Many homeowners are anxiously waiting for a check from Pulte. I continue to receive emails from homeowners concerned about why they have not received payment. While some homeowners have gone ahead and had the work done, others are understandably waiting to receive payment before they contract with a plumbing company. But Pulte has gone ahead and changed the rules of the payment game in mid-stream and homeowners need to understand that THE CHECK IS NOT IN THE MAIL as Pulte had previously promised. (See our previous article on this issue.)

While homeowners have glanced over the new printed guidelines, many I believe have failed to comprehended that Pulte is NOT sending out payment in the manner they had previously promised. The rules for getting any payment from Pulte have changed in a very major way.

1. Send in an unaltered General Release form;
2. Request Pulte to conduct and have an inspection performed;
3. Wait up to 45 days; and
4. Receive payment

The new rules

1. Send in unaltered General Release form;
2. Request Pulte to conduct and have an inspection performed;
3. Have the re-plumbing work performed;
4. If the work was or is performed by American Leak Detection, no further homeowner efforts are required;
5. If the work was or is going to be performed by anyone other than ALD:

   a.  If Pulte had done an inspection, mail or deliver the repair invoice with a written statement from the plumber, affirming that your home had Kitec plumbing, along with two defective fittings from your home, to the Pulte/Del Webb main office at 8345 W. Sunset Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89113.
               b.  If Pulte had NOT done an inspection, perform Item 5(a) above, but in addition the homeowner will need to sign the statement to certify or affirm that he or she had Kitec in their home.

6. In either case, whether the work was performed by ALD or by another plumber, payment should be received within 45 days following:

   a.  completion of the work in the case of ALD; or if the work was not performed by ALD,
               b. completion of the additional requirements detailed above in Item 5(a) or 5(b) above, which is applicable.

       

              7.  In either case, payment may take up to 90 days.

I did not get a letter from Pulte advising me of this change.

That’s correct. While Pulte did not send out a letter, they did advise all Sun City homeowners of the change in payment procedures in an article appearing in the March Spirit magazine, page 26. A copy of Pulte’s entire NOW WHAT? article is reprinted on our website. Click here

To get paid in the future, even if the work was done in the past couple of months, homeowners who did not use American Leak Detection will have to provide Pulte with a "repair invoice" and physical "proof" that the plumbing work was done. Homeowners who used ALD will not have to do this. It is my belief that all homeowners will have to have the work performed before getting a check from Pulte.

The following is taken from Item 4 appearing on page 26 of the March Spirit. Here is what Item 4 states:

Item 4.  If I use my own inspector or plumber, what do I need to do in order to receive my compensation?
You are asked to mail or deliver the repair invoice with a written statement from the plumber, affirming that your home had Kitec plumbing, along with two defective fittings from your home, to the Pulte/Del Webb main office at 8345 W. Sunset Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89113.  You will also need to sign the statement to affirm that you had Kitec in your home and return an unaltered Release form to us.

Item 4 above applies to all homeowners who used a different inspector other than Pulte’s or who used a plumber other than American Leak Detection. There is no other way to read the phrase “my own . . . plumber” than by understanding that “my own” refers to a company other than American Leak Detection.

Regretfully, no, Pulte's new guidelines are confusing, contrary and poorly worded. Pulte makes repeated references to the homeowner’s use of his “own inspection company” in Items 1 and 3. However, if you read on, you will understand that Pulte left out the word “or plumbing” in that phrase so that the phrase should have read, “own inspection or plumbing company.” We know that because in the following sentences, Pulte demands that homeowners “who use your own inspection company” must submit proof in the form of two Kitec fittings. That proof requirement makes sense only if the reader understands that “or plumbing” was mistakenly left out of the preceding sentence. While Pulte screwed up the language in attempting to explain Item 3, they somehow and correctly formulated the titled: Item 3 Can I use their own inspector, plumber or dry wall company?

Absolutely!  Pulte’s Item 2, which is what most homeowners are relying on, tells us that the check is in the mail for those who sent in an unaltered General Release form and had a Pulte inspection. Item 2 clearly implies that no re-plumbing work need be performed in order to receive Pulte’s check for $7,800. But Pulte says just the opposite in Items 1, 3 and 4 of their NOW WHAT? article. I believe the only reasonable explanation is that the language in Item 2 is both wrong and misleading.

Here is what Pulte wrote in Item 2:

Item 2. I sent in the release form, when will I receive my compensation check?
Checks should arrive within approximately 45 days after receipt of your unaltered release and inspection form. Again, processing thousands of release forms and checks is a lengthy process and some checks may take a bit longer to arrive. However, checks should not take longer than 90 days to arrive.

However, homeowners who have done exactly what Item 2 states are now being told by Pulte that they need to provide proof before they are paid any compensation—in other words, the work must be performed prior to payment. Also, in the context of what Pulte wrote in Item 1, 3 and 4, what Pulte wrote in Item 2 makes absolutely no sense at all. Those statement are essentially mutually exclusive and Pulte and the homeowners can not have it both ways. Either Pulte got it all wrong in Item 2 or they got it all wrong in Items 1, 3 and 4. I prefer to believe it is more reasonable to assume that Pulte got it all wrong in Item 2—they screwed up by mistakenly repeating the old payment rule when what Pulte needed to state were the new payment rules.

Here is what Item 1 states:

Item 1.  I have not been contacted for my inspection yet, what do I do?
  . . . . Also, if you choose, you can use your own inspection company. Both you and that company need to certify in writing to Pulte/Del Webb that you have Kitec plumbing and you will need to provide two Kitec fittings from your home to Pulte/Del Webb as proof.

And here is what Item 3 states:

Item 3.  Can I use my own inspector, plumber and drywall company?
Yes. It is up to the homeowner to decide which contractors they would like to do work in their home. American Leak Detection and K&R Drywall are only two of many companies in the Las Vegas area that do this type of repair work. If you choose to use your own inspection company, both you and that company need to certify in writing to Pulte/Del Webb that you have Kitec plumbing and you will need to provide two defective fittings from your home to Pulte/Del Webb as proof.

Just last week, I was told by Pulte’s inspector that my check will come in 45 days following his inspection. Can I rely on his statement?

Absolutely not. The inspector was present at your home solely for the purpose of documenting for the record that your home was originally plumbed with the Kitec plumbing system. They take some photographs to make that record. That’s all. He was hired by a company (Southwest Consulting) that does work for a law firm, Koeller, Nebeker, Carlson & Haluck, who in turn was hired by Pulte to represent them here locally. While the Kitec inspector may have volunteered some information he thought would be helpful about when to expect payment, he has no authority to do so nor is he authorized to do so—and you can not rely on what he tells you about when to expect payment.

How much compensation will homeowners receive?

That's unclear. Pulte does not address the "amount" issue in their article, although they do mention their "offer" of $7,800. Clearly, virtually all homeowners should receive $7,800. However, in Pulte's Item 4, in contrast to what Pulte writes in Item 1 and Item 3, Pulte asks homeowners to mail or deliver "the repair invoice" to them when a plumber other than ALD is used. Since some smaller homes are being repaired by a plumber for less than $4,800, this raises a question of whether the amount of compensation to be paid will be geared by Pulte to the amount actually expended by the homeowner. When I asked this question of Pulte this past week, my call to them has yet to be returned.

Did Pulte change their payment procedures in response to the Court's potential involvement in this matter?

Clearly, Judge Tim Williams intends on making some type of ruling on the recently held Fairness Hearing. Said differently, the judge did not summarily dismiss Pulte's argument that the court had no jurisdiction. Whether or how the court's anticipated ruling will impact Pulte or their prior commitments to the Community is unknown. Coming as it did at a time just in advance of the court's ruling, Pulte may have changed the scope of their payment commitment to the Community as a hedge against or in anticipation of the court's forthcoming decision, not knowing how that decision might affect their payment plans. Only time will tell.

Did Pulte's "NOW WHAT?" article in the Spirit prompt any response by the Class action attorneys?

Yes! According to the Class attorneys, Pulte's article provided them with what they contend is further evidence that the court has jurisdiction over Pulte and their offer to compensate homeowners. The Class attorneys assert that Pulte in their latest communication to homeowners in the Spirit is offering homeowners NOT compensation at all, as Pulte had claimed, but, instead, is in reality offering homeowners "a repair" as defined under NRS. If the judge agrees with that position, Pulte's obligations under NRS make be viewed differently. You can read the Class attorneys filing on this issue here with a click: Recent court filing

Still confused?

Little wonder as Pulte’s “NOW WHAT?” article in the March Spirit is clearly confusing, some suggest misleading. While some homeowners may have a different interpretation of Pulte’s new rules than what I have expressed above, the final authority of course is Pulte.

What is absolutely clear, however, is that anyone who had or is planning to have work done by any plumbing company other than ALD should adhere to the new "repair invoice" and "proof" requirements in order to receive payment from Pulte.

Homeowners who are in still in doubt about what to do or when to expect their payment should contact Pulte’s Customer Relations department at 914-4864, or your area’s superintendent, if known, for more information.