08-16-2008, 04:11 AM | #1 |
Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 283
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Dispute with home builder
So I'm set to buy a newly built home early next week, and I'm pretty unhappy with the builder. I'm looking for some advice - maybe even from a few of the lawyers who frequent CG, although non-legal advice is welcome as well.
When we signed the purchase agreement back in June, the home was already complete. We asked the builder to put a deck on the home and complete the basement, which he was advertising to do for pretty low fixed prices as an incentive to help the house sell. As we got into the process of providing specifics of what we wanted done, things were sometimes pretty hectic, but we always tried to always ask, "will this cost extra, and if so, how much?" In early July, we sent an email to them (thru our agent) expressly indicating the things we wanted done, and our understanding of the price for these items. About two weeks ago, we were trying to get a final price into our loan documents, so we sent out another email, again stating what we understood had been/would be done, the costs involved, and asking the builder to please verify the costs. In both cases, they added no corrections; in the 2nd case, they stated that they reserved the right to adjust the prices based on the final bills from the subs. So we just received the final bill, and for the electrician's work, which we had understood would cost $325, they claimed we owed them $1950. We tried to approach them about this discrepancy in a non-confrontational way, but they basically said "shove it, you have to pay it". So now, I'm fairly pissed, largely due to the principle of not letting pricks get their way, but also because $900 is a fair sum of money to me. One item in particular is galling to me. They put in a security system and charged us $900 for it. We had mentioned the possibility of having one at one point early on, and asked them to provide us a quote. They never did, but apparently assumed we wanted it. The only problem is, there is no mention of it anywhere in the purchase contract, any of the addendums, or even in any of the email communications. So my question is, what are the options available to me? It seems to me that I have every right to show up at closing with a check for the bill, less $900, and expect them to complete the close, as per the contract/addendum. They seem to think if I do this, I'll have refused to close, and therefore, I'll be in breach of contract if I do so, and they will file suit against me. It seems to me that they will be in breach, since I'm willing to close according to the conditions of the legal documents. |
08-16-2008, 04:07 PM | #2 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 638
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I'm not an attorney, and don't have the experience to offer any meaningful advice (sorry), but don't you have an attorney working for you on this? We've had an attorney for both of our home purchases, cost us a couple hundred bucks, and figured they were for situations like this.
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08-16-2008, 05:52 PM | #3 |
Master
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If those change orders are not included in the addendum then I wouldn't think you'd be held to it. I was a home builder a few years ago before the collapse. I would routinely meet with the home owner and our sales agent to go over changes such as these. All changes went into an addendum and was signed before any work could be started. It was a CYA measure for us as builders because we didn't want to run into issues like your security system issue. And in the few instances where I did end up running into these types of situations the home owner either kept what we installed without charge or we would go through great lengths including remodels and moving walls to make things right.
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Ernie Johnson: "Auburn is a pretty good school. To graduate from there I suppose you really need to work hard and put forth maximum effort." Charles Barkley: "20 pts and 10 rebounds will get you through also!" |
08-17-2008, 03:47 AM | #4 |
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Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Minnesota
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I have a real estate agent who overall has been very good, but I've not been impressed with his help on this (not that I've been expecting him to be a legal expert). We did not separately get an attorney, although in hindsight, we obviously should have.
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08-17-2008, 04:47 AM | #5 |
Demiurge
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 36,367
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your real estate has no incentive to do anything that would delay or prevent a deal. Remember that.
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08-17-2008, 11:25 AM | #6 | |
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Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 283
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Quote:
The builder did do very good work. He was in a position to get some good word of mouth. He will not get it now, and if anyone talks to me about building, I'll be quick to recommend that they not go with this builder if they want to avoid headaches. Instead of getting a pretty positive recommendation. Not much business sense, I'd say. |
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08-17-2008, 01:38 PM | #7 | |
Master
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Quote:
What was that electrician bill for? If that total the builder gave you was for finishing off the basement, it doesn't seem that unrealistic to be honest. Also $900 for the alarm system isn't bad either. Remember, most deals on security systems are like cell phone deals, where equipment and installation is offset by your service contract.
__________________
Ernie Johnson: "Auburn is a pretty good school. To graduate from there I suppose you really need to work hard and put forth maximum effort." Charles Barkley: "20 pts and 10 rebounds will get you through also!" |
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08-18-2008, 10:25 AM | #8 | |
Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 283
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Quote:
The reason I'm focused on the security system is because there is no reference to the system anywhere, including e-mail communications. Just the one brief verbal mention of it that I referred to in my earlier post. For the other items, they are items we requested and are found in various documents. |
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08-18-2008, 01:39 PM | #9 | |
Master
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Quote:
__________________
Ernie Johnson: "Auburn is a pretty good school. To graduate from there I suppose you really need to work hard and put forth maximum effort." Charles Barkley: "20 pts and 10 rebounds will get you through also!" |
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08-18-2008, 05:32 PM | #10 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 2,506
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Quote:
$900 over a 30 year loan represents a large sum of money, why financially pay for their mistake for the next 30 years? 2k for electrical work when they quoted $325? I wouldn't pay for that shit either. |
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