87-year-old Altadena veteran still fighting to return home after Eaton Fire

Nearly two years after the Eaton Fire ripped through Altadena, one 87-year-old disabled U.S. veteran is still fighting to get back home. 

Peter Brown thought his new prefab home would be completed by at least 2027, but his contractor is asking for tens of thousands more to finish the job. Though he says he's running out of money, he hasn't yet run out of hope. 

"I just want to go back home," Brown said, while speaking with CBS LA. 

He says that he can't afford the latest $51,000 payment request from his builder, which could bring construction on his half-finished Norwic Place home to a complete halt. 

"I've run out of money. He's drained me. I just don't have the $51,000," Brown said. "You know, he's just taking everything. And that was my, that was going to be my savings."

Brown has been living out of a rented ADU in Pasadena since he last spoke with CBS LA in January, hopeful then that he would be home soon. At that time, he had hired Southern California-based modular home builder Menu Homes to build him a fire-resistant, wheelchair-accessible prefab home for $538,000. They said it would be move-in ready within a year. 

That deadline has come and gone, and with it, additional bills that Brown wasn't anticipating. 

"I trusted the man. You know, I thought he was on my side," Brown said. "I said, 'Well, how much more would it cost over the $538,000?' He said, 'I think it was 20, 30. No. More than $60,000."

It's added up to much more than even that, Brown said. After paying an additional $60,000 in October, he's also paid $30,000 in November. 

"I paid him $90,000 over and above the contracted price, and he's asking for $51,000 more," Brown said. "I don't have it. No."

He said that he's now exhausted his insurance money, using much of it to pay off a reverse mortgage and to purchase his new home. He still pays nearly $2,5000 monthly in rent and has no clear move-in date for his prefab home. 

A spokesperson for Menu Homes said that Los Angeles County's permitting process is to blame. After waiting seven months for approval, he also claims that county requirements, along with Brown's garage and porch, drove up costs and delayed construction. 

"The reason that he's not going home right now is because the people that are working are not getting back," said Bogbby Shokri of Menu Homes. 

He insists that the company has gone above and beyond to help Brown. 

"Again, as I've said, we had a contract for a certain scope of work," Shokri said. "The county imposed additional scope of work."

Altadena Town Councilmembers like Darlene Green have been advocating and helping Brown for months, saying that what's happened so far is unacceptable. 

"If something changes, it shouldn't be a shock, and it certainly shouldn't be hundreds of thousands of dollars over the initial asking," Greene said. "It's happening to seniors across Altadena, and it takes to their loss of life."

She's created a GoFundMe to help Brown cover his living expenses, so the man who once served his country can walk through is own front door again while he still can. 

Along wth that, Greene is also working on a community organization that can help loan him the remainder of the money to pay the contractor.