Searching the Internet one day I came across this Pulte Homes press release stating that they were rated by J. D. Power and Associates "Best Home Builder". Knowing of the nation wide complaints from Pulte customers, I decided to write a letter to J.D Power.

First is the letter I wrote to J.D. Power and Associates, below that is the letter I received in response to my inquiry.

I see that you have listed Pulte Homes as "America's best home builder". Have you really done your research? If you look at just the Internet listings for Pulte Homes you will find such horror stories that cannot be imagined! Pulte Homes has a practice of building an inferior home, then denies any problems exist when the homeowner makes complaints. They then delay and postpone making repairs in an attempt to drag the homeowner past the warranty period. They make shoddy repairs that usually leaves the house in worse condition than what was originally in place. Many times the repairs consist of caulk and paint. Several news stories have been done on Pulte Homes and their lack of customer response to warranty claims. Dateline will be airing a story in the next month or two about one home in particular in North Carolina.

There is a family in Lee's Summit Missouri that went to a mandatory arbitration hearing and won. Pulte Homes picked the arbitrator, and lost a $100,000.00 judgment and has to date refused to pay the penalty. They now argue that the arbitrator is senile.

My $240,000.00 home is so racked with defects that an architect stated in court that the only way to properly repair the house would be to tear it down and rebuild it. It has been appraised at $65,000.00. Pulte still denies any problems exist in my home. We went to court but the judge gave Pulte a directed verdict. The judge stated on the record that we did in fact prove our case, but we did not provide the proper measure of damage at trial. We sued for breach of contract, consumer sales practice and fraud. The case is currently under appeal because the judge erred when she barred our estimate that showed at minimum, in excess of $115,000.00 to make partial repairs.

We had asked for a delay in providing a supplemental report and the judge granted it. Pulte filed a motion barring the estimate due to the report being late. The judge erred in granting Pulte their motion. She had forgotten that she extended our deadline for the report. I also could not afford a lawyer that was as good as the firm that Pulte hired. They buried my family in countless delays and motions aimed at draining my finances. My attorney also made several errors in the case that also hurt us.

You see, after you buy a new home, move in, buy furniture and all the other expenses involved in a new home, most families just do not have the funds to take on a 3 billion dollar a year corporation in court. I got what I paid for, a cut rate attorney. Now I have to pay a bigger price. A home that is basically worthless. Many attorneys will not even take these types of cases because of the difficulty they present in court. These cases become a war of expert witnesses. Experts are very costly and unless you have very deep pockets, you may not be able to counter the builders experts.

If you were to scan the internet you will find many web sites from families that Pulte has run into financial ruin. Since most of their contracts demand mandatory binding arbitration, all records of actions against this company are not made public. The other tactic they employ is to drain the family out of their life savings, then offer a settlement that favors Pulte Homes. A gag order is put into place and again no public record of this companies actions are available to the public.

Most states have disclosure laws requiring the homeowner to list any defects known in the house. This makes the house a white elephant to the seller. Pulte can buy back the house and resell it at full market price with the defects still in place and avoid disclosure. Most states have an exemption that stipulates that disclosure is not required if the seller never lived in the house. Nice way to play with the laws and get away from their responsibilities. Check out my web site at http://home.att.net/~pulte/ or go to http://www.pultenightmarehome.com or even try http://www.ncmoneypit.com just to whet your whistle. You are putting your good name on as a recommendation to a company that is not all that you say it is. Check it out for yourself. You can even go to Yahoo!.com and just type Pulte in the search box and go to web pages. You will see.

This is the response from J.D. Power and Associates

We appreciate your taking the time to share your experience regarding Pulte Homes with us, albeit an unfortunate one.

I spent a great deal of time looking into the J.D. Power and Associates Home Builder Awards after I read your e-mail. From a news release posted on Pulte's web site, I located the following text:

"Over its history, the Company has constructed more than 250,000 homes. Pulte Home Corporation has been honored as "America's Best Builder," and is ranked as the top national homebuilder in local-market quality studies that have been conducted by J. D. Power and Associates."

"'These dynamic programs are unmatched in the industry. We are beginning to see the benefits from our internal customer satisfaction initiatives as reflected in Pulte's ranking as the top national builder in local-market quality studies, conducted by J. D. Power and Associates,' added Lesinski."

The director of J.D. Power and Associates home builder studies has assured me that the above information is not accurate. We have contacted Pulte Homes in the past and have requested the removal of this inaccurate reference to J.D. Power and Associates' name.

I have passed on your email to the project director for home builder studies. In addition, in order to show you the results of the 1999 Home Builder study, I have attached the press release below.

To provide you with some background, this and all other J.D. Power and Associates syndicated customer satisfaction studies are based on consumer responses to surveys, and the resulting rankings in our studies are thus opinions of consumers. In the 1999 Phoenix market area Study, Pulte ranked fourth, according to consumers.

Thank you once again for explaining the trouble you have experienced. Please feel free to contact me with any further questions.

Sincerely,

Now what do you think of Pulte Homes? Have you formed your own opinion yet? None of what is posted here is made up. The truth is always much more fun than any lie. The truth hurts!