Strategies

The following strategies are broken down into three major categories. Things you should do before you sign a purchase agreement, things you should do after you sign a purchase agreement, and things you should do after you close. These suggestions are based solely on our experience here in the state of Florida.

Before you sign: The number one piece of advice we can give you is to buy a home from someone else. This company is huge and they just don’t care about you. If you find yourself in the position of wanting to buy in an area that is only served by Morrison Homes than be prepared to document everything.

1. Go out today and buy a digital camera and carry it with you whenever you go to the job site.
2. Keep a journal about anything having to do with the home. Dates and whom you spoke to are important. It will come in handy if you find yourself in our situation.
3. Hire an attorney, preferably a good one, prior to signing your purchase agreement. Don’t be pound wise and penny foolish, enough said.
4. Document, document, document! No matter who you buy your home from take pictures, keep a journal and confirm EVERY conversation through correspondence.
5. Send all correspondence via certified, return receipt, fax, or E-mail. Make sure you have documentation confirming in some way that the builder received your letter.
6. I will say it again put a synopsis of every conversation in writing for your own protection.

After you sign: Document, document, document

1. Read and become familiar with “The little purple book” or whatever warranty your builder uses. If your builder does not give you a warranty in writing demand one. Make sure you know how the waranty procedures work.
2. Make frequent trips to the job site and take lots of pictures. These pictures will come in handy if you have problems because they can help pinpoint things that are not visible in a finished house. They will be nice to have even if you do not have problems because you will know exactly what is behind each wall and where all of your wiring is.
3. If you have conversations with anyone while on the job site, remember to document those conversations in writing and in your journal.
4. Do not close on the house if there are unresolved issues, the problems will get fixed quicker if you hold out on closing. Remember to consult your attorney if there are problems and document everything.

After you close: Document, document, document

1. Upon closing go through the house with a fine tooth comb and make sure every issue no matter how small is put in writing. Many superintendents will try to get you not to put things in writing because it looks bad on them, insist that everything is in writing.
2. Once your first walkthrough/warranty sheet is submitted ask for a timeline for repairs in writing, don’t forget the promises in “The little purple book” or whatever timeline your builder claims to use. Morrison doesn’t follow their timeline at least not in my area, but they will throw “The little purple book” up in your face if it suits them. Make sure your timeline details when the work will be done, what will be done, who will do it, who will clean up any messes, and who is in charge of making sure the repairs are done to your satisfaction.
3. Keep a copy of your warranty sheet handy so you can add items to it as you discover them. This will help with additional walkthroughs/warranty requests.
4. Keep a clipboard near your front door and require any workers to sign their name, actual time of arrival, promised time of arrival, and what they are there to fix. Have them also sign out when they leave and detail what they have done and any additional work that is needed for the repair to be completed.
5. I’ll say it again, document! Take pictures before, during, and after repairs. Write down everything in your journal, confirm conversations in writing as noted above. This is VERY IMPORTANT. Make sure you inform your customer service representative in writing if appointments are missed, and they will be! Keep a journal of any missed appointments, veiled threats (we will not fix this unless you sign or do this), and any inconveneience caused to your family.
6. One of my neighbors sets up a phone call schedule that seems to work for her. She calls the main office, sales office, and her customer service representative, three times each, everyday until her repairs are completed. Personally I never wanted to talk to Morrison employees that often, but it works for her, the squeaky wheel gets the grease so they say.
7. You can send in warranty requests using the Morrison Homes website. This gets your issues in front of the corporate types, but it usually gets quickly handed down and forgotten (poop rolls downhill). This tactic will get you an immediate response and if the issue is small it will get fixed immediately. I would use strategies 6 and 7 with caution, because they get those in charge of actually fixing your problems called on the carpet. That typically makes them angry and you get more flies with honey. There is a time and place for these tactics if you are not getting anywhere using normal channels.
8. Do not hesitate to call your attorney if things are not getting repaired, sometimes a letter from an attorney is all that is needed.
9. If you continue to have problems or you have major or latent defects; inform your developer and your homeowner’s association. The developer can often times put pressure on the builder and in some states the homeowner’s association has a fiduciary responsibility to report latent defects, that may affect other homes, to the homeowners and any prospective buyers. If the developer is still selling lots he will usually act quickly to help you resolve your issues.
10. Stop by your local bookstore and check out books on home defects, they are a wealth of information.
11. If you find yourself unable to resolve your issues, let your attorney handle things. If you are not happy with your attorney’s way of handling things, get a second opinion. Every attorney looks at a case from a different angle and you may like someone else’s angle better. You wouldn’t hesitate to get a second medical opinion, this is a big investment so protect yourself.
12. Even if you use all of the above strategies you still may have problems. We at some point or another have used each and every one of these, yet sadly our issues will probably not be resolved without litigation. Sometimes that is the only way to resolve things and in our case we simply will not accept a house with structural issues, gee that’s just not what we paid for! So you have to know when it’s time to step back and “let the suits” deal with things.
13. One last very important thing to remember; find out what the statutes of limitations are for your state. You need to know what they are for patent and latent defects. You also need to understand what the difference between patent and latent is and how it applies to your situation, as well as any other pertinent laws in your state. So do your homework before you visit your attorney; know the laws, bring your documentation, and your pictures. It will make things a lot easier for your attorney. As our attorney says “Well prepared clients can make even a mediocre attorney look great”.

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