Family frustrated over new home’s unsightly problem

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (WCSC/Gray News) - A homeowner and her father said they’re unhappy about a building company’s response to a new home’s flaws.

The Lennar Corporation is one of the largest home construction companies working in the Lowcountry of South Carolina as new subdivisions pop up all over.

But one homeowner said she couldn’t get the company to respond to an issue with a new house. Tom Eriksen’s daughter bought a home in 2022 in Cypress Reserve, a Lennar-constructed community.

She bought one of the first homes built in a subdivision slated to include hundreds more, but when Eriksen went to visit his daughter, he noticed something wasn’t right.

“When I first looked at the house in the summer, the sun hits the side of the house, and the nails on the sheathing aren’t nailed all the way in so the vinyl expands and contracts. And when the sun hits it, and it looks like pimples all over,” Eriksen said.

He said he contacted Lennar immediately.

“Their super came out here, looked at the house. He says, ‘Yeah, but it’s not a manufacturer’s problem.’ I said, ‘It’s not a manufacturer’s problem. You installed it wrong. You’ve got to correct it. It looks terrible.’ And they say, ‘No, we’re not going to do anything with it,’” Erikson said.

After trying to contact Lennar again multiple times, Eriksen said he had nowhere else to turn. He’s been in the construction business for 40 years, which is why, even though his daughter owns the home, he has taken charge of the situation. He said it’s not a structural issue per se, but because they built it wrong, Lennar should be the ones to fix it.

“I see it every time I drive up to the house,” Eriksen said. “This is like the whole house — sides, back, front. Whenever the sun hits it.”

Erickson said it’s simple: Fix the homes already having problems.

“Start servicing at least the first people that moved in here,” Eriksen said. “She was one of the first buyers before anyone came in, and you’re not servicing them or taking care of your problems. It’s not a good outlook for the other 800 families that are going to move in here.”

Know your rights when dealing with builders

Robert Knowles has been doing inspections for decades and said he sees dozens of issues with homes he inspects. He said it all comes down to code and if there are violations against it.

Knowles said while this specific issue isn’t exactly a code issue, it could lead to one.

“There’s a very common misconception that homeowners have that the builder, after the first year, he has no responsibility to repair anything else in the house,” Knowles said. “Well, that’s not true. The law is not optional: you have to comply with the code requirements. The builder is legally required to fix anything that goes wrong with your house that is related to a code. If you bring a code violation to a builder’s attention, he needs to repair that.”

Rules on residential construction standards vary by state, but South Carolina adopted a set of residential construction standards for homebuilders.

Knowles said if you are buying a new build in South Carolina, get a thorough home inspection by an inspector or engineer who can cite the code and reference it in a report. Present that report to the builder through a process called “Right to Cure,” which gives the contractor notice of the alleged defect and the right to fix or “cure” the problem.

If those options don’t work, notify South Carolina’s Licensing Board about the alleged code violations. The complaint would be filed with the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.

Knowles said he’s definitely seeing more code violations in the houses going up these last few years.

Lennar did not respond to a request for comment, and Eriksen has yet to hear from the company as well.

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