1,000 Sun City Grand homeowners taking Del Webb to court

Over 1,000 Sun City Grand homeowners are taking Del Webb Communities to court over a multitude of alleged construction defects.

The lawsuit was filed Monday in the Maricopa County Superior Court, said Attorney Ken Kasdan of Phoenix-based law firm Kasdan Simonds Riley & Vaughan.

His law firm is representing 1,003 homeowners. Of which, 532 have commenced litigation. The remaining 471 homeowners are seeking arbitration because of contract stipulations.

Kasdan said the defects include foundation and stucco cracking, peeling roofs and acoustic issues.

The foundation issues which are related to soil issues, he said, are the most egregious.

"Some floors have cracks large enough to stick your hand in," Kasdan said. "There are foundation cracks, wall cracks, cracks in marble floors, ceiling cracks. Repairs continue to fail."

He also said that the acoustics do not conform to building regulations set forth by the state and adopted by the city of Surprise, where Sun City Grand is located. Those regulations were created to keep out noise from Luke Air Force Base.

Pulte Homes, which merged with Del Webb in 2001, issued a statement regarding the lawsuit that reads, "We have not yet been served with a lawsuit and we are in the process of investigating issues. Meanwhile, since receiving notice of the initial claim, more than 100 homes have been inspected and we have found few, if any, issues related to foundations and slabs."

Pulte also stated, "Pulte Homes is fully committed to customer satisfaction and quality. We have earned an industry leading reputation for delivering quality homes and build thousands of homes in the Valley every year. If a homeowner believes their home is experiencing a problem, we work hard to support our customers and reach a resolution."

Kasdan said the lawsuit is the result of a "grassroots effort."

"We anticipate more homeowners joining as the word gets out," he said.

In its statement, Pulte also said that 7,000 homes in the community had been solicited and that there are more than 9,600 homes in the community.

The lawsuit is reminiscent, but not connected to a survey released in January that stated a large percentage of homeowners in Pulte communities needed repairs while under warranty.

Building Justice, a partnership between the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council, Sheet Metal Workers and AFL-CIO, released the survey at the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix called "Poorly Built by Pulte."

The survey results revealed 66 percent of the homeowners needed repairs under the home builder's limited warranty, while 29 percent still had problems that had not been addressed to their satisfaction.

Those results have been criticized because only 410 homeowners were surveyed and that group is not connected to the lawsuit brought forth Monday.

"This has nothing to do with Poorly Built by Pulte," Kasdan said. "This is a separate group of homeowners from the Sun City Grand community."