Jim Walters Homes - Mid State Homes ripoff dishonest will tell you anything cheap labor cheap building materials cheap everything Tampa Florida Regional Tulsa Oklahoma

Please keep a written record of your complaints, don't rely on the phone or verbal promises. A builder won't be very motivated if you just call them repeatedly. In fact, they love it if you keep things verbal, then you can't prove you ever notified them of problems, and they can claim you didn't give them "a chance to make repairs" under some states construction defect laws, or they can say your warranty ran out without notification of complaints.

Not all areas enforce building codes very well, or enforce it evenly on all builders. If you CAN get the code inspectors to work in your favor on this, great! You should really have your own private experts oversee construction at critical phases such as foundation, framing, electrical, plumbing, and roofing. The contract with the builder should not only allow this but specifically state the builder is legally obligated to abide by these experts findings. If it doesn't allow for you to do that I recommend not buying from that builder if anyone reading this is still in the builder-shopping stage. If you're already underway you cannot change terms of the contract, but do all you can to protect yourself and don't close on a defective or unfinished house.

PUT ALL COMPLAINTS TO A BUILDER IN WRITING AND SEND IT CERTIFIED RETURN RECEIPT MAIL. KEEP THE RECEIPT SO YOU CAN PROVE THEY WERE NOTIFIED. Without this paper trail you don't have much of a case.

Also TAKE PICTURES AND KEEP A LOG OF YOUR CASE. You will need this kind of proof to show there is a defect. Keeping a log of every date and incident of broken repair appointments, broken promises, what was said in conversations with the builder, etc, will be important. Keep your documentation organized because if it turns into a major problem, there will be LOTS of paperwork.

i am presently fighting with jim walters about getting my home built.i have called tampa once already now and the office knows that i will do it again if needed.when the house starts to be built i will be doing a weekly inspection of it and if i have to i will lock it up untill the problems are fixed.i have several years in carpentry and also know most of what the other trades do to be able to see problems before they get started. my advice to anybody building,get a friend to look at the work being done and dont be afraid to contact the inspectors to come out to check the job.the inspectors are there to insure that the homes are built to code. if you see anything that you dont like, talk to the foreman of the job.if that dont work ask to speak to the manager and tell that person about the problem.when that fails contact the boss and then the company and then contact the building inspector. a building inspector can shut down the job untill the work is in compliance with the local codes.this will prevent most of the headaches.

I know how you feel. I don't have your builder but I have a defective house by a different builder, and I'm in your state. In the 5 yrs i've been fighting our case I have found that the legal recourse here is a joke:

1. State laws don't allow for recovery of more than actual damages with no guarantee you'll even be awarded legal fees. This means that if you win and collect, you will still lose money. But it's unlikey a person would really collect.

2. Given the above, good lawyers won't take these cases. In more populous areas, lawyers find class action construction defect cases profitable, but still won't take the individual cases most of the time. Not enough money in it they say. We're left with mediocre or worse lawyers, or no lawyers, to help us.

Since the state laws deem that consumer complaints must be kept confidential, (Attorney General Drew Edmondson wrote this to me in a letter, and the sentiment was echoed by the BBB in writing also), no consumer doing research will ever find those complaints.

Numerous home buyers nationwide have been ripped off by Jim Walters Homes. Please check out www.hadd.com The only progress we've made in our case has been from consumer organizations like this, and others. It's disgusting how the gov't of Oklahoma treats its citizens, and how it lets bad builders get away with building defective and even unsafe homes.