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Workers, Homeowners Deliver Lemons to Pulte Exec |
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A Pulte Homes executive got a special delivery this morning, when 50 angry workers and supporters delivered lemon awards to him at a state board meeting. The workers and homeowners in three western states say buyers should beware before they purchase a home built by Pulte or its subsidiaries.
The protest at the Nevada State Contractors Board meeting in Las Vegas came on the same day that Building Justice released a report that shows nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of respondents to a survey of owners of homes built by Pulte and its Del Webb subsidiary reported their homes had construction defects. Building Justice is a partnership comprised of the Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT), Sheet Metal Workers (SMWIA), the AFL-CIO, community members, Pulte homeowners and elected officials to improve conditions at Pulte developments.
Ironically, the contractor board investigates complaints of poor construction workmanship. Some homeowners expressed outrage that Pulte Homes is represented on a board entrusted with ensuring quality construction within Nevada’s building industry.
The workers also announced they had revamped their website, www.poorlybuiltbypulte.info, to allow homeowners to tell their stories about poor work by Pulte and Del Webb. The site enables homeowners to complete a survey and keep up with the latest news about Pulte, as well as links to services across the country where dissatisfied homeowners can seek relief.
The report, “Poorly Built by Pulte, No Different at Del Webb,’” is based on surveys of 872 Pulte and Del Webb homeowners from Nevada, Arizona and California. According to the report, another 43 percent of respondents reported they would not buy another Pulte or Del Webb home.
The homeowners claimed defects with nearly every aspect of home construction: foundation, roofing, electrical, stucco, air conditioning, windows, plumbing, drywall, painting among others. Click here to read the full report.
For example, a homeowner from Del Webb’s “Sun City Anthem” in Henderson, outside Las Vegas, said the company was not willing to make necessary repairs and listed what he believed to be major, unresolved defects. A Phoenix homeowner from Pulte’s “Stetson Valley” tract testified regarding what he described as defects, including bowed walls, broken roof tiles, damaged baseboards, sloppy paint, chips and unpainted areas in the block wall, faulty air conditioning, cheap windows, a sagging front door and problems with his cabinets and countertops.
The survey results are not surprising, says John Smirk, business manager for IUPAT District Council 15.
Workers tell us they are pressured to complete homes very fast. They work through breaks, lack adequate drinking water and safety equipment. Also, many workers report that they are not paid correctly for their work and morale is low.
Just four months ago, Pulte’s business practices were in the news again. In a move supported by unions and consumer groups, but opposed by Pulte Homes and other home builders, the U.S. Department Housing and Urban Development enacted a rule change to the Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act that made it illegal for developers to take away home discounts when home buyers use a mortgage company of their choice instead of the developer’s company.
It is not surprising that Pulte Homes opposed HUD’s rule change. More than nine out of 10 borrowers who buy from Pulte Homes finance through Pulte Mortgage. Pulte has withdrawn incentives such as a $25,000 closing cost credit for buyers who used different mortgage providers that might have offered lower rates or more traditional mortgages.
2 Comments
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This company (and perhaps the entire industry) is making a victim of everyone involved. The home buyer is screwed, the construction workers are screwed, the producers of qualtiy building materials (if there are any) are screwed. The manufacturer has turned the “American Dream” of home ownership into a nightmare.
Is nothing going to be done because it might infringe upon the “free enterprise” system that does not allow regulation of gangster capitalism? Must everyone wait for the “Second Coming” or perhaps “Come the revolution…” to see a change? I think we will all be dead before that happens!
A MODEST PROPOSAL:
That the AFL-CIO, organized labor movement, will create a new non-profit national AFFORDABLE QUALITY HOME BUILDING CORPORATION.
1. Using trained and skilled union wage workers,
2. Using certified and guarenteed materials perhaps produced by union labor.
3. Using energy-efficient designs using the latest technologies.
4. Using professional union architectects designing to various buyer needs.
5. Produces affordable homes for buyers.
6. Financing to be secured through funds otherwise investing in speculative stock market. government agencies, union retirement funds investment (VEBA?) etc. Perhaps the workers involved could buy their own home??
7. Union-Worker management to be developed and involved to oversee quality, safety, hiring and working conditions to produce needed housing.
Perhaps this would provide many good “living wage” jobs in the construction industry. And perhaps it would put an end to the rip-offs in the industry.
KB Homes is NO better!