Richmond American

1) 3 sales people that were "managing" my build. Information trickled in occasionally until the final salesperson. The initial salesperson also violated my privacy by informing another potential home owner in the neighborhood my personal information (name, etc.) and I found out through a mutual friend that they knew I was building next to them.

2) The actual structural build process wasn't the worst part. The main super was decent and clear in comms when we did speak and always answered my questions.

3) The loan processor was inept. Attempted to tell me 2 hrs before closing we couldn't close because of an underwriting condition that SHE dropped the ball on but failed to tell me about even though I had been cleared through underwriting for WEEKS.

4) I closed with an INCOMPLETE home with the promise things would be resolved quickly. I was missing:

- demolished master bath to correct off-center plumbing

5) It's been 3 weeks since I closed and most major things are still lingering. It's clear that Richmond employs the lowest bidder trades and they bring un-skilled labor in to do a poor job. So poorly that it has to be demo'd and redone.

6) Then the PM aspect is a nightmare. No one can communicate times/days of when someone is going to show up to resolve issues. They just show up then complain if you aren't there to receive them. I have asked so many times for a basic plan and basic levels of communication so I can ensure I am at the home to receive them. It's pretty simple.

7) I would've backed out if I could've. I used my VA loan. Per the contract, I had incentive money to utilize how I saw fit. I initially chose to allocate it to the final purchase price of the home. I wanted to switch it to buy down my rate later on. Since the home came in appraised under the final purchase price... Richmond refused to allow me to buy down my rate and use my incentive the way I wanted to because it would've allowed me to walk from the home per VA regs. Criminal and forced tactics in ensuring they can continue to sell a poor product. I don't recommend ANYONE builds with these clowns ever. I certainly won't be.

Here I am 3 weeks in to my new home and can't get a clear plan nor answers/timelines on resolutions. I get it... industry is tough and supply is challenging at times. BASIC COMMUNICATION goes a long way in resolving most of these issues. Overally, poor quality homebuilder that traps you into contracts for their poor quality homes.

I also became concerned when I noticed a wooden support beam that was split and was told that the house had already been inspected by their contracted inspector and was approved for next phase. I then asked if I could request my own inspector from the state for the next phases and they said no, that the only time I would be allowed this would be in the final walk through which is concerning because in the final walk-through, that split piece of wood would be very well covered. I call and do not get any answers and I get told I’ll receive a call back with all the answers I need and nothing, no callbacks ever.

I noticed that instead of cutting out holes in the wood for simple things like plumbing, it looks like someone didn’t cut the hole big enough and instead of recutting it allowing it to be a bigger hole to fit to size, it looks as if they had shoved the pipe through the hole because the wood is chipped almost as if an animal had chewed along the edges. At one point I noticed that the workers must have incorrectly measured where to cut a hole for something in our roof leaving multiple holes which I can assume will be patched but I do think a new home roof should not be having multiple patches, you patch things once they have been lived in not when you're creating a new structure, I worry this later down the road could cause leaks or other issues.

I understand they hire people to work and perhaps I happen to have gotten a sloppy crew working on my house however they have employees in their company that should hold them accountable as they are employing them and now my house is delayed and the quality is not even there for the long delay. This house that my family were so excited for has turned into a nightmare and I cannot imagine what would have happened if we had sold our current home, or if we had been in an apartment and ended a lease. I am very fortunate to still have a place to live in and am worried about what is yet to come of this home and I wake up and just don’t know why this company cannot just make it easy on their customers.

After push back from Chris (General contractor) he said all IFC items would be done on 1 day scheduled for the 25th of July. The 25th arrived and only two of the ten items were completed leaving me with still an unfinished home affecting the livability of the home. I reported Richmond to the BBB for them not completing any work on 8/2. They replied to the BBB complaint 8/10 saying work was being scheduled to have completed. And a Customer representative called me asking not to post any social media complaints and that they had talk to everyone and were going to get everything done. I accepted their offer and believed they would complete the work.

It is now August 24th and I have been lead on with no completion of work. I am not able to wash clothes because our laundry room was never finished preventing the install of appliances. None of our bathrooms have privacy because of the lack of door handles. I also had a private home inspector inspect the home and he found many things wrong with the house like the sump pump not being operational which will cause the crawl space to flood. My fiancé will be moving into the home after our wedding on 10/13/22 and at this point the home is not livable for 1 person let alone 2 people. This is completely and utterly unprofessional. This is my first home and this is the experience Richmond has delivered. I would like help reporting the builder and highlight their unprofessionalism and utter disregard for their customers.

The block next to us, started after our street, started after our foundation was already in place for 4 months, and most of the block has people living on it. Excuse after excuse, about how they can't keep crews, the block next to us is Richmond as well. They do not seem to have a problem keeping people. My realtor has been doing this for over 20 years including recent builds and has never seen such poor building ever. We are very sorry we started this process with them and you will most likely be as well.

This is just the biggest issue right now out of at least 30, maybe more. So since I no one would ever respond or do anything I got on social media on their Facebook page and began commenting on their posts about a few issues with our house. Then they decided to report me to Facebook and blocked me. So instead of them taking responsibility and treating me like a customer, in true Richmond fashion they doubled down and sent me a crap response.

I do not recommend Richmond American to anyone!! I pray that someday their treachery will stop. You don't have to lie to people to get their money. Just be communicative and honest. We Aren't making a big deal that we were told by our sales agent that our home will be built-in 5 months. "Which made us chose them over KB". Every month after that 5 months as long as she kept us informed of what was going on I was satisfied. But for 6 weeks now we have not received a single update from any superintendent about what is going on with our home and for months it has sat in the same phase, getting vandalized over and over again and that is UNSAT.

Just recently company to try and get more money from me and my husband. I was also told we’d receive weekly check-ins every Friday. That happen maybe 3 or 4 times. Because they can’t seem to keep a superintendent long enough to finish a project; lie number 3. So week after week there’s a new excuse as to why we haven’t received our weekly check-in. From "oh that super is no longer with us" to "we are still waiting for a new super" to "this super is on leave" or "the new super said he doesn’t have time to make check in calls." So I’m constantly reaching out my husband my realtor trying to find out any progress in the property. As we continue to make pop up visits to the property.

Finally the slab was poured. The slab sat for months and months no movement. During this time we continued to make visits to the property. I advised the sales person Jennifer that there was a huge crack in the lanai and a crack in the foundation from the great room to the kitchen. I continued to address these concerns and I was lied to over and over again it would be addressed. This was by Jennifer and the superintendent for the moment it would be fixed. I was told not sure when it would be resolved but it would which logically you’d think that would’ve been addressed before framing; which now it’s structural. Never was so here we are at framing.

We were told time and time again that pre drywall we can have an inspector come out during that walkthrough which we did. More things were brought to the attention of the super as well as the sales person again assured these issues would be addressed. Like we had digs in the roofing, no flasher, spacing of the landing of the stairs where the person who laid it measured incorrectly and left a big gap, the a/c was on the wrong side of the house plus there was a hole in the wall of dining room for no reason, along with hvac piping in the great room which it wasn’t supposed to be (which the superintendent didn’t even realize my husband did). The lanai has huge waves in the cement. Not only did I verbalize the concerns but they received a copy of the inspector report.

During this walkthrough we were told that the now superintendent will be leaving and going back to where he was originally and a new super would be coming in and that this walkthrough would be out check in for that week. Well when the new super came in we never heard from him. I texted, called and I was told my Jennifer ** on one occasion that he was supposed to do the calls but he said he didn’t have time and he’ll do it next week. Well that time never came. I continued to reach out and then Jennifer got radio silent as well. So much so it has been weeks since I got an update. Still periodically looking in on the property.

So one Sunday I went up to the Panther Creek office to be greeted by Dalia. I told her what was going on. She said to me that she has taken over some of Jennifer’s account and I just so happened to be one of them. She tried to tell me that she called to notify everyone in that list but she didn’t call me or my husband. She then took down my number and gave me a card and said she’d be my new point of contact. I was also told that Jennifer took a leave of absence and no one told her buyers. Another lack of communication.

I’ve gone back and forth with Dalia. Sent her the inspector report as well seeing that she didn’t have a record of it; which is interesting in itself and she said she’d get a copy to John. Why isn’t that the left hand doesn’t communicate with the right? So after call after call Dalia suggested that we meet with John and address our concerns which we did. Doing all of this we are still waiting in windows. She finally got a day from John were he would be willing to meet with us so we go through the house and we discuss our concerns. She also told me the windows were in which we already knew because we went by the house.

In this same meeting I’m told that there’s probably nothing they can do about the lanai because it’s too late in the game in essence. Imagine my surprise especially when this was something I continuously told my so-called sales person Jennifer at the time and now Dalia. So I’m beyond annoyed he tells me that they maybe be able to basically to fix but it won’t match and it still won’t be perfect. How do I get penalized for your mistakes? John assured us our concerns would be addressed but honestly no one seems to be men our women if their word.

Then I’m this visit we hear we are waiting on drywall so we don’t know when we will get to closing but even once drywall is in it will be another 50-60 before you can even close. During this time we continue to do everything we are required to do but met with resistance the whole though. Let’s also not forget that during this time frame I called Richmond and spoke to operator #19 to address my complaints and I was met with another lie that someone would call me back. It never happened. Just like a lot of promises Richmond makes.

Here we are almost 10 months into a home building process that we lied to would only take 6 months with 7 months at the latest. During these months my lender trying contacting your company so they could fulfill their duties as the lender and got nothing but the runaround just like I have. Trying to lie and say we haven’t been in compliance which we have trying to raise the pricing of the property to get more money out of us. Attempting to terminate our contract with no grounds to do so all so you can sell the property for more money.

Now a month before we are “supposed to close” they now have switched the color scheme of our home. When we meet with Jennifer we selected color scheme 1 which was coastal Sage the body of the house. I just recently found out a few days ago they changed their color schemes and that Jennifer had us selecting from an old selection. So now our house is gray. Which even based on the new color scheme is nowhere near the actually citing in the house. Which by the way we came by the house and saw this incorrect color on our home my husband asked the super and we were told “oh it’s because of the change in manufacturer and sometimes the colors are slightly off”. Well newsflash our house it’s just slightly off. It’s in another color. Sage is a green. We have a gray home. Please someone explain this and to be told I’m not sure if anything can be done.

This has been the worse experience I’ve ever had. The most frustrating part is to be lied to in your face after being my concerns to the forefront because I read reviews and I regret not heeding the word of those that had less that pleasurable experiences before me. However, I’d hate for anyone to go through what I’ve gone through so far or worse. Another fun fact I find it rather interesting that people who work for Richmond homes won’t even build with them. That should say A LOT.

Not to mention I showed my new salesperson the contract that shows the discrepancy in my color scheme. It’s funny because the offer set color schemes and what on my contract isn’t even one they offer together which is a clear indication they screwed up but instead they won’t take accountability, responsibility and lack integrity. On top of that my sales person Dalia said from her own mouth my house looks more like a gray and not sage. These people are the WORSE. DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME.

Original Review: Omg! This has been one of the most stressful experiencing I’ve ever had in life. We purchased our contract back in October 2021. We were assured our home would be completed in June. At the latest early July. Clearly this isn’t the case. From the beginning with spring down to picking everything out for the house was a breeze, going over the layout of our home all went perfect. Then everything took a turn for the worse. They have had superintendent after superintendent leave or move someone else. We were promised weekly check ins about the progress of the property but I can count them in one hand how many times we actually got updates.

We did our pre drywall visit on April 27th with our own inspector. A number of things needed to be corrected but assured they’d be addressed. It’s been a month and a half and no one contacted us with an update. It took me reaching out to my point of contact Jennifer over and over again to find out she took a leave of absence. The last thing she told me was the new superintendent decided that he was too busy to do the check ins with the buyers and he’d do that the following week. Well that came and went and of course never happened.

This new superintendent took over supposedly right after my pre drywall walkthrough and I’ve yet to hear a word from this person. So unfortunately I’ve had to just make pop up visits to property to see where the progress was. Still of course trying to reach out to Richmond. I called. Asked to speak to someone about the lack of communication and the progress of my home. At that time I spoke to operator 19 who supposedly took a message and said someone would call me back in 3 business days which was on May 26th. Guess what???? You guessed it. No one called me back.

So two weeks ago I decided to make another pop up visit and stop by the office to speak with Jennifer and that’s when I found out that she currently is on a leave. Keep in mind I’ve text, plus called and not to mention my realtor called not once she did say she was on leave. She never said a word. So now when I go into the office I get greeted by the person that took over for Jennifer. I’m sitting in disbelief that no one felt a need to let buyers know that our point of contact changed. I then get asked by Dalia “You didn’t get a call from me? Wow that’s weird!” Hello it’s a cellphone with caller ID, I think I’d know if you called me. Nope because you didn’t. Conveniently you tell me I didn’t leave a message. Your number is nowhere on my caller ID.

So moving along in the conversation I’m readdressing my concerns and issues and being told the new super is probably just going in and fixing whatever concerned I addressed before. Again you’re assuming because there is no communication on anyone’s part but you can’t tell me what progress is made because you haven’t gotten an update from the super. I’ve been given nothing but the runaround since I signed this contract. The frustrating part is I read some scary reviews and I addressed those before signing anything and was reassured but clearly I was lied to from the jump.

To this day I’m still waiting to hear from John this oh so professional full of knowledge super to even given me a call. Listen people. FIND ANOTHER BUILDER!!!! DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT TRADE PLACES WITH ME. Sad to say the same weekend I did another pop up there was a new report done about Richmond in another subdividing in my city about forcing people to complete closing when things aren’t even complete. This is WRONG ON SO MANY LEVELS. THEY ARE JUST TALKING ADVANTAGE OF PEOPLE. Shame on you!!!!

I finally let Richmond know that although a difficult decision, it was no longer financially feasible for me to purchase the house and that I needed to terminate the contract. I knew I would lose my earnest deposit, but the cost of paying for the rate lock extension and housing extensions was going to exceed the earnest deposit cost. Weeks went by and I received a call from Corporate asking why I wanted to terminate and asking if there was anything they could do, such as help with the rate lock extension. My original request had been ignored for weeks. Had my request been addressed when I originally asked, their offer of help might have made a difference and allowed for me to move forward with the purchase. By the point they called, I assumed my contract had been terminated. As such, I had moved forward with a lease on another location.

I explained all of this to Allie ** in their sales office. She initially seemed upset that this had been handled so poorly. My realtor had asked if they would consider giving me even half of my earnest deposit back. I was told no, yet they keep telling me that this house already has $70,000 in equity. They are telling me they will sell it and get an additional $70k over what I was going to pay, but they won't return the deposit.

At first Allie ** said that if I went to an outside lender and got a letter saying I no longer qualified (which was a possibility with an outside lender given that I wouldn't have the benefit of the incentive given to me if I used Richmond's lender and interest rates now are even higher), then she would give me back my deposit. Less than 24-hours later, she called to tell me never mind, that wasn't the case. I had come to terms with losing my earnest deposit. It was simply cruel to have someone suggest that I could get it back and then change their mind. I understand that a new build is risky. We are also in an economic upheaval that was not expected. When I told the rep Wells Bibo back in October that I was worried interest rates would rise, he told me, "there is no way they will go over 4%."

Richmond also never disclosed that the house was located right next to fracking sites. I found out by stumbling across a news article. When I asked Richmond about it, they said that they don't have any responsibility to disclose that info. My mother had pancreatic cancer and I am at high risk for cancer due to a genetic mutation. I explained this to Richmond and was told that I could walk away from the house but I would lose my deposit. Again, they operate in a way that puts all of the responsibility on the buyer.

After deciding to terminate the contract, many people in that neighborhood told me that they had heard nothing but horror stories about Richmond. Their poor business practices resulted in financial harm to me, and they come out unscathed -- in fact they will now make even more on the house that isn't even complete yet.

Based off the reviews I read, it's the biggest thing Richmond struggles with once the homes are completed, because they know they have purchase agreement that is favorable for them to pull this **. Especially if the city will buy off on it. Instead of keeping what was verbally committed to the community they rather have their paying customers deal with their short comings because they know at some point they can brush it off long enough it will no longer be their issue. Had they been upfront with me about this I would of totally been happy with this whole process. I just feel like in the end my neighbors and I got burned. Anyone that reads this review... make sure anything Richmond says they will do, make sure they get it in writing somewhere in your purchase agreement... because they will change certain things at their discretion if they can get an inspector to pass it off. It's sad, because overall I would of been happy if it wasn't for the end experience.

We also have drywall problems. Where the drywall on the ceiling meets the drywall on the wall it's buckling and cracking. We have this in the hall bathroom, outside the powder room and in our walk-in closet. The main bedroom bathroom floor grout has cracked and come out. Not happy with the quality of work. We paid a lot of money and at least expect our house to hold up longer than two and a half years.

This is our brand new home and we’re dealing with all of these issues. Their Sales associates, project managers and home warranty rep they all lack integrity. I don’t know how anyone could look past all of the issues that we’re dealing with and say that it’s normal They aren’t willing to do or take care of anything. DO not purchase a Richmond American Home unless you want to be disappointed.

We don’t expect perfection but at least give us a quality home that we paid so much for. We are completely disgusted with this company’s practice and the fact that they can get away with it is unbelievable. They also have incompetent people supervising these homes. There was a strong gas leak in our home and the superintendent told us that it was normal. He put our family at risk with his incompetency and that was just the start. Do not trust this builder. Run!

Wrong color paint schemes/paint globbed in areas so badly it looks like cake frosting/cracked glass chandelier/holes around the light fixtures and outlets/paint all over our stone pavers in the entry way and driveway/several locations missing caulking/missing support for the granite counter top (the support pieces were left on our countertop with a promise to install them), and to top it off…our backyard is exposed as we still have not received our RV gate (because they installed a 4 foot pedestrian gate by mistake, then ripped it out and never came back). Lastly they came out, tore out our shower glass wall...then left. It has been almost 2 weeks with no response or shower! The bugs are eating my son alive, the ones that are coming through the torn ductwork in the ceiling.