Homes of Merit

We bought a triple wide Homes of Merit (HOM), with the purchase of MANY upgrades thru A&W Mobile Homes Sales, Inc., Palakta, FL in 2005. One of the MANY issues - Have warranty on roof (at least in writing), and have had leaky roof fixed twice in last 5 years and that cost $100 with each service visit! Now its leaking again (in same place that was supposed to have been fixed before). Spoke with HOM, they say service call has to go thru A&W. Well A&W says they have to run it thru HOM and telling us HOM will contact us within 2 days of each of our calls. This has been going on for at least 2 weeks and only evident our calls thru A&W are now going un-answered and un-returned. With that said, and from the MANY past problems to the current issues, starting to re-think our approach to this, like maybe seeking advice from lawyer. Bottom Line - Sorry, but if we could turn the clock back (had it to do over), we would NEVER have bought a Homes of Merit.

We have a 2004 Homes of Merit. In six years we have discovered the roof is bad. After calling three roofers, we've been told the dormers were installed incorrectly and we now have rotted decking and shingles are cut in valleys along with popping nails. This is the straw that broke the camel's back. Warped siding, crooked walls, and many more problems.

I purchased a New 32x80 modular in 1999. The day they installed it we found that the water system was backwards and the toilets filled with hot water. The hot water on all the faucets was on the right instead of the left!Come on ..You only need to know three things to be a plumber.. Hot on the left, cold on the right and shit wont flow uphill! the underside insulation had to be cut to correct this and was half assed taped up as a repair.

Within 5 years the roof began to leak due to the substandard shingles and the paper underneath was just that! PAPER..Not tar paper!.It is brown paper like a grocery bag. It has no insulation or moisture repelling properties at all! We found that the roof trusses are 2x2 not 2x4. I definately will not stay in this cracker box if a severe Tropical storm hits or a hurrican comes anywhere near us.. Im sure it wont be here when we get back!I cant believe that the things that I have found in this home are up to state codes!

The water heater sprung a leak and we found that they did not install a drip pan and there was no shut off valve for the water heater. The water had to be shut off to the whole house to deal with the problem. Why would you not install a $5.00 drip pan in a mobile home? One leak and the florr is compromised.

Avoid Homes of DEMERIT....Theres got to be a better builder out there than this! If you buy dont morgage longer than 15 years becouse after that youll need home improvement loans to rebuild it to make it right!

I purchased a home in 2000, always been pretty satisfied until I recently discovered rotten wood at the bottom of a window on back of house. not sure how long this has been leaking. the wood on the outside,osb,two feet of the bottom of stud and floor damage and sheetrock on the inside. the bottom plate is gone,3 feet. it really is just a mess and totally unnessasary. to find out there is not even house wrap except some cheap paper around window is suprising and really cheaply done. I`ve had this for 10 years now so I guess a warranty is gone.I`m very suprised other corners of windows aren`t the same way. I think rethinking a house wrap and tape around windows would benefit future consumers. If you feel any responsibility for this damage feel free to contact me. Martin Davis - 904-424-9922

we had a jacobsen home for 8 yrs. bought it in 1988. it was made of pressed wood and had to repace the roo in 6 years. we sold and moved into a smaller homes of merit. it is made with solid plywood and went throught hurricane jeannne and frances. have nothing bad to say about them. we loves ours. it is a 1984. our cousin drove tracker trailer and delivered then all over. he said the homes of merit was the strongest for the money. we agree.

Would never buy another. Bought new 2003. Two many things to mention. Roof just started leaking.

I purchased a new home in 2006 i donot know the contract person is but my roof is leaking and the oven stop working about a year ago not very happy so please have some one contact me

Having ordered a ANSI parkmodel in April 2009 and delivered in August 2009.We had a list of things we needed to have finished and adjusted which were done or as we thought in a timeley manner except for the hot water tank access door.Finding the hot water a little cool we opened the access door and to my suprize the door was not chadged.Having contacted Merit homes Bud Davies on 2ocassions on my last time speaking to him APR 5 2010 at 330pm with a call back from him he informed that a 15 inch hot water access door is acceptable to service a 18 inch roundt tank under Ansi standerds.and is going to do nothing to correct the problem. PLEASE NOTE HOMES OF MERIT FILED CHAPTER 11 NOVEMBER 18 2009 SO BEWARE BEFORE BUYING A HOMES OF MERIT

We purchased our home in 2001. In rooms with tile (kitchen, laundry room, and bath) have yellow stains coming through and discoloring the floors terribly. How you know of any produce that may help me.

We moved to Florida a little over a year ago. We bought 5 acres with an old mobile home on it. We covered all the manufactured housing dealers in our area. We bought a Homes of Merit home. We went to the Lake City plant and met with Marty who conducted our tour. We liked the way the homes were built. Marty and later on Chris from C&G homes in Chiefland were great. They answered all our questions. We purchased our home and were so exceited the day it was delivered. Marty informed us that we would be turned over to service department for future purposes. We were told that a "Bud" would be working with us. It has been three months and we still have never heard from "Bud". Is he a Myth? So now we work with Doug, who never returns our calls. We were told when we bought a Homes of Merit home the service would be great. They said the company was working toward eliminating the need for service calls since they were building such a good home. We have had issues since our home was delivered and three months later we still have on going problems and a lack of communication with the service department in Lake City. We would like to caution anyone buying a Homes of Merit manufactured home to consider the service after the purchase. We still think that we purchased a good home, but they dropped the ball on service-after-the-fact. You won't get anything done!!! David and Susan Cogburn

I would never refer anyone to homes of merit we paid 150,000 cash for our mod they put a wall in that was not on our floor plan we made them take it out,we have only had it for 1 year and the middle seam where they put it together has a crack from the ceiling to the floor at both ends of the house the crown molding is splitting apart,there are cracks in the walls in most rooms and they say they are not responsable for any of it. there was tons of other problems they did fix some of them. I feel pretty stupid when people see the cracks in the walls I hate to think what the future holds for my home is it going to split in half?

i lost my home in the 1998 firestorm and had to replace my home had to take out loan as insurance did't pay nothing .we bought a 1999 homes of merrit and over the years we have found out the walls have no instalation in them.the first month floor in the kitchen was worped and i stripped on it breaking leg and ankle .the paneling bows all over the windows in living room won't open unless you pry them open .and the agent we went thur ran off as soon as we payed them and with out them homes of merrit would fix the problems so no i would say i would tell any one to buy one .i think the homes of merrit in bartow took advantage of us and just threwing these thing together and if there wrong oh well .thanks for listening kathy g

We just bought a 1984 doublewide, 24' x 59' long. We bought it sight unseen (except for digital photos) and have found everything to be in excellent condition, in fact, far better than we dared hope. Can't speak for newer models but we are exceedingly happy with ours.

I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND A HOMES OF MERIT HOME TO ANYONE. MY HOME IS EAT UP WITH BLACK MOLD, DUE TO THE FACT THAT IT WAS NEVER PUT TOGETHER CORRECTLY. IT WAS ORDERED FOR THE OUTSIDE WALLS TO BE PLYWOOD AND IT IS PARTICLE BOARD. THE CENTER ISLAND PULLED AIR IN THRU THE EXHAUST AND THE CENTER ISLAND IS ACTUALLY COMING APART THE COVERING ON THE WOOD IS COMING OFF. AND THAT ISN'T EVEN AS BAD AS THE ELECTRIC OUTLETS & LIGHT SWITCHES. WE COULD NOT GET ANYTHING DONE ABOUT THIS SO WE DECIDED TO JUST TELL EVERYONE THAT MENTIONS A MANUFACTURED HOME JUST HOW OUR HOMES OF MERIT IS AND THAT WE WOULD NOT EVER BUY ANOTHER ONE. THIS HOME WAS BOUGHT IN THE END OF 2003 AND DWIGHT HATFIELD NEVER WANTED TO DO ANY REPAIRS SO THERE WAS NO NEED TO EVEN TALK TO THEM. SO WE GIVE UP TRYING SINCE OUR EFFORTS WAS USELESS. THANK YOU MARK

I purchased a New 32x80 modular in 1999. The day they installed it we found that the water system was backwards and the toilets filled with hot water. The hot water on all the faucets was on the right instead of the left!Come on ..You only need to know three things to be a plumber.. Hot on the left, cold on the right and shit wont flow uphill! the underside insulation had to be cut to correct this and was half assed taped up as a repair.

Within 5 years the roof began to leak due to the substandard shingles and the paper underneath was just that! PAPER..Not tar paper!.It is brown paper like a grocery bag. It has no insulation or moisture repelling properties at all! We found that the roof trusses are 2x2 not 2x4. I definately will not stay in this cracker box if a severe Tropical storm hits or a hurrican comes anywhere near us.. Im sure it wont be here when we get back!I cant believe that the things that I have found in this home are up to state codes!

The water heater sprung a leak and we found that they did not install a drip pan and there was no shut off valve for the water heater. The water had to be shut off to the whole house to deal with the problem. Why would you not install a $5.00 drip pan in a mobile home? One leak and the florr is compromised.

Avoid Homes of DEMERIT....Theres got to be a better builder out there than this! If you buy dont morgage longer than 15 years becouse after that youll need home improvement loans to rebuild it to make it right!

CAN NOT GET REPAIRS. KITCHEN ELECTRIC IS BAD. BREAKER GOES OFF OFTEN. OVER HEAD LIGHTS WORK WHEN THEY WANT TO./ HOMES OF MERIT CAN NOT REPAIR. WHY HELP PLEASE

bought new modular in 2004.It is the worst home i have ever seen.The floors sag.The roof sags also.All plumbing has leaked.Most electrical boxes have failed light switches and plugs have failed lose wire connections and wire nuts falling off.almost all double pain windows have lost there seal and are fogging up.sinks and toilets have leaked at one time or another.I had to pay a contractor to sure up the floor with lots of block and lumber$2,000.oo worth.The floors are so bad i have to be carefull when i walk by my wall unit.So it wont fall over.Doors and door frames are warped.See my story on rip off report.com.Wish i could say better folks but i cant.Just be very careful of homes of merit.PLEASE

We have a forest manor 2305 SF home with a lot of upgrades. We have nothing but nice things said about our home most people cant believe its a manufactured home when they get inside. It is heavy and solid with 2X6 exterior on 16" centers and all 2x4 interior on 16" centers. All the doors are large and 6 panel like residential sytle homes, it has drywall throughout most of the home and a beautiful kitchen where everyone hangs out during our parties. The only thing I would get if I had to do it over would be double pain windows. After the original walk through we have had no problems and we have been in for 3 years. If your going to buy any manufactured home opt for the upgrades especially in the contruction end cosmetics can always be upgraded contruction cant. We have been very happy with our choice and for the money I did not see anything that could compare including Jacoben which we almost bought until we got done with the add ons it was $30,000 more then the HOM

We just found out that our roof truss was made from 2X2 wood,not 2x4 as we thought was Florida code...is this legal??? There have been numerous problems which have been fixed but the warranty is is almost over and I just had part of the siding fall off the house and hit me, it was not nailed at all!!! We are sitting here wondering if this thing will hold up past the loan??
Other than the good service they have provided we are not very trusting of the quality.