I was just catching up on the website email, and found two emails for people who stated that they DID NOT purchase a KHOV home because of the information on this website! I am glad that people are finding this website useful in exposing the truth about this this builder and the total lack of professionalism. JEP 10:34pm
It been a long absence from updating this site! Khov STILL has not resolved my issues! (Yes, I have been focusing on working my three jobs and have put my house defects on the back burner) I have received dozens of email from other KHOV dissatisfied customers and potential customers and will be adding them to this site soon. I really hate having to resort to the legal process to resolve my issues with KHOV, but they have left me no alternative. I am still amazed that such a large company could care less about my issues and providing me with a quality product free of defects. My legal journey will resume tomorrow and I will be posting more frequent site updates. The BATTLE continues and no, I won't give up! JEP 6/10/08
This website was named by Business Week as one of the Top 12 homeowner gripe sites!
Link to Business Week article Angry Homeowners Take to the Web, August 13, 2007
Link to Business Week slide show Angriest Real Estate Gripe Sites, August 13, 2007
Dear Not-Khov.com website visitor- Let me start off by saying that I typically hate these types of websites. All too often people start "Gripe Sites" as a "knee-jerk" reaction to companies that have wronged them. One of my goals of this website is to provide the full facts regarding my experiences with the builder of my new home, K. Hovnanian. I hope that these facts will provide the reader with insight into the business practices of this builder, and also insight into the issues of construction defects, water intrusion and mold growth. This website is going to be a work in progress. For those of you that are aware, there was a recent high profile gripe site called khovalert.com that documented dozens of homeowner complaints against K. Hovnanian. Khovalert was a very good website that unfortunately is no longer in existence (the website now goes directly to the official K. Hovnanian site). Another goal of this website is to provide in-depth investigative reporting into the issues of a select group of dissatisfied K. Hovnanian homeowners. These investigative reports will be featured on this website in the "Home in Focus" section. The khovalert website did an excellent job at documenting the scope of the problems encountered with K. Hovnanian, but only provided a paragraph or two of information. This "snapshot" view did not provide enough information to convey the extent of the customer service deficiencies and inexcusable business practices. If you are a potential K. Hovnanian home purchaser, I would appreciate an email from you if the information contained in this website altered your purchase decision.
Are you thinking about purchasing a home from K. Hovnanian Homes? I believe that you will reconsider your decision after you read the information on this website. Do you really want to purchase a home from a builder who's own CEO and President doesn't even open your emails (or at a minimum have a special escalation department contact you when their "local office" is screwing you over)? Accountability starts at the top! Do you want to purchase a home that potentially has hidden defects like mine? Are you prepared (like I did) to spend hundreds of hours dealing with your builder? KHOV has still not stepped up to the plate to assure me that hidden defects (like those that led the documented water intrusion incidents and subsequent mold growth) don't exist in the remaining areas of my home! (as of today, 10/14/07).
The purchase of your new home is one of the most important decisions you will make, don't take it lightly. Do your research.
A website can only convey so much information.... if you are at the decision point in your home purchasing decision with K. Hovnanian Homes, feel free to email or page me to discuss my experiences with K. Hovnanian homes and how their management dealt with my issues. My personal pager is (800) 818-1212.
John Eric Pearce, Editor
Not-Khov.com
I purchased my new K. Hovnanian home on 5/3/2004 and have been "battling" with my builder ever since. I find it totally amazing that one of the largest builders in the country treats its customers in the way that I have experienced over the past two and a half years. I have had multiple instances of documented defective construction, water intrusion and mold growth in my home. I was forced to move my family out of my home on two occasions for a total of almost six months. While I was working at the fire house, my wife was "home" in the Embassy suites hotel with three kids (ages 6, 4 and 2) and pregnant with our fourth child. K. Hovnanian management has no clue of how their construction defects and management decisions affected my family.
K. Hovnanian hired Contech, a construction consulting company to come into my home and provide an assessment of the conditions. The Contech report provides a detailed overview of some of the issues with my home. The Contech report also illustrates construction defects that under normal conditions are hidden from sight. I was very fortunate that there were some visible signs of water intrusion and mold on the interior of my home. The defects in the exterior moisture barrier are not visible unless the interior drywall is removed, or the exterior stucco is removed (or if enough water is present leaks through the interior drywall).
Contech Initial Site Inspection Report.doc. This report is dated 4/26/2006. Good overview report of some of the defects with my home.
Contech Consulting Report.pdf -(1.93MB) This report was dated 4/30/2006. This is an excellent report that fully documents some of the construction defects found in my K. Hovnanian home.
Roel Consulting Report.pdf - (21.8 MB) This is a DRAFT report dated 8/2/2006. I submitted a listing of needed edits to this report and despite repeated requests, K. Hovnanian has failed to supply me with the final report. This is a very interesting report, as it documents the multiple instances of tears and nail/staple intrusions in the moisture barrier of my home (these are indicated in red ink in the report). One nail intrusion or tear in the moisture barrier can allow for water intrusion and subsequent mold growth. K. Hovnanian has refused to repair these defects in my home, test the repairs, and provide me with assurances that my home won't leak. Construction experts have advised me that the extent of the construction defects found in all of the areas that leaked, and all of the areas that were visually inspected, calls into question the integrity of the moisture barrier of the entire house.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ-o_raDIZI Fiber optic video shot on 10/5/06 by KHOV that shows defects in the moisture barrier. This was a concealed space located behind my kitchen cabinets and drywall. The end of the video also shows a piece of lumber that had black mold on it.
URS Mold Report.pdf Report of the mold testing dated 11/27/2006. It took multiple requests to obtain this copy from the builder!
Timeline Summary- This is a general overview of the timeline.
Coming soon, the entire timeline, mold reports, air testing, air testing failures, and more air testing. Tips on what to look for from your builder in terms of mold remediation and air testing based upon my experiences will also be posted. My experiences with K. Hovnanian and their subcontractors is invaluable information for homeowners who have similar problems.
| Does Ara Hovnanian, the President & CEO of Hovnanian Enterprises
care about the problems experienced by their customers? Evidently
in my case answer is no, because he deleted an email that I sent him asking
for his assistance without even reading it! Your message To: AHovnanian@KHOV.COM |
I couldn't believe that I received the above email receipt that the President and CEO of K. Hovnanian had deleted my email without even reading it. I was sure that it was a mistake, so I sent him the same email again.
| Once again, Ara Hovnanian, the President & CEO of Hovnanian
Enterprises deleted my email! I received the second "deleted
without being read" notification one week later below. Your message To: AHovnanian@KHOV.COM |
Find below a copy of an email message sent to KHOV on 9/15/2006. (There are over 1200 email and receipt copies documenting the experiences with KHOV that are currently being reviewed for utilization for future articles on this website.)
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Eric Pearce |
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'Sauerwein, Karen' | ||
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'Cole, Katie'; 'Highland, Jim'; 'Bienhoff, Wayne'; 'Pappas, Nick'; 'Hovnanian, Ara'; 'khovnanian@khov.com'; 'lsorsby@khov.com'; 'jokeefe@khov.com'; 'khake@khov.com' | ||
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Pearce- Mold Growth Discovered on 9/14/06 (4th occurrence) |
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Ms. Sauerwein,
After receiving the email from Ms. Cole stating that she attempted to call Ron Miller, I called and spoke with him. As you are aware, Ron Miller is your industrial hygienist who works for URS Corp. and has conducted all of the prior air testing on my home. Mr. Miller had questions similar to my own regarding the newest source of discovered mold. Under your direction, your KHov employees Jim Winovitch and "AJ" Mariano did something to "remediate" the mold found in the pantry wall of my home. There was no form of containment set up prior to them touching and disturbing it. There was no HEPA vacuum system used to remove it. In my nightmare experience with your company over the last 29 months, I have learned a lot about mold and mold remediation. I would have thought that you and your employees would have also picked up on some of this knowledge. Mold spores, both viable and non-viable, can become airborne and contaminate large areas of space when disturbed and removed without the proper utilization of accepted remediation practices. Because mold spores are microscopic, there is no way to know if all of the mold spores have been removed unless tests are conducted to verify this. Additionally, there is no way of knowing what type(s) of organisms are present unless testing is conducted. Additionally, there is no way to know how large of a space in my house has been contaminated unless the air inside my house is tested. I have serious concerns as to WHY you would instruct your unqualified personnel to attempt remediation, and replace drywall without going through the same types of procedures, including air testing, that have been necessary with ALL of the other discoveries of mold in my home, and especially with your direct knowledge of the health problems with my children. You are also very aware that obtaining a clear air test after mold exposure is not a simple matter, even when the proper procedures are utilized. You are also aware that we have never seen a clear air test immediately following initial remediation efforts. In fact, after the first discovery of mold last year, no containment areas were set up, the original area of mold was remediated, and it was discovered that my entire house had been contaminated by spores that were dispersed into the air during remediation. But today, that is exactly how your employees were instructed to "fix" the problem. So, yet again I am in the same situation that I have been faced with multiple times since I purchased my defective home. It is not safe for my family to live in a house that has mold growing in it, or that has been contaminated by an attempted remediation by persons not qualified to do so and without utilizing proper containment or remediation equipment. My expectation is that KHOV will once again resume reimbursement payments for us to be displaced from our home. I will remind you that I have 4 children, one of which has respiratory problems that began only after living at the 44985 Tudal St. residence, and one which is 16 months old and within the age group at highest risk for health problems related to mold exposure. I am not willing to put the health of my family at risk due to KHOV's inability to build a house, correct clearly identified construction defects, and/or remediate dangerous mold growth. Today's discovery of mold, hidden within the walls of my house, confirms my assertions that construction defects in the moisture barrier exist through out the entire house. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you open up several areas (water testing of windows and doors) and find holes and tears in the moisture barrier in each area opened, the likelihood of holes and tears existing in places not opened up is virtually guaranteed. The reports prepared by two of your outside consultant companies (Contech and Roel) also fully document the construction defects present in my home. Today's discovery of mold is from a random piece of drywall that your personnel removed. It is not associated with a door or window, yet, with just a small piece of drywall removed, lath staple intrusions, evidence of water intrusion, rust, and mold were evident AGAIN!!!! The evidence that my house was not built according to the accepted standard of care in the construction industry is clear. So far, each place that has EVER had drywall removed has shown at LEAST one and more often MULTIPLE disruptions in the moisture barrier in the form of nail holes, staple holes and/or tears. Today's discovery proves again, that it only takes one hole, from one lath staple, to cause water damage and mold growth when exposed to moisture. Again, today's discovery of hidden mold proves that when it rains, my WHOLE house gets wet, not just the areas around the windows and doors. Without an intact moisture barrier, water will continue to leak into the walls of my house causing more mold growth. KHOV has a duty to correct ALL of these construction defects. On the phone today, you stated that you were going to have Roel give you a "third party opinion" recommending on how to correct construction defects throughout my entire home . Ms. Cole sent me an email this afternoon at 2:45pm that talked about scheduling water testing for the pantry area only. Testing one drywall hole exposed in the pantry area is obviously only a starting place. What procedure will Roel be using to assess the integrity of the entire moisture barrier surrounding my home, and to identify all nail holes, staple holes, tears, and other defects that allow for water intrusion and subsequent mold growth? Will this assessment begin next Thursday? What will the remediation process, testing, and timetables be? I would still like to meet with you or your superiors personally. I have invited you to come and inspect the work of your company and subcontractors personally. I have previously requested in person meetings with you to strategically plan solutions to the multitude of problems caused by your company and contractors. I have truly been more than patient, as have my wife and children. I have been unable to live in my home for more than 11 months of the 29 months that I have owned it. It appears that most of the time we speak on the phone your "understanding" of the situation with my house is different from the "reality" of my house. I don't know if your personnel on site are minimizing the issues and impact on my family, or if you are just misinterpreting their reports. There is nothing small or slight about mold invasion, or the inability to live in your own home. Each time I have spoken to you or any of your employees, you all use the terms "just a small amount of mold". Do you realize the FIRST "small spot" displaced me from my home for over 4 months, caused whole house contamination and extensive secondary damage to my property. The SECOND "small spot" was caused directly by a KHOV employee's inability to correctly install a toilet. It required another two plus months out of my home, the destruction and reconstruction of my butler's pantry, and further destruction of my flooring. The THIRD "small spot" required 5 months absence from my home. During that time, three sets of doors needed to be replaced, a wall of kitchen cabinets, and almost the ENTIRE BACK OUTSIDE WALL of my house was removed and replaced, including the moisture barrier with multiple defects in it. THERE IS NOTHING SMALL ABOUT MOLD IN MY HOUSE. So today, the FOURTH mold discovery occurred in my home, and again KHOV employees quickly told my wife "there is just a small spot that has been clearly dead for a long time". Needless to say, my wife is devastated and furious by their ignorant and ridiculous comments. A small spot according to your company has HUGE repercussions for my family. My wife and I are both offended and insulted by you and your staff's continuous "no big deal" attitude toward the mold invasion of our home. There is nothing small or slight about damage to personal property and possessions due to lack of supervision, attention to detail, or just total disregard for their work and my property. It is terrifying to know that our hard work in saving for a home to raise our family is being wasted in a place that could actually harm them, and we are paralyzed financially because of it. It is not just a minor inconvenience to raise four kids in a hotel room or any other temporary location. My kids have started two school years from a place other than home. My wife spent the last four months of her pregnancy in a hotel with 3 other children. The new baby is now 16 months old and still these issues are not resolved. We have cancelled multiple family trips and outings to facilitate KHOV's "repairs". We had to tell our children today that even though we were told all the mold was finally gone, it really isn't, and we still have to stay away. The two oldest, age 7 and 5 cried today at the news of the new discovery of mold, and none of them understand. They just want to go home. Psychologically, children thrive in an environment of routine and consistency. No one deserves the kind of stress that your company has imposed upon my family, especially young children. I invite you again to come and see this example of KHOV construction. I also extend the invitation to all of your superiors up to the President of your company. KHOV has a duty to those who buy their homes. KHOV has breached that duty in too many ways to count. Your company should be ashamed of the quality of product and workmanship it has attempted to deliver, as well as the lack of customer service we have received. You all go home and sleep in your own beds each night, but can't even come and personally see the disaster you expect me to live in. If there was a way to show criminal culpability, at this point, I would be the first in line to file charges. On balance, a complete review of the record of the facts regarding my home will reveal a distinct pattern of total mismanagement, total incompetence and outright fraud. At 3:00 p.m. today I left voicemails to both you and Katie to call me, and have not received a response. You also informed me that you would call me back before the end of today. You didn't call. Another fine example of your customer service. John Eric Pearce |
| After sending the above email to several KHOV executives on
9/15/2006, I received the "deleted without being read" notification from
the Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer of K.
Hovnanian, J. Larry Sorsby. Your message |
The story of the first water testing company that K. Hovnanian hired.... when the two workers showed up with a garden hose to perform the water testing. When asked about where there calibrated test equipment was, they stated that they left it back at their shop! When asked about the specific ASTM testing standard they were going to use, they replied with "what is ASTM?"
Documentation from K. Hovnanian's Industrial Hygienist on the specific types of mold found in my home. POSTED ABOVE 5/10/07
Helpful links to assist homeowners who have experienced construction defects, water intrusion and toxic mold growth.
Are the issues with my house an isolated occurrence? I do not believe that it is the case.
Tell us your story.... email us a brief example of your problems and your contact information. An editor will be in contact with you.
Email us today: editor@notkhov.com If you are at the decision point in your purchasing decision, feel free to also page me @ (800) 818-1212 to discuss the nightmare that I have experienced.
Have your home featured on this website! We will feature an in-depth article on one homeowners story and provide you with detailed facts.
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Disclaimer: You have reached one of the consumer gripe sites http://www.not-khov.com, http://www.notkhov.com, http://www.notkhov.net, http://www.notkhov.org, http://www.notkhov.info, or http://www.notkhov.us websites. These websites are NOT affiliated with the builder K. Hovnanian Companies (KHOV), as our website names state. The official website of the K. Hovnanian Companies may be found at http://www.khov.com. These websites are published as a public service to warn potential home buyers of the business practices of K. Hovnanian home builders based on my experiences with my home, and the experiences of other homeowners. The NOTKHOV family of websites are provided for information purposes only regarding K. Hovnanian customers and their experiences in dealing with K. Hovnanian. The websites may assist all potential home purchasers in their research of new home builders, consumer complaints against new home builders, and for obtaining other news regarding the K. Hovnanian Companies. These sites are not affiliated with K. Hovnanian Companies, LLC, K. Hovnanian Homes, K. Hovnanian American Mortgage, khov.com, or any other K. Hovnanian Company. These websites do not accept advertising or fees of any kind. These websites are not used in the sale, offering for sale, distribution, or advertising of any goods or services, including real estate. These websites are an example of our First Amendment 's protection of freedom of speech and freedom of the press in action. Additionally, these websites are an example of the fair use exception to ICANN's Domain Name Policy, Section 4(c)(iii). These domain names are not available for sale or transfer. Questions regarding these sites should be emailed to John Eric Pearce, Editor-In-Chief at editor@notkhov.com. If you are customer of the K. Hovnanian Companies, and wish to be interviewed for possible utilization in future articles on these websites, please email your contact information to editor@notkhov.com or mail your information via postal mail to John Eric Pearce, Editor-In-Chief, 44985 Tudal Street, Temecula, CA 92592-5507.