Veteran battles homebuilder - VA investigates possible foundation design flaws

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http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/front/1151959

Nov. 29, 2001, 10:28PM

Veteran battles homebuilder

VA investigates possible foundation design flaws

By BILL MURPHY

Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle

Ed Hartnett and his wife thought they were buying their dream home when they

paid $160,000 for a Pulte-built house in the Woods subdivision in

northwest Houston.

Three years later, Hartnett says he feels " defrauded " because a failed

foundation has made some doors impossible to latch and caused water leaks

and cracks in the wallboard and the brick exterior.

The Department of Veterans Affairs, which loaned Hartnett money for his

home, earlier this month informed Pulte that it was investigating whether

the problems with Hartnett's foundation were an isolated incident or caused

by a faulty foundation design that may have been used in many Pulte homes.

It asked Pulte Homes of Texas, a subsidiary of Bloomfield, Mich.-based Pulte

Homes Corp., the nation's largest homebuilder, to provide it with copies of

all construction-related complaints from Pulte homeowners in the Houston

area the past three years.

It also asked Pulte's structural engineers to say whether the type of

foundation on Hartnett's home is an acceptable design.

" It seems there may be problems with this foundation design, " said Mike

McReaken, who oversees VA loans in Texas and three other states. " We don't

want to put any other veteran in a situation where he buys a home that has a

design flaw. "

He added that the VA will not reach any conclusions about foundation design

until Pulte sends the requested information.

on, president of Pulte's Houston division, declined to be

interviewed. In a short, prepared statement, he wrote: " The foundations for

all of our homes in Houston are designed by an independent professional

engineer, using soil datas provided by an independent geotechnical

engineer. "

on added that the foundations are covered under a limited warranty for

10 years from the time the homes were originally bought.

Hartnett, a former Green Beret wounded and disabled during the Vietnam War,

said he and his wife, , had specific ideas for the house.

Woods is a subdivision of more than 200 homes near and Grant roads.

Hartnett's wife became pregnant, but miscarried. Doctors discovered she had

ovarian cancer, and she died at age 47 in February 2000.

A Pulte-hired engineer, Sam Vacek, concluded the problems with the home were

caused by a failed foundation.

The foundation was not one of two approved by the Uniform Building Code,

which sets standards relied on by the construction industry, for the Houston

area. Instead, it was a hybrid of the two. Vacek estimated it would cost

$70,000 to $200,000 to fix the home.

Pulte offered to buy Hartnett's home for $200,000 -- $40,000 more than he

paid for it. Despite its defects, he refuses to sell because he says he is

sentimentally attached to it and wants to turn it into the dream house

envisioned by his wife.

Pulte, he said, has been unwilling to let him hire contractors to make

repairs, but wants to choose the contractors itself. He said he no longer

trusts Pulte and wants to pick the contractors himself.

" One of Pulte's sayings is that they help people build their dreams, "

Hartnett said. " In my case, they helped destroy a dream. "

on said in his prepared statement, " We worked closely with Mr. Hartnett

to address his concerns and have presented several alternatives to remedy

the situation. Unfortunately, Mr. Hartnett has refused to let us repair his

foundation. "

Hartnett and a neighbor, Sascha Pech, have retained a lawyer, Segelke,

but have not filed lawsuits.

Pech said he paid $155,000 for a new home in January 2000, but a number of

doors already will not close and expansion spaces in the brick exterior have

collapsed because the foundation apparently has moved.

After he complained, Pulte sent an engineer, who concluded the foundation

has not yet failed, but isn't holding up well for a 2-year-old home, Pech

said.

Pulte, he said, has since refused to turn over plans showing the type of

foundation on the house.

" I bought something brand new, and it's the biggest investment I've made, "

said Pech, who moved here with his wife from Germany to take a job at

Compaq. " It's the biggest investment I've made, and it is not holding up. "

The VA may rely on Housing and Urban Development engineers to review Pulte

foundations, McReaken said. Any VA findings, he said, would likely be shared

with HUD.

The VA has not decided whether it will refuse to loan money for Pulte homes

with the same foundation if it finds the design to be flawed, McReaken said.