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leftwinga · Jun 1, 2007, 05:49 PM

Hello.. we bought our home last October, and with it came a 1yr warranty from the builder. Well in our 2nd month in, we stated noticing cracks in the drywal seams amongst other problems stemming from shotty work in my opinion. We have made several attempts to the builder to remedy these issues. While he has been over a few times fixing a few problems, He hasn't responded to the major issues. He had in fact come over the day before the superbowl and informed me he would do the repairs in a few weeks. Well 2 months past by and I called him and he stated weather issues and such.He then informed me it would be around another 3 weeks or so. Well another 2 months have gone by.I have called him numerous times but get voicemail, which I leave. I tell him I am very unhappy about the situation and I get no return calls. I have written a certifed letter informing him of my intentions which brings me to this point.
Every lawyer I call wants a 150 consultation fee, which I have no problem paying. My only issue is I do not want to pay the 150.00 only to be told I need to wait until the warranty expires before I can do anything legally.
If any one has any insight please help me... I am not a very wealthy man, so 150.00 is a lot of money to me. I am feeling like I am being taken advantage of with this builder not returning out calls.
Any bit of help is appreciated.
Thank you all in advance
Jim Hynes

excon · Jun 1, 2007, 06:02 PM

Hello left:

Actually, I think the opposite is true. If you wait till the warranty expires your claim may be denied.

From now on, do all your communications with the builder by mail sent certified, return receipt requested. In your next letter, demand that he fix the items you've listed within 30 days or you will file a lawsuit against him.

That might get a response. Let me know.

excon

Fr_Chuck · Jun 1, 2007, 06:45 PM

No you should not wait till it expires, then they will merely claim most of the problems happened after.

You should consider getting estimates for the repair work, ( get a complete home inspection) and merely sue them for that amount of damages in court.

leftwinga · Jun 2, 2007, 08:24 AM

Originally Posted by excon

Hello left:

Actually, I think the opposite is true. If you wait till the warranty expires your claim may be denied.

From now on, do all your communications with the builder by mail sent certified, return receipt requested. In your next letter, demand that he fix the items you've listed within 30 days or you will file a lawsuit against him.

That might get a response. Let me know.

excon

I sent him a certified letter, I was informed that no one was home... what if they never accept or receive the certified mail? Then what?

leftwinga · Jun 2, 2007, 08:28 AM

Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

no you should not wait till it expires, then they will merely claim most of the problems happened after.

you should consider getting estimates for the repair work, ( get a complete home inspection) and merely sue them for that amount of damages in court.

I do not want to wait till it expires.. what I mean is what if I'm told he has till say the end of sept, I guess which is acurate , no?
Do you think it still would be feasible to sue him?
So also I need to know the kind of lawyer I need to hire... thanks

excon · Jun 2, 2007, 08:45 AM

Hello again, left:

You misunderstand what the warranty is telling you. The warranty means that he will fix anything that goes wrong during the first year. It doesn't mean that he has a year to fix them.

Of course it's feasible to sue him. You said you weren't wealthy, so I guess you can't let this guy get away with screwing you. However, YOU DON'T NEED A LAWYER. Do what Fr. Chuck said. Get several estimates for the cost to repair your home. They're FREE. Take the number from the smallest estimate and go down to the small claims court in your city and file a law suit against him. It's easy and cheap and you don't need a lawyer to do it. As a matter of fact, they won't even let lawyer into the small claims court.

So, go get your money!!

excon

Fr_Chuck · Jun 2, 2007, 08:50 AM

Now who is telling you he is not home, is the certified mail being returned,? Maybe he built aot of bad houses and has moved so you can't find him, or of course he knows that certified mail means bad things and they are just not signing for them.

But if you sue them, the court will serve them with papers.

leftwinga · Jun 2, 2007, 08:57 AM

Originally Posted by excon

Hello again, left:

You misunderstand what the warranty is telling you. The warranty means that he will fix anything that goes wrong during the first year. It doesn't mean that he has a year to fix them.

Of course it's feasible to sue him. You said you weren't wealthy, so I guess you can't let this guy get away with screwing you. However, YOU DON'T NEED A LAWYER. Do what Fr. Chuck said. Get several estimates for the cost to repair your home. They're FREE. Take the number from the smallest estimate and go down to the small claims court in your city and file a law suit against him. It's easy and cheap and you don't need a lawyer to do it. As a matter of fact, they won't even let lawyer into the small claims court.

So, go get your money!!!

excon

Thank you... I never realized, I didn't need a lawyer for that

LisaB4657 · Jun 2, 2007, 09:33 AM

When you send a letter by certified mail, also send it by regular mail. (At the bottom of the letter, under your signature, put "sent by regular mail and certified mail, return receipt requested".)

If the certified mail gets returned because there was no one to sign for it, or if it gets refused, but the regular mail does not get returned, then a court will assume that they received the one that was sent by regular mail and you satisfied the requirement to give written notice.

Send a letter immediately by regular mail and certified mail, listing all of the items that need to be fixed. Then say that they have 14 days to respond and schedule the repairs. Finally, say that if they do not respond and schedule the repairs within 14 days then you will arrange for the repairs to be done by another contractor and the builder will be responsible for the costs.

leftwinga · Jun 3, 2007, 06:24 AM

Originally Posted by LisaB4657

When you send a letter by certified mail, also send it by regular mail. (At the bottom of the letter, under your signature, put "sent by regular mail and certified mail, return receipt requested".)

If the certified mail gets returned because there was no one to sign for it, or if it gets refused, but the regular mail does not get returned, then a court will assume that they received the one that was sent by regular mail and you satisfied the requirement to give written notice.

Send a letter immediately by regular mail and certified mail, listing all of the items that need to be fixed. Then say that they have 14 days to respond and schedule the repairs. Finally, say that if they do not respond and schedule the repairs within 14 days then you will arrange for the repairs to be done by another contractor and the builder will be responsible for the costs.

Okay I will send out a regular mail as well... I need to list every thing because this is how I stated it: the repairs included, but were not limited to the cracks at the drywall seams due to improper instalation, The cracks in the kitchen ceiling due to a water leak, the siding on the agrage that fell off and the lack of insulation in the crawlspace under the home, which was made aware to you in the original home inspection.

Now what I did in the mean time was take pictures of the cracks and others as well... I will send out a new letter detailing everything that needs attended to and also the fact I will give him them 2weeks to respond and schedule these repairs or I will get another contactor in here to do the job and he will be responsible? Is this correct
And if he still hasn't contacted me? Then I go to the courthouse and file a lawsuit?
Is it better to do a small claims court ( what is the maximum $$ amount allowed? ) or hire a lawyer to sue because this whole ordeal has been very frustrating?
You guys are great.. I deeply appreciate all the advice

LisaB4657 · Jun 3, 2007, 07:15 AM

Yes, tell him in the letter that he must start the repairs within 14 days or you will have someone else do it and hold him responsible. If he doesn't comply then get estimates from at least 2 contractors for the cost of repairs. When you have the estimates then file the lawsuit.

You will have to contact the court to find out the $ limit for small claims. If the amount you're suing for is over that limit then you can either forget about the additional amount and just sue in small claims court for the maximum they allow, or you can get an attorney to sue him for the full amount.

excon · Jun 3, 2007, 07:21 AM

Hello again, left:

Even if the amount is twice as high as the small claims court maximum, that's where I'd file my claim. If you hired a lawyer he's going to take a third, and your costs will take another third and you'll wind up with less. Plus, it'll take years whereas small claims will take months.

excon

leftwinga · Jun 3, 2007, 07:23 AM

Originally Posted by excon

Hello again, left:

Even if the amount is twice as high as the small claims court maximum, that's where I'd file my claim. If you hired a lawyer he's gonna take a third, and your costs will take another third and you'll wind up with less. Plus, it'll take years whereas small claims will take months.

excon

Thank you.. so much I really appreciate all the help