Americas Home Place Inc

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)America's Home Place write their contract so as to benefit them only, and not the customer. Although the advertise themselves as "Custom Home Builders" they push the customer to chose from their available plans and then "customize" that plan. Beware that there is no completion date on the contract. Beware of the "estimated costs" that they may under estimate, and then charge you later at a significantly increased cost. The contract is written so as to discourage anyone to take action against them due to the "Binding Arbitration Agreement." Binding arbitration is costly and required significant upfront costs to schedule and hire an Arbitrator. One must also hire an attorney, and the arbitrator is not required to award legal and arbitration costs even if the customer prevails. America's Home Place demanded final payment from us, even though there were many items not completed, and or in need of replacement or repair. And even though they had not gained an Occupancy Permit. In fact, they failed that inspection several times. I refuse to make the final payment, and they attached a Mechanic's Lien on the property. I provided their Vice President from the Chattanooga Office with a list of over 30 items that needed attention. This list included cabinetry, unsecured toilets, leaky faucets, leaky roof, closet doors that would not latch, entry doors that were warped and would not close, walls that were significantly out of square, a window that was out of square, a wood floor that creaked, a banister that was loose, molding that was not installed correctly, and many more. I ended up hiring another contractor to inspect the house and give me a list of deficiencies, and then hire a Licensed Home Inspector to determine if the house was built according to the required standards. I found that there were items in the plan that were not done according to the plan (i.e., deck, hose bibs), and that the fireplace was not installed correctly, the metal roof was installed incorrectly, the garage floor was not level and would not allow any liquid to drain away from the house, and the deck flashing was applied with ducting metal.AHP agreed to do "some" of the repairs, and even THEIR EMPLOYEES told the Vice President that whoever did the work should be fired. They did agree to rebuild the basement bathroom that was totally out of square. They also agreed to remove and reinstall a window that was more than 1/2 inch out of square. After they did the repair, it leaked big time. That is when the problem with the deck flashing was discovered by their employee. We went to arbitration. I was given a significant monetary award. However it should be noted that AHP claimed that their attorney fees were over $112,000.00, and over $13,000.00 in expert witness fees. This in addition to the cost of bringing their witnesses to the site, and the costs of doing the repairs they agreed to do, plus their share of the arbitration cost and what they had to pay me, I estimate cost them well over $200,000.00 to defend their incompetent work. They could have simply repaired what was needed for less that half that amount. There is much more I could say. They depend on the the reluctance of any customer to avoid legal action against them because of the cost and frustration of that effort. I talked with other dissatisfied customers who also had similar problems, and they told me that they just paid AHP to get rid of them, and then hired another contractor to do the repairs and completion. I could not do that. They told my wife that they would be able to finish the house within about 6 months. In fact after 10 month they had not. They rely on the customer not reading their contract well, and they push the customer to sign and approve everything without the benefit of any legal review of their contract or professional review of their plans.It is difficult for me to believe that any company would do work this badly, and then spend so much money to defend that. I can not recommend to anyone that they use America's Home Place to build their house. If someone has already used them, I highly recommend they hire a home inspector to inspect their NEW home, and find out what really has and has not been done.