LUTTRELL DEVELOPMENT

John Luttrell, Luttrell Development - we put a contract on a house in 2005 to be completed in April 2006. The address of this house is 2219 White Frye Lane, Knoxville, TN. The list of problems we had is extensive. The issues we had because of John Luttrell’s neglect and poor workmanship not only caused us problems with our home but it extends way beyond - causing us to endure poor health, loss of jobs, financial ruin, a complete destruction of our credit rating and a decrease in our quality of life. When our issues became unbearable to our family, Don Dare was promptly on the scene and attempted to interview John Luttrell. Luttrell locked himself in his office and refused to come out all night long while Don Dare and his news crew stayed outside waiting for him to appear. Although we were happy with the look of the house, there were hidden issues which didn’t until later appear. We felt we had researched him thoroughly before we signed the contract, however, it wasn’t until this year that we found out that there had been multiple law suits against him for various reasons (public records can be found at the Knox County City County Building) By doing some thorough digging, I recently found out that one such Luttrell customer was issued a “gag” order and unable to speak with me. I feel there are many others who have also been issued gag orders. That alone should make anyone aware that there have been extensive issues. Below I have listed, in sequential order, the issues which arose out of our relationship with John Luttrell. The more vocal I became, the more I found out that others had suffered detrimental and harmful building issues with him. Apparently, when a builder gives you a list of references, he only gives you the good ones. When you read this, you’re going to ask yourself, “Why in the world didn’t they back out of the contract?” Believe me, it’s a question I ask myself every day. It’s a mistake we made we can’t take back and it’s now 6 years we’ve lost with what was supposed to be a “happy” family, instead we’re broken and mentally drained. One thing anyone should know who deals with John Luttrell is that he did not stand behind his builder’s warranty. Not only is this a fact, but his own insurance company, Bill Knight Insurance, stated to me that “he did not HAVE to stand behind his warranty if he didn’t want to and that a builder’s warranty was only as good as the builder.” He himself was telling me that Luttrell was not an ethical builder. He went further to say that “the builder’s warranty ONLY protects the builder, not the buyer.” EVERYONE THINKS THEY’RE PROTECTED BY A BUILDER’S WARRANTY! In many cases you are and should be. There are many reputable builders in the Knoxville area but Luttrell is not one of them. The incidents we experienced with Luttrell Development should never have happened to anyone. It is just not “okay” to move into a new house and within a month have it destroyed because of a defective bathtub, the cause for a severe case of toxic mold.Our whole story is bizarre. There is no other way to describe it because any decent individual would have made sure that his mistake was corrected, regardless of what some sorry and inhuman insurance agent said about his client’s coverage. Yet, he stays in business and I will continue to make every effort possible to let the public know they’re up against a brick wall if they contract him to do any work for them. The list as I promised: Closing date was set as April 28 initially. Closing date changed to some time in May. We were okay with this because things happen sometimes and delays come about. Closing was delayed to June. The second appraisal was not done in time and they waited until 2-3 days before closing to complete it.Appraiser FAILED to count one floor, the WHOLE FINISHED BASEMENT, which changed the value of the home and the loan amount.The day before closing, we were told we had to come up with $10,000 more at closing, which we did. ( we should have quit while we were ahead at this point)The day of closing, he called and changed the closing time 3 times threatening that if we didn’t show up with the money he would sell it to someone else.After closing, we went to our new house, opened the door to a deafening roar. As luck would have it, air returns had never been cut yet the filters were there. Does that make sense to you? The AC was blowing at full blast yet it was as hot as the thermostat would show. There was no way we could stay there that night so we had to leave. We were told it would be another week before anyone could get out there. I think it actually took 4 days as opposed to a week.Within a month, we finally used the master bathtub for the first time. (We had 3 1/2 baths and a separate shower so we hadn’t used the tub at that point) The tub, a Jacuzzi tub with jets, but nothing special or custom or fancy, just a plain bathtub, was turned out and my son was instructed to let the water get over the jets before turning them on. Water drained out of the defective tub (which later we discovered would have NEVER held water) and saturated the insulation in my walls. When the insulation was so saturated it wouldn’t hold anymore water, it poured out of my windows. At 11:30 that night I called and left an URGENT message at the office. The next morning, Joe Bruner, the general contract came out and told me he would “fix” the problem. When I asked what he was going to do, he said, “I’m going to paint those windows where the paint bubbled up from the water.” (Not the right answer I’m afraid.) When I asked him, “What about all the water in the walls?” He replied, “Well, the insulation would have caught that.” (EXACTLY WHY I’M WORRIED!) Joe Bruner told me to call him every day that no one had come out to check it out. I called every day for about 3 weeks. NOTHING.Finally, the man that set the bathtub in place came out and said he didn’t think what happened would cause any problem because “there’s enough sawdust under the tub to catch the water.” (anyone see a problem here?)The plumber came out and put a sealant around the drain and thought that fixed it. (Not even close)The neighbor next door refused to come in my house because she got headaches. Within a week or two someone brought it to our attention that we had been extremely ill since we moved in the house, which was highly unusual for us.The neighbor sent a home inspector over to our house to do some tests.Test revealed extreme moisture in all the walls.A mold test was done all over the house (Actually Joe Bruner paid for the mold test to be done because he was sure it would be negative.) When tests were done, they were done outdoors for comparison. Lab results came back with readings of toxic mold spores “too numerous to count” on all four types of toxic mold including “Black mold.” At the same time, the tests of the outdoor air quality were nearly perfect. We were told to vacate the house immediately. Therefore, our homeowner’s paid nothing other than the $10,000.00. Our insurance company said it was the builder’s responsibility. The builder said it was NOT his responsibility. The local news stations came out and did stories on our issue, at which time the builder decided he would fix the walls. Although the walls were "fixed", there remained mold behind the kitchen cabinets, which were not removed, as well as the baseboards in the basement. Mold continued to worsen and we were unable work due to illness. We lost all of our contracts (we were both self-employed) and ended up losing our companies.We called Wells Fargo and told them we were moving out of the house because we were sick with mold. (They never once contacted us regarding our home issues.) The inability to work at the level we were working before this all happened has left us financially destroyed. We no longer have the means to support our family above the “poverty” level as set by Knox County. When we moved to Knoxville in 2005, we were completely debt free and we had money in the bank. Since dealing with Luttrell, I’ve had to go back to school just so that I could get school loans to live on. We were never reimbursed for anything from our insurance company or the builder’s. At a time when we were told that “someone” would take care of it” we were paid $700.00 for one little place in the ceiling from the plumber’s insurance. Apparently, the plumber’s insurance company has the right to decide what everyone else involved does as well and they considered that FULL SETTLEMENT for the loss of our health, our home and livelihood. You know what they say about “that which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger?” It’s the truth. My only chance of recovery is to help others avoid the mistakes and pitfalls because they’ve been made sufficiently aware of what happens when you deal with John Luttrell. One comment made just recently by someone else involved in a lawsuit with him was that “dealing with John Luttrell was like dealing with the devil.” Point well taken! As a result of our past experiences in this area with this builder, we have started a support group in this area for individuals and families who have fallen victim to John Luttrell. I am happy to say that the numbers are growing and my plans for the future are bright. With words, thoughts and advice from those who have also suffered, we may be able to put a stop to family and financial suffering in the E. Tennessee area. John Luttrell builds homes which look okay. But they’re literally deadly. Please avoid homes which could be harmful to your family. There are lots of miserable and sad days with my children. Days I’ll never get back. I wonder to this day, how he can sleep at night. If you or anyone else you may know have suffered because of a faulty construction, neglect or wrongdoing, please get in touch with me through Angie’s List. I’ll be happy to help you.

This project was practically guaranteed to go well. My father is a builder himself and was constantly going over to check on the progress. We thought the Luttrell and all the sub-contractors did a marvelous job. The property was well organized and anything we brought up was addressed immediately. They finished the house early so we could move in early. We only had minors problems after we moved in and they were all dealt with right away.