Auburn Couple: Garage In Danger Of Collapse After City's Lax Inspection

AUBURN (CBS13) — It was supposed to be their dream house, but it's turned into a nightmare.

James and Kathy Daily of Auburn say they're not only worried, but they are angry. They say part of their home could fall into a ravine after shoddy work was discovered after it was approved by the city.

The couple planned their dream home how they wanted it. But the columns holding up the family's garage weren't put in properly, and the city approved them.

"Our engineer went under and he said us an email after telling us we need to get our cars out of the garage as soon as possible, this is not built to code," Kathy said.

The garage is now off limits for fear it could collapse. The potentially catastrophic problem comes from the posts that keep their home up. The couple's engineer told them the columns were not built with the proper support. When they went back to look at the plans, they say they discovered the work was done wrong. Especially under the garage.

While they are trying to address the problem with their contractor, they are incredibly disappointed with the city of Auburn.

"I feel like I don't trust my city government right now," she said.

They say the city building inspector charged with approving the plans and making sure the contractor kept to them admitted he didn't inspect well enough.

But the couple's claim with the city was denied, because government code states governments aren't liable for issues arising from permits being issued. That means the inspection can be wrong, and there's no recourse against the city, only the contractor.

The Dailys are weighing their options for whether or not to file a lawsuit.

The city said it couldn't comment further because of a possible lawsuit.

The repairs will likely run in the tens of thousands of dollars.

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