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Lennar review: Keeping Escrow Monies 11

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10:53 am EDT
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Be very aware of Lennar Homes! First, they pre-approved me for a loan and told me that it would be easy to be approved for the final loan even though I had not the greatest credit. So we chose a house and put $1, 000 down on it. Then, they decided NOT to approve me through the credit company. What has ensued is a nightmare. I have a signed cancellation agreement on 3-5-09 for the full $1, 000 to come back to me. I was told it would take 6 to 8 weeks to receive it. Not only is it past 8 weeks, but now they are informing me of this (this is their exact e-mail to me, unedited):

Mary
I am so sorry I did not call you, I have not forgotten about you and just got confirmation that they are going to refund your earnest deposit but they are withholding 250 of the deposit for administrative and credit report. They use to refund the whole earnest but cancellations and denials have cost the company so much money they are now exercising their rite to the 250 that is stated in the contract.
I was told you need to sign one more form and it will be processed. Please call me and let me know when we can meet or I can
Brooke

Not only have they ignored me repeatedly with e-mails and phone calls, but it is NOT stated in the contract that they get $250 for administrative costs. I've attempted to contact Brooke again by phone and e-mail saying that I expect the fully $1000 back. I've also asked what type of form I need to sign now that it's gone past 8 weeks and why they didn't have me sign this form in the first place? Lennar Homes is a rip-off. I gave them my deposit based on the fact that they pre-approved me for a loan. Now they've had all of this time to earn interest on my money and I fear they are pre-approving people that they know they will not approve in the final outcome just to get your down payment. Then they get to earn interest off of YOUR money and also, they hope that you'll just happen to "forget" about this money if it takes too long to get it back. In addition to saying they're going to take $250 of your money if they don't approve you. What a scheme!

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11 comments
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Conci
, US
Mar 26, 2019 4:09 pm EDT
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Lennar Homes Class Action Lawsuit! Keeping consumers hard-earned deposit money!

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Constance Serrano
, US
Jan 27, 2019 11:39 am EST
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I am filing a class action lawsuit against Lennar Corporation in Tampa, Florida. Please send me an email with your name, the deposit amount that Lennar has retained, and the date it happened to conciserrano@gmail.com. I agree with you kb20asu@yahoo.com, these crooks must be stopped.

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jenfranksol
land o'lakes, US
Jan 13, 2014 7:37 am EST

Ironically, this is Lennar Tampa as well.

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jenfranksol
land o'lakes, US
Jan 13, 2014 7:35 am EST

We are also trying to get our earnest money returned -- we had a contract on a home and the appraisal came in 13K shy of asking, they lowered the price but it still wasn't going to be manageable with the amount of money we would have to show up with. We canceled, they aren't happy. We've asked for our money back since 1. the house was off the market for maybe 10 days, 2. there was absolutely no work done on the part of Lennar (using our own financing) and 3. They can relist the spec home and get the price they want.

We're hopeful.

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Lennarjacka*s
, US
Dec 05, 2013 7:08 pm EST

I regret my decisions to buy lennar home.

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kb20asu2
waddell farms, az, US
Sep 20, 2013 11:14 pm EDT

I was going to purchase a home in 2006 and they forced us to give a 20K earnest deposit before going into the purchase agreement advising that it was just to hold the home. Now they advise that I signed a contract advising that the refund is non refundable even though their preferred lender that they forced me to go through cancelled the product I was approved for. Now, they have withheld my money for 6 years and I will be seeking my earnest deposit plus damages because of their criminal tactics and intimidating, lying ways. I was SWINDLED and I trusted those crooks. I do not understand how a civil class action lawsuit has not been filed against these thieves. You can email me at kb20asu@yahoo.com if you would like to file a lawsuit. I am in AZ but I will support to the fullest. I am lucky to have the emails from the UAMC and others. I am not going to just go away this time. I am getting at attorney and getting on this. Please everyone file law suits because this is the only way to stop these dream destroyers!

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Unhappy in Lakeville
Lakeville, US
Sep 12, 2013 7:43 pm EDT
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Lennar in Minnesota just as bad: I purchased a townhome in Prairie Lake Lodges, Lakeville MN. To discover multiple problems. The driveway has settled so much, we have a bird bath at the end of the driveway due to the deep hole of settling. Lennar feels this is normal. My daughter plays hockey so would think it would be our dream to have our own ice rink in the garage because the slop of the driveway has settle so much, in the wrong direction, where the water flows into the garage instead of away from the garage so in the spring as soon as I open the garage door, water rushes in to the garage, freezes and hey...we have our own ice rink...bring your skates if you live in this development! The insulation in the attick is substandard causing ice dams and water intrusion. Our Association has spent thousands shoveling roofs so homeowners will not be impacted by this defect. The subfloors are worse than 80 year old house with squeaks and literally sub floor boards that have shifted and are peaking and dipping in. You can see and feel this through the pad and carpet layer. The front door was installed properly and continued to pop open, a lovely safety feature! The cement is cracking and heaving. The utility meter outside is literally heaved and sitting sideways. Lennar's answer, the Association can fix that. The lack of quality in sound proofing, in my neighbors unit along side me, I can hear the people walking up the stairs. The flooring is so uneven, when I remodeled the kitchen, the crew had a difficult time. Our Association currently has a construction defect lawsuit that has been ongoing for two years. We are a 200 unit development. A great majority of the units have all the same problems from roofs failing, poor insulation, concrete problems, driveways sinking, siding that falls off and Lennar's offer to settle would not cover the cost of repairing the driveways. There is game is simple. Build poor quality houses with the knowledge that they will be sued. They are self insured. Why this matters is because many other quality builders are not self insured. So if a construction defect lawsuit arises, the insurance company is involved which exercises reason and logic over settling. Lennar further has in house staff of employees/attorneys that are on salary, which means they get paid regardless of actively defending a suit or not. This all translates to Lennars culture that if you buy a home, have construction related issues, they will bury you with legal paperwork, court time and fees, because their attorney's get their salary regardless where you are paying yours by the hour or on a contingency basis. This means they bully their way through defects knowing most homeowners do not have beyond thousands of dollars to spend on attorney fees even through they are right. The moral of the story is, there are plenty of good quality, reputable builders that stand behind their work. While you may pay a few more bucks up front, you will pay thousands more later if your choose to purchase a Lennar home. It is as simple as the old car commercial of the fly by night car salesman. It looks all pretty and shinny on the showroom floors, but do not kick the tires because it will fall apart. This is a Lennar home.

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DiddlyDoo
Ruskin, US
Jun 08, 2013 12:02 am EDT

As of 2013, Lennar Homes (www.lennar.com) is secretly repairing failing roofing and/or landscaping mistakes which create flooding/pooling of water which they left behind in the aftermath of completing new development at POTOMAC MARK PLACE and ROANOKE SPRINGS DRIVE in Ruskin Florida 33570.

The only way to have them repair the roofing tiles and/or correct landscaping to properly flow/channel rain water AWAY from one's home is to have a LAWYER send them a letter requesting it.

Homeowner's in this neighborhood were required to sign a NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT with Lennar Homes, in return to having the rework completed at no charge, despite the fact that Lennar Homes screwed up in the first place.

What's truly sad is that the window of opportunity (warranty) on the majority of these homes is nearing expiration. Homeowners have a right to know and have the shoddy work by Lennar Homes repaired asap.

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Valmor
Miramar, US
Aug 31, 2012 5:58 pm EDT

I agree with you, I am going through the same problem. Husband and I was approved for a Nautica home in Florida by Lennar UMAC. However, 15 days later Arturo Pena and Carlos De Guzman called and said my husband score went down and want us to release the contract. Mind you the credit information that was given for the pre approval was the same given every time they pulled the credit score. They are willing to refund the money that was given for closing, but I wonder why. However, I googled the home today and its on the market and we have not released the contract. Isn't that against the law to have two contracts on a home if one should want to buy the home. Lennar lies and give false hopes!

Bill Kearney
Bill Kearney
Vallejo, US
Jan 11, 2012 9:38 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I understand what you are going through. I purchased a home from Lennar almost 6 years ago and we still have a boarded up front door. We are stuck with $100k in construction defects. To make my story even worse is the fact that I worked for Lennar. Contact me with your story and I will post it on my website that I am currently putting together. Be careful with "their help". We spent 5 years in litigation and all that happened was more expert costs, and lawyer costs, to the point that we received nothing for our construction defects.
I want to hear your stories. We all need to hear your stories in hope to make it right.
Contact me at: MyLennarLemon@gmail.com
MyLennarLemon.com (under construction)
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has."
- Margaret Mead

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Diana
Castaic, US
May 23, 2009 11:35 am EDT

We have lived in a Lennar home in Castaic, Ca for 20 months. I have contacted them repeatedly due to substandard stucco work. Not one reply has come my way. The community looks 10 years old, not 2 years old. The interior must have been contracted out to the Walt Disney Corp. because it appears Mickey Mouse built this house. In my 55 years as a home owner this is the worst piece of garbage I have lived in. My son and his wife bought this house with our help, we live here to care for the dogs and the house as they work long hard days to keep up with a mortgage. My husband and I walk the community daily; we now keep a list of contractor offenses that are visible from the street.

The HOA is useless, they just choose plants and cannot figure out which end of the community should be a dog park. So the little children cannot play on any grassy area as it is infused with dog excrements. We shoo the kids off the grass and warn the parents this is eColi and Salmonella city...now they have to "keep the kids off the grass". I thought that phrase was reserved for dogs?

Never buy a Lennar home, write your local newspaper about the issues, when the market picks up sell the piece of Junk and buy something that is used and already has the bugs worked out.