BOSTON - Central and western Massachusetts residents testified this week about their crumbling foundations at the State House. Holden resident Karen Riani spoke to the committee and again told her story, looking for relief and help for fellow homeowners.

Riani has hope this session for a bill to help homeowners with crumbling foundations. Similar legislation didn’t get out of committee last year.

“My home will never feel the same than it did prior to 2020 when we got those horrible results,” Riani said during her testimony. 

Dozens of homeowners both in person and via video calls were able to testify in front of the joint committee on environment and natural resources at the state house on Monday. They told their stories to committee members, given three minutes each to speak.

Riani once again told her story of a crumbling foundation and a $280,000 repair that devastated her family’s retirement plans and financial future.

“Every time we go to the basement, I see the walls where the beam pockets where the holes were filled," she said. "It's a constant reminder of what we have gone through.” 

The Rianis have invited Spectrum News 1 to their Holden home to show the devastation they have had to endure after they found out their 19-year-old foundation was poured with pyrrhotite, a mineral that causes concrete to crumble. Insurance doesn’t cover the fix.

They joined a growing group of homeowners in the state left with homes that are now falling down, completely gutting their finances. There are two bills in circulation now. One will mandate concrete testing so this doesn’t happen to any more homes, and another that will create a fund to help homeowners fix their foundations.

This is not unprecedented, as Connecticut created a fund after the same issue impacted their residents.

“I’m optimistic and maybe I’m naïve, but I just don’t think that Massachusetts can turn a blind eye any more,” said Riani. 

If the bills get through committee, they will go to both the state Senate and House Ways and Means committees.