TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Legal Newsline) – The office of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi announced a multimillion dollar settlement with homebuilder KB HOME and its Florida subsidiaries over allegations the company failed to make certain disclosures to homebuyers about construction issues and denied warranty coverage to some buyers improperly.
Alleged complaints include that KB HOME did not tell consumers about certain homes being constructed that violated applicable building codes and certain homes not conforming to original building plans.
Additional complaints allege that the company denied warranty repair requests to some consumers because they purchased short sales, which are not proper exclusions under the KB HOME warranty. KB HOME also refused certain requests for warranty repairs due to a lack of maintenance by the homeowner when problems were actually due to defective construction, the complaints argue.
All of these allegations violate the Florida Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
As part of the final judgment, KB HOME must repair additional homes up to 10 years old that meet certain criteria, pay $6.5 million to Bondi’s office to be used as restitution and spend $17 million over the next five years to improve construction techniques.