Recently, the Washington Post reported that Prince William, Virginia officials are investigating a 982-home development built on bad soil that could; over time crack the foundations of the new homes.

A CNN, “A House Divided” two part series reported that builder short cuts and building on expansive soils are cracking foundations.

The report referred to the cheap land as a ticking time bomb and worse yet homeowners are left with little recourse.

Hutto city officials are finding themselves in the middle of some of these same controversial issues.

The homebuilding business has been booming throughout Texas especially Hutto, and after Thursday night’s City Council meeting some are saying the commonality of expansive soils problems and defective trusses are a major concern. 

Hutto Chief Building Official Daniel McDowell reported to the council that it appears excessive movement has caused increased stress loads to the building components due to expansive soil in the area causing nail pops, cracks in drywall, slabs and masonry are prevalent and that homeowners are complaining that Lennar Homes repairs are inadequate. 

Angry homeowners stepped to the podium complaining they obtained what they say are falsified HUD Builders Certification, form 92541, in which Lennar certified that the soil the homes were built on was not expansive.

Homeowners went on to echo the same common defects in their homes as those reported in an March 5, 2007 American-Statesman article that residents of the Legends of Hutto subdivision complained of cracks in walls, nail pops caused by shifting foundations, defective and incorrectly installed trusses. As the night wore on, one-by-one homeowners called on city officials to ban Lennar Homes from building in Hutto. 

The Florida based Lennar Homes is not without controversy and has been widely reported in the news in other parts of the country.

Most common detailed are roofing structures that are plagued with improper instillation of defective trusses. Lennar responded and bought back homes in Florida and as well as Texas .

Daily headlines across the country report skyrocketing foreclosures and self-destructing homes due to construction defects with little or no recourse because of Binding Arbitration clauses in builder’s contracts that deny families the 7th amendment right to sue the builder in court.

Texans were especially hard hit in the late 90’s when builders were an instrumental force in the passage of the first Tort Reform legislation in to country to limit builder’s liability.