"Brand New" vs. Used - Beware Of Bad Builders

For those who view purchasing a newly constructed home as a superior choice over buying a resale (used home), you might want to check out these two stories (both in Florida, coincidentally) of homebuyers whose buying experiences have turned into disasters.

Palm Beach County, Florida

The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports of some owners of one- and two-year-old homes in one development are scared to stay in their townhouses when it rains because water seeps in behind fuse boxes. They point to water stains around leaky windows and report mold spreading inside new walls. One woman holds up a picture of a toilet that trickled water onto her front porch with every flush — spoiling the pleasure of walking through the front door of the first home she owned. Examples of other complaints are:

• plumbing problems, such as bathtubs leaking into downstairs ceilings; leaky windows and doors and the spread of mold,
• electrical issues such as outlets that don't work and lights that dim when the air conditioning is running,
• one homeowner complained that she would get a shock while washing dishes if one of the kitchen switches was turned on,
• another homeowner complained that a retaining wall behind her home is made of stacked bags of cement mix, instead of a poured concrete wall or one reinforced with other supports.

A group of the owners, frustrated by a builder who they say failed to fix problems at their 64-home neighborhood have launched a new kind of attack: They have teamed up to try to stop one of their developers from getting approval for 48 new homes more than a mile away. They have been showing up at county meetings to oppose the builder's plans for a new project.

For more, see Angry owners target builder after leaks, mold plague PBC townhouses.

---------------------

Lake County & Polk County, Florida

WFTV Channel 9 in Orlando, Florida reports that hundreds of would-be homeowners bought into three new neighborhoods being offered by one builder in Lake and Polk counties. After three years, not a single home has been built, and reportedly, the builder has started selling homes in a new project. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating builder Platinum Properties' owners David Weiker and Larry Maloney. For more, see:

• Home buyers wait years, but lots are still empty,
• No Homes Built In Subdivision, Developer Under Investigation,
• Video: Developers Could Face Jail Time After FDLE Investigation,
• Controversial Developer Is Selling Homes For New Subdivision.
• Central Florida Builder In Foreclosure Facing Homebuyer Lawsuits For Failure To Deliver Homes.

For a message board organized for those who have bought into the unbuilt development to air out their complaints, see PlatinumPropertiesOwners.com.

Go here for other stories of builders / contractors stiffing customers. contractors stiff subs customers alpha