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Major Structural Defects on brand new house

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Besidemyself

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Kansas

This is convoluted and complicated. I purchased a brand new house and moved in June 16, 2006. On July 11, 2006 I emailed the customer rep of the builder that I was having problems with stuck doors. I thought it was unusual to send an operations rep, but have since found out that is a sign of a moving foundation. The damage has accelerated in 4 months to bent I-beams, heaving living floor, splitting joists, racked windows, doors that will not close, part of the framework has actually moved ½” in 4 months, etc. etc. The builder has a 10 yr warranty, but only wants to make band-aid fixes. Well actually they have only offered to fix the drywall cracking at the bottom of the basement and fix the door that will not close (BUT that is all they have offered to fix). There have been two separate structural engineers inspecting this house and there is something going on under the house. Both think it may be a spring of some sort. I am fighting with the builder to buy the house back because of the excessive damage. To repair this house will cost more than it cost the builder to build. Since the sales contract I signed states that I will get a brand new home free of defects can I file a lawsuit? They have not lived up to their contract. The kicker is, that in the contract there is a binding arbitration clause. I looked into that and have learned the arbitration is only good for the builder as the builder gets to hire the private arbitrating company. In 8 years nation wide, only 6 homeowners have won cases in arbitration.

This is my web page on the situation: http://www.geocities.com/myllamas/CCFL/pulte.htm

I have sent volumes of letters to every agency I can think of, senators, congressmen et al and I am not getting much accomplished. There is another issue which I will address separately – predatory lending. Oh yes, the builder also owns the mortgage company, so they are in bed together. As long as the builder brings in a good tax base, the good state of Kansas will look the other way.

Any advice is sincerely appreciated. Any names of people that might be interested in this story, would be great too. I am a single woman that is willing to go to the mat. Thank you
 


Yes, your house does need to be bought back by Pulte...plus moving expenses.

Did you contact the building department? They may condemn your house and you'd have to move out immediately though.

I would be very concerned and would not live in that house out of safety concerns.
 

Buk1000

Member
I suspect you have already found the various consumer oriented sites like HADD.com since you have found out about the arbitration problems, etc, but if not, go there. I found it enormously helpful in my case. I believe the OH Chapter president had your builder, too. I did not have your builder but the scenario's familiar just the same.

My own experience with foundation failure started similarly, though was not caused by ground water. You will have to pay experts (good ones!), to find out what's really going on. Do not be in a huge rush to settle for damages until you find out ALL of the problems. If you settle too quickly you might be barred from getting anything more if you later discover the problems are more expensive than originally thought. I believe you sound aware that this is a serious problem. Some homeowners will accept cosmetic patches and either thru ignorance or denial will never investigate further. They are screwed when they later find serious issues, and it causes major prob's with reselling, disclosures, insurance, etc.

You've taken action and that's good. I disagree with the person who said it's whining. Most people with a construction defect dispute have already thought of finding a lawyer and if they could easily find a good one they would not be on a message board looking for help. The fact is, lawyers don't like to take these cases because they're not profitable. I have networked with hundreds of homeowners and the story is familiar: the lawyers say that even if the case is a good one, the homeowner won't get enough to make it worth while, or may never collect. The chance of the lawyer getting much is slim. Most states essentially cap awards to repair costs and many people cannot get even legal fees, depending on state law.

Arbitration clauses that prohibit suing make it even less attractive to lawyers because of lack of profit for the lawyer, and good chance of losing even if your case is good, in arbitration.

Keep fighting. My case took 5 years but I did settle and got back nearly everything. If I'd found a good lawyer sooner it would've taken less time. There are good lawyers out there, but in the meantime stick with it. Many times builders wear down the homeowner and they give up.
 

Besidemyself

Junior Member
O.K. all but one builder in the U.S. requires a new home buyer to sign the contract with a binding arbitration clause. I thought I knew what that meant until looked into it. arbitration companies are private and are hired by the builder. So, if you were the arbitrater who would you rule in favor of? - the person who could hire another company or a one time 'deal'? According to HOBB, only 6 people in the US have won a case in the last 8 years and that is only because the builders didn't put something correctly and/or left out something on their arbitration clause. If I lose, I pay my attorney fees and theirs. The cost to file for arbitration depends on the cost of the home. Mine would be about 4-5,000$ and it is $3,000 a day AND that doesn't include my attorney fees. It would cost me about $60,00 to go to arbitration and my chance of winning is almost less than my chance of winning the lottery.

I have been in contact with both HADD and HOBB. I sent a certified letter to both the coporate pres in Michigan and the president of pulte mortgage (they hold my mortgage - another story on my other thread). I made sure in the letter that I stated the letter DID NOT invoke the right to repair law. (a law written entirely for the benefit of builders against consumers like me) I also sent copies of this letter with a cover letter to HUD, the FTC (who I am working with currently on the mortgage issue), senators, congressmen, state senators, state congressmen, the atty general, the governor (both MO and KS since I live so close), the contractor licensing bureau, county commissioners, city inspectors, the mayor, the housing and banking committee in wash dc. Americas Watchdog. com and every other organization I can think of. Americas watchdog.com, HADD and HOBB have been working with me.

I have papers posted all over the house stating the damage, why it happened and the dates. I hold open houses on the week-ends. The local builder management is trying to get the HOA to change the rules so that I can't do this. This is a brand new subdivision (with over 690 houses left to sell) so the HOA is handled by a company that the builder hired. I do believe what they are trying to do is discrimination. My loyalty to the builder has been questioned, I was told that I could be sued if I say anything bad about them in the PRIVACY of my OWN home. Anyway, I am not deterred so easily.

Now an attorney. builders like you to get attorneys because they have to follow the rules. I hird an attorney and after two letters realized that the builder was just trying to use up all of my money because the replys never addressed what the attorney asked. So I have him in an advisement capacity right now. I am a homeowner out of control. They don't know what I will do next. I was on the local station channel 9 Friday. They did a quick consumer report on the house and I was interviewed. Of course the builder was interviewed too and according to them I am preventing them from assessing the damage and/or repairing it. What a crock. So today I have a big sign next to my open house sign stating the last time the builder was in the house assessing the damage.

If the builder had done what was right and got a geotechnical type person to find out what the problem was, this damage would not be occurring and/or continuing. I can't explain the rate it is happening, but it is fast. The lastest was discovered by the camera man when we were filming in the garage (I don't know why I didn't notice it), he said, look at your freezer. It was tilting! It is known the garage floor has cracked along the perimeter and moving away from the foundation, but now the garage floor is rising on one side causing the slope. I am monitoring the joists for the manufacturer tech rep because once the cracks reach a certain length, the floor integrity is at question. I asked the housing inspector and did some research on how a house is condemned in Johnson County but can't come up with the information and the housing inspection office isn't telling. If I was a betting woman, the inspection office is sweating bullets. They approved and passed the foundation and footings on this house.

I can't explain how stressful this is. I am a single person and doing this by myself. I have the written support of the people I mentioned above, but going it alone is tough. However, I don't like fights, but I have never been one to back off and the builder should do what is right.

I am looking into trying to find a national television station where they might be interested in a story. I know that I am not the only person that has been screwed over by the builder and I know there are people that use their mortgage company that have issues AND probably don't realize it (like me) until someone reviews it.

Jetx. Hopefully you won't have to go through this, you are hard. I am not whining. I found this forum in the hope there were some insight I could gather that would assist not hinder in my quest. It is obvious from my post that I can handle myself but sometimes there are questions that need to be asked and I don't know all the questions.

Thank you all for your answers. I appreciate it.
 
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