Jerry Belew Builders

Jerry Belew Builders constructed my home using shoddy sub-par contractors. The damage from their work is starting to appear on my home. I've tried unsuccessfully for nearly four years to get Mr. [redacted] to step forward and address these issues. He's been aware of several of the problems since 2008 when we bought the home. In the crawl space, one support pillar was installed off-center, threatening the structural integrity of my home. Also, tops of several supports are turned the wrong way. And the frame of the house is not securely bolted onto the masonry foundation wall.Vinyl siding was installed without a vapor barrier which is a building code violation. Due to the improperly installed siding, the brick fascia is cracking because it is exposed to excess water run-off.Lastly, the crawlspace was never properly finished. There is an incomplete vapor barrier. The ventilation is inadequate due to duct work being installed in front of a vent opening. Water does not dry or drain away from the space, causing mold growth on wet floor joists. Standing water is also weakening the masonry foundation.Lastly, there are at least two plumbing code violations. The wastewater cleanouts are within the crawspace walls and do not extend to the exterior as directed by plumbing construction codes. Also, a floor joist support under a large bathtub was cut away (therefore weakened) to make room for tub plumbing. This is causing the floor under the tub to sag.Product_Or_Service: Home ConstructionDesired SettlementI want Mr. [redacted] to acknowledge the damage, honor his warranty, and make the necessary repairs. Business Response RE: Case #[redacted]Dear Revdex.com:This letter is in response to your letter to this company, dated August 01, 2013, regarding the complaint you received from my customer, who purchased the house from me at the address of [redacted]. The house mentioned in the above referenced letter, was started in 2006, completed in 2007, and sold to the above customer on June 08, 2008. Therefore, my first response to the complaint is that TENN. CODE ANN 28-3-202 bars any claims regarding deficiencies in the construction of an improvement to real property after four years from the date of substantial completion of such improvement. It has now been 5 years and 2 months since the closing of the above mentioned home.This house was inspected by the city inspector. One part of his inspection included a concrete footing inspection that required the footing to be 24 inches wide, 8 inches deep, and have 2 continuous runs of 1/2 inch rebar all the way through the concrete footing. There is a solid concrete block foundation all the way around the entire house. By this inspector, the house went through a framing inspection, a rough-in plumbing inspection, a rough-in electrical inspection, and a final inspection.Before the customer went to the closing of the sale of the house, they hired a home inspector to inspect the home. After that, the house was sold and the closing was on June 08, 2008.With a new house, you may have things that need to be fixed as the customer moves in. After the customer moved in, I remember the following issues that were brought to my attention to which I immediately responded to, and repaired.1. A toilet that leaked in one of the bathrooms2. A piece of formica that came unglued on the kitchen cabinet top on one end, to which I responded by getting the cabinet maker to go to the house and repair that.3. The whirlpool tub needed anchoring down more securely.There were more issues that the above mentioned customer called me about, and I responded by going to the house and fixing whatever she asked me to fix. She has called more than any customer I have ever dealt with, which has required me to respond to this customer more than any other customer I've ever had. On one occasion, when I responded to her call, she told me that her husband actually told her to quit calling me, due to the amount of times she called.I have been building spec and custom houses since I graduated college in 1978, until the present, and I have never been sued or even threatened to be sued over any house that I ever built.In response to the specific issues mentioned in the letter, I have, and will continue to use the same sub contractors that I used on this house. The reason that I have used the subcontractors for the last several years is that I am completely satisfied in their ability, their knowledge of building a quality, structurally sound house, and have never had another customer complain about the work of the same sub contractors that worked on the above mentioned house. There was an engineer hired by the customer that addressed the soundness of the structure of the house. His report contained the following:1. The house is currently structurally good.2. No floor framing problem was seen in any of the instances of her complaints.3. No significant issues were seen in the crawl space to cause movement of the drywall as in one complaint.4. Other complaints from this customer, which I consider normal maintenance issues any home owner will face as a house ages, such as drywall cracking or cracking of window caulking, resulted in his report stating that, "it does not appear to be the result of settlement of the house".5. As to the roof framing system, no significant issues were seen.6. Considering floor framing and crawlspace area, in general the framing was good and no framing issues were noted.Since 1978, I have lived in the town I was raised in, raised my own family here, built houses in this same town, have a roofing company, and have built rental property that I continue to own. I deal with various home owners, home renters and commercial property renters on an everyday basis. This requires me to be consistent in my response to any issues that come about as a result of being a builder and a landlord. For me to be able to remain in a well established business all these years, has required me to maintain a good working relationship with the many people who depend on me for a good house, good service as a landlord, and a quick response to any issues that come with owning property.Respectfully submitted,[redacted]Final Consumer Response (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)Dear [redacted]:Dispute Resolution CoordinatorThank you for the opportunity to respond to Mr. [redacted] on case number [redacted]. I'd like to start by stating that several of his statements are false, and we have evidence to prove them so. Other statements he makes are irrelevant to our claim. Also, his letter implies that my wife, [redacted], has harassed him over trivial problems. Apart from being irrelevant, that claim is also misleading and inaccurate.Before I begin, I feel I should clarify one important point. We did not contract Mr. [redacted] to construct this house. He built it for another party, but was unable to sell it for reasons unclear. Our greatest problem with Mr. [redacted] is that he failed to disclose the material defects present in the house in writing to us before the sale. Written disclosure of material defects is required under Tennessee Codes § 66-5-201 to 210.In his letter to your office, Mr. [redacted] states that the house we bought "went through" all city inspections. We collected the records of these inspections from Milan City Hall and the utility companies. There is no record of a final inspection. Also, the house failed a framing inspection. The inspector's record notes a defect with the structure and indicates that Mr. Belew should call for re-inspection when the issue is corrected. There is no record of any subsequent framing inspections. In addition, several building code violations exist in the house which were not disclosed to us. Mr. [redacted] addressed none of these with his letter. 1. The crawl space beneath the subfloor holds water, has an incomplete vapor barrier, a violation of IRC 2006, chapter 4.2. There is no vapor barrier behind the vinyl siding (IRC 2006, R703.2)3. The elevated rear porch and all three exterior stairs have no guardrail or handrail as required. (IRC 2006, R312)4. The waste-water cleanouts are all within the crawl space where they can't be accessed. (IRC 2006, P3005.2.5)We are making the claim that the house he sold us had material defects that he did not disclose to us during the sale of the home. The material defects are evident in the failed city inspection and in the above list of building code violations.Secondly, Mr. [redacted] directs attention to statements from the engineer's inspection report which was completed in May of 2013. According to the report from Mr. [redacted], it is true that the structure is currently structurally sound. However, the report uncovered several defects which prompted us to continue our investigation into the circumstances under which this home was constructed and inspected. The engineer's report also states that the cosmetic damage is likely due to shoddy work by the original subcontractors. This refutes Mr. [redacted] claim that he only employs high quality subcontractors.Third, Mr. [redacted] presents his long-term service record within the community of Milan. He states that he has never been sued or threatened to be sued over any house he has built. He has raised his own family here, has a roofing company, and manages rental property here. From this, we are intended to infer that there is nothing wrong with this house or the sale of it to us.Mr. [redacted] life story and business record have no bearing in this claim. The documentation proves that he knew it failed the framing inspection, and that he sold us the house without any disclosure- written or implied- of the failed inspections or the building code violations. Mr. [redacted] history in this community and the number of businesses he owns is irrelevant in the presence of concrete, documented proof.Lastly, I'd like to address the insinuation that my wife, [redacted], is worrisome with her phone calls and contacts over issues with this house. Shortly after purchasing the home, Mr. [redacted] did send someone to fix a leaking toilet that ruined the subfloor in the guest bathroom and to adhere a piece of cosmetic trim around the whirlpool tub. These were both done in a timely manner, but his claim that he anchored the whirlpool tub more securely is inaccurate.Setting aside his quick response to these two issues, Mr. [redacted] ignored a much larger issue for years. When we purchased the home, electrical power was connected to the house through a temporary meter box and a metal pole that extended through the soffit and roof. We requested that this be removed and the utilities installed underground as required by the neighborhood covenant, which is a legally binding document. His obligation to correct this was discussed at closing.Mr. [redacted] ignored multiple contacts regarding this issue or offered only delays and excuses. Months passed with no response from Mr. [redacted], and we believed we were being ignored. Five years after we moved in, it still was not done. My wife began visiting Mr. [redacted] office at [redacted] on a daily basis until someone came to our house in May of 2013 (while we were away) and removed the old box. The job, however, was never completed. To this day, a hole is still left in our vinyl soffit, there is damage to the vinyl siding where the old box was removed, a removed section of the brick rowlock was never replaced, and the roof is badly patched.This is not the only issue we've had with Mr. [redacted] ignoring important business with us. He owns two empty lots on either side of our house, and they are constantly overgrown with tall weeds. When his weeds grow knee-high, which usually only takes a couple of weeks, my wife calls to complain because city codes require that all property owners maintain their lawns. Our calls to him about these empty properties have gone ignored so frequently that two years ago, my wife decided to simply call the city code enforcer every time the lots were overgrown. If she does not call, Mr. [redacted] does not cut the empty lots.One final reason for Mr. [redacted] claims of excessive calls is an incident that happened in 2010. Two large trees were uprooted in his empty lot by a small tornado. He refused to respond to any phone calls requesting that he remove the deadfall trees in a reasonable time frame. Again, getting Mr. [redacted] to take care of his business in a timely manner required months of complaining to the city code enforcer. I'm sure that he gets the impression that we call him incessantly about this house, but we only want him to uphold his responsibilities as a property owner. We don't make trivial calls to his office; all attempts at contacting him are important.In conclusion, Mr. [redacted] letter does not explain why he failed to disclose the condition of the property with its defects. Secondly, his letter diverts away from the fact that the house he sold us failed to meet the International Residential Code of 2006 on four important issues, and it failed a framing inspection and never received any subsequent inspections. Most importantly, he did not disclose to us in writing these facts at the time of the sale. Also, we contest his claims that he responded quickly to calls about home repair issues when, in fact, he delayed response by years on the problem with the power box and above ground utilities. Lastly, Mr. [redacted] claims that my wife calls him repeatedly and unnecessarily, when in fact her regular calls are all based on valid concerns for his responsibilities. I want to press the issue further because I am still unsatisfied that Mr. [redacted] followed ethical business practices when he sold us this home. He withheld important information that would have affected our decision had he followed the laws and disclosed to us the material defects in the home.[redacted]Final Business Response Please see the file submitted today, as the requested business response by October 06, 2013.Please see the file submitted today, as the requested business response by October 06, 2013.Jerry Belew Builders23 Browning RoadMilan, TN 38358Ms. [redacted]Revdex.com Serving the Mid-South3693 Tyndale DriveMemphis, TN 38125October 4, 2013RE: Better Business Case # [redacted]Dear Ms. [redacted]: In your email of September 26, 2013, you informed me that the Rineys remain dissatisfied.I have read their response. The purpose of this letter is to respectfully provide the response requested by October 6, 2013, and to submit the facts as I know them. I would like to clarify a few points: It is true the [redacted] did not contract me to build their home. Homes built for customers who hire a contractor to build a home to their specifications are considered "custom" built homes. Homes built by a contractor to sell to any potential buyer are considered "spec" houses. The Rineys' home was built as a "spec" house, and was not built as a "custom" home for another party that I was unable to sell.The [redacted] also take issue with and express a lack of confidence in the contractors I chose to make the offered repairs. As the home builder in this case, I supplied the contractors with the information necessary for them to provide the estimates and information that was later forwarded to the [redacted]. I am confident in the contractors I selected to perform the offered repairs.I offered to make the repairs set out in my previous letter, and the [redacted] asked for the names of the companies and for more information on the materials that would be used. I supplied the [redacted] with additional information that they requested. I had no problem with their inquiry, and I immediately began contacting those who agreed to do the work, and spent several hours the next day requesting, receiving and submitting that information back to the [redacted]. It is correct this was presented to the [redacted] on September 12 because I only received their request on September 11, which they inferred took too long. There have been no "legal tactics" by me or by my lawyer. The [redacted] were provided the information they requested, but they remained unsatisfied and did not accept my offer.As to the deadline for acceptance of my offer not being extended, from all the information the [redacted] already had - multiple reports and inspections which have been filed with their complaints - and the additional information I supplied them, I would think they could make a decision on my offer. I would never presume to waste the Revdex.com's time, and I feel that the Rineys may misunderstand your role in this matter. My understanding of your role is that the Revdex.com encourages parties to move from their current position to a middle ground in order to settle a dispute. I offered to improve the issues the [redacted] are concerned about, but, unfortunately, it does not appear that anything I offer to do will satisfy the [redacted].Thank you for your time and professional handling of this case.Sincerely,[redacted]