CEDAR RAPIDS – A flood damaged Northwest Cedar Rapids home has slipped off its foundation.

City inspectors say the house at 519 9th Street Northwest is a dangerous situation that needs to be addressed right away, but the homeowner disagrees.

The homeowner was in the process of repairing the house on Wednesday when it suddenly slipped off the foundation. He planned to fix it, but a neighbor complained it looked dangerous.

Soon after, city inspectors showed up to investigate.

Ron O'Brien couldn't believe it when he found out city inspectors wanted him to repair or demolish his flooded home immediately even though the house had tilted back and slipped off the foundation while he was working on it.

"I'm not afraid to crawl underneath the house. You can walk in there. You have to duck to miss some of the iron, but you can walk underneath there,” O’Brien said.

O'Brien's daughter Ronnee feels the same way.

"I think the city is over-reacting. There's other things they should be doing besides worrying about this,” she said.

Inspectors hired by the city of Cedar Rapids say the house could collapse unless someone stabilizes it soon. Officials also said people should hire experienced contractors to do complicated projects like this.

"I hope that if anybody had the idea of doing work on their own, this would be an example of where expertise could be brought in to help,” Fire Marshal Jim Thatcher said.

Some neighbors feel the same way.

"People get caught up in the cost of things. How much things are going to cost, but not matter what the cost, it's worth it just for safety,” neighbor Donna Sweet said.

O'Brien says he has decades of experience with construction projects and had all the permits he needed to do the job. But, the city isn't sure if he actually had a permit or simply just applied for a permit.

"It's a good question at this point,” Thatcher said.

O’Brien countered, "If I don't have a permit, then they didn't issue the stuff correctly because I have all the paperwork to prove it."

City officials are investigating. No matter what happens, O'Brien will have to do something to fix or demolish the house as soon as possible.

The city will assess the situation again on Friday.

O'Brien will have to provide some kind of proof that he's trying to fix it or the city could take action that might even be as drastic as demolition.