1 year new home warranty (?)

Hi,

About 6 months ago, we purchased a newly constructed (Miller & Smith) townhouse from a (so called) investor; we were the first people to live in it. (Of the three new houses we have bought, this has had the most problems.)

Miller and Smith has taken the position that the one year new home warranty only applies to the original purchaser and does not convey. So far (with one exception), when we have contacted the sub-contractors directly they have taken the position that they stand behind thier work even if M&S doesn't; this has worked OK.

Recently we have uncovered another problem; this time it is a shower door in a tile shower. There is some leak that is causing the grout to separate and the sub-surface to buckle under the tile. The tile contractor has now taken the position that they won't do anything unless M&S calls them, which M&S won't do.

Any ideas how to convince people to stand behind their work or what VA law is about the 1 year new home warranty?

Failing that, any recommendations for good tile/shower door repair people?

Thanks.

Best regards,
Richard

 

Have you read the warranty? What does it say? If it states that it only applies to the original purchaser, you may be out of luck. Unfortunately, many builders around here won't stand by the quality of their product unless they have to.

 

Well, M&S is a pain in the butt to work with. Read the warranty to find out for sure. If, in fact you are covered, be prepared to fight a huge battle and whatever you do, don't back down! I am so sick of fighting with them but I refuse to let them get away with crappy constructionm etc,! We had to call in the county for one thing! Good luck!

 

Thanks. I'm not sure what the warranty says; we didn't buy directly from M&S, there was a "flipper" in the middle. I suspect this means M&S can tell us to go away.

I don't understand why they act this way. Any repairs (and consequential damage) get billed back to the subcontractor that made the mistake, so as far as I can tell honoring the warranty would cost M&S nearly nothing. The result is they are ruining their reputation and not saving any money. This seems like an odd business strategy.

Best regards,
Richard

 

This isn't about your warranty, but we're also having a problem with the shower door in our bathroom. We're pretty sure it has to do with the weep hole and not being caulked correctly. This has led to water leaking behind the wall outside the shower and creating a hole in the ceiling of our dining room.

Unfortunately it took several years for the damage to become evident and we're well past any warranty period since our house was built in 1999.

 

Signifier,

We were in a similar situation in that we bought our Van Metre townhome from an "investor" shortly after it was built. We were the first people to occupy the home. But the sellers had to (by law) provide all homeowner documents before settlement which include warranty information on the home. We didn't find in the documents if VM would cover us or not. But since then we have called VM for some small issues and they have sent someone out every time. Then we did the 11 month walk-through as if we were the original owners and they were actually fantastic to do deal with. They took care of everything we hoped for and some things we didn't even expect them to. We were prepared to fight hard if they didn't honor the warranty but fortunately didn't have to.

As far as I know, the homes come with a one-year warranty and 9 more years from RWC regardless of who the original purchaser is. Kind of like buying a lightly used car.

Good luck but hang in there!

 

JLC,

I don't know who you bought from in 1999 and what the warranties were like then, but now the homes seem to come with a 10 year warranty. Actually it appears the builder takes care of things for the first year and RWC years two through ten. You may find you have a warranty on your issue. Most items they will repair after the first year need to be structural issues and I don't know if yours qualifies, but it is certainly worth looking in to.

Good luck!