JD Power is nearly worthless as a tool to choose a builder.  Like the BBB and licensing agencies, etc, it's only useful if you find negative info there, then you know to stay away.  But finding positive (or no) info is meaningless.  So many complaints are kept under wraps that the "good info" can be worse than useless, it can be deceiving.  Another way JD Power is meaningless is that they only rate the area's biggest builders.  Most of the goood builders are NOT in this group of tract builders but are smaller companies that focus on quality.  Truly good builders are hard to find in the sea of bad to mediocre builders of any size operating out there.  If JD Power rated on quality they'd have to survey the owners of thousands of local builders in each area they do their survey in.  A gargantuan task.  But to only rate one class of builder means that if most of them are crappy tract builders, all the rating says is which of them is the least crappy.  It can't possibly tell you that some are "good" because of the many flaws in their research.  And I use the term research very loosely.  I don't think it's research at all, it's more like advertising.

Before I closed I had big issues with the mortgage company. When I filled out the survey, the sales man and the customer rep was hovering over me telling me what to say. When I told them I couldn't give them a good rating because of the mortgage they were whining and pewling that they wouldn't get their bonuses.  What I know now, they probably threw it away.

I had to call pulte and demand they send me the one year survey.  They really didn't want me to see it and/or fill it out.  I did, and I have to believe they threw that one out too. 

JD Powers takes NO complaints. I have already tried and you can read the responses, which are mostly canned on this site.  They base their awards on surveys ONLY.  I did read an article last year written by JD powers stating not to take their word solely, but to look at other avenues. yeah right.

Now the BBB. I filed a complaint in the Kansas City area with the BBB.  They told me that because the builder was headquartered in Michigan, the complaint was forwarded.  This is the reason you will find no complaints in the KS/MO area. ALL builder complaints are forwarded and when I was looking for a house it didn't cross my mind one time to check out the BBB in Michigan (go figure).

As far as my house. I received the tax property statement on my house for 2008. The value of the house is ZERO  (nothing), and the value of the land at 59K.  So at least my property tax bill will be low this year.  I still have no homeowners insurance. Well, yes I have the forced placed insurance, but it only covers the cost of the building for the lender. (AND it is six (6) times the cost of my insurance that was dropped) If there was a calamity, I would have no insurance to cover any of my personal effects, liability, or anything else.  The lender is another story, and at least from what I know they have stopped buying bundles (mortgages) from this builder and I do know for a fact because of the issues I have and the correpondence I have had with the legal department, to get a refinance in my subdivision (all mortgages in my subdivision are held by the same lender) they have to have a structural engineer report.  (I can't imagine why)

http:///www.justanotherlemon.com/CCFL/pulte.htm