This Could Happen To You
An older story (2000) that will enlighten new homebuyers and victims can relate to.

A Homeowners Experience – From Bad to Worse
It Could Happen To You

To Whom It May Concern,
We purchased our Kaufman and Broad (K&B) home on October 15, 1999 . My husband and I have had numerous ongoing problems with the professionalism of almost every person we have dealt with through the whole process.

I believe it was some time in April or May when my husband and I went to the builder's showroom and chose everything for the house. The woman who helped us with this procedure did nothing but tell my husband and I how she hated working for K&B and that she had a job interview the following week to get the hell out of there.

We just let this rub off because we were so happy that we were buying a house. Once the house began construction, the grading in our backyard was really prominent. When we confronted the builder about why this was never discussed, there was no answer. We then asked them to try and fix the grading as much as they could so it was not so severe.

They did nothing to accommodate this request. It was stated by a sales associate named Jill that this was going to be taken care of. It never was.  Within the following weeks, they poured the cement in our backyard.

When we chose the size of our patio in our backyard, we told the salesgirl Jill, that we wanted a nice size patio for the BBQ and table and chairs. We were told "no problem." We even paid extra money, which was out of pocket, to accommodate our request. Well, once the cement was poured and dried, the patio was almost as long as the back of the house, yet only four feet wide.

To make a long story short here, we then called Kimberly, another salesgirl for the builder, and told her this was not satisfactory. Kimberly came back and told my husband and I that they would add on another piece of cement to accommodate. However, since we had such a severe grade in the yard, they would not warranty the patio if it separated and slid apart from the other piece.

My husband and I thought about this a couple of days and then returned and said that if they did not rip out the old patio and re-pour a new one, we were not going to buy the house. This was the only thing that got us what we wanted. They eventually accomplished this a couple of months later.

My husband and I were involved with every step of our house being built. My husband would report to the builder's what was wrong and needed to be corrected. Some of it was stupid stuff, but nonetheless, completely irresponsible. For example, one incident with our brick was the bricker was completing one of our walls on the side of the house. There was an inch gap between the soffit and the top of the brick wall, which was so obviously WRONG to any typical person walking by. When we confronted the bricker about it, he replied this: "Oh, well, this isn't my fault! The soffit people's measurements were wrong!"

Also through the building process, almost every week, there was a different builder in charge of our house. So many things were going wrong, but my husband said to let them do their job and when we were to go for our final walk through we would discuss everything then.

Our first walk through did not go well. I believe it was some time in June when my husband and I waited a whole hour outside in the dead heat waiting for a builder to show. To make it worse I was six months pregnant with our son. No one ever showed. My husband then walked over to the model home to ask where the builder was. The sales girl Kimberly had no idea. (Kimberly was another employee, which always complained about the professionalism with this company.)

Kimberly was able to get someone to come for our walk through. When my husband and I asked questions about why this was this way and why this one was that way, this guy said, "This is not my house. I have no idea what's going on here. I cannot answer your questions."

At this point, we were so angry, once we were finished and back in the car; we began yelling at each other because we both knew that yelling at this guy was going to do us no good. So in turn, we took it out on each other.

I was eight months pregnant on the day of our final walk.  My husband was leaving the office when he received a phone call from the builder at the time, which was Doug. Doug stated he was unable to make it and that he would have to reschedule it.
 
With my husband as upset as he was, I got on the phone to the office in Carrolton and got the President of Texas of Kaufman and Broad who got Bill to meet us for the walk through.

Bill was in charge of all the builders in my development. When Bill walked in the house, he gave a quick glance and said, "This house is not ready for a walk through!"  We then began the tour. About twenty minutes into our tour, Doug the builder who could not make it, walked through the door. With that he and Bill got into a loud exchange of words and Bill threatened to fire him if he did not leave. As they were walking out the door, Bill told him he was fired and to “get the hell out of here.”  My husband and I stood and watched with embarrassment. This was the largest homebuilder in the US and this is how they performed on their jobs in front of customers?

Two weeks later, we finally closed.

The closing was another story in itself. We were supposed to close I think at 3:30 in Arlington . The last walk through was an hour before our closing time. We told Bill, who scheduled this that this was not ample time to walk through the house and be in Arlington at 3:30 . He told us it would only take us 30-40 minutes to get there. After arguing back and forth my husband allowed Bill to have the last word.

We were three hours late. The Title Company had closed and if it were not for our real estate agent begging these people to stay, we never would have closed. The Title Company, with complete understanding, was not happy the whole time we were there. We wound up rushing through our papers in record time of about twenty minutes. Mind you, this was our first closing.

From Bad to Worse
Right before Christmas, as my husband was putting up the Christmas lights, he heard some type of noise coming from the house. Not knowing what he was hearing, he just ignored it. A couple of weeks after the holidays, one night as I was going to give my two month old daughter a bottle at 2:30am , I noticed our carpet was soaking wet. It was coming from our A/C unit in our hallway. When K&B finally came to inspect the leak, they said that it was a condensation leak because it was never hooked up properly.

It took a carpet guy two days to come and suck up all the water. He then told me, because it had sat so long, that our brand new carpet was now ruined beyond repair. K&B (Russell) told me they would replace the carpeting in the hallway, but not my son's room that also flooded. When I asked why not, they told me it was not within their budget.

This was an argument that I refused to loose at this point. My husband and I have had it!  Especially me, who had been making the phone calls and relaying, messages between my husband and K&B.

When we had flood in our hallway, we thought it could be coming from the roof. My husband got up on the roof and found divots and dents and waves all over. Also where we had peaks, rather them being straight across and flush, they were crooked and dipped inward. You do not even need to be a construction worker to know this was not right.

As my husband was coming off the roof onto the ladder, he again heard that noise he had heard putting up the Christmas lights. He called me over to ask if I had heard it and then rocked the ladder. We both looked at each other realizing our brick walls were moving.

My husband and I video taped all of it.  From that point on, we have been battling with the company to come and fix the roof and brick. They sent out brickers to look at the brick to see if there were sufficient brick ties. He then told us, the brick should NOT BE MOVING THE WAY IT WAS.  One representative, Russell (later fired) told my husband and me that brick is supposed to move. Another gentleman, Lee told me "if you are expecting me to fix your roof by redoing it, you will simply don’t get it. The only way I would listen to your complaint is if you had a structural engineer come and look at it before we would pay for it."

Since I was the one having to make all of these phone calls and who initiates all conversations, I tried being nice, quiet, patient, trusting, intellectual, and I will admit there have been some instances where I have lost my composure with these people. However, being of sound mind, I do not find this unusual given the circumstances.

My husband and I have gotten no where with anyone in this company. I have even gone as far as the CEO in California three times and have still gotten no answer. Our original complaints were sent in nine months ago.

Not one person with K&B seemed to understand our frustrations and concerns. Nor did they seem to care about how they handled the matter with no sign of professionalism. Our roof is still wavy and has divots all visible to the eye. The soffit is still a concern as is the roof. The peaks in the roof are crooked and uneven. As time goes by, the problems become even more apparent. As stated by a Frisco police officer, and the City of Frisco inspector, Charles Kirk, these concerns are rectifiable and need definite attention. Our brick walls still move by simply leaning on them and there are numerous cracks in the mortar. What did we get for all our money and effort was Lee who said; "Brick walls are supposed to move and if we were not satisfied, to find a structural engineer.

We hired and paid for two structural engineers, who both reported the roof and brick walls were poorly constructed.  Even though proof of poor construction and obvious concerns from structural engineers have been brought to the attention of K&B, the issues are still unresolved with no explanations on when or how to repair these issues.  Our one-year warranty will be up on October 15, 2000 .

Kristyne 

           This was a battle she refused to lose
                    

             KB Bought the House Back!