Still Angry at Home Builder

Let me get this straight. I’m supposed to feel sorry for builders who face angry home buyers in construction-defect cases? (“Builders Want Overhaul of Defects Law,” March 24)

Well, our builder, one of the largest in California, fought us for five years in court over the improper compaction of our lot that caused inch-wide interior cracks and several inches of settlement to our foundation. Even after we obtained a judgment, they refused to pay and we had to fight another year to collect. Three years later, we’re still angry.

Builders blame everyone else for defects. They counter-sue sub-contractors and previous owners of the home. They claim that home buyers watered too much or changed grading. They do minor repairs of the problem until the statute of limitations runs out and the unsophisticated home buyer is legally out of luck. Even when they’re forced into a suit, they spend thousands more than the cost of repairs on specialist attorneys and experts while the home buyer is lucky to find someone to take their case and only then at great out-of-pocket cost.

Technically, we won our case. But the attorney’s fees, which would have been far less if the case had been fairly settled early on, reduced the amount of the damages below the cost to repair the house. We were forced to sell it “as is” with full disclosure, for a $70,000 loss.

Why is it that the “lemon law” for defective cars enjoys widespread support, but consumers of the most expensive and emotional investment they make in their lives must make do with “buyer beware”?

WILLIAM and JEAN RUECKER

Simi Valley