Residents of Palmetto Landing are raising concerns over construction issues with their homes built by DR Horton.
The homeowners, including Louis Coletto and Irene Gettel, discovered discrepancies in their home construction plans months after moving in.
“You would think with a national company, I mean, the signs say, DR Horton, America’s builder. Well, this is not what America’s builder should be doing, especially to a group of senior citizens that just want a hurricane-proof home to live in,” said Coletto.
Gettel expressed regret over her decision to close on her home.
“If I would have known. I would not have closed. I would have said, Wait, hold off. And I would have gone somewhere else,” said Gettel.
The homeowners were provided with construction plans from DR Horton that listed hurricane-impact windows. However, they later discovered that their door transoms were not built to the same specifications.
An email from DR Horton dated February 21 informed them of this oversight.
“Our contract has no mention of shutters and bolts because it says impact class,” said Coletto.
Coletto highlighted the inconvenience of installing shutters, a task he hoped to avoid by purchasing a home with impact windows.
“I never would have bought this place if I knew I was going to have to put a shutter, which is one of the main motivations for me to move here. It’s ridiculous,” he said.
Gettel, who has a disability, shared her challenges with the situation.
“I have a disability. I can’t get on a step stool. I can’t get on a ladder, so I can’t install the shutters, and I just hate asking people for help. So I wanted to eliminate that,” said Gettel.
“I won’t put a shutter on this house. It won’t be used. It’s going to devalue my home. My insurance will go up. I can’t sell my house as intact. I have to disclose it,” she added.
In response to these concerns, DR Horton issued a statement through Justin Robbins, the Southwest Florida Division President, acknowledging the oversight.
“Unfortunately, the opening protection was overlooked during the construction process,” the statement said.
The company assured homeowners they are reaching out to install the necessary opening protection, but residents say this is not the solution they agreed to when purchasing their homes.
“Why would DR Horton specify that on the plans for a product that doesn’t even meet the hurricane standards when it clearly says impact class? So clearly, a mistake was made. And instead of doing the right thing and telling the homeowners, hey, you know, we got a problem, let’s talk about it, they’re sort of shoving this down our throat. And I call it a bandaid remedy, and I’m not going to accept it,” Coletto said.
The homeowners contacted the county and were informed that shutters are required and must be installed.
“We have to put it up ourselves or hire somebody,” Coletto said.
He questioned why DR Horton isn’t being held to the same standards as less well-known builders.
“I firmly believe if this was a single, non-well-known builder that has all these units to do, they would force them to fix it. How come they’re not doing the same for DR Horton there,” he added.
The residents plan to voice their concerns at the upcoming regular land use meeting on March 25 at 1 p.m. and are prepared to escalate the issue further.
“To show the commissioners that this is your building department. This is what they’re doing. Please find out who has this power, and then from there, it’s going up the chain of command. Do we need to go to legislatures? Do we need to go to the Senator? Do we need to go to the Attorney General? Just to make them aware, because I’m sorry if that’s a rule for the building department. Follow it,” Gettel said.
Coletto, a retired builder, emphasized the contractual obligations involved.
“I’m a retired builder, and I know that when you build a home and you have a customer, and you have to build a home to the specifications that’s in the contract, and if you don’t do it, it’s a breach of contract,” he said.
