The banner lights in the garage at 6111 Yeats Manor have gone out completely. Problem not solved by replacement of light bulbs and appears to be another electrical issue in a new construction home by Lennar.
Here’s the summary of the issue from all of Lennar construction issues I keep in a spreadsheet. Note this issue could also be caused by the extensive water intrusion issues and damage in the garage caused by improperly installed roof flashing.
*Note: For simplicity, the Lennar and WCI Communities names here are used interchangeably as Lennar took over WCI in February of 2017.
Quick Lennar Construction Issues Timeline
2013-2014 – First issues were reported to WCI. The initial responses were from Joel Fedora who is now a Vice President of Construction with Lennar.
Late-2014 – Towards the end of the year, I retained Amanda Buffinton (at the time a shareholder at Bush Ross) to start working the legal side of the issues, because nothing was getting resolved. The first Lennar in-house legal response happens around this time.
July 2015 – The case expands and WCI moves the case from in-house to outside legal. The outside legal responses are from this time.
September 2015 – Amanda Buffington files a 558 complaint against WCI/Lennar to start the process of filing a construction lawsuit.
October 2015 – Lennar’s outside legal sends a response to the 558 complaint. Their response was completely untrue. It’s the same attorney who provided the first outside legal response in July 2015.
Garage banner lights issue description
The banner of lights in Mr. Fannin’s garage above his car has gone out completely. This is not a problem that can be resolved with the replacement of light bulbs and appears to be another electrical issue.
Original response to garage banner lights issue from Joel Fedora
None – this issue was recorded after the construction issues went to legal.
Lennar in-house legal response to garage banner lights issue
WCI to inspect if caused by bad ballast or fixture. WCI will repair anything if not caused by the bulb.
Amanda Buffinton legal response to Lennar about garage banner lights issue
Resolved. Mr. Fannin accepts this response; however, he reserves his rights. Mr. Fannin further states that this issue is caused by water intrusion. The guest house breaker was tripped recently again for no apparent reason.
Buffinton response to Lennar outside legal (prior to filing the 558)
Resolved. Mr. Fannin reserves his rights.
Final WCI outside legal response to 558 complaint
WCI offered to resolve this item but the Homeowner canceled the repair.
Note: This is not true at all. See: WCI (Now Lennar Homes) Lied in Their Legal Response. Why?
Lennar executive’s response on 5/22/2017
My note: This was not addressed after the first Lennar inspection.
Second note that was determined during the second conference call: Lennar will replace both sets of banner lights in the garage to ensure the same color along with wear and tear.
The total estimated cost to repair all the Lennar construction defects is nearly $300,000, which includes extensive mold remediation throughout the new construction home. Although the builder acknowledged the construction issues, the senior executives I was working with eventually went silent and ignored all Lennar home warranty requests and repairs.
