Evening star., 1952-06-11
d Building Inspector,
Of 80 Fired byVA as
Unqualified for Jobs
Veterans Housing Probe
Hears Officials and
Defense by Builder
By Colt HendIey. Jr.

veterans Administration Off
cials today revealed that all but
seven of 80 building inspectors in
the Washington area had been re-
lieved of duty since last summer
because they were not qualified for
the job.
This development came as Nor
gan B. Callahan. VA regional loan
guarantee officer and Lacy Smith,
chief appraiser, appeared before a
select House committee.
The committee is investigating
VA policies in guaranteeing home
loans for veterans. It also is
probing complaints from veterans
who purchased houses and it's at
tention has been centered for the
last week on the Templeton
Knolls development in East River
dale, Md.
3 Discharged for Laxness.
Discussing complaints made by
purchasers of Templeton Knolls
homes, Mr.. Callahan declared:
1--WE had to let three inspectors
go for laxness on this project.
They didn't know what they were
doing"
Mr.. Callahan said the houses
showed signs of very poor finish
ing and carelessness."
Representative Chudoff, Demo-
crat, of Pennsylvania, declared
LAS a matter of fact, the things
they missed you couldn't miss un-
less you were blind"
Mr.. Callahan answered:
1T was almost that bad. Some
of the things you had to bend your
head a little to see. I don't see
how they missed them"
Local Shakeups Cited.
After the hearing concluded,
Mr.. Smith told reporters about the
shakeups which had been going
on in the local VA Office since las
summer.
He said when he took over the
job as chief appraiser then, shift
ing from the Federal Housing
Administration, the Washington
VA Office had 3 building inspec-
tors. These inspectors are paid on
a fee basis. The fees are paid by
the builder and later recovered by
him when the purchaser of the
home makes his settlement and
gains possession Of the house.
Mr.. Smith said he reviewed the
qualifications of the 80 inspectors
and relieved 10 Of them immedi-
ately. Later, he continued, stiff
examinations were given to the
remaining 20 and they were re-
duced to 10.
One Inspector Resigned.
Mr.. Smith said one of the 10
resigned. one was relieved of duty,
and one was placed under suspen-
sion for paying too much atten-
ton to other activities.
He said the remaining seven are
still with the VA and that five
others have been added since
after passing stiff examinations.
In a previous appearance before
the committee. Mr.. Callahan
stated his office was short handed
and that it was hard to find quail
fed men. He said there was a
tremendous volume of work for
this Office to do, citing the more
than 5000 houses under construc-
ton last year in this area, each of
which had to be inspected and
appraised.
Before the two VA officials were
recalled to the stand, MARCEL
Weiss, vice president of the Spiller
Construction Co., completed q
vigorous defense of the construc-
tion methods used at the 800
home development.
Mr.. Weiss told the committee he
intended to correct all justifiable
complaints, such as wet Easements,
erosion of the yards and bad
flooring.
Mr.. Callahan, when he got on
the stand, commented:
"All the complaints presented
to Mr.. Weiss are items of sloppy
(See HOUSING. Page A-l00