New Construction Warranty

What is the name of your state? North Carolina. I have discovered a crack in my basement wall. It is a vertical crack from floor to ceiling and when it rains water leaks into the basement. I have a finished basement and it is damaging drywall carpet etc. It appears that the wall is being pushed in due to pressure from the outside. I have asked the contractor who built my home 5 years ago to repair this under warranty. He suggested that I claim this under my homeowners insurance. Does anyone know what is the correct course of action in this case?

First, READ the warranty. HOW LONG does itr cover you for? WHAT specifically does it cover, and how much coverage do you have? WHO does it say you should contact in oder to make a claim under the warranty?

If it is still in effect, send a certified letter RRR to the party responsible for handling claims under the warranty demanding immediate action to fix this structural defect. Since you're hardly in a climate zone where deep freezing and thawing would be likely to cause heaving of the soil, you're probably right on the money looking at the builder. Foundations shouldn't be cracking within 5 years of construction no matter what the circumstances. Then again, I live in a stone home in Southeastern PA that was constructed in the early 20's and have experienced a foundation issue that was easily remedied with a better drainage system. I guess they just don't build 'em like they used to...

Good luck

Im not an attorney either, but I had a problem with a builder and warranty company mostly regarding foundation failure. I learned it's way too common in new/newer homes these days, thanks to shoddy construction. I got help from http://www.hadd.com in the form of information. A lot of builders tell homeowners to report this to their homeowners insurance and IMO that's a mistake. If you read your homeowners insurance policy it probably excludes this problem. I know of very, very few instances where a homeowners policy covered it, and the problem is that once you report it, your house is forever on the CLUE report which can make it hard to insure or sell. Your state might have laws that hold the builder accountable for longer than the typical one year builder's warranty. You'll have to find out from likely more than one or two lawyer consultations what your rights really are in your state and in your situation.

Check your policies for exclusions, the potentially dangerous arbitration clause, etc. Good luck. I agree with the other person who said a house of this age should not have this problem. BTW, shortcutting on the drainage system is a common builder problem, which could be the cause of your problem but you will probably need to hire a structural engineer experienced with foundation problems to be sure. In my area this can cost from $300 to well over a thousand depending on what they do.

New Construction

Regrettably, you may have only a one year structural warranty. Do you have a tree close to the area with roots that could be causing the problem?

If possible avoid using your homeowners insurance. It will only give them a way to increase your premiums later (or even cancel your coverage at the anniversary time) because you will have made a claim.