An Army employee’s family moved onto Fort Eustis. Then their housing problems began.

Ryan and Elise Hawkins moved into their five-bedroom townhome on Fort Eustis in southeastern Virginia in March 2020.

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Just a couple of weeks later, they noticed a leak in the upstairs bathroom and bubbling in the walls of the master bedroom spreading “like a spider web.” They also noticed a black residue, which they suspected to be mold.

The company that manages the home on Fort Eustis — Balfour Beatty — sent maintenance workers out several times over the first four years they lived in the home.

But the Hawkins say workers conducted surface-level repairs — scraping, patching and repainting — and within weeks, the issues would recur.

One night in July 2024, Ryan Hawkins was home with his kids when a loud noise reverberated through the home. A piece of drywall from the master bedroom ceiling had come crashing down onto his and his wife’s bed.

“An hour and a half later, that would’ve been us laying underneath it, or kids watching TV,” Ryan Hawkins said.

The Hawkins sued Balfour Beatty in March, alleging fraud, negligence and violations of state tenant and consumer protection laws.

In a complaint filed in Newport News Circuit Court, the Hawkins described years of water intrusion and a failure to properly address maintenance concerns in their housing on the installation.

They also say they suffered medical complications, including a months-long bout of pneumonia, kidney stones, shingles and eczema — illnesses that began after they moved into the home an air quality report commissioned by the Hawkins concluded to be contaminated with elevated mold levels.

The family alleges the company’s maintenance personnel “falsely represented to the Hawkins that the reported mold conditions had been addressed, had been cleaned, or were no longer present, and that the affected areas were safe and habitable.”

According to the complaint, the issues began before the Hawkins’ tenancy. The home’s work order history shows previous tenants had requested maintenance for mold concerns.

In a statement, a Balfour Beatty spokesperson disagreed with the allegations.

“The well-being of our residents remains our highest priority,” the statement said. “We take all concerns regarding housing conditions seriously and work diligently to address resident-reported issues.

“While we disagree with the allegations outlined in the complaint and believe the facts do not support the claims being made, we are unable to comment further on pending litigation.”

Under the Military Housing Privatization Initiative, Balfour Beatty manages about 43,000 military homes nationwide. The company has been the subject of lawsuits across the country alleging poor housing conditions and maintenance issues.

The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press published a story in July about a Navy family living on Fort Story who said their health, finances, safety and well-being have been compromised due to mold exposure in their Balfour Beatty housing.

‘A room covered in plastic with a big hole in the ceiling’

Ryan Hawkins is an Army veteran and behavioral health specialist who began working as a contractor in 2017. The Hawkins have three young children under 12 and describe themselves as an active family — their kids were involved in youth sports at Fort Eustis, and Ryan helped coach the teams.

It’s unusual, his doctor told him, for a fit person his age to get shingles — but that’s what happened to Ryan.

Elise Hawkins developed pneumonia that persisted for several months. Their son developed eczema, which the Hawkins say cleared up when they moved out.

Meanwhile, the Hawkins continued to submit maintenance requests.

One request from March 2022 reported mold, and the maintenance record reflects notes including “no moisture,” replacement of baseboards, and HVAC-related work.

The Hawkins said when they submitted service requests for mold, Balfour Beatty representatives told them they were “testing,” leading the Hawkins to believe they were examining for mold. They were later told, however, that the company tests for moisture, not mold.

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In April 2023, the Hawkins reported mold again, on an upstairs bathroom door. The comments from Balfour Beatty maintenance workers on the entry reflect observations including “discoloration” and “suspected growth.” It notes cleaning with a mold cleaner and applying caulk to close a gap.

By June 2023, the Hawkins were reporting mold again. Then in September, a work order entry shows drywall and painting repairs “as needed.”

But the Hawkins say Balfour Beatty failed to address the root cause: the water intrusion.

Then, a portion of the Hawkins’ bedroom ceiling and ceiling fan collapsed in July 2024, exposing water-damaged building materials and visible discoloration consistent with mold contamination.

“They taped a black trash bag over it. Even the maintenance person was like, ‘I’m sorry, this is ridiculous,’” Elise Hawkins said. “That sat there for two weeks — a room covered in plastic with a big hole in the ceiling.”

Black spots started appearing throughout the home. In the bedroom where the ceiling fell, clothing, a new headboard, wood under the bed, the closet door, and more were covered in black spots.

The Hawkins hired an air quality inspector to test their home in September 2024. The results showed elevated mold levels and strains of toxic mold.

In their complaint, the Hawkins maintain that they would not have continued to live at the residence had Balfour Beatty disclosed the extent of the mold contamination in the home and lack of professional remediation.

In May 2025, the Hawkins say they were served with a notice of lease non-renewal. The notice was suspended a month later, but the Hawkins moved out at the end of August.

They moved into a house in Gloucester — nearly an hour from their friends, colleagues, work and schools on Fort Eustis.

The Hawkins are seeking damages for lost rent, out-of-pocket expenses and replacement of most of their personal belongings such as clothing and furniture. But they say the impact of moving away from their community and the mounting losses they’ve incurred over the years have been more than just financial.

“There’s just so much, and we feel like all of this happened for negligence that we didn’t cause,” Elise Hawkins said. “That’s the reason we started this (legal) process.”

Elise is driving an hour to work. Ryan had to leave his contractor role with the Army.

“I’m just an online professor now because I can’t do that commute. I’m missing my children growing up. We had to move too far away,” Ryan Hawkins said.

And the Hawkins children had to leave behind the schools, friends, teachers and sports teams they had on Fort Eustis.

“It’s been really hard on them,” Elise Hawkins said. “I don’t even think that gets factored in as much as it should, but it’s been really hard on them. They’re in elementary school. They’re not persevering yet.”

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The case is set for a pretrial conference in September.

Emma Rose Brown, [email protected]