Exposing New Home Builders

Request for a Congressional hearing concerning accountability of the home building industry. - Petition!

This is vitally important! If you, like me, and the hundreds of people I see pass through my sites daily, are looking to actively do something about the sorry state of the new home building industry, here is your chance!!! Read this petition being brought forth by HADD , Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings, and if you agree please go here and sign it. You can make a difference!!! Do it now!! Thank you for your time.

Request for a Congressional hearing concerning accountability of the home building industry.

Re: Request for a Congressional hearing concerning accountability of the home building industry. Dear Members of Congress, Each year, thousands of unsuspecting home buyers become owners of defectively built new homes due to faulty design, code violations, cracked foundations, missing critical materials, improper site preparation and grading, moisture problems and leaks that can lead to mold/rot, substandard workmanship, and even unsafe structures. Thousands lose their life savings, as well as the value of their homes, and years of stress from trying to get laws enforced and the builder or warranty company held accountable for its failure to honor the contracts. The January 2004 issue of Consumer Reports Magazine stated that 15% of new homes have at least two serious defects; at least 150,000 new homes every year. Many serious defects can be quickly hidden under concrete or siding, unobservable even by professional home inspectors until the damage shows up. URL to Consumer Reports Article, 'Housewrecked': http://www.consumerreports.org/. Thus far, it has been the consensus of our elected officials to punish Americans further by supporting building industry legislation that harms homeowners under the guise of consumer protection and affordable housing. There is nothing affordable about defective housing. Builder sponsored legislation will enable bad builders to continue to build substandard homes and breach the warranty without fear of consequences. Such legislation is often referred to as Notice and Opportunity to Repair (NOR) or Right to Repair. About half the states, at this writing, have passed NOR laws, which generally require strict compliance by homeowners, who may or may not have the law's usually complex requirements disclosed to them. Irresponsible home builders harm the reputation of the home building industry and of good builders, and drive up the cost of housing and builders' insurance. Bad builders create claims, lawsuits, and hidden costs of new housing such as unnecessary repairs, lost wages to take off work and deal with a construction defect dispute, experts' fees, legal fees, and loss of equity. Some of these cases end in foreclosure, only to have the foreclosing bank sell the home without proper repairs to another unsuspecting buyer. Without emotional distress awards most families-after attorney fees, potential taxes on an award if they collect it, and costs-are unable to make the needed repairs. That is, assuming they win and collect, and many who prevail in court are never able to collect a dime. Most lawyers don't take these cases because they don't pay well enough, leaving homeowners with mediocre, (or worse), or no legal help. Most of these cases are not class-actions, but leave individual homeowners to do battle with sometimes huge corporations and their legal departments. Irresponsible home builders often file appeals, dissolve the corporation but go on building under another name, and never pay the judgment. With multiple corporations, suits and complaints are also less available to the public when researching builders before buying. Additionally, even though homeowners have paid their builder, if the builder did not pay the subs and suppliers, the homeowner can find they have liens on their property due to the builder's failure to pay those parties. Numerous home building or housing industry scandals have been investigated and even prosecuted in past years, at an increasing rate but these cases are the tip of the iceberg. State agencies ignore most complaints because there are not yet enough of them on the same builder or other entity. It is time that these matters are seriously investigated by the Federal Trade Commission which, in the 70's, warned the building industry about shoddy construction. Until bad builders, instead of homeowners, feel the repercussions for construction defects, there is no incentive for safe and sound construction, or ethical business practices. Our homes are the most expensive and important purchase most of us ever make. A home is the one product that, if built with severe defects, can ruin a family financially. As a taxpayer and constituent, I am in accordance with the following resolve; 1.) Knowing that arbitration clauses take away our 7th amendment right under the U.S. Constitution to a jury trial in damages over $20: We ask that a ban on mandatory arbitration be placed on all consumer contracts, as it was never intended to be used in business-to-consumer contracts. 2.) Knowing that arbitration and out of court settlements with confidentiality clauses, ('gag orders'), take away our 1st amendment right to free speech under the U.S. Constitution: We demand a public database of home builder and warranty company complaints so that home buyers may do meaningful research before choosing these companies. We demand a ban on 'gag orders' beyond discussing the details of a settlement; that we may be allowed to disclose valid complaints to consumer agencies without fear of retaliation, for the protection of future home-buyers. 3.) Knowing that in most states a homeowner may not be able to recover attorney's fees and other costs above and beyond actual repairs/damages: We request laws change to make these costs recoverable so that a prevailing homeowner can pay all costs and still repair their house; to 'break even', or be 'made whole.' 4.) We demand trained, skilled and supervised labor in the home building industry along with licensing, bonding, code enforcement, and law enforcement, for residential builders in all states. 5.) We demand emotional distress awards and/or punitive damages for homeowners that have had to suffer greatly; such awards help a financially devastated family pay all of its costs, and act as a deterrent to builders who continually and blatantly ignore codes and laws. Thank you for your consideration in these matters. Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings, a non profit organization. (HADD, Inc.)

Costs of Home-Defect Suits Mount Up; And for Good Reason - Unscrupulous and Shoddy New Home Builders

"The Arizona Republic examined more than 200 home-defect cases filed in the past five years against the Valley's top builders. Among the findings:

 

* Lennar Corp., the third-largest builder in America, agreed in September 2000 to pay $3.6 million to settle an expansive-soils case in north Glendale's Pinnacle Hill development by buying back 15 homes and settling with four other homeowners. The company spent an additional $8 million to repair 80 homes in the 105-home development.

   
* Two years ago, Regal Homes paid $2.6 million to repurchase seven homes in Glendale's Arrowhead Lakes development. Owners said water had leaked into the bottom floor of their tri-level homes.

   
* In the past year, Trend Homes spent nearly $1 million to repurchase eight homes in Glibert's Towne Park at North Shore development after homeowners alleged that homes were defective because expansive soil caused the homes to crack. Owners of seven other homes settled for an undisclosed amount.

   
* In July, Pulte Home Corp. settled for an undisclosed amount with owners of 85 homes in Mesa's Superstition Springs area. The owners alleged their homes were infested with termites and had concrete, roof, wiring and duct work problems.

   
* In March, Shea Homes settled for $2 million with 31 buyers of UDC Homes in Vistana in north Scottsdale after allegations of leaky windows and roofs and stucco problems. UDC, which Shea bought three years ago, also was accused of deleting waterproofing material that keeps water out."

And what do you suppose these shoddy builders had to say about these facts?

Well, "Max Johnson, Shea's general counsel, said Shea settled because it didn't have reliable records from UDC. Pulte's corporate office in Bloomfield, Mich., did not return phone calls. Regal's attorney said the company nearly broke even by reselling all of the homes it repurchased in Arrowhead Lakes. And Trend said that it settled because the company was 'outstrategized' and that most of the homes involved had problems because the owners didn't care for them."

How many times have we heard these regurgitated statements?!

Shea Homes, "didn't have reliable records." That's par for the course; the only piece of paper they can always find is you bill!
Pulte Homes prefers to have their defective shanties cloaked in secrecy while turning a cold shoulder to the enquirers of truth as can be attested by the undisclosed settlement amounts/terms and failures to return phone calls concerning their atrocities.
Regals Homes resold their defective garbage to new unsuspecting buyers; breaking even. Well, I guess the new buyers being duped into buying these houses from Regal Homes actually paid for the repairs, if any were made, on top of the appreciation for the area. What do you call that, premium refuse?
Trend Homes, realizing that there was no good defense for their pathetically thrown together houses, admitted they "were outstrategized" by average people, with average funding and average resources compared to themselves. Thus, the builders played their usual trump card; blame the homeowners, "most of the homes involved had problems because the owners didn't care for them." What a cop-out!

Here are a few more words of wisdom from the shysters themselves:

 

"We think these defect claims are ridiculous," said Reed Porter, president of Trend Homes. "We will not let some attorneys come in and tell us what we do is defective...."

- No Mr. Porter, the judge does that because of your practice of running rough shod over your customers to make yet another dollar.

"Buddy Satterfield, president of Shea Homes, said his company is reluctant to buy a home back because 'it sets a bad precedent.'" - I would think that building such sorry homes and building homes in known flood plains is a bad precedent.

"Builders say that they would gladly fix the homes if the owners would let them, but that typically doesn't happen once the lawyers get involved."

- Please!! We, the home buyers, have to do everything short of holding a gun to your head to get anything done; thus the weapon of last resort; a lawyer.

"Some home builders say settling cases is an unfortunate part of doing business, but it's less costly than going to trial. It's also a way to avoid facing a jury that may have an inherent bias in favor of fellow homeowners."

I can understand why home builders do not want to go before a jury of their peers. Home builders have already potentially screwed members of the jury or the jury members' family and friends. The only thing being avoided by the home builders is justice; precisely why new home builders force arbitration on their victims and back tort reform and select politicians with their (our) money!

"Connie Wilhelm, executive director of the builders association, said some homeowners who sue are using their houses as a lottery ticket 'to get something for nothing.'" Do you hear this crap?! How about getting what we paid for; a safe home, delivered on time, and to code. Not to mention we would have a better chance at playing the lottery and winning than for new home builders to deliver the home that was promised!

"Phoenix area builders cite Las Vegas as a case study in what goes wrong once home-defect suits get out of hand. Homeowners there have won an estimated $200 million the past five years..."

Sounds to me that what has gone wrong and has gotten out of hand is the new home building industries arrogance, power, and greed. Their ability to presist at knowingly forcing home buyers to accept homes that are lemons, silencing the outcry of legitimate complaints of home owners, striping home owners of their rights with mandatory arbitration, and if you actually are able to take the builders to court they pummel these same Americans with their hordes of cash and rabid attorneys until the average person can not take it any more and relents.

"Porter of Trend Homes said he would never buy back another house. He and other builders say that the lawsuits have doubled or tripled their insurance premiums and that they have no choice but to pass on that cost to buyers. Trend will increase the price of each home by $1,000 in the next year." -

This is a perfect example of how loath new home builders are about touching their profits. They pass everything from litigation expenses for their shoddy construction to city and state regulatory fees on to the home buyers they are screwing. Why do you think there is no affordable housing except what city counsels and commissioners force upon new home builders? Because new home builders don't want to reduce their stellar profits in order to build affordable housing for teachers, police, emergency medical, firemen, government employees, lower income families, etc.

"At a recent meeting, builders could not recall any construction-defect case involving multiple homes that they took to trial and won. And builders' attorneys couldn't recall any multiple-homes cases they were successful in getting dismissed." - That's because new home builders are guilty as charged and it's apparent to everyone who sees the new home building industry in the light of day.

Are you tired of being at the mercy of powerful, arrogant, and greedy home builders? Then get involved! Make your voice heard! David really did slay Goliath.Take the first step by signing this petition to provide oversight and regulation of the new home building industry. Then get hooked-up with like minded individuals in your neighborhood, city, and online to begin taking back home owner rights and dignity.