Home Buyers’ Lawsuits
The article in The Times involving Kaufman & Broad Home Corp. (Part I, Sept. 3) was an unfair and unbalanced job of reporting. As such, it has the potential to leave your readers with an inaccurate understanding of the situation and of Kaufman & Broad in general.
Over the past 32 years our company has successfully constructed over 175,000 homes. Your article chose to focus on some 200 of those homes which had some problems, most of them minor. Most of the homes were constructed in the 1970s or earlier.
I know that I speak for our more than 1,000 employees when I say that we are very proud of the homes Kaufman & Broad has built. Our one-third of a million customers agree. Written surveys of our buyers indicate that 5 out of 6, or 83%, recommend the purchase of a Kaufman & Broad home to their friends.
I can also assure you that our company goes to great lengths to stand behind its homes. We have a comprehensive customer satisfaction program of “checks and balances” to guarantee quality construction and service throughout our communities. Not only are we committed to providing quality construction up front, but we offer a 10-year structural warranty program which is passed through to subsequent purchasers.
One of the most disturbing aspects of article is that it maligned our company’s integrity based on the unauthorized actions of just three out of the thousands of dedicated employees who have served Kaufman & Broad over the past three decades. In each of these past incidents, the employees who violated company policy were immediately terminated.
The majority of the article dealt with a lawsuit faced by this company in Riverside. Let’s get the record straight. The Times failed to point out that for several years our company offered either to buy back the homes at an appraised fair market value or to fix the plaintiffs’ houses at our cost without affecting the plaintiffs’ right to continue a lawsuit. This offer remains outstanding today. The Times also failed to point out that 34 Riverside plaintiffs are demanding a cash settlement of $236,000 per home. In light of the fact that these homes can be fully repaired, including related cosmetic repairs, for $8,000 to $10,000 per home, we think the plaintiffs’ demands are outrageous.
BRUCE KARATZ
President and CEO
Kaufman & Broad Home Corp.
Los Angeles
