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Homeowners hold open house to air complaints
A group of frustrated homeowners in the Fairhaven neighborhood opened their doors Saturday, leading several public officials on a tour of shifting foundations, cracked drywall and broken tile. Seventeen homeowners planted “Open House†signs in their front yards in hopes of bringing attention to their ongoing dispute with builder Pulte Homes. Common complaints included sticking doors and foundation cracks that slice through the center of homes. Homeowners estimate that of 210 homes in Phases II and III of the neighborhood, 70 have reported problems.“We bought new construction because we thought we would not have all of these problems,†said Heather Camelio.
Homeowners hold open house to air complaints
By Jennifer Hiller
A steady flow of water runs down Storm Ridge Street as residents in the Fairhaven subdivision
hold an “open house†to show structural problems in their homes on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012.
Photo:Tom Reel, San Antonio Express-News / San Antonio Express-News
See comments and more photos below
SCHERTZ — A group of frustrated homeowners in the Fairhaven neighborhood opened their doors Saturday, leading several public officials on a tour of shifting foundations, cracked drywall and broken tile.
Seventeen homeowners planted “Open House†signs in their front yards in hopes of bringing attention to their ongoing dispute with builder Pulte Homes.
Common complaints included sticking doors and foundation cracks that slice through the center of homes. Homeowners estimate that of 210 homes in Phases II and III of the neighborhood, 70 have reported problems.
“We bought new construction because we thought we would not have all of these problems,†said Heather Camelio, whose home has had foundation cracks, cabinets and counters separating from the walls, and a broken water line. Her driveway was replaced once but appears to be separating from the house again.
Officials who went on the tour included state Sen. Jeff Wentworth, Guadalupe County Judge Mike Wiggins, Guadalupe County Commissioner Jim Wolverton, Schertz City Councilman David Scagliola, Guadalupe County first assistant county attorney Robert Etlinger and Rosa Rosales, the former national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens.
The invited guests asked questions, but mostly let homeowners do the talking.
Or in Ken Russell's case, he let a glass jar do the talking. He set a jar on the floor in his living room, where it rolled swiftly across the tiled floor, then back toward him, eventually rocking back and forth over the site of a foundation crack.
“A crack like that can't be fixed,†he said.
Valerie Dolenga, a spokeswoman for Pulte, said the builder will work to repair homes. She said a third-party engineer is “near the end of his analysis for the homes,†and that work will be peer-reviewed.
“We're still working on it. I know it's frustrating,†Dolenga said. “I think they're nearing a solution.â€
By the end of February, she said the builder will have identified the cause of the problems and repair protocols.
“Each home is different,†she said. “Some of the repairs could be the same, but the cause and the issues are all different.â€
Brian and Peggy Benavides have one of the more arduous tales. The couple spent two months in a hotel in late 2010 while Pulte had a foundation company install 46 piers at a depth of 48 feet. They said it took Pulte six months to reimburse them for their $4,000 hotel bill.
Now their home is showing signs of foundation problems in the same spots as before. And mold — which has been dealt with once — is back.
“Now I'm pregnant and we have mold again,†Peggy Benavides said. “Please explain to me how that is healthy.â€
They have a U.S. Housing and Urban Development form that the builder filled out in 2008 stating that the home site does not have expansive soil.
But a 2010 letter from the builder to the couple states that the problems were because of “expansive soils (clay) your home is built on.â€
Several people said they were concerned about fill dirt. Ryan Travis said he believes his property is the site of an old spring-fed tank, visible in aerial photos from 2004. He's concerned that cracks and stuck doors are the start of larger problems.
“It's just a matter of time,†he said.
About 45 owners have asked the builder to repurchase homes. Dolenga said buybacks are not on the table, and that fewer than 60 homes have reported a problem to the builder.
The builder also will start doing “some small group homeowner meetings in mid- to late-February,†she said.
Pulte is the parent company of Centex Homes, which in early 2010 saw a rock-clad retaining wall fail dramatically between the Rivermist and Hills of Rivermist neighborhoods on the Northwest Side. The builder eventually repurchased 22 homes.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/real_estate/article/Homeowners-hold-open-house-to-air-complaints-3038494.php#photo-2274168
Participants walk by a damaged foundation as residents in Fairhaven subdivision hold an “open house†to show structural problems in their homes on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012.
Charlie Sanchez (center) holds a protest sign as residents of the Fairhaven subdivision hold an “open house†to show structural problems in their homes on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012
Homes in Fairhaven subdivison in Schertz are displaying foundation issues
Pedro Frecheu used notes to mark foundation cracks throughout his Fairhaven home during an “open house†to show structural problems in the subdivision's homes
Janet Ahmad (center) meets with Guadalupe County Judge Mike Wiggins (center left) as residents in Fairhaven subdivision “open house†to show structural problems in their homes on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012.
A long crack show in the garage floor of a home in the Fairhaven subdivison in Schertz
The concrete foundation of a a home in 5400 block of Storm King shows issues as homes in Fairhaven subdivison in Schertz are examined
Faye Touve tests the depth of a void in a retaining wall behind homes in the Fairhaven subdivison in Schertz where foundations are showing cracks
Photos: Tom Reel, San Antonio Express-News / San Antonio Express-News
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Homes-flaws-on-display-3038494.php#ixzz1lWeZXfnk
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janetahmad
2:31 PM on February 8, 2012
Free Market? How is it a free market when the mega homebuilders drive smaller reputable builders out of business? These Wall Street Goliaths of the industry are not driven by ethics but by the dollar, rather than the welfare of the consumer. Deception, HUD’s deregulation, lack of state and local oversight, assures success for greater profits and substandard construction without responsibility.
Using skillful marketing schemes to entice naïve new homebuyers unregulated builders have no incentive to construct homes right the first time or even the foundation to withstand unsuitable expansive clay soil they hauled in initially. Then when foundations fail builders blame the owner for not watering the foundation or God for too little or too much rainfall, triggering destructive ground movement.
Homeowners are doomed by builder friendly mandatory binding arbitration, a practice of a privatized judicial system imposed in lieu of homebuyers’ 7th amendment right to their day in court.
When there is no competition the free market of shoddy homebuilding becomes THE STANDARD of shoddy vs. shoddy amongst giants. This is the legacy of Fairhaven. Moral of this story is homebuyers do not get what they pay for.