Complaint Review: FLEETWOOD HOMES OF WACO TEXAS

I ordered a new home to be factory built to my specifications. I went on a tour of the factory with a representative to get a view of the work done and how my home would be constructed. Everything was on the up and up on that day.

I ordered the home on April 17, 2008 at a total price of $75,209.00; this price included all of the options that I wanted in the home, flooring, cabinets, island, appliances, carpets, wall coverings, etc. The funding for the financing was brokered by Alacrity Lending of Southlake, Tx. We went to the office to view the documents before driving back home to Louisiana, the pricing was correct at that time.

The closing was signed on November 10, 2008 and my home was built on the 16th of December and moved from the factory to a holding lot on the 18th of December. It supposedly left that lot and was moved to an undisclosed location for three (3) months before it was delivered to my property on March 24, 2009.

The set-up crew arrived and worked thru Easter weekend which was mid-April 2009. They started out by installing it wrong, they drove 40 pilings 30 ft tall into the ground, all the while I was yelling at them to "stop, that was not how the foundation was to be set-up." The so-called contractor, who was hired by Alacrity Lending, told me over the phone, "that the foundation had to be done this way because the soil was unstable." He LIED!!! Months later the surveying company informed me that my soil was perfect and did not require re-enforcement.

I checked with the State Board of Contractors and was informed that this contractor, Micheal Lopinto of Chalmette Louisiana was not licensed anywhere in the southern states. I took him and his hired helpers before the Manufactured Housing Commission in Baton Rouge, and it was then that he informed them upon examination that he was not a licensed contractor, but a contracting consultant. Alacrity paid him $37,600.00.

To say the least, I had to have my home re-raised and set up on pilings, strapped down (welded to the frame) and secured. My home is not what I ordered, the celings are cracked, the moldings that cover the marriage line is comppletely down, I can see daylight through the 1" spaces up the walls. I complained for months and even into the 2nd year of ownership, but got no satisfaction. Then one day I decided to call the home office in Washington Utah for DSH, only to get a message that the owner was having phone issues and that the Irving Texas office at 4500 Fuller Drive had closed down.

I feel that all those involved with my home, from ordering to closing were involved in a major finance scam. Tricking people to purchase homes that were not adequately built, gaining finances through the FHA/HUD offices, and then charging people like me 3 times the actually order confirmed price for the home. My order price with set up was $75,209.00, the closing documents have me paying $125,400.62

at 8.086% interest for 30 years, TOTAL PAYMENTS $328,159.93. There is no way that this home is going to last 30 years, not in South Louisiana. DO NOT TRUST DEALERS THAT YOU DO NOT KNOW PERSONALLY. I felt that Fleetwood was a reputable company that had been in business for years, but I guess the new blood decided to become low-life criminals, trying to make a quick and easy payday.