Unethical? Gross Negligence?

Another thought occurred to me: Consort KNOWS now about this situation, they know about the problems with these lots, they MUST know that the land is poised to collapse further due to the depth of the sewer line and failure to properly prepare the land across a span of 10 lots, including the road known as Paul Renaud. They know that there are now homes on these lots at risk of structural damage. KNOWING all of this, they continue to offer these lots for sale? It's too late for compacting--and the know it.


(How would I make my case that they know? Well, Mr. Ed Petras, "Pepe," is a fan of this blog--so there is no denying that they are aware of, and seemingly indifferent, to the very real issues here. Should anything happen, on my lot or elsewhere, there will be no pleading ignorance--they know.)

How is it possible that Consort is (1) Constructing a market home directly over this sinking land as I write this, and (2) Offering these lots for sale knowing, or should know, about the risk of property loss, damage, even, God forbid, injury?

Greed? Lack of business ethics and integrity? Lack of regard for legal concepts? Carelessness and stupidity? All of the above is my guess.

Garbage: Indicative of Consort's Practices

Something else of interest re: Consort Homes: While driving around other subdivisions in development, I notice a general cleanliness, attention to detail, tidiness to the area--a lack of construction garbage, in other words--with respect to the empty lots and to the areas surrounding. Here, in Countryshire, Consort seems oblivious to these very same things.

Here in the areas under construction at Countryshire, there is harmful debris next to homes--from large pieces of wood to nails to metal stakes-- surrounding open lots, and refuse laying next to Dumpsters--but not in them.

This is but a teeny tiny bit of what I have been dealing with for two years. At one point, I had to call a construcion manager to my home to load up over 20 boxes and Tyvek, in addition to related construction refuse found on my lot and those neighboring. I've had to pick up no less than 100 roofing tile bags left out after the men finish work. I've had to pick up scraps of roofing from my deck. I've had pieces of siding blow across the street and strike my car. I once collected no less than 10 boxes in a single morning from the side of our lot--all under the observation of your men building a house across the street. No one made a move to pick them up themselves, no one has apologized.

A construction manager himself has driven up and down the street countless times, construction refuse clearly evident, and not made a move to dispose of it--instead, he often blamed the construction refuse on another builder, several streets away. As I look out the window across the street, large pieces of plywood and drywall sit on an empty lot, just waiting for another wind gust.

All of this is indicative of Consort's approach: sloppy, fast and in a hurry, not attention to detail. And, as a self-touting "green builder," I wonder how Consort justifies canisters of chemicals left out on the lots to drip into the soil (isn't this an EPA violation?).

We have a neighborhood FULL of children, young and old, and family pets. I don't even want to think about what might happen to any of them if they are struck by debris or exposed to chemicals from canisters leaking into the soil, or crawl into a dumspter left wide open from the side, or struck by electrical cords left dangling from roof tops overnight in a storm.

Now, when I made the construction manager aware of these issues I received an extremely rude, inappropriate, and unprofessional email from the construction supervisor (Mike), telling me that all of "this" was "none of my business." I said it then, and I'll say it again now: OH BUT IT IS, WHEN IT REFLECTS ON PROPERTIES, WHEN IT VIOLATES ORDINANCES, WHEN MY YARD IS COVERED WITH GARBAGE, WHEN IT CAUSES RISK OF HARM--IT CERTAINLY IS.

Consort has been reminded, regularly for two years now regarding this problem. Deaf to customer concerns?

**Mr. Petras, as Director of Sales and Marketing I would think this would interest you, or no? Actually, Mr. Petras, I would think all of what I've been writing would be of interest to you--sales and marketing, and those PROFITS PROFITS PROFITS depend on the court of public opinion, do they not?

The Never-Ending Story....Consort Lot Nightmare

AKA, Consort Homes, LLC disaster. My previous post showed a widened crack on the north side of my lot, the worsening state of the lawn a result of excavation and grading one and two lots to my north.

Today, I found another horrific surprise--a hole adjacent to this crack that has turned out to be the "mouth" of a 19 inch void in the soil. As I suspected, my landscaping is now "resting" upon a hollow, a "sink hole" of sorts, extending 19 inches straight down under the surface of my lawn. Essentially, it seems that the ground beneath my landscaping, the ground and earth upon which Consort should never have built, and upon which--even better-- they improperly built (per their own admission re: soil compacting), has sunk, completely dropped, and continues to drop, leaving an unstable surface lawn--with no support underneath it.

I've attached pictures of a pole that we stuck into the hole--straight down with ease (and over to all sides under the lawn surface)--as well as a ruler against this same pole showing the depth of the sinkage.

I'm not sure if Consort is actually waiting for my entire rear lawn to simply fall before taking any action to compensate me and remedy an unsafe situation? Or, if once more, they are deliberately denying that a problem, a LARGE problem, exists.

Please, for your own good, if you are considering a home in this stretch of lots, THINK AGAIN. Do not lose your investment, do not risk watching the value of your home drop, and do not take this kind of stress upon yourself--battling a corporate entity deaf to your losses (at their hands), one that claims to be tops in customer service), and losing all hope of re-selling your home. Allow me to put it very plainly: Consort is NOT A BUILDER WHO CARES. They are a BUILDER who DOES NOT CARE.
Not only did they sell (and continue to sell) lots unsuitable for building, they then, by their own admission, screwed up when it came to preparing my lot, and now refuse to acknowledge or confront the issue they have created.

Next Up....Media Outlets

Next up, local media outlets/TV stations....

Stay tuned as this moves forward.

In the meantime, I'll try to get some new pictures of my severely damaged lot, as well as photos illustrating the problems in my home that I believe are caused by the same (either that or by INCREDIBLY shoddy work).

Speaking of the shelf upon which Consort is building...

See, I suspect that building on this shelf led to many of my problems with the house. When Consort artificially created an even surface over a drainage route, they created a recipe for damaged property. With the rear half of the home resting on an artificially created mound THAT HAS PITCHED AND FALLEN AND SUNK, the home on this artificially created mound will naturally shift. Just plain physics, I'm assuming.
So, when the back of the lot drops dramatically, naturally anything that was supported by this former mound will also shift--in my opinion. Thus, the issues with our home interior: misaligned walls, floors, gaps between the same, fireplaces blowing drafts from their frame (not the inside, Consort, not the inside--nothing to do with the flue as per your genius construction manager), ice and frost forming all over fireplace exterior, ice on bedroom walls, cracks in the foundation--clear through--that occur exactly where the land splits and falls, etc.

Coincidence? I think not. Isn't there an old saying about too many coincidences NOT being a coincidence?

PS: The last two images are of the ice and frost-covered fireplace. Every single person to whom I show these fireplace photos is astounded--NOT ONE HAS EVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE. Again, I assume that Consort either built on land they shouldn't have, and/or is TOTALLY inept.

Some pictures of the large LARGE drainage duct...and then some

Here we're looking at the drainage sewer/duct prominently situated on and through lots for sale. If you follow the path of this duct you end up precisely at the contour of my now damaged and destroyed lawn--and we're talking about 4 lots down.

The next image is to the north of my lot (the above image being to the south)and shows the area of the pond over which Consort has now decided to construct a "market home." I can only assume that Consort preferred that potential buyers NOT SEE THE PROBLEMS with the lots, land, drainage, and a very real pond--thus they bulldozed some mud and started a house. Now, a new market home will be sold to an unsuspecting buyer--this one built over such an enormous drainage repository that a pond existed for almost two years.

Why is Consort still selling these lots? Why are these offered for sale with a few words about "oh, we'll just fill that ditch right up." Why are they attempting to build homes on a shelf that falls into an enormous ditch from which soil moves out and thus displaces a lawn and shifts a house?

Seems that Consort Doesn't Want the Word Out

Seems that Consort has blocked me from comment on their Facebook page. Apparently the truth about their business practices as related to my lot, my home, and my situation is difficult for them to swallow. No worries, I have this blog--and other avenues for publicity. In my opinion, Consort is just one more greedy and unscrupulous corporate entity in a string of greedy corporate entities seeking to make a quick buck. From the financial industry to the mining industry to oil/gas companies, to builders and construction--greed and deception are the motivators. Corporations seem to be driven by these mantras: How can we make the most buck? How can we make the fastest buck? How can we pull the wool over the eyes of unsuspecting buyers? How can we do the minimum and make the most? How can we take advantage of the building boom (now over) and build as much as possible, as quick as possible, with no thought or duty to ethics or quality. (I heard that bonuses were given to the home contract workers--painters, e.g.--for finishing as quickly as possible.)

It's the corporate entity versus the little guy.

Where are the good business practices? Where is their concern for my damaged home and lot--and related permanent LOSS OF VALUE? While they rake in the profits, I've lost the comfort of home, and the security of a good and wise investment.

Greed is NOT GOOD, Consort.

Again, homes built on a drainage route??

A Welcome to Pepe

A warm welcome to Mr. Petras, Consort Homes Director of Sales and Marketing, aka "Pepe." And to all interested in learning more about what has happened with my lot and home, please read on. I will try to post pictures and updates daily, keeping this information fresh and up-to-date. Nothing like photos and video--what's the old adage?--pictures and video are worth a thousand words.

Mr. Petras, as Director of Sales at Consort, you surely must understand that this home has permanently lost its value, and will never be able to compete on the market with other similar homes, but those that do not have egregious lot damage or ice building on their fireplace and melting on to the hardwood floors, bedroom walls covered in frost and ice, a shelf on their lawn making it impossible to care for, gaps between floors and walls letting in 20 degree F drafts all winter, doors that have fallen askew in their frames and will no longer shut, bulging walls, ceilings separating from tops of walls, cracks coming out on the diagonal from windows, and flooded land and destroyed landscape design. Ha! Tell me this house and lot haven't lost value.

That Consort has not offered compensation for permanent loss of property value is astonishing and speaks volumes of Consort's practices--not to mention abject greed. Listen up, readers, offering to fill tremendous drops in land with "a little more soil" and a plastic tarp, and suggesting that the home owner close their flue to prevent icicles from forming on the home interior, is pitiful. This is a pitiful attempt to minimize the gravity of the situation, and loss of value.

When a flat lawn suddenly drops drastically down into the contour of natural drainage, creating a shelf, and then another shelf, a little bit of soil isn't what is needed. When streets are buckling down in this same drainage pattern--a little bit of soil isn't the answer. The lot line in question should have been treated as it is by reputable builders, and those not driven to squeeze every penny out of the land--by simply not building upon it.

Look around, folks. You'll notice that other areas have these drainage ditches and drainage sewers ON THE OUTSIDE of developed lots--not sold as usable land and property.

Tomorrow, I'll be posting pictures on how reputable builders handle these drainage areas. I can tell you one thing, they don't attempt to sell them as usable land for homes. Stay tuned....

Does *YOUR* bedroom wall have ice on it? Didn't think so.

Awoke in the mornings to ice forming almost one-foot up the master bedroom wall and shock to feel a carpet as cold as snow, despite the home thermostat being set on 74 degrees. Actual ice on the surface of my bedroom wall! I wasn't sure if I should cry or scream. The air blowing in the room--from the gap between wall and floor created after the lot fell--was so cold and so strong that it was necessary to line the wall with blankets. Ice formed nevertheless.

Consort dismissed this as an issue or as a problem. In fact, their lack of surprise and horror was mind-boggling. They offered to shove a little insulation on the attic side of the wall (shouldn't insulation have already been there?), but dismissed the notion that a gap like this between floor and wall was even a problem. What about the likelihood of mold growing as a result of the ice and condensation trapped in the dry-wall? Consort was similarly disinterested. Just offered more mud for the back lot. Hmmm. What about the house that is now off-kilter? Why has compensation for our loss of value not been offered?

Lost Lot Continued

Additional Photos....

Consort thinks a little extra mud will do the trick here. At one point, their construction manager suggested a tarp at the edge of the lot--uh huh, a tarp. Those tarps do wonders for sinking land.

This property will never be able to compete fairly on the re-sale real estate market. Value is permanently lost.