Town & Country Homes, Inc.

Town and Country Homes had a contract with both my wife and me; both our names are on the contract, however my wife was the only one who signed it Town and Country Homes decided they were not the general contractor after they asked to get out of the contract Only one person was hired and paid by my wife and I and that was the engineer for the foundation blue prints that were required to get a building permit We had only done this to insure our house could be ordered and delivered before winter The foundation subcontractor was paid by us only after the builder, Town and Country Homes gave us permission to pay them out of our down payment Our contract does not state that we would do any sheetrock on the first floor, but does say the second floor There is a leak in our new roof that was installed by Town and Country Homes; you can see daylight through a nail holeBoth the *** *** ** *** *** and the factory engineers that came to inspect our house, witnessed the leakThe *** *** engineer of the house plan came to visit us on July 24th and there is a cut in a load bearing beam They were going to run load bearing numbers to see how to fix it The project was not cleaned after Town and Country Homes left the site; I have 3/of a gallon bucket full of nails and screws that we picked up all springNot to mention the lumber scraps left in our basementTown and Country Homes asked to get out of their contract and return more than $16,to this customer and said we were now the general contractor because we paid the foundation contractor (with their permission) and the engineer for the foundation (which we were never told by Town and Country that we would need) It would seem that they would have known about this as this is a New York State requirement for houses over 1,square feet It would seem that Town and Country Homes says that they haven't been reimbursed money when they have asked to give us back money to get out of their contract We paid for a review from a national award winning modular home builder to help us know what we should do because the builder wanted out of finishing our house Of course we would have no idea about what would need to be done to finish a modular home as we aren't modular home builders Buyer beware of this addendum that people sign trusting that this builder will take of them and insure customer satisfaction and completion of the product All the complaints we have about this builder had been forwarded to the *** ** *** *** *** *** *** The builder says the town code inspector was around multiple times, yet the building code inspector was never was given the opportunity to inspect any of the builders work to insure that codes were met because the builder never came back The state had to get involved to have the manufacturer come and make sure the house was set properly Upon their visit they noted many issues about how the house wasn't set properly, or completely and that windows were installed improperly We would like consumers to be aware of the many statements that this builder provided to you and the state of *** *** *** *** *** ***He broke his contract and walked away from a very costly project We are at the mercy of the state and *** *** *** to help us finish our home correctly We have no trust in the work that this builder would do even if he did come back to complete the work he promised to do At this juncture, we are still waiting for a proposal of repair/completion from the home manufacturer They were displeased with many aspects of the quality of the work done by Town and Country as well Sincerely, *** *** *** ***
Regards,
*** ***

Per the signed agreement:“General Contractor”“Town & Country Homes, Inc. will serve as the general contractor as long as all subcontractors are hired by Town & Country Homes, Inc.  If the customer uses their own subcontractors, Town & Country Homes, Inc. will then serve as a subcontractor, and all scheduling will be handled by the customer or general contractor hired by the customer.” Per this agreement the customers are the general contractor.  It is the first paragraph of the set up addendum and clearly delineates responsibility.  The complainant is correct that only his partner signed the agreement.  They hired, called, located, scheduled and paid for the foundation & excavation contractor.  They need no permission from us to this.  Siding, flooring, interior finishing including all drywall, purchase & installation of exterior doors, site engineer for foundation, water & sewer lines (which have not been done) are all items that are to be performed by customer.  Final amount has changed from $68,000 in initial complaint to $16,000 this complaint.  The complainant admits he did not read the agreement and is confused of actual events.  We have not been reimbursed for generator rental or fuel, wood soffit & fascia instillation, drip edge or additional labor that was performed by us at the ** request.  No water, power or sewer that was supposed to be provided by the customer/** was ever ready.  The site was not a finished lawn, it was a rough grade unfinished site that was done in January with snow every few days.  We cleaned up all trash in and around the house that we normally do and have saved a voicemail (belligerent in nature) asking us to return trash stormboard.  As ** it is always the final responsibility to make sure job is clean and safe. The “National Award Winning” dealer was paid by the customer to provide a report.  This individual is not licensed and was canceled by the manufacturer for numerous reasons.  The motive of this individual is clear to everyone except the customer.  The customer was duped into paying for an erroneous report that neither New York State nor the manufacturer have any faith in.  [redacted] New York has one of the only full time building inspectors in [redacted], NY.  The office is located less than on mile from the customer’s job site.  The inspector is a very professional and thorough man, who realizes the customer is the **.  As a code enforcer in NY, he needs no invitation to inspect a site.  As the **, it was the customer’s responsibility to inform him of project progress.  The inspector had access to the house & visited the site a minimum of 12 times with us present.  The customer asked us not to speak with him.  He asked for the set instructions, which we provided for him.  The [redacted] and [redacted] engineer have visited the site.  To date, no reports have been issued for the customer to make accusations about.  A conversation by us and [redacted] does not support what customer says, only what he wishes to happen.  It was noted that the customer has unconditioned his home to exterior elements by not installing doors & other close up such as siding.  All issues from that is his responsibility.  It has been 6 months since they took possession and nothing has been done by them.  We reiterate our position that the customer should have purchased a smaller, more affordable home that was completed.  Instead they chose to act as the ** and assume the responsibility of completing such a large project.  They do not possess the resources, ability, ambition, crew or knowledge to finish in an acceptable time frame.  They are not at the mercy of New York State or the manufacturer to help finish their home.  We have operated in VT & NY for 18 years without ever having a situation such as this.  The consumers should direct their energy into completing what they are obligated by agreement to do.  Please feel free to contact us with any questions if this report concerns you.  Thank you

In response to the customer complaint:Town & Country Homes, Inc. did not have a contract with the individual that filed the complaint; the contract was with his partner.  He is acting as the general contractor for our customer.  We are not the general contractor, but a subcontractor...

for this job per the signed set-up addendum.  Many other subcontractors were involved in the project that the customers hired & paid for as well.  Town & Country Homes was not contracted to provide a finished product.  The customer was responsible for all sheetrock work, siding, finishing 2nd floor, installation of customer supplied doors & windows, etc.  To address some of the concerns…There is no roof leak.  The walk-out wall follows the contour of the concrete that was provided by the customer & lines up well with the house.  No load bearing beams were cut into.  A wind column was installed in the vaulted gable end of the house; this requires cutting the top plate of a non-load bearing gable end wall in accordance with manufacturers set prints.  The project was cleaned when we left the job site.  The local code enforcer visited the site at least a dozen times during our time there.  The entire project price of $305,932 (including some change orders & contractors provided by customer) was originally due.  To date the customer has only paid $245,800 of the price to Town & Country, leaving them with the balance of $60,132. The statement that 95% of the money was received by Town & Country, is false.  In addition to the purchase & sales Town & Country preformed tasks that were not included in the contract and have not been reimbursed for them either.  The customer hired a [redacted] builder that was canceled by said manufacture due to quality and ethical issues.  This individual has no modular home license in the state of Vermont due to the fact there is no licensing procedures in Vermont for contractors.  Town & Country is a licensed retailer & installer in the state of New York, which to our knowledge the customer hired inspector is not.  We are also a registered corporation in New York & Vermont.  It is our opinion that the individual filing the complaint does not have the ability or the expertise to attempt such a large project.   One example of such would be that the power, water & sewer were never present on the site during the time we worked there and are still not present.  We had to provide our own power source at our expense.  We are more than happy to answer any questions & invite anyone reading said complaint to contact us for a complete accurate account of what occurred here.   Thank you,

We have made all comments needed in original complaint.  The builder at Town and Country Homes wants to continue to present false statements.  However it should be clarified of what the false statements are:  1.  The building code inspector in Westport in no way has ever agreed that we are the general contractor and in fact has stated on many occasions that Town and Country Homes is in fact the general contractor.  2. Town and Country Homes never once informed this consumer that we would ever be considered the general contractor.  It would be our advice to them to insure they are more thorough in their presentation of material instead of just emailing forms to be signed.  2.  Again another false statement,  is that we hired and paid for the foundation; we called foundation contractor per [redacted] (Town and Country Homes) request and paid the contractor per [redacted] permission and now he wants to turn that into his favor by bowing out of his legal and professional obligations.  The foundation contractor is listed on our contract with Town and Country Homes.  3.  Even in winter weather we were able to pick up nails; our bucket was 3/4 full before the ground thawed.  4.  To date there is a report by the state and [redacted] and they both do support the issues that were stated in previous complaints about Town and Country Homes.  4.  No doors were installed but all doorways were securely covered up; the doors couldn't be put in until the state and [redacted] could inspect the poor workmanship of the door framing and sheet rock; currently the doors have been installed after replacing broken wall frame and properly installing sheet rock around the door.  5.  We have no concern over the size of our home and it would seem strange that a builder would tell a customer that they can't afford something when they have no idea of this customer's finances.  However, I should comment that when speaking to the builder's secretary and designer, she encouraged us to build the house we are building as it would be worth more with 3 bedrooms if we ever sold it.  She did show us smaller models too.  We like the design of the house chosen, but had thought about not having the bedrooms upstairs and that is when she made this comment.   We had considered just having a loft. The home was supposed to be completed by the builder as per his contract.  We do have the resources (fortunately), the ability, and certainly the ambition, crew, knowledge to finish, but were waiting per the builders promise that [redacted] would come in March to inspect our home.  It wasn't until a complaint filed to the state of NY that any action has happened.  We are currently waiting for [redacted] to come and fix many problems this home encountered from the builder not doing his job correctly.  Our energy will no doubt be trying to finish our home.  It is a great outrage that a builder can make false promises and leave a consumer to finish and repair mistakes from the builder they hired.  We were certainly at the mercy of the engineers from both the state and [redacted] to tell us if our home is set properly, which it wasn't per both entities.  5.  In regards to money, again the builder already had offered us money back so that he could get out of his contract; it is worth noting that he states we owe him money yet he's offered to give money back.  We would like the Revdex.com to consider this an official complaint as it is, at times, the only action a consumers can use as a recourse other than using lawyers.  We feel it's our obligation to help others who seek out a modular home builder.  They need to be informed of our situation.
Regards,
[redacted]
 [redacted]