What Is This 'Waterfall Edition' in a New Apartment? Builder's 'Absurd' Excuse Due to Lawsuit

[Anchor Kim Jong-won: I am catching this water falling from the ceiling and washing my hair right now with the shampoo and soap I squeezed earlier. In short, I went to a spot in the underground parking lot where a waterfall-like leak was happening and took a shower.]

Controversy has been ongoing for nearly four years as underground parking lot leaks and various defects persist in a newly built apartment complex in Daegu.

Residents began moving into this apartment in 2022, but leaks occurred just one year after moving in.

[Resident/Tip-off: One day, I went to the parking lot and heard the sound of water, so I thought, 'What is this?' and saw that water was literally pouring down like a waterfall. We residents thought this was a place where people simply could not live. In protest, out of sheer frustration, we showed that the water was falling so heavily that one could take a shower there. We did it so the builder would realize the reality.]

However, intermittent leaks have continued to this day, 3 years and 8 months later.

[Ahn Hyeong-jun, Former Dean of the College of Architecture, Konkuk University: Especially with leaks, defect repairs are normally all completed within a year. The fact that they still cannot fix such leaks in the fourth year causes significant inconvenience to the residents, and one cannot help but question the capability level of the builder in failing to stop the leaks.]

Leaks are not the only thing tormenting the residents.

Dirt, stones, and boards—which were permitted to be brought in as defect repair materials—as well as trash, have been left neglected in the parking lot for years.

[Resident: There is even the risk that if a fire breaks out, it could spread. It is so upsetting. I want to move away, but my house simply will not sell.]

Even though the district office sent official documents demanding that the builder carry out defect repairs and clear out the accumulated materials, the situation has not improved.

The builder's stance is that because the related costs are entangled with a lawsuit, they have no immediate obligation to handle them.

[Builder Representative: These are materials necessary for defect repairs. The relevant residents' representative council recently filed a lawsuit. The costs related to waste disposal are also all calculated into the litigation costs. If that is the case, doesn't our side lose the obligation to process what you claim to be waste? Since we would have to bear responsibility if we lose the lawsuit, there is currently no obligation.]

However, experts pointed out that filing a lawsuit does not make obligations disappear, and it appears that the builder is aiming for a victory or looking for an excuse to delay implementation.

Netizens who encountered this reacted with comments such as, "Isn't this at a level where it needs to be rebuilt?" and "Reveal the name of the builder."

(Planned by Lee Se-young, Video Editing by Lee Yu-jin, Video Source: News Hunters, Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.