Home Buyers Beware
KYTX (CBS-19 TV) reports on problems with Hutto homes built on contaminated and expansive soil

UPDATES:

1. See below for screen shots from the USDA's Web Soil Survey, which says the extremely expansive soil in Hutto is unsuitable for building, although it's fine for cotton farming. The US Department of Agriculture says the Hutto communities of HuttoParke, Legends of Hutto, and Riverwalk are built on Branyon clay.
2. Working with the Texas Society of Professional Engineers, HOT helped pass a bill (HB 2649) that now requires new homes built on expansive soil to have engineered foundations. 

In Texas, we have a lemon law for new cars, but not new homes.

You need a license to decorate a home, but not to build one.

If you want to cut hair or give people tattoos in Texas, you need a license. But to build a home, you simply register and hang out a shingle, and the reason is money.

The political clout of builders has made Texas an easy state in which to build bad houses, like the homes we saw in Hutto, near Austin; shoddy homes built on the worst soil in the state, expansive clay.

HOT: Soil Issues and Residential Construction in Texas is our 5-page white paper describing the risks of building on expansive and contaminated soil.

"The houses can become uninhabitable over time," said Tom Archer with the consumer group Homeowners of Texas. "It expands and contracts enormously. The amount of pressure it generates is huge. It is really, really deadly to foundations."

And buyers like Cheryl Rea say they weren't told.

"I think Lennar needs to buy this house back," she told us, since her home is unsalable.

We asked about her comment that they ought to buy the house back and what they say when she says that to them?

"They're not in the business to buy houses back," she replied

Katherine Barnhill has the same issue.

"Had I known that the homes were built on highly expansive soil," she said, "Had I known we're within 3000 ft. of a voluntary cleanup site for arsenic contaminated soil, there's no way we would have bought this house, no way."

HOT: Homes with the most serious defects, toxic mold and/or soil contamination can be unsellable at any price and sit empty. Those vacant homes attract vandals and drug trafficking and drag down home values for neighbors, and that's already happening in HuttoParke and Legends of Hutto. Realtors have refused to list or show properties there, so the homeowners may want to organize and go to City Hall to challenge their appraisals - en masse.

You heard right, arsenic, used on old cotton fields.

Tom Archer said, "So, the developer was aware of the fact that this land had arsenic contamination. This is a VCP site here. He was put on the honor system to clean it up. No verification that he ever did so."

And, nobody comes back to check to see if you cleaned it up. And the buyer isn't told.

"The farmer or the landowner of the contaminated property has to tell the developer, " Archer told us. "The developer has to tell the builder. But the builder does not have to tell the homeowner that the property is contaminated."

HOT: The report failed to say anything about falsified HUD documents, and we think it's an important part of the story. Maybe CBS wanted to avoid making public accusations without enough time to present the evidence. We have the evidence: copies of signed forms sent to HUD where the builder certified that the homes were NOT built on expansive soil or on contaminated land. Apparently they made the same "clerical error" on hundreds of forms. In any event, our site includes several articles on arsenic contamination and on foundation problems due to expansive soil. Use the Site Search feature (top left of each page) to find them, or just browse the News & Articles.

"I have three boys. Can they go out and dig in the dirt?" asked Katherine Barnhill. "What is this doing to them long term? I have not had my children tested, but I'm kind of afraid of what I might find out."

And most home contracts require arbitration, ruling out a lawsuit.

"The judge says, can't do it," Barnhill said, "You need to go through arbitration."

Reputable builders, like Anwar Khalifa of Pyramid Homes, say buyers need to be careful.

"This is the most expensive purchase most people will ever make," he warned. "They need to really do their homework on the builder." Or the results can be disastrous.

HOT: We know that builder associations don't always represent the views of these reputable builders, and we've spoken with many of them who are frustrated in having to compete with shoddy builders who cut corners, use substandard materials, hire unqualified workers, and low-ball bids. They support our efforts to license general contractors, and we look forward to working with more of them.

"We're stuck," Cheryl Rea concluded. "We're prisoners here."

There was some minor progress for home buyers in the last legislative session, but any chance for real reform is at least two years away.

 Roger Gray, KYTX Investigative Reporter, 07/15/2009
Source: http://www.cbs19.tv/Global/story.asp?S=10730658&nav=menu1493_2_1

USDA WEB SOIL SURVEY

The interactive Web Soil Survey (http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/HomePage.htm) is a FREE resource of the US Department of Agriculture that can be used to examine soil properties and determine the suitability for building, farming or other purposes. Using the tool to research foundation problems in Hutto, we found that the Branyon clay soil is “very limited” for building dwellings on concrete slab foundations. It has limitations that “generally cannot be overcome without major soil reclamation, special design, or expensive installation procedures.” When used for building, the soil is said to have “Poor performance (i.e. cracked slabs) and high maintenance (expensive foundation repairs) can be expected.” This seems to make buying homes in these Hutto communities a risky proposition unless the builder did due dilligence with proper foundation engineering and installation. We urge buyers to request a foundation plan with engineering stamp before closing.

Start by finding your address or defining your "Area of Interest" - in this case HuttoParke in Hutto, TX



Start by finding your address or defining your "Area of Interest" - in this case Legends of Hutto in Hutto, TX



Start by finding your address or defining your "Area of Interest" - in this case D R Horton's Riverwalk subdivision 



The Web Soil Survey shows that each of these subdivisions sit on the very expansive Branyon clay (BrA) soil. 


 
The Web Soil Survey says Branyon clay in these Hutto subdivision is "Very limited" for building dwellings on concrete slabs.