Complain about a product or service

Meritage Homes

Tom of Fort Worth, TX October 22, 2009

Legacy homes are not finished well. I bought a home in 2002. The kitchen tile started coming up this year (2009). I had a contractor look at the problem and he found that the tilers did not clean the tiles or paint off the concrete before laying the tile. As a result of the lack of preparation, the tile is all starting to pop up! This issue exists in my kitchen, one of my baths, the front entry way, and garage entry. The tiles all need to be redone to a tune of 4600! I don't recommend Meritage brand homes.

Rob of keller, TX September 6, 2009

I will just list the problems i have had some fixed some still fighting with them. 1) Lighting fixtures not centered in the room. 2) Bad Tile job. Hollow and cracking tiles. 3) White wood trim turned yellow within 4 months. 4) Door knobs had to be changed out 5 times due to poor installation and cheap material. 5) Wood cabinets different color stains. 6) Light switches behind doors. 7) A/C problems too much to even tell. 8) Fence warp within 4 months. 9) Poor texture job on walls. 10) ACME brick on one side of the house has shed the white and gray colors and now looks orange. This is the biggest problem so far and meritage and ACME have made up a lie and stated the iron in the city water has changed the brick orange. A lawyer will love this one because when you take your finger and scrape off the white and gray features off the brick it is orange underneath. No one will return my calls and if they do they just lie and make up what ever they can think of. I will take them to court if it comes down to that. But only after I go door to door and get some support.

Robin of Richmond, TX September 3, 2009

We purchased the home in 12/2007 (Built) and we notice this past spring that the brick above the garage is cracking in several places. We looked at the Ultimate Warranty List for Meritage Homes and the first thing on the lists says "Lifetime Warranty on Brick". I called them several times and they said the brick is actually a stone which is not brick so it is not covered. We did not order the brick so it came with the house so to me is is brick or in the brick family.

Ted of Southlake, TX August 12, 2009

Mr. Barnhisel was the Sales Manager for a new subdivision in Roanoke, TX. In my role as a real estate agent I showed a client a home the company had listed on MLS. We then negociated a contract through three prices with upgrades included and then removed and were told by Mr. Barnhisel that the corporate office had approved the deal with Meritage paying all the closing costs for my client.

All my client needed to do was bring a 2,000 cashiers check to him and the deal was done. We did that and my client begain to get ready to close and move. She submitted her documents to the mortgage company she was required to use by Meritage to get the best deal for her etc.

Four days later Mr. Barnhisel call to say that corporate will not do the deal. My client has decided not to buy a home until this Spring. Just be careful who you deal with when working with Meritage. I lost a 4,000 comission becaurs Mr. Barnhisel did not tell the truth about the deal being approved.

robert of san antonio, TX July 10, 2009

my wife and i were discriminated because of our hispanic lineage. we were told to go look at some less expensive homes. does meritage homes not cater to hispanics.we are 5th generation americans and very proud of that fact.

Biggie of Euless, TX June 16, 2009

Meritage is the WORST HOME BUILDER ever!!!!! They suck they suck they suck they suck. I should have known when I had a bunch of prospective home buyers drive by and ask us if we've had any problems because that's what they'd been hearing. I had only lived here at this time, a week. It didn't take but a few days after that to realize all of the problems.

Let's go down the list, shall we?

1. It took them 4 months for them to even start our punch list. (One of the items, mind you, was an exterior door that seeped water all over the tile and grout and stained the base molding.)

2.We have MASSIVE dead trees in our yard (it was winter when we first moved in). Every time it rains or there is high winds, giant limbs break and fall all over our yard. The main customer service supervisor told me "the trees must be sick" or "well we can cut them down." Did you forget about the damn 5 feet wide stumps you'd leave behind or the fact that I paid more for the property because of "the large, beautiful, mature trees"? Or maybe you forgot about the ferns and 6 dif. species of plants that are growing from the dry, rotted trunks that fall off in clusters. When you lay a foundation to a home, there is a correct way to relocate roots to avoid this but obviously after reading all these reviews, they are cheap and take every shortcut possible. They have been avoiding further phone calls so this situation will most likely end in the courtroom.

3. NO ONE ANSWERS THEIR f- PHONES. Terrible customer service.

4. Bob the builder/contractor in DFW is a total moron I cannot believe someone actually gave him a college degree. He avoids us at all costs and tried to pawn us off to various people in the company to finish his jobs. He must of made fake business cards for them because they don't answer either. You know Meritage is cheap when they've got the builder driving a 1992 F150 that is conveniently parked at the model all day. DO YOU ACTUALLY SUPERVISE YOUR JOBS BOB because it might spare your company and homeowners the hassle. It might help people sleep better at night knowing they won't wake up to a leak, a tree falling through the roof, a foul smell, a broken hvac unit, toilet, etc.

4. The model home has been broken into 3 times in a month but spending 260k on a new home doesn't constitute a damn community gate?

5. I see several roofs in the neighborhood that have bubbles in the roof because they didn't ventilate the attic properly.

6. Every few days a strong AWFUL SMELL takes up the entire upstairs. They sent a plumber out and he found nothing. Guess that's a job well done guys. Way to put your problem solving skills to work!

7. Everytime it rains, my mailbox leaks so all of my mail is bled together. Netflix keeps wondering why all of the DVDs I send back are water damaged. Hm. Let's ask the US post office what happens when mail is tampered with. Let's also ask the mailman how annoyed he is with the flag that won't go down because the brick wasn't layed correctly.

8. I still have a leaking toilet that has turned the tile behind it a "2000 flushes" blue color.

9. Do I really need to go on here? I'm tired of wasting my time with these people. PLEASE DON't WASTE YOUR TIME WITH THEM or purchase one of their homes. It's very disappointing for us especially being that we are first time homebuyers. We love our home, don't get me wrong, but all the hassle makes me wonder if it is all worth it because we havn't been able to enjoy ourselves. If you are going to spend this much money on a home, make sure you're getting better quality. These houses go up in a week by people fresh over the border.

P of Fort Worth, TX May 7, 2009

The home that was purchased this year so far only has one complaint. The light fixture in the dining area is off center, so therefore we are going to have to put a anchor hook in the ceiling and move it over that way. I doubt Meritage will come and fix it correctly after reading all these complaints. So far everything else is up to par but we will see as time goes on. Putting another hole in the ceiling to fix the problem. It looks stupid with the dining room table where it's supposed to be and the light so far off from where it should be. Something's got to be done.

B. of Vallejo, CA March 23, 2009

B. of Vallejo CA (03/23/09)
My family purchased a home from Meritage Homes about 14 months ago. I recently graduated from University and decided to move back home. I was devastated to discover that we were unable to make our house payments. After extensive research I believe we have been subjected to unethical business practices by Meritage Homes. In December 2005, my parents purchased a house from Meritage Homes with a completion date of April 2006. However it was pushed back repeatedly and not completed until August 2006. During this time, house prices began to take a turn for the worse. Before actual completion less than one-third of the homes were sold in the 71-home community and the sales office had dramatically dropped prices.

Unfortunately, our house was appraised for 81,000 less than the 813,162 sales price. We were assured that the 2232 sq/ft home was worth the price. The sales office then processed a home equity line from our 80,000 down payment to cover the difference between the appraisal and the sale price. During construction, my parents had established a strong relationship with the sales office and trusted their recommendations without the fear of deception. However, in retrospect we believe that our trust was misguided. At one point we rejected a recommendation to forge rental documents to inflate our income.

Attempting to understand the business practices of the region office, I uncovered unfair political contributions in efforts to secure development locations. Additionally, these contributions were unreported and in violation of the fair political practices commission. These violations are clear indicators of unethical business practices by the Concord, CA region office, and Meritage Homes as a whole. After two years, the development has not been completed. More than half of the lots still remain empty, except for stacks of wood and cement frames.

Attempts to sell our home have been unsuccessful due to the price drops by the sales office and the unattractive aesthetics of an incomplete development. At this time we are no longer able to make our payments and have recently discovered that we owe another 80,000 equity line of credit used towards the house price; which was never disclosed by the sales office. I hope you will be able to shed some light on this situation. Foreclosure.

Jigar of Beaumont, TX March 5, 2009

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