Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/03/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I am writing to file a formal complaint against Kenric Fine Homes and its owner, *** ************ regarding significant issues and unresolved problems with my new home purchase. We purchased our home in July 2023 and have encountered numerous difficulties in addressing the outstanding items and repairs, as documented in writing and discussed in person with Mr. ************ It has been extremely challenging to schedule necessary repairs. Mr. *********** rarely responds to emails, has been verbally aggressive during phone calls, and has failed to show up for scheduled repair appointments on multiple occasions. When his workers did arrive, they often did not complete the repairs correctly, resulting in repeated attempts to fix the same issues over the course of a year. One of the most pressing issues is the extensive damage to our driveway, which occurred between the final walkthrough and closing. Mr. ***********'s team used a Bobcat to clean the building materials from the driveway, causing severe gashes, scratches, cracks, and chunks of concrete to be removed. Furthermore, they applied hydraulic acid to clean the driveway, leaving large stains and damaging the concrete's color. Despite acknowledging the damage, Mr. *********** has refused to make adequate repairs. Additionally, Mr. *********** attempted to powerwash the driveway using hydraulic acid without our consent in October 2024, causing further damage and compromising the driveway's integrity. This issue has been a persistent problem since we closed on the house, and despite repeated repair requests, it remains unresolved. I am requesting that Kenric Fine Homes replace the driveway due to the irreparable damage caused by their actions. Additionally, I am requesting the following repairs: - Fix the leaking external sump pump pipe that was listed on our pre-closing repair list. - Properly repair the crumbling bathtub grout that has not been fixed correctly. - Address the issues with the countertop grout.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/24/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  We recently had a home built with Kenric Fine homes, in which we’ve had a number of issues with. Along with these issues, we’ve also had to wait extended periods of time to get things serviced from defects we’ve pointed out on numerous occasions and still have a decent amount of them not resolved 6 months after moving into the home. The builder has not been very attentive in resolving these issues or providing service outside of a schedule that doesn’t favor his schedule.

  Two major concerns we have with our home is that the builder has taken advantage of our inexperience with the home building process and has breached our contract. According to our home build spec list, which explicitly states “….No alterations shall be made therein, except under written order of said Buyer, which shall specify the amount and time to be added to or subtracted from the original contract price and time by reason of such alteration or change. No change will begin until the change order is completed, signed by the Buyer, paid for by the Buyer and accepted by the Builder. All changes must be in writing.”

  Our builder has changed two major components of materials within our home, alongside having us into redoing our original contract signed roughly 5 months prior and charging us an additional $30,000 for what was supposed to be a “lumber price” increase. Per our building specs, the exterior sheathing for both first and second floors of the home were supposed to be “7/16” O.S.B”.

  Our home builder utilized a Thermo Ply like product, OX-IS, for over 90% of the first and second floors of our home. We are sure this was done as a cost savings to the builder to increase the bottom line due to lumber price increases, however we were charged for a lumber price increase and were not given said products, and also did not agree to this modification under the terms to change materials in our building specs. The builder also neglected to inform us that he had decided to make this change.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/02/2022

  Kenric Fine Homes is a small building company based in Central Ohio. The client has made several statements and I will attempt to address each one individually. 

   

  In reference to warranty and service work, Kenric Fine Homes always try to get issues taken care of as fast as possible. We are a small company, so we must work around our busy schedule along with the schedules of our clients.  Getting clients to move into their home is our first priority as it was for the *******. Sometimes things take longer than a client would like we are always striving to get the service work completed as soon as possible, however some things are out of our control. With Covid-19, supplies and replacement items can take much longer than pre-covid times, for example the screens from Pella Windows or siding from Alside Supply are taking over 3 times the amount of time to get. In reference to Mrs. ****** ******’s house, we have been there on several occasions to complete their warranty/service work and while a few items remain, we have not forgot about them.

   

  We are currently working on a leak with them where we have been to the house on a number of occasions.  We were told the roof was leaking, then it was the shower that was leaking, then the roof that was leaking.  A water leak is a tough thing to diagnosis, and we are trying out best.  We have performed a water test on the roof and replaced a roof boot that we thought may have been the problem as that was near the area where the leak was seen inside the house.  The client then said the leak was still present and we dis some investigation and found the shower head was dripping and needed tighten up.  We did that work, let the shower/tub run for several minutes and there was no leak.

   

  Weeks later the client informed us the leak was still present and stated that they believed the leak was still from the roof as no none has used the shower that day/week.  I suggested that we come out on a rain day to investigate the inside of the attic and see if there were any signs of water intrusion.  A site visit did not show any water intrusion into the attic area at that time (home owner was present and in the attic with me.)

   

  July 16 and 17^th Columbus was hit by 4” of rain in 2 days and if it was a roof leak, I would assume there would have been water showing in the basement.  I asked the client if they saw anything and they indicated they were out of town that weekend but did not mention if there was water showing up.

   

  I do believe that we still have to look at the shower to determine if that leak is still present as the home owner believe that to be the case

   

  In the homeowner’s letter, she quotes her specifications, “No alterations shall be made therein, except under written order of said Buyer, which shall specify the amount and time to be added to or subtracted from the original contract price and time by reason of such alteration or change. No change will begin until the change order is completed, signed by the Buyer, paid for by the Buyer and accepted by the Builder. All changes must be in writing.” This section in the DESCRIPTION OF MATERIALS, ALLOWANCES AND SPECIFICATIONS is in reference to change orders that the buyer requests. This section is not referring to changes that the builder makes but to changes that the buyer makes. Please find the entire paragraph from that section below:

   

  Work under this contract shall be performed strictly in accordance with the preliminary plans dated 11/3/2020 (preliminary plans) by *** *******, architect of record. Should changes need to be made to the final plans, those changes will be an extra to the Buyer. No alterations shall be made therein, except under written order of said Buyer, which shall specify the amount and time to be added to or subtracted from the original contract price and time by reason of such alteration or change. No change will begin until the change order is completed, signed by the Buyer, paid for by the Buyer and accepted by the Builder. All changes must be in writing. Builder has the right to refuse any change. No changes will be accepted forty-five (45) days prior to the expected completion date as noted in section V of the “Real Estate Purchase Contract for the Construction, Purchase and Sale of a Home on the Buyer’s Lot.”

   

  At Kenric Fine Homes we are always trying to give our clients that best quality of service and materials. Since signing the contract and specifications dated November 5^th, 2020, Kenric Fine Homes switched from OSB to OX board for exterior sheathing. OX board is a similar product but also provides an insulating value that OSB does not. This product was installed on the ******’s home and while this product is now more expensive, Kenric Fine Homes continues to use this product on several of our homes as we feel it is a better product than the traditional OSB.

   

  The homeowner never questioned the installation of this this product during construction. Mrs. ****** only questioned the OX board after closing when a few pieces of vinyl siding fell of her house. These pieces of siding falling off had nothing to do with OX versus OSB, but that the top piece of siding can not be nailed as the nailing fin is cut off to accept the j-channel at the top of the house. Per section 9 in our executed contract, Kenric Fine Homes allowed to make this change. Please read section #9 below:

             

              Construction of the Home shall substantially conform to the plans and specifications, allowing minor deviations occasioned by expediency, practicality, and the availability of labor and materials. That is, in the event the Builder is unable to obtain the exact materials specified in the plans and specifications; the Builder shall have the right to substitute materials of similar pattern, design, and quality. Further, Builder expressly reserves the right to make such modifications, additions, or deletions to the plans and specifications as may be required by Buyer's lending institution or in order to meet any applicable building or zoning code requirements. In the event that a substantial physical modification or deviation from the plans and specifications is necessary due to soil or other lot conditions (building setback lines, easements, etc.), Builder may, at Builder's option, elect to terminate this Contract and refund to Buyer the deposit(s), in which case all parties hereto shall be relieved of any further obligations hereunder.

   

  The homeowner also writes about Kenric Fine Homes changing their interior water lines from PEX to CPVC water lines. The homeowner knew we had changed these products prior to closing. While I do not remember the entire conversation that she claims to have had with me, she certainly did not contest it at the time. Per Section #9 of our contract, we are allowed to change the products when we deem fit for the above reasons.

   

              Kenric Fine Homes strives to build great quality homes and we believe we built a beautiful home for the ******’s. As a good faith, Kenric Fine Homes  are willing to extend the warranty on the exterior sheathing/vinyl siding and water lines that we substituted for an additional one year as we believe the products that were substituted were of the same or better quality.

   

              Along with this letter, I am sending/attaching an executed copy of the contract and specifications that were executed by myself and the ******’s.     

                                                             

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/08/2022

  I am rejecting this response because: Extending the warranty does not fix our current issues with the house and material used. We had a construction loan. The loan was closed before construction began. The builder is correct, we were not aware that thermoply (OX-IS) was used until our siding started falling off in several different areas of the house. We had a couple of professionals come out and inspect our siding. They found that the siding was installed incorrectly. The siding has to be redone completely. No builder would ever consider thermoply (OX-IS)to be better than OSB. Thermoply sheathing is considerably cheaper than OSB. It is an inferior product. We notified the builder over a month ago that siding has fallen off our house. The siding has yet to be fixed. Now it’s possible we may have water damage from all the rain. The bath tub on the third floor of the house leaks all the way down to the basement. This should have been fixed months ago. We had a professional come out to take a look at the leak. The wall in the pantry and the ceiling will need to be cut open to properly investigate leak. The builder is responsible for hiring a professional to take care of the leak which he has yet to do. Of course the leak cannot be fixed if it isn’t properly investigated. Now we are dealing with mold and rotting. There is no point in having an extended warranty if the issues don’t ever get fixed. It is not my problem if the builder takes on more work than he can handle. We have been living in our home for 8 months and we still do not have grass or landscaping. We are also missing a laundry door. Totally unacceptable. It would be nice to enjoy our home but we’ve had several issues since we moved in. It has been nothing less than a stressful experience. 

  
  Regards,
  
  ****** ******

  Business Response

  Date: 08/15/2022

  A Response to the rejection of Kenric Fine Home’s response to Complaint#********
  
  As we stated in our original letter, the different materials used on the house are permitted under the contract that was signed by both Kenric Fine Homes and ****** ******. There is nothing more to be said as it was agreed upon when they signed the contract. We are acknowledging they do not want an extended warranty on those items.

  
  We have been working with the ******’s on their warranty work since they have moved into their home. We have been out multiple times to fix numerous problems but scheduling always seems to be an issue. We understand that the siding fell off, but per the limited warranty, there are certain timeframes to reporting warranty work. We would love to drop everything and fix any issues that come up for all our clients but that is not feasible. We have our clients make 2 total lists, one at 60 days and one at one year. Sending a complaint to both the BBB and States attorney general about warranty work when we haven’t even reached the one-year mark seems entirely premature as we are not denying their claims of needing warranty work done.

  
  We will reach out to the ******’s sometime this week and schedule a time to meet with them to look at the plumbing issues, fix the siding, and address the other items on their warranty list.
  
  Thank you,
  Kenneth B**********