Richmond American Homes Of VA Inc.

Mr. xxxxxxxxx

Director of Customer Service

3701 Pender Drive, Suite 200

Fairfax, VA 22030

 October 22, 2001

 Dear Mr. xxxxx,

 We thank you for your letter of 16 October 2001. It is evident that a philosophical gulf exists between our views of the situation. It is indisputable that this delicate situation is borne by, amongst other factors, the dereliction of duty on the part of Richmond American's site superintendent and nepotism of the community manager. We expected quality workmanship, material, and service when we signed the purchase agreement based on Richmond American's advertisements and assertions. However, what we received was far removed. Mr. xxxxx, we still expect the hardwood floor we requested. We question the inability of Richmond American Homes to fathom what we have endured for 12 months? This has gone far beyond any stipulated norms, as these issues should have been dealt with effectively and promptly, within the previous 11 months.  Richmond American had 5 months to build the house to its advertised quality and an additional 12 months to correct what should have been minor defects.

 We accept Richmond American Homes' offer to install an additional ½ inch plywood sub-flooring for the entire house because; 1) weak, uneven and unstable sub-floors persist, 2) delaminating, warping, twisting, and squeaking of the sub-floor has occurred in every room of the house repeatedly, and continues to occur; hardly a random occurrence, 3) discrete patching of damaged areas have been applied three times without resolution to the problem, 4) the undue hardship and inconvenience is about the same as the discrete patching. It follows then that the suggestion of only strengthening the currently damaged areas with an addition of ½ plywood sub-flooring is hardly a viable solution, and further begs the question of what does one do with adjacent areas? Do we end up with un-even floors? According to Mr. Gearheart that's why "we re-lay the whole entire floor" as was previously done in 2 homes.  We hope that the material and workmanship used this time will be of quality so that this problem will be resolved.

 We accept Richmond American Homes' suggestion to replace all of the currently installed carpet and padding with new carpeting and padding because; 1) the abnormal repeated removal and re-installation of the carpet in the attempts to repair the sub-floor have damaged the carpet and padding, 2) previous re-installation of the carpet and padding was improper.

 Although we do not have an issue with the vinyl, we understand that if this vinyl is removed it has to be replaced. That is also Richmond American Homes' understanding as it was explained to us by the previous Richmond American Homes representative and was indeed replaced in the prior attempts to repair the kitchen and bathroom floors. Therefore this offer is also accepted.

 If Richmond American were serious about rectifying its mistakes, they would have implemented what they suggested and what we accepted in the 14 September meeting. In addressing the dead and missing patches of grass Richmond American Homes had offered to aerate, over-seed, and fertilize the sod. We accepted the suggestion and further agreed to Richmond American Homes' plan of starting this right away, as this was independent of required interior work. That was five weeks ago. Is credibility still an issue Mr. xxxxx?

 In closing, we would like to address the effect of the additional ½ inch to the floor height.  Mr. xxxxxxxxx indicated that the bottoms of doors would have to be adjusted accordingly to maintain the current gap. How will this be accomplished? We would like to have an understanding of how Richmond American Homes is planning to address these issues as well as others discussed, such as missing drywall nails, inoperable windows, exterior doors' draftiness, fireplace stone work, etc…  As previously requested, please provide us with copies of the proposed work plan and schedule so that we can plan accordingly, we have a house to pack for the third time!

 Sincerely,

 Cc:

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D. Mandarich

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