John Coffelt, Editor

A private construction business owned by Manchester Mayor Joey Hobbs is facing a civil suit related to work done on a house in the county on Willowbrook Drive.

According to a complaint recently filed in Coffee County Chancery Court by the homeowner Patrick John Swanson, Homes by Hobbs, LLC was hired in January of 2024 to renovate a 4,674 square foot home with the addition of a second level to the structure. The suit alleges that the firm failed to submit a structural integrity report to the county codes department and further alleges that once completed, the report shows several inadequacies in the footings and bracing used in the construction.   

On July 31, a work stop order was issued by the county on the project. Just before then, on July 26, the plaintiff fired Homes by Hobbs and hired Campbell Construction and then also hired St. John Engineering to perform a structural report for the project.

That report says suitable footing was found for a rear wall addition and adequate footing was added under the brick that Hobbs built along the front and portions of the side and rear walls.

St. John, however, reported foundations located under four columns that support a carport need to be replaced with a 12-inch footer rather than the four-inch one that was found there.

Some of the framing in the home added by Hobbs to support a new roof needs to be replaced or added to. A vertical support needs to be moved to not bear on a single roof truss and a back wall needs to be strengthened.

The report states the patio enclosure framing member sizes and spacing are adequate; however, the framing around some new windows is of concern and needs to be stiffened.

The suit states that these windows are stationery and violate a county code by not allowing egress.

Hobbs told the Times that the windows are consistent with those in the remainder of the home.

“The house was built with windows that did not have egress,” Hobbs said. “I did not build egress into this house. We replaced the windows that were there. It’s no different for anybody that has a 1950s, 1960s, 1970s model house, there’s nobody that comes out and says you have to have egress.”

Hobbs said the addition he built includes adequate egress.   

“There are codes for everything,” Hobbs said referring to the how his company determines the specifications of a construction project. “Generally when we do a project we have a set of drawings. This project we didn’t because it was a remodel and it grew to an addition and several other things because we felt comfortable doing it. We didn’t require a set of drawings.”

Hobbs said this project was not yet at the point of being inspected by the county codes department. 

“I had the county codes inspector come out as a courtesy check before we went into roughing in plumbing and wiring to make sure we had all our bases covered in case we were going to have to fix something,” Hobbs said. 

He said the county asked him about the weight bearing trusses. But that documentation would have been provided at the inspection stage.

“The St. John Engineering report tells you that if you move a brace here or add one there, everything is under compliance,” Hobbs said. “We would not have done it if it would not have carried the load.”

Hobbs said a column that used a four-six-inch-thick driveway for a footing that is is technically “done wrong. But at the end of the day, it’s not a support issue, (because) there’s not that much weight on it.”   

The suit, according to, Hobbs is a collection issue rather than a codes issue.

“This isn’t about breach of contract or any of that stuff that the other news outlet put out there. This is about collecting a debt, plain and simple,” he said. “He owes me money and I want to be paid.”  

Hobbs said, “…Every project when you build something, (the couple involved) don’t always agree on how they want things. Sometimes one tells you one way, and another is telling me (something different). I felt like I was refereeing sometimes to achieve two goals.  One is a cost goal, and one is an aesthetic goal that they both wanted.”       

Hobbs stressed that the house is in the county and is under county code requirements. He said it has nothing to do with the city codes department. He further stressed that the suit has nothing to do with his role as mayor. 

“This has nothing to do with me being mayor,” Hobbs said. “It’s a business that I own and the (project) is governed by county codes.”

“Every project has challenges. We are a three-year-old company. We’ve done quite a bit of work and have satisfied customers. There’s always an opportunity for these things to come up, but overall, I’m in good standings with the state, my licenses are in order and my insurance is in order… we will do it correctly or we won’t do it. This is just a disagreement (over money),” Hobbs said.

The suit asks the courts to determine compensatory damages and asks to interplead the $65,813.91 that was invoiced by Homes by Hobbs prior to his dismissal from the job.  

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.