HONOLULU -- At the center of a growing controversy and legal battle against Haseko, a major developer in West Oahu, are small metal clips.

The devices, if manufactured and installed properly, are supposed to help your home withstand hurricane force winds.

A flurry of complaints filed in court this summer threw the spotlight on construction problems with phase one of the Ewa development.

Ocean Pointe homeowners have gone to court to seek class action relief. The problem could affect about 800 homeowners.

One Ewa Beach homeowner has been nervous since two of his neighbors had to have rusty hurricane straps in their home replaced.

"The two sides and the back and the house had to be repainted after the straps were replaced," said Ocean Pointe homeowner Michael Beamer.

Beamer said he began noticing cracks near his garage doors he thought it was just his house but a walk along this street found otherwise.

Attorney Mel Agena said he first filed a complaint against Haseko in June claiming his clients were seeing chunks of concrete fall off their foundation revealing rusting hurricane clips or straps that are supposed to protect their homes.

"If there is rust in hurricane straps, it will fail in hurricane conditions," Agena said.

Pictures showed the issue in a cluster of homes in phase one of Haseko's development in Ewa.

"The rusting in the hurricane strap make it useless for what it was intended to do which is to keep the house in one piece in the even of high winds," Agena said.

The straps are required in newer homes.

But Agena said in a lawsuit, filed by Haseko against the manufacturer, that the steel straps didn't contain enough zinc to make them rustproof and so are not up to code.

Agena said he also plans to go after Haseko for failing to give proper notice to its homeowners.

"If in fact Haseko knew about the problem in 2005, why did they wait until 2009 to give the homeowners notification that you have a potential problem with the straps," Agena said.

That has homeowners, like Bearner, worried about the resale value of his home.

"If you have already identified the problem, you have to disclose that and it could affect the resale of your house yeah," said Bearner.

A statement from Haseko Tuesday said the straps that were used are an off-the-shelf product widely used both in Hawaii and on the mainland.

The developer said out of caution it stopped using the product several years ago and is trying to get the manufacturer to address the problem.