We signed a contract for KHOV townhome back in April 2009, as we wanted to take advantage of the 8,000 first time home buyer tax credit and lower interest rates. We paid about 20,000 dollars for deposit while signing the contract (MAJOR MISTAKE!!!). Then all sorts of BAD things started happening to me. When we signed the contract, I was told that home will be ready by September end. I was also told by the sales agent that once 50% of the homes are sold, they will start construction. All townhomes were sold in our row in the same month I signed the contract (our row was the last row left in the community). But, they did not bother to start construction or let us know about the scheduled start date. After a month, I went to design gallery to choose the options and during that time I was told that instead of Sept, construction will be done by mid October, 2009. Well, I did not argue and signed the papers (ANOTHER MAJOR MISTAKE). By the way, they charged me 5,000 dollars extra for the brick front and I never got to choose the brick. When I asked them for brick selection, they said it was all pre-selected. (THIS IS RIDICULOUS.).

After options selection in May, I did not hear back from them for 2 more months. Finally, I called them up and believe or not, they said that they were trying to call me to setup pre-construction meeting, but either my phone or their phone was acting up (I have never heard such a LAME EXCUSE in my life). We scheduled the pre-construction meeting after that week. During that meeting they said the home construction will be completed in November or December. I signed the papers again without argument (ANOTHER MISTAKE AGAIN). While signing the papers, I was still hopeful that they will do their best to complete construction by end of November, because government tax credit was set to expire in November end. Now, I started visiting the construction site randomly and I never saw more than 4-5 people working on the construction site (They were building total 4 townhomes in that row). I raised my concern to the sales person about the workforce and he said "Don't worry, tax credit is going to be extended". I was stunned by that response. This is the best example of how careless and irresponsible a builder could be to give such careless answer??? November was approaching and I wasn't sure at a point that government will extend the credit, I raised the concern to the sales agent again. Sales person said, if they can not finish the construction by November end, builder will give 8000 dollars. This time, I wanted to be more cautious and I asked him to give that information in written. Sales agent said he will talk to management and get it in written. Again I did not hear anything from him for 15-20 days. Finally, I called him up again on Nov 1st and asked for written letter stating that the builder will pay 8000 dollars, in case they can not complete construction by Nov end. Few days passed by, never got a written letter from builder. Finally, I heard the news that government extended the tax-credit. I also talked to their VP to speed-up the construction and we had few emails and phone calls back and forth. But, she was not willing to help much on that either. On the top of that, I was offered extra 300 bucks by their Vice President for all inconveniences I had (Not to mention here that I declined this generous offer. LOL).

By the way, I forgot to mention that in our basement they installed window on the wrong side and they did not realize that until they were planning to put a deck and realized that window could be right below the deck. This is the best example of how skillful their contractors and workers are. I am not sure about their construction material quality yet. But, I do know that they are using drywall (GridMarX) made by "National Gypsum" company, which has very bad reviews. See links below:

http://charlotte.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2009/03/02/story17.html

http://charlotte.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2009/03/23/daily15.html

Also, they are using windows made by "M I Windows" company (never heard of this company) and house wrap made by "barricade" (in their spread-sheet, they mentioned that they were using Tyvek, but this is NOT the case).

We finally have closing in December end and I am just keeping my fingers crossed about the home quality as, I recently searched online and I found very bad reviews about this builder:

Khovsucks.com (I think with their power and money, they get rid of this website. Now this URL leads you to their website).

http://www.ripoffreport.com/Search/Company/K-HOVNANIAN-HOMES.aspx

http://editor.ehost-services135.com/

http://activerain.com/blogsview/122426/K-Hovnanian-sued-under

(((Redacted)))

But, overall this experience has been HORRIBLE. Their customer services SUCKS. Their sales department is full of LIARS, CUNNING and SHAMELESS people. I would NEVER EVER suggest this builder to anyone.

CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

Click Here to read other Ripoff Reports on K. Hovnanian - KHOV

7 Updates & Rebuttals

Ted

Coppell,
Texas,
USA

KHOV Homes

#2Consumer Comment

Thu, February 04, 2016

In Roanoake Texas(Trophy Club) its amazing what home buyers dont know and dont see about their KHOV HOME.SIMPLY AMAZING that anyone here thinks they have a descent house. Its obvious they know nothing about the trade!

I have never had so many things go wrong in a house in my entire life.I have had 16 houses across the USA in my 63 years ..all between 500k-1MM

After the first few efforts to get KHOV to fix these issues, I was better off saving my time and aggravation and paying for new Contractors to come in and repair it correctly (DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME).I have saved 10 years of my life for just paying for it up front instead of dealing with these IDIOTS!!

All there suppliers & Subs want to haggle the hell out of you on how its not there issue. But it s forever your problem.

Every single contractor that I have paid to fix stuff here just shook there head when they saw what the problems are here. and everybody says "I thought they were a quality Builder"..LAUGHABLE!!!

Similar problems are on every KHOV home and many dont even know about them yet. ..BUT THEY WILL!!!!!

Just wait till these things become a disaster over time. I am not talking small items here. I am talking Big Problems.

This will be a class action law suit I promise. Most of these are borderline criminal on install and faulty or cheap product that will not stand the test of time..My garage doors never lasted a year without a total dismantle and re-install. KHOV said it was to code..even though they would not move up and down because the brackets and supports were not designed for Heavy wood doors but rather light fiberglass doors. Thats the tip of the ice berg.

Wait till all the customers find out there plastic roof vents have cracked in 1 years and are leaking down the roof line inside there attic.

Over time it will gradually start soaking the drywall and there goes the ceiling on your head.

I had to replace every vent with a steel vents that doesnt crack in the 110 degree texas heat.

So whoever thinks they have a good KHOV HOme..Give me your number so I can keep track of who you are for the class action that will surely be coming as many folks out here are executives and retired attorneys.

I have over 40K in repairs already.But they are done right and I can sleep at night..CAN YOU????

WorkingOnFico

Paradise,
California,
United States of America

K Hovnanian is good quality and great CSR

#3Consumer Comment

Sat, September 15, 2012

I purchased my KHOV home in March of 2012. I couldn't be more pleased with. The quality is great and the customer service has always be awesome. The house was built in 2007, when I moved in several double pane window seals were broken. I submitted a service request and they immediately responded and I had new windows within a week. My home is almost 5 years old and the windows had a five year warranty. My home is very energy efficient and I have to problems with the quality of their build. I would highly recommend them. Much better than a KB Home.

K Hovnanian customer

Claysville,
Pennsylvania,
United States of America

K Hov is a consumer's worst nightmare: inferior workmanship & refusal to honor their warranties

#4Consumer Comment

Thu, June 30, 2011

If you think you had problems with your new construction from K Hov (we had numerous issues with poor craftmanship like excessive nail pops throughout the entire house, ceiling separation from interior walls due to poor truss attachment, cracks in walls around doorways, workers who did not speak English, and a huge foundation crack that appeared before the final walk through which they STILL haven't fixed 7 years later) just wait until you try to get them to honor their warranties. You'll be even more displeased, disgusted and angry than you are now, if you can believe it.

We saved and planned for years before building our new home, and our decision to use K Hov was the biggest mistake of our lives.

Our friends built new homes around the same time as we did, using other builders, and none of them have had the defects in workmanship we do.

Apparently, this nationwide company is satisfied with their exceptionally poor quality construction and even worse customer service, because once they get your money you have no recourse. I have never encountered a bigger ripoff than this house or worse customer service EVER.

K Hovnanian customer

Claysville,
Pennsylvania,
United States of America

K Hov is a train wreck: poor workmanship and they DON'T honor their warranties

#5Consumer Comment

Thu, June 30, 2011

If you think you had problems with your new construction from K Hov (we had numerous issues with poor craftmanship like excessive nail pops throughout the entire house, ceiling separation from interior walls due to poor truss attachment, cracks in walls around doorways, workers who did not speak English, and a huge foundation crack that appeared before the final walk through which they STILL haven't fixed 7 years later) just wait until you try to get them to honor their warranties. You'll be even more displeased, disgusted and angry than you are now, if you can believe it.

We saved and planned for years before building our new home, and our decision to use K Hov was the biggest mistake of our lives.

Our friends built new homes around the same time as we did, using other builders, and none of them have had the defects in workmanship we do.

Apparently, this nationwide company is satisfied with their exceptionally poor quality construction and even worse customer service, because once they get your money you have no recourse. I have never encountered a bigger ripoff than this house or worse customer service EVER.

United States of America

KHOV => CHEAPEST MATERIAL / DUMB CONTRACTORS / LOUSY MANAGEMENT.

#6Author of original report

Wed, December 23, 2009

This builder uses CHEAPEST QUALITY MATERIALS which can BROKE APART VERY EASILY. I randomly visited the home I purchased from them few days back and I noticed that one of the door had a small hole at the bottom. May be some worker heat the door hard and it got hit with the door stopper, which penetrated through the door. Now, you can imagine the quality of the doors they are using. It looks like the door was MADE OF CHEAP CARDBOARD. Their craftsmanship is HORRIBLE. Their stupid contractors can't even read the blueprint properly.

Finally, we had a walkthrough after 3 months of delay. We noticed so many cracks in the door panels. Carpet was not tucked properly at multiple places. Above all, at many places I noticed the wall was not 90 degrees. At some places, I could easily see the wall bumped out. Also, in my master bedroom the wall was little bit slanting. When I complained about it they said, they can not do anything about it. If they will try to fix it, it may worsen the problem (WOW, WAY TO GO!!!).

I am havily repenting on my decision now. If you are reading this review, do your self a favor, DO NOT EVEN THINK OF THIS BUILDER. SAVE YOUR SELF MONEY AND TIME and DO NOT RUIN YOUR HOME BUYING EXPERIENCE.

Report Attachments

United States of America

KHOV YOU BETTER STAY AWAY FROM THIS BUILDER

#7Author of original report

Fri, December 11, 2009

They are NOT energy star certified either. For your information, if you are mistaken by the term "High Performance Homes".

Cgservs

lakewood,
New Jersey,
U.S.A.

So True

#8Consumer Comment

Sun, December 06, 2009

It appears from your report that you have experienced what many many homeowners have with K. Hov. this is not an isolated incident but standard operating proceedure. The first thing a new buyer should realize is that sales people are paid to sell homes. Also to sell upgrades which are waaaayyyy overpriced, not give delivery dates, they know less than the field people building your home, if that is possible. Also they need to collect lots of downpayment money, and sell many homes befor they start building, I wonder why.

The builder does not want delays, in fact bonuses are based on getting the home closed as quickly as possible and on time, with as few problems as possible. This is why quality is sometimes less than desireable, and some things are hidden from sight.

As far as the workers / field people building your home, did they even speak or understand English? Could they read blueprints?

The quality of construction materials will be to just make code. The trim will most likely be finger jointed wood for casing and baseboard with rough spots, never sanded smooth, with cracks, splits, missing wood etc. and lots of caulk to hide open joints from poor quality work {there is no craftmanship that costs money}. MDF ( basicaly hard pressed paper product) may be used instead, at least it is smooth. The builder will not use high quality trim. The subfloor will be OSB, a product made from wood flakes from millhouse floors glued together to make panels, this produst tends to squeek under load. OSB also will be used for sheathing on the exterior of your home. It also tends to be more susceptible to water damage from " moisture intrusion". It swells like a sponge and mold loves to feed on it.

The windows will most likely be builders grade (low quality) of whatever manufacture they use. Just because your window carries a well known brand name doesen't mean it is a high quality product, they all make many grades of windows. The same thing with your exterior doors. The interior doors will in most cases be made of hollow MDF, made to look like wood, ie inexpensive and cheap. At least if the dog or cat scrathes the door you can get a replacement in a major home center for a few dollars.

Your house will look nice and pretty, elegant even. But lipstick on a pig looks good to.

Warranty and customer service is there just to shut you up so you'll leave the office personell alone. Management doesn't want to hear from you, or be bothered with or by you. Repairs will be cosmetic as much as possible, repairing the underlying cause is not a priority, because you'll soon be "out of warranty".

Your experience is what can be expected from most large builders anywhere in the country, it is not unique.

DO YOU GET THE PICTURE? If at all possible buy your house from the small to medium builders locally who have a good reputation and can spend the time overseeing and supervising your home construction.

HIRE A HOME INSPECTOR prior to closing, but don't let the builder know, they will do everything to keep him off site. They do not want someone knowledgeable inspecting your home prior to closing, then it is too late.

Reports & Rebuttal