American Homes of CNY Brewerton

The modular home for Mr. was set on his foundation December 7, 2018. During the course of construction, Mr. chose to finish various parts of the house himself altering the time-line of the typical construction process. That being said, our Service Manager performed the final walk thru with Mr. on November 15, 2019, a copy of that document was sent to Mr. and the factory on November 20, 2019. We were scheduled to go to the house December 5, Mr. then rescheduled for December 6, and when our crew got to the house, because of the weather they were unable to navigate their van up the driveway to the house as the house is located on a seasonal trail/road. For Mr. to state in a complaint to the Revdex.com that we don’t return calls or answer emails, couldn’t be further from the truth. Our Service Manager was in touch with Mr. on December 29, 2019 (only 5 days ago). We told the homeowner we have every intention of finishing all of the outstanding work and that the trail to his house was making it difficult. In addition, we were waiting for materials/ parts from the factory before we could schedule another visit.

o Attached is a copy of the walk thru indicating the remaining work to be done on the home. Some items are the responsibility of American Homes; other items are Factory Warranty items, while other items fall on the responsibly of the homeowner.

o Also attached is a copy of the email dated December 29th, showing correspondence with the homeowner.

o Finally, attached are two pages from our Modular Installation booklet which clearly outline the service process and an approximate timeline for service. Ultimately the factory is responsible for contacting the homeowner. Factory work can take 6-8 weeks or longer for service depending on the time of year and backlogs.

In addition, the interior temperature of a house for sheet-rock or drywall repairs should be at least a minimum of 55 degrees from a permanent heat source. A kerosene heater or generator (which is what the homeowner currently has) is not a permanent heat source.

We apologize for any inconvenience that Mr. is experiencing on this seasonal house. As stated in the 12/29/19 email, we have every intention of finishing our work when we have all of the materials and as soon as temperatures and weather conditions allow.

December 12, 2018
With regard to Mr. complaint we are submitting our response:
1. The home was set on the foundation on 10/25/2017, at which point American Homes portion of the construction process began.
2. A compete” walk-thru” was performed with Mr. on 3/8/2018; at which point all of American Homes work was complete.
3. American Homes submitted the walk thru to the factory (Titan Homes) so they could perform their portion of the work.
PLEASE SEE A COPY OF THE WALK THRU ATTACHED.
was at the house on or about June 23, 2018. (American Homes was not provided a work order from the factory).
August 17, 2018 American Homes replaced our Service Manager of 12 years. We promoted our new service manager from within and have been working through a transition period, a common occurrence in business. (Just to clarify this is not our third Service Manager).
Mr. stopped by American Homes on 11/5/2018 to inquire about his outstanding repairs; he met with our Service Tech and an associate. The same day, 11/5/2018, we contacted the factory for an update on the outstanding service.
PLEASE SEE THE STRING OF EMAILS ATTACHED.
American Homes contacted the factory on Mr. behalf by email on 11/5/2018, 11/14/2018, 11/20/2018, 12/4/2018 and 12/11/2018. We copied Mr. on each and every email to keep him informed of all communication.

In addition, on 11/8/2018 American Homes ordered the exterior siding and corner post for the home. PLEASE SEE A COPY OF THE ATTACHED EMAIL. had to order the siding from their supplier, we picked up the siding from on 12/10/2018.

In our defense, American Homes has been working and is working to get the issues resolved at the *** home as quickly as possible.

· AH contacted the factory the same day that Mr. stopped by our office.

· AH copied Mr. on every email to the factory; we have kept communication as transparent as possible between Mr. and the factory.

· There are certain times of the year where factory service takes longer due to backlogs, ordering of parts and materials.

· Thanksgiving week with limited staff and a factory shut-down may have contributed to delay in factory service and *response.
As soon as the weather and scheduling allows, AH will replace the siding pieces that are in question, this isn’t something you can do with cold temperatures because the siding will crack.
We called the on 12/11/2018 and spoke with the Service Manager. They verbally told us they are prepared to make a second offer (or buyout) regarding the tile work in the master shower to Mr. as well as schedule a service date. Titan Homes will be contacting Mr. direct.

Please see the attached word document which outlines who and what action will be taken. We were aware of some of the repairs needed, we reached out to the general contractor and siding contractor for the outside work. In addition, we are trying to reach the homeowner to complete AH repairs on 6/11 and 6/12/2018. However, the homeowner does not have a voice mail set up for his cell phone. At COB Friday (6/8/2018), our 6/11 and 6/12/2018 service slots now may not be available. The spring rains that we endured have put our company and all of our contractors significantly behind.

We purchased a home from American homes. We moved in last January. We have had multiple issues with the quality of our home. When we first began working on our house we had multiple leaks because the pipes connected to the toilets leaked because they were never tightened. This HO hired their own “on-site” plumber. They should have “air-tested” before charging the system. This would have prevented any leaks. In addition, we address Utility Connections in our Set Up & Installation Manual, given to every homeowner prior to the delivery of the home. AH was never notified of any leaks. So large areas of our ceiling in our kitchen were replaced twice because it flooded our upstairs and leaked down into the second floor. Plumbing in the ceiling of our dining room leaked because the pipes weren’t glued. Our biggest problem has been that our upstairs furnace has never worked. AH set the house in September 2016. The HO took occupancy in January 2017. During the 2016-2017 heating season, we were never notified about the upstairs furnance. We have had two people come look at it. Our family heating guy who has his own heating company and the guy they sent over. They both agreed that the duct work that American homes put in our house in the floor upstairs is too small and the only fix is to rip out over ceilings for what will be the third time now and replace all the duct work with the correct size. Both guys that cane asked why they would put two furnaces in a house. They also were very surprised someone who is in business for building houses wouldn’t know the correct size duct work that goes into a house. AH does not install the furnace or duct work. These are systems engineered by the furnace company and the manufacturer of the home. Again, we were never notified of any furnace issues until November 20, 2017. We contacted the factory regarding the size of the furnace in relation to the size of the duct work, it was determined by the factory that all we need to do is install additional vents and change the furnace setting to run at 30,000 not 60,000 BTU’s. “Ripping out” ceilings is not the most logical approach. The furnace over heats and shuts off after two minutes of running. The duct work gets over heated and blows out a horrible sewer smell. They also never put any water in the hot water heaters trap so that also put out a horrible smell. This is HO maintenance. It is a common occurrence; an unused drain will dry up. Simply adding water to the drain on occasion will eliminate this odor. They didn’t put a fresh air intake for the furnace through the roof so we had to get someone to do that. They didn’t wire the thermostats correctly so has to have someone redo those. They put a screw through the electrical wire upstairs so one whole wall which included a bedroom and two bathrooms didn’t work. AH did not do this work. A business that builds houses should know better than allow all these things to be wrong. When you buy a house and spend as much money as you do you expect to get a house that everything works in. I?m disgusted by their lack of knowledge of building houses when that is their job. Building houses is supposed to be what they do and not knowing what size duct work goes into a house is ridiculous. They must like spending money because it’s going to cost a lot to fix it. AH is taking care of this simple repair on 12/19/2017. I? can’t wait to hear what way they plan on fixing it either way it’s going to be inconvenient for us who will have to live in a construction zone.

I have received your letter in regard to ID# *** and gathered information in order to complete the outstanding items at
***'s house. I spoke to *** yesterday
and we have scheduled Monday, July 10th for crews from both our Company and the home Manufacturer to complete the service. I discussed with *** the items to be taken care of and I believe that at present time all parties are aware of what needs to be completed. If you have any questions or need further information please do not hesitate to call . Respectfully, Richard S.

Reviewing the complaint from Mr., it appears there are two issues: 1. The finish work on the drip edge 2. The countertop separating at the sink line. American Homes response to #1 the finish work on the drip edge - (customer quote below): "they used finishing nails in my drip edge, which there service manager, Frank, agreed that they do not do this. I spoke with Frank approximately two weeks ago in regards to the outside of the house being completed, but to a substandard level. I asked Frank if there would be any compensation in regards to the substandard work and it not looking like the lot model that we purchased". Attached are photos of our model home "***", that show the drip edge at the gable end is finished the same. Mr. drip actually has a much cleaner look than our model. The work is not substandard and therefore there is no reason for compensation. American Homes response to #2 the countertop - The countertop was reported to American Homes approximately 6 months after the original walk thru took place. Normal "wear and tear" is not covered under warranty and falls under what the manufacture considers "Homeowner Maintainance". When Mr. mentioned the countertop in May, the factory denied the claim. What Mr. doesn't know is that American Homes went "to bat" on his behalf with the factory to get a replacement countertop. AH turned the countertop into the factory service department,where the claim was denied. Next we went to the service manager who denied the claim, then we went to the plant manager then we went above the plant manager. We understand the frustration on the part of all homeowners however, there is a warranty and claim process that factories follow and that takes time. We want all of our homeowners to be happy with our homes and our service and customer satisfaction is very important to us. The factory will be replacing the countertop mid-October. If there is anything else we can do, please contact us.