Dan Ryan Builders, Cedarbrook development, Greencastle, PA - trouble with new home construction - ground water problems

Dan Ryan Builders, Cedarbrook development, Greencastle, PA - trouble with new home construction - ground water problems

Consumer follow-up Message - November 15, 2004 - From: //

Jack R Last week I finally received a response to my complaint. A full 9 months after the fact. They were shocked that I was dissatified with the way the situation was handled. They wondered what could be done to rectify the

problem. What did they think, that my family was living on the streets until they decided to contact us? If after reading the above complaint you needed more proof to stay away from Dan Ryan Builders, here it is.

Dan Ryan Builders

This problem occurred in their Cedarbrook development in Greencastle, Pennsylvania. My wife and I entered into a contract with Dan Ryan to have a two story home with a basement built in their Greencastle, PA development. Problems emerged almost from the time we signed on with them. First, we were encouraged to sign a contract to set in the price of the home eventhough we were not in the position to begin construction. We had relocated to the area and resided in an apartment. Our existing home was on the market. Construction on the new home couldn't begin until the existing home was sold. Two mortgages at one time was fiscally unsound. The representative told us verbally that there would be no problem. Just give them a $5,000 payment when we wanted construction to begin and our home would be placed on the schedule. A couple of months passed. We were asked to come in and make decisions concerning the design of the home. That is, do we want a brick exterior, countertop type and color, etc. Again, they were informed that construction couldn't begin until our existing home was sold. We moved from a economically depressed area and it might take some time that to happen. No problem, per Dan Ryan's representative, they just wanted to get the paperwork out of the way. They would never ask us for any money until we were ready. Fortunately, most of this discussion was done via email so there was a record. Another few weeks pass. The representative that had been working with us moved on. The new representative called us and informed us that building needed to begin immediately. We have signed a contract and it's expiration date was quickly approaching. I informed the new rep that we had an agreement and to speak to the old rep. He replied that nothing was in writing and construction had to begin. A deposit had to be made by the deadline or we would forfeit our initial downpayment of $500. I was livid. I had purposely withheld the email correspondence to test their honesty. I kept insisting that we had an agreement. They kept insisting that there was nothing in writing. After a couple of days I produced the emails. Man, did they back off. Now comes the really bad part. Just as we were ready to build, it was discovered Dan Ryan never performed tests necessary on the development to detect if there were ground water problems. A wet Spring showed that not only was the water table a little high, but what was described as an underground river existed beneath the entire development. Homes had flooded basements.

A few actually had multiple pumps running nonstop to try and keep up with the water. Homes throughout the neighborhood suddenly went on the market. We were informed that they would no longer build homes with a basement in the development and that our contract was cancelled. I asked them about compensation, they said I could build at another one of their area developments, but at the current prices, approximately 10% higher.

Dan Ryan said that it was Force Majeur, that is, unforeseeable. I countered that if they had done their job, it would be foreseeable. At this point, I wouldn't let them build me a doghouse and was merely playing with them. They returned our money. We found a nice lot on our own, hired a custom builder and couldn't be happier with the results. A word of advice, beware of any developer and get EVERYTHING in writing.

Jack R

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