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Officials, builders said to be too close By Michael Rezendes, Globe Staff, 5/2/01
PREVIOUS PARTS
WBZ-TV reporter Ron Sanders and photographer Tom Rehkamp joined in the Globe investigation. Watch their reports on RealVideo.
PART ONE
1. Check and re-check references. Don't just trust a builder's Web site or brochures. Contact past customers, especially buyers who have owned their homes for several years, to see how satisfied they are with the quality of the workmanship -- and how the builder handled post-closing problems. Major builders have Web sites that extol their work, but also look for sites maintained by dissatisfied customers.
The Globe Spotlight Team would like to hear from readers willing to share their experiences -- or thoughts -- about new home construction. The Spotlight telephone number is (617) 929-3208. Confidential messages about new home construction and other issues can also be left at (617) 929-7483. You can email Spotlight at spotlight@globe.com.
''It took my breath away,'' said Kelly. That, and a price of under $300,000 for a four-bedroom home on a half acre helped persuade her to sign a sales contract and make an initial deposit back in 1994.
But Kelly quickly regained her voice and began complaining to public officials after moving into the Country Meadows development, in Howell Township, and discovering slanted floors, bowed walls, and a variety of other problems.
Now, seven years later, Kelly and other homeowners have uncovered a litany of construction defects throughout their 159-home development, as well as a widening scandal in the local building department.
So far, revelations emerging from at least 15 lawsuits filed against K. Hovnanian Enterprises by Country Meadows homeowners include sworn accusations of free liquor and other gratuities distributed to local building inspectors by Hovnanian, and dozens of instances in which the firm started construction without permits and required inspections.
''I didn't buy a house that just happened to be a lemon,'' Kelly said. ''There are houses all over this development with the same problems.''
Already, the state's Department of Community Affairs has taken over supervision of the development, revoked the licenses of four local inspectors and reprimanded a fifth. It has also fined Hovnanian $67,000 for failing to call for building inspections and ordered the company to make repairs on dozens of homes with roofs and walls built so ineptly that state officials say they might not hold up in high winds.
William M. Connolly, director of the Department of Community Affairs' Division of Codes and Standards, said missing support beams in attics and walls were among the most serious problems discovered by state building officials.
Connolly said ''nearly all of the corrective work has been done'' by Hovnanian. And in a written response to questions from The Boston Globe, Joseph Riggs, president of the New Jersey-based company, said the firm has ''worked diligently to address the concerns of Country Meadows homeowners promptly and comprehensively.''
Riggs also said that Hovnanian ''doubled the length of the structural warranties'' in Country Meadows, ''giving our homeowners the longest such consumer safeguard in the history of home building in New Jersey.''
But homeowners say the warranty requires those who make complaints to give up their right to sue in court. And they disagree that Hovnanian and state officials have fulfilled their responsibilities in Country Meadows.
In particular, many are angered by the Department of Community Affairs' refusal to cite Hovnanian for framing their homes with ''green lumber,'' or lumber with a high moisture content, instead of the kiln-dried framing they say they were promised.
John McNamara, who paid $286,000 for a four-bedroom home in Country Meadows, is living with his wife and two children in a house where numerous walls have been stripped open so private engineers hired by the McNamaras can inspect the green lumber and its effects.
''When the wood dried it shrank and twisted and began to bend, which created a lot of the problems we've had with uneven floors and bowed walls,'' said McNamara, one of the homeowners who has filed suit against Hovnanian. ''It's all very frustrating, to say the least.''
In addition, the actions taken by the Department of Community Affairs against Hovnanian don't address the charges by Country Meadows homeowners that they were victims of a ''bait and switch'' scheme, in which options such as fancy moldings and hardwood floors on display in a model home turned out to be unavailable after they signed purchase and sale agreements.
But most disturbing, homeowners say, are assertions by Connolly that, although Howell building inspectors had grown ''too comfortable'' with Hovnanian officials, his office found no evidence of outright corruption.
Court records reviewed by the Globe include sworn allegations that Hovnanian gave potentially illegal gratuities to local building officials. In a deposition, building inspector Patricia Hoover said she personally witnessed Hovnanian officials handing out liquor to her fellow inspectors.
''I know they came in the office with boxes of liquor and just distributed it,'' Hoover said in the statement under oath. When asked how she knew the liquor came from company officials, Hoover replied: ''The box had Hovnanian on it.''
Hoover, who has filed a separate sexual discrimination lawsuit against the building department and its former director, also said she personally witnessed Hovnanian officials supplying the office with a coffee service, fax machine, and other office supplies.
In addition, Hoover said in her deposition that she overheard the inspector who had the lion's share of responsibility for the Country Meadows development tell another co-worker that Hovnanian had provided him with a refurbished kitchen and basement, and new carpeting.
Hovnanian did not provide a direct response to Hoover's claims, but has denied the allegations in the lawsuits.
Ted Betz, a certified engineer and former township councilor who was the first official to help Country Meadows homeowners, said Hovnanian routinely engages in practices that appear to be designed to compromise local building officials.
One example: After each annual meeting of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, Hovnanian hosts a cocktail reception and dinner for local government officials in Atlantic City.
''I don't think there's any clean reason for a builder to invite politicians or local government officials,'' Betz said. ''If code inspectors are invited, you have to ask if the builder is trying to compromise them.'' In the court documents, Hovnanian acknowledged that several Howell officials, including a building inspector, attended at least one of its Atlantic City dinners.
Now, Kelly is pushing for a criminal investigation of Hovnanian and Howell officials. And she said she is unhappy with the state's oversight of Hovnanian, particularly its decision to allow the company to choose its own consultant in making repairs at Country Meadows.
''They're using their own engineer, which is definitely a conflict,'' Kelly said. ''We still have a battle here.''
This story ran on page A01 of the Boston Globe on 5/2/2001.
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© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Co. |
OWELL, N.J. - When Tracey Kelly toured a model home for a New Jersey subdivision planned by K. Hovnanian Enterprises, she was speechless. Fancy moldings, hardwood floors, and the reputation of one of the country's largest home builders all told her she'd found the perfect house for her family.
