Pulte Home agrees to settlement over defective home construction

PulteGroup subsidiary Pulte Home Company has reportedly reached a settlement with the Florida Attorney General’s office following an investigation into complaints that some of its homes built in the state did not meet official standards.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi said the settlement was reached following a two-year probe into Pulte over allegations it failed to disclose to certain Florida buyers that some of its homes were built in violation of the state’s building code.

Pulte was accused of violating Florida’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act by “unfairly denying” some homeowners’ claims for repairs because it refused to perform an adequate inspection of those properties. The company reportedly also unfairly withheld some customer’s deposits in some instances.

The complaint stated that in some cases, homeowners were accused by Pulte of failing to maintain their properties when in fact the problems they experienced were due to construction defects.

However, it seems the allegations prompted Pulte to take notice. During the length of the investigation, Pulte reportedly spent $64 million to repair problematic homes in Florida. The settlement agreement stipulates that Pulte should repair other homes up to ten years old in the state that meet specific criteria.

Bondi’s office also said that during the investigation, Pulte spent more than $10 million to upgrade building materials, improve its construction techniques, and provide additional training to its employees and trade contractors in Florida to address the issues in question.

The settlement also calls for Pulte to pay a further $4.7 million for restitution, which includes the out of pocket expenses incurred by homeowners who repaired construction defects themselves.

The General Attorney’s office said it would soon provide more information for homeowners wishing to claim some of this compensation.