We signed our contract in September. The manager at the time promised us that our home would be delivered and set up in time for Christmas. I guess he forgot to tell us Christmas of what year. Then in January, they let their business license expire which pushed our delivery date to mid February. The house was placed on the foundation the first week of March. We were then told that they would have no problem completing the home by the end of April, but that they actually had until July 1st to complete it in accordance with their contract. Before that date 7 cracks, some which went all the way through the foundation appeared. They promised to have them fixed. They sent a third class contractor to fix it. They slathered some concrete over the cracks and it had recracked within a month. To this date, 3/21/08, those cracks have not been repaired. The ceiling where the halves were placed together is very shabbily done, after 2 other attempts at repairs. The seam in the floor makes a metal clicking noise when you walk over it. Cracks from ceiling to floor are in 2 bedrooms. I have a 4 page list of things that need to be repaired. They are supposed to start next week, but we shall see.
The kicker is that since they went past the contract date, almost 9 months now, the corporate office said they would reinburse us for interest payments until the house received a certificate of occupancy and also pay for the extensions $725.00 every 2 months, on the loan which has matured 3 times and going for a 4th time. Today we met with Sam, the new manager, who has fired everyone previously working there. He told us that we owed them almost $10,000 because they paid these charges and it was not a reimbursement, but a "float thru" loan by Palm Harbor. I tried to stop the payment of the final draw at the bank holding the construction loan, but they had mailed it out. They never received our signature page, so they shouldn't have done that as far as I'm concerned. She said it was done because Palm Harbor faxed them a copy of the certificate of occupancy. They also said that we have to pay the contractors the difference of the price of the steps and what they allowed for steps they knew would be too short for our home. It's in a flood plain and it sitting about 4 feet off the ground. Now its time to close our loan and he's charging us for the reimbursements the corporate office agreed to pay, the extensions the corporate office agreed to pay and the fines he got because the grading wasn't up to code when they inspected.By the way, they never graded and when they brought down the dirt to bring it up to code, Sam also was nice enough to add the $1000.00 for the dirt to bring it up to code to us. The contract called for top soil to be placed around the whole house. The only area that has so much as a crumb of topsoil is the area he is charging to us. The previous manager sent down a kid and and old man who took the sand and rocks we had to make concrete for sidewalks and spread that all around the yard. We have several lovely "beach" areas and some rocks. No grass will ever grow there until we have someone come in to finish the work they never did. I have to make settlement on the home, but have no intentions of cashing the piddly check they are giving us. We should be getting back almost $11,000 because most of the extras came in under bid. It is their fault that the work was not completed in time.
The new manager doesn't want to be held responsible and I don't blame him for anything other than being an unreasonable jerk. We know the previous management caused the delay, but they worked for Palm Harbor and this shouldn't just be dismissed because they have a new manager. He still is part of the Palm Harbor company and what's right is right. He wants us to pay for previous managements mistakes and I have no intention of doing so. If I have to contact our lawyer, I will. A reimbursement is not a "float thru loan". I should not have to pay back money the corporate office promised to pay and for extensions on a loan and fines caused by the home not being completed on time and work not being done right. Sam wants to blame us for everything. If I was the contractor, he could, but they were the contractors. They hired inferior contractors and not the Gold Care Team they said they had. They said they did not hire outside contractors, but everyone who came to do work on our home was an outside contractor other than the ones sent from corporate to do inside repairs. They also sent the wrong set of prints to the county, never filed the "As Built" certificates, didn't pay the sewer tap in fees until they had gone up by almost $4000.00 and so many other things, I just don't have time or probably room on this form to mention. Palm Harbor Homes is a rip off. They need to make good on their promises. They're very pleasant and nice until they get that huge draw to pay for the home. Then you're on your own.
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