Almost 2.5 months after the initial Lennar home inspections for ongoing construction problems, I have the first inspection review with Mark Metheny and Steve Smith. Here’s what happened.
Even though only Richard Hudak from Lennar was at the inspections, he was not invited to this conference call. As you will see, having him on this call would have kept the more than two-hour meeting from being a complete waste of time.
I’ve now come to realize that the goal is for it to be a complete waste of time, frustrating and confusing. Lennar just wants homeowners to give up.
Because of the amount of time since the inspections and getting the reports, and because I was still feeling ill, I started working with the EPC to find out what exactly was on the Westshore Yacht Club land before, and whether WCI Communities (now Lennar) had done any land remediation.
Emails and documents from before the May 23, 2017, Lennar inspection reports conference call
The original conference call was scheduled for May 18, 2017, but I received a call from Heather Brown, Mark Metheny’s assistant at the time, that he needed to reschedule. Here is the email confirming the reschedule for May 23, 2017.
Mark Metheny moves the original conference call from May 18, 2017, to May 23, 2017.
I did not hear from Mark Metheny again until May 22, 2017.
Email from Mark Metheny regarding the Lennar inspection reports. He now wants to also include Steve Smith on the conference call.
After some back-and-forth emails and communications with Mark, we finalize the time of 3:30 PM EST on May 23, 2017.
All this just to schedule a conference call to review. You can just begin to imagine how exhausting the previous four years had been to this point.
Mark Metheny email on May 22, 2017
Mark Metheny sent this email to me with all of the updated documents before our May 23, 2017, conference call with Steve Smith. Links to related posts added below to provide context.
Dear Mr. Fannin:
This correspondence is in response to our several discussions and your claim pursuant to Chapter 558, Florida Statutes. As we previously discussed, Lennar is willing to address many of the items you requested in your original 558 Notice to WCI and your subsequent requests to Lennar. Also attached is the list of items on your original 558 chart that the company either (i) resolved, (ii) determined were homeowner maintenance or (iii) deemed acceptable without the need for repair. We can discuss any that you have questions on tomorrow when we speak.
In exchange for Lennar’s willingness to perform this work, we require that you execute the attached Work Authorization and Release. Once I receive the properly executed Work Authorization and Release, we will schedule the work to commence on a mutually agreeable date. Upon conclusion of the work, we will have an indoor air quality test performed.
Lennar will not purchase your home or perform additional testing at this time.
I previously shared with you the reports from Koning Construction Consultants, Edmonson Electric and Bayonet Plumbing, Heating & A/C, that are referenced, but if you need them again I am happy to send.
Thank you and I look forward to speaking tomorrow.
Mark Metheny
Tampa Division President
As a reminder, when I answered Mark Metheny’s question of what was my goal and how could Lennar make this right after the initial meeting at my home, I said my ultimate goal was to sell and would prefer a buyout. I couldn’t fathom going through all these construction defect repairs only to then have to jump hoops to even get this place listed. I just wanted to be made whole. I wasn’t asking for any more than getting my investment back and there were lots of ways Lennar and I could work together to make that happen. A buyout was not the only way to make that happen.
As indicated in his email, Lennar would not be purchasing my defective home back from me.
Here was my email back to Mark Metheny of Lennar:
My response to Mark Metheny of Lennar:
“Reading through these and need to send off for review but have been advised a waiver is not likely.
Many of these issues were reported at the one year or before. It’s been four. They are not maintenance issues. Period. End of story.”
Mark replied with this email.
I replied with:
“I will let you know by 11am tomorrow.”
“I would also still like explanation on last legal correspondence from outside counsel (10/2015) with respect to issues marked as ‘WCI agreed to the repair but the owner canceled the appointments.’
You see at this point, I still wanted an explanation as to why WCI’s (now Lennar) outside legal lied in their 558 construction defects response. Why? It shows a basis of intent to never have had the intention of making the repairs amongst other things. I felt the same was now happening again.
Why would I sign a Lennar release giving me absolutely no rights, especially to not accept the ongoing horrible construction quality of Lennar homes? Based on meetings with an attorney, I was told I would be insane to sign something like this, especially given the history of the builder. Here is a link to the Lennar Authorization Release the builder insisted I sign for years of ongoing construction issues. You’ll also see all of my comments and questions about the release that were never answered by the builder. I stopped hearing from these Lennar executives shortly after our second conference call.
Mark Metheny responded with past legal documents from Amanda Buffinton (my attorney at the time). None of them addressed my question, as none of them showed that I had made repair appointments and canceled them. None of them could because that never happened.
Here was my response back in an email to Mark Metheny:
“All of these are pre-filing of the complaint except for WCI’s response to it. I have all the text messages, emails, and correspondence with it.
Appointments were never scheduled so they were impossible to cancel.”
My responses to Lennar inspection documents before the May 23, 2017, meeting
On the morning of the Lennar inspection review meeting, I send this email to Mark Metheny, Steve Smith and Heather Brown – Mark’s assistant at the time (I’ve added links to the communication to reference relevant posts for context):
As promised on our last call, none of this addresses any of what is considered ‘core issues’ which include all the metals corroding/rusting – especially in the appliances. Who is going to replace the damaged appliances and fixtures including the fans? Who will determine what is causing that to happen?
This doesn’t address the mosquito infestation that is coming from inside the house and what is causing that.
This doesn’t address the moldy, improperly installed A/C handler upstairs. None of this is normal, including the gap at the ceiling.
It was found to misinstalled just as was the case in other homes.
I will finalize review and make notes on the chart.
Let’s keep the meeting, but I can tell you that we aren’t even close to avoiding next actions, which I was hoping to do.
Thanks,
Kris
Shortly before the meeting, I sent this email with supporting documents:
Team –
I am attaching some documents to facilitate our conversation this afternoon. I will list them separately with what they contain.
Historical Construction Issues and Responses
I placed all responses and issues in the original spreadsheet that have responses going back to 2014 and end with my responses to the specific issues. I found it easier to do this than going amongst three documents to reference.
Please find that attached and note that green items (agreed), red items (not agreed) and gray items I have questions. I have notes next to most of them.
Required Florida Seller Disclosure
Mark, there were some questions around what needs to be disclosed vs not disclosed as it relates to these ongoing items.
I have highlighted the parts that I would be required to give detail disclosures and documents (a lot of them).
Please notice the portion highlighted in green. Just because it’s not on the form, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t disclose it. That has both an ethical/moral component and to prevent potential lawsuits in the future.
This further shows the difficulty I will have getting a buyer, especially at fair market value. Because this goes to the mortgage company, a buyer is going to have difficulty obtaining a mortgage for the property.
Even if it is a cash buyer (which further limits the market), that party would likely have issues obtaining insurance because these disclosures also go to them.
Authorization and Release
Attached are concerns/comments with the proposed authorization form. Basically, I am agreeing to repairs that should have been completed up to four years ago, and I get nothing back or any guarantees.
That’s neither reasonable nor normal.
Construction Issue Costs and Expenses
The last sheet gives a breakdown of all the expenses incurred in the last four years for a home. A new construction home that one of the WCI executives at the time admitted wasn’t delivered properly. I have that text message.
The last part are all the investments in the property that I cannot currently get back due to not being able to sell the home. At best at this point, I’ll only get a portion of those back if I can sell the property.
This gives a numerical depiction of exactly what this past four years has been like.
Further, none of this addresses some of the concerns I had stated in an earlier email. I have more which we can discuss on the call.
Will speak with you at 3:30.
Thank you,
Kris
Attachments:
- Lennar Homes Construction Problems and Responses
- Required Florida Disclosures (Impacted Areas are Highlighted)
- Lennar Work Release and Authorization
- Ongoing Expenses Due to Lennar Construction Defects
The inspection report conference call
Conference call on Tuesday, May 23, 2017, that began at 3:40 PM EST and lasted 134 minutes. There was a lot of confusion and conflict about what happened during the inspections. Rick Hudak who was the only one present at the inspections was not on this conference call.
Nothing got accomplished. As indicated, there was so much confusion and so many items missed by Lennar transferring the construction problems from one consolidated spreadsheet (that we had all been working on to this point) to four separate documents.
Another more than two hours on a poorly organized conference call by Lennar executives. Nothing was accomplished except confirming that a lot was still not correct from the inspection reports.
There were many items missing from the documents, as well as conflicts between Rick’s assessment of some of the items during the inspection and my assessment. However, Rick was not on the call.
There was another conference call scheduled and planned to have Rick in attendance. That call was scheduled for Friday, May 26, 2017, at 1:30 PM EST.
Next Lennar communication: Second – and Last – Conference Call with Lennar for Construction Issues
Previous Lennar communication: Mark Metheny of Lennar Sends Inspection Reports Plus Initial Call
Note: As of the date of this publication, all the Lennar executives went silent and none of the construction repairs were ever made, including the promised replacements of two, improperly installed and defective A/C units causing extensive mold exposure and health issues.
