EYE ON PULTE

Expensive Errors: Pulte Homes, Inc. affiliated companies have been fined thousands of dollars for numerous violations.

$9,067 SUBSTANDARD WORKMANSHIP

In 2006, P N I I, Inc., doing business as Pulte Homes of Nevada, was found in violation of Nevada Revised Statute 624 for substandard workmanship and failure to include the required Residential Recovery Fund information on a contract or proposal. The Nevada State Contractors Board fined the company $3,000 and ordered them to pay $6,067 in investigative costs. A Letter of Reprimand was placed in the licensee’s file. [Nevada State Contractors Board, Nov. 8, 2006]

The Nevada State Contractors Board regulates the state’s construction industry. Through its Business Review Program, board investigative staff members examine contractors' business practices and regulatory compliance. Violations may result in board action against the contractor's license. Action may consist of a fine of up to $10,000 per offense, an order of corrective action, suspension or revocation of license.

$5,832 SUBSTANDARD WORKMANSHIP

In 2006, P.N.I.I., Inc. doing business as Pulte Homes of Nevada, was found in violation of Nevada Revised Statute 624 for substandard workmanship and failure to take appropriate corrective action. The licensee was ordered to pay $500 in restitution to the homeowner and pay $5,312 in investigative costs. [Nevada State Contractors Board, October 18 and 19, 2006]

$555,000 WETLANDS VIOLATIONS

In 2002, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection fined Pulte Lifestyle Communities $555,000 for failure to comply with freshwater wetlands development permit regulations at its Franklin Township, Somerset County construction site.

Pulte failed to comply with a DEP permit which authorized the developer to disturb 1.3 acres of freshwater wetlands and transition areas in order to construct 499 homes, various roadways and utilities including underground electric wires, sewers and water pipes. The permit required Pulte to minimize impacts to sensitive environmental areas and comply with the permit's conditions and limitations.

Rather than comply with the limitations of its permit, Pulte disturbed approximately 3.3 acres of freshwater wetlands and transition areas during construction of the subdivision. Disturbing freshwater wetlands jeopardizes water quality, flood control and the maintenance of groundwater during droughts.

Pulte also failed to file deed restrictions in Somerset County prior to initiating construction activities, which prevents interested parties from reviewing the permit and subsequent owners from determining which parts of the site are restricted from future development.

Also, Pulte exceeded the scope of its permit by clearing land within stream buffer zones, which can negatively impact water quality and cause excessive sedimentation.

In addition to paying the $555,000 penalty, Pulte Homes was required to restore the disturbed wetlands and comply with all conditions of its permit. On May 5, 2005, Pulte submitted a restoration plan, which the Department approved on May 11, 2005. [New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, 5/1/02]

$90,000 CLEAN AIR ACT VIOLATIONS

In 2003, the U.S. EPA fined Del Webb Communities in Henderson, Nevada, and Western States Contracting in Las Vegas Nevada for Clean Air Act violations.

Both companies were issued more than 10 notice of violation orders each from the Clark County Department of Air Quality Management. The county asked the EPA to look into the repeated violations and take federal action to ensure deterrence and compliance with county air regulations.

Del Webb Communities and Western States Contracting violated standards from 1996 to 2000 while working land development projects that were hundreds of acres in size. The Del Webb violations occurred while working the Anthon Development in Henderson. Western States also violated while working on the Anthem Development as a contractor for Del Webb, but was also cited for violations on multiple projects throughout the greater Las Vegas area. [US EPA Region 9, 8/25/03]

$7,500 TO SETTLE DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICE ALLEGATIONS

According to Nevada’s Department of Business Industry, Mortgage Lending Division allegations, Pulte engaged in certain practices in connection with the sale of homes wherein incentives that conditioned the home buyer to use Pulte Mortgage were deceptive trade practices under NRS 598. Pulte paid $7,500 for investigative costs. [State of Nevada, Department of Business Industry, Mortgage Lending Division 12/31/04]

$37,750 CHILD LABOR AND FEDERAL WORKPLACE SAFETY VIOLATIONS

Following the injury of a 13 year-old at one of their construction sites, Pulte Homes of Ohio, was fined a total of $37,750 in 1999. The13-year-old Middlefield youth was working at a Twinsburg, Ohio, construction site.

The Department's Wage and Hour Division issued civil money penalties to Pulte totaling $28,750 for child labor violations while the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined the firm an additional $9,000 for workplace safety violations. OSHA also issued a $1,800 penalty for safety violations to John Kuhns, doing business as J. K. Builders, a subcontractor at the job site.

The child labor violations alleged by the Labor Department include employment of a minor under 14 years of age, employment of two minors under 16 in a prohibited occupation, and employment of a minor in violation of hours during which children are permitted to work. OSHA alleged that Pulte violated worker safety protections by failing to regularly inspect for safety on the jobsite and for the lack of an effective safety and health program.

Kuhns was cited by OSHA for failing to implement an effective safety and health program, unprotected floor holes, the lack of a safe means of access for employees to all work areas, and failing to have a competent person perform frequent and regular safety inspections.

The youth was working with a crew of carpenters on a residential construction project in Twinsburg when he fell approximately 10 feet onto a concrete basement floor. He had been stapling insulation to a wall section lying on the floor and stepped into an unseen window opening framed into the wall. The window opening was directly over a floor hole to the basement. The youth was carried on a metro lifeflight helicopter to a nearby hospital where he was initially listed in critical condition with head injuries sustained in the fall. He has since recovered from his injuries. [OSHA Region 5, 6/15/99]

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE MODIFICATION AGREEMENT REQUIRES RETROFIT OPTION

In 2001, the United States signed a modification agreement with Pulte to supplement and amend a Settlement Agreement that was previously entered into with Pulte in July 1998. The 1998 settlement agreement resolved the United States' allegations that Pulte had failed to design and construct certain developments in Florida, Illinois, and Virginia to be accessible to persons with disabilities as required by the Fair Housing Act. The Modification Agreement covers three additional properties in Las Vegas, Nevada, and includes provisions requiring Pulte to annually notify current owners, for a period of three years, of their option to have Pulte retrofit their units at no expense to them in order to bring Federal government the names and addresses of those persons who elect to have their units retrofitted. [U. S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Housing and Civil Enforcement Section, 9/5/01]