Irresponsible Builders, Poor Quality, Lowsy Developers

[usarender]

In the housing crisis, a chorus of complaints

As home prices fall in many markets, angry buyers are accusing builders of poor construction techniques and misleading sales tactics.

Residents of a new housing development in South Carolina fear that fumes from contaminated soil have caused dizziness and blackouts. In Colorado, homeowners say they were led to believe they'd enjoy a recreational lake that never materialized, causing property values to slip. As the housing slump worsens, U.S. home builders increasingly find themselves fending off complaints of shoddy construction, unsavory sales tactics and use of unsafe land.

There's no definitive gauge of consumer sentiment toward builders, but several signs point to growing unease. The annual new-home satisfaction surveys done by J.D. Power & Associates (a unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies, as is BusinessWeek) showed customer attitudes improving from 2001 to 2004 and then leveling off. But last year's survey, released in September, showed a 7% increase in the number of construction-defect complaints per home.

Criterium Engineers, a Portland, Maine, building-inspection service active in 35 states, found that from 2003 to 2006, the number of new homes with "significant problems" rose more than 13%. A public fund in Nevada created to settle builder complaints paid claims of nearly $1.2 million in 2006, up from $234,000 in 2003.

This is only the beginning, says Ronald T. Kozlowski, a property-casualty actuary with the consulting firm Towers Perrin in San Francisco. "Right now you're seeing the construction claims start to come in," he says, "but it'll take five to seven years" to get a full measure of the angry fallout. Anti-builder Web sites are proliferating, and two consumer groups, HomeOwners for Better Building and Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings, are compiling online lists of beefs against developers.

Whenever there's a rush of building, as there has been during the past five years, complaints are sure to follow. Some can be written off to unrealistic expectations. The National Association of Home Builders says 55% of customer grievances concern caulking, paint and other nitpicky issues. This time the grumbling may be exacerbated by frustration about developers' lending practices. And in areas where home values are dropping, every chipped tile is infuriating.

The range of consumer gripes is broad, including dissatisfaction with conditions outside the home as well as within. Summer Fujiki says she moved to Dunes Park, a subdivision in Henderson, Colo., in 2004, in large part because salespeople for builder D.R. Horton Inc. said a recreational lake soon would be nearby. The 31-year-old human-resources manager says Horton's reps referred to boating, walking trails and lake views from her three-bedroom home. But the area where the boats were supposed to sail is owned by Denver Water, and the agency has no plans to create a recreational lake. Fujiki's house, which looks out over dry terrain, has been on the market for two years, its appraised value slipping from $235,000 to $218,000. Only three potential buyers have come to see it, according to Fujiki. "Everyone says, 'What's up with the dirt hole?'"

Asked about Fujiki's account, Horton doesn't deny that it suggested a lake was in the works. In a written statement, the company says that it takes "great pride in constructing quality homes and aesthetically pleasing neighborhoods. We understand that the proposed use of adjacent property is important to potential home buyers. Therefore, we may share with potential buyers our understanding of zoning and future plans for adjacent properties. However, we do not control those plans and they are subject to change based on further zoning/use actions between the land owner and the municipality."

Builders have inoculated themselves against customers taking their complaints to court. Homeowners generally don't have the right to sue; their only legal recourse is arbitration, as required in most sales contracts. Contracts also typically prohibit customers from disclosing problems to the media or prospective buyers. Better Business Bureaus aren't always helpful, because builders can simply drop out. Four big builders voluntarily left Houston's BBB in 2004 and 2005, for example. And builders are only lightly regulated, primarily by state and local authorities.

Even so, consumers are becoming increasingly vocal in their complaints. Clyde M. and Tracy D. Singleton, a couple in their 50s from Shepherdstown, W.Va., say that one month after they moved into their new $409,000 house in October, the basement filled with sewage a foot deep. Tracy says they spent three months in a hotel before their developer, NVR Inc., of Reston, Va., got the place cleaned up. The Singletons have resisted arbitration. Instead they have alleged in a suit pending in federal court in Martinsburg, W.Va., that NVR failed to put in an underground shut-off valve to prevent sewage from backing up into their house. The Singletons claim that because the valve should have been installed outside of their home, the dispute isn't covered by the arbitration clause in their contract.

NVR countered in a motion to dismiss the suit, saying it lacks merit. The Singletons have "failed to allege any facts" indicating that the company "unreasonably used its property" to harm the plaintiffs, NVR argues.

Lennar Corp., of Miami, another large builder, has drawn scrutiny in South Carolina. Residents of its new Pebble Creek development in North Charleston, such as Bill and Holly Hurley, say they have suffered from lightheadedness, lethargy and depression. Home inspections they commissioned showed unsafe levels of methane gas, which the Hurleys and others fear may be linked to possible soil contamination by a previous landowner.

Lennar says in a written statement that it "hired a consulting firm before the land was developed and found no evidence of recognized environmental conditions" at that time. Playing down health concerns, Lennar acknowledges that methane has seeped out of "broken sewer pipes and improperly seated toilets," which it says it has now repaired. The ultimate source of the gas hasn't been determined, however. The company has bought back one house as a result of the controversy.

Lennar perceives another cause for anxiety in Pebble Creek. Its general counsel, Mark Sustana, said in an interview that buyers are aggravated about seeing their investments depreciate as the housing boom has given way to a bust.

Lowsy Builders

What this demonstrates -

1. Arbitration is BS ! Arbitration is the worst system in this county, a means government and large corporations have devised to freaken mess with the consumer, take away his right to fight in a regular court! Arbitration stinks!

2. IRRESPONSIBLE BUILDERS AND DEVELOPERS! Builders are increasingly irresponsible and are producing shoddy construction, then wash their hands of all responsibility.

It is high time we denounce this abuse and start to defend our rights in this country! Down with arbitration and down with lowsy builders and developers, producing junk and taking the consumer's money!

Down with freaken lowsy builders and developers!

[ahmeds]

2. IRRESPONSIBLE BUILDERS AND DEVELOPERS! Builders are increasingly irresponsible and are producing shoddy construction, then wash their hands of all responsibility. -usarender

When construction is going on, right fom the start supervision of project architect is always required ( i hope you know that) so should there any shoddy construction work one question comes,
was there an agreement for suprvision between the client, architect and contractor? I as far as I know that item is a must ( for architect to take supervision job).
So if contractor does any mistake on site another question is where was the supervising architect?
Truly contractors are always keen on saving and making more profit foirgetting that they are crippling the stability of the building and also reducing the design. Contractors should always be supervised.

[usarender]

In my opinion it is a problem of the poor workmanship, low quality materials these builders and developers are dumping on the consumer. The architect may specify a nice material, but the builder and developer, to cut costs, substitutes for low quality materials and low quality workmanship all for the sake of greed and the architect most likely is required to give in to the desires of these speculative greedy large corporations who push their will forward at any cost. So you can't blame the architect. He often tries but the will of these big companies to cut costs and push trash on the consumer prevails. Also, it is clear the consumers are not blaming the architects as well, but the builders and the developers. This is quite clear from this article.

[ahmeds]

You are right I understood your points.

[usarender]

Of course there are many respected builders as well that are doing us an honor of providing quality homes.

Try This One

""Builder of the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” home for the Rainford Family, Majestic is 1 of only 60 builders in America chosen for this task. The episode aired nationally, and was a 2 Hour Special. A special website “www.ExtremeMajestic.com” has been set up to view the entire process.

Majestic Homes and Realty has become one of South Florida’s largest custom home builders with exponential growth potential to become one of Florida’s largest multi-family home builders. We take pride in building the finest homes in premier locations.

The secret to the success of Majestic Homes is very simple; build a good quality home, combine it with affordability and people will always recommend you. The families we have served in the community have been instrumental in our growth. """"

[ahmeds]

Superb !

[ahmeds]

that's really terrific, and it's also a very nice presentation

[usarender]

I am glad you enjoyed it Ahmeds!

[TJCaine]

Another kink in the hose is that some of these large, residential development conglomerates employ their own in-house architects. Once they have four different sets of plans they can build 100 homes. So in the system of checks and balances that was created between client, architect, building department, contractor and tradesmen in order to ensure quality and safety for the end user, these massive building powerhouses end up with just one more way to circumvent the system if their designer is actually on their payroll. It's a hard problem to attack where the most successful solution often seems the hardest to realize--educating the average consumer enough so that they know how to demand more or saturating the market with better designs that push the prices of the shifty things down.

[modjohn]

Consumers are partially to blame for the quality of housing they are offered. Most consumers only want a big house and care little about how it is constructed, what materials are used and how energy efficient the house will be. At least until problems start to show up.

Home construction is a very competitive market. In a way, builders are only providing what the consumers want. You could compare it to the desire to have an SUV. People know they get crappy gas mileage, but when gas prices go up, they complain!

Furthermore, if a consumer requests a smaller, higher quality home which will cost the same as his neighbor who has an extra 1500 sq. ft., he will then not be able to sell his higher quality home at some point in the future for the same price as his neighbor because other buyers are only looking at square footage and not quality.

It’s a vicious circle.

[P.C.]

No it's a Pyramide!

[P.C.]

Beside one day there are bound to come a smart guy -- isn't they all in that branche ? Who find out , -- becaurse that is not so difficult either -- that you can get the puzzle for something that beside being cheaper and something any carpenter can understand, also deliver a decent much better fireproven, smarter isolated and better every way structure for a house, now everything is sheet materials anyway.

[usarender]

No, don't think some smart spam guy coming along with some "brilliant" revolutionary idea will solve the world's housing crisis. It just doesn't happen that way.....sorry to disappoint you. I've come to terms with reality. I've seen the light... Booo.

A bunch of wackos indeed.