A TikToker has gone viral after her dream home via Oakwood Homes quickly turned into a nightmare.
“Man, I didn’t want to take this to TikTok,” she began. “But feel like I have no other option. I’m at the end of my rope.”
She continued, “Two years ago, we bought what we thought was our dream home with Oakwood Homes in Colorado, and it has been nothing but a nightmare.”
What happened?
In the TikTok, which has amassed 151,000 views, the creator (@streetsavvy_) described the “multiple major issues.” This included major plumbing leaks, mold, flooring coming up, sub-flooring being uneven, and garage flooding among other things.
Tearfully, she added, “We’re paying $3,400 a month for this house, and it’s falling apart, and its nothing we can do about it.”
She then provided a further example: The home’s air conditioning unit. Despite being only two years old, it went out two months ago. This meant that she had to get it serviced. Then they discovered there was insulation all over the air conditioning unit.
“We have two young children; it could quite literally catch our home on fire when we turn the heat on,” she said.
According to her, while Oakwood Homes and Shazam insurance company promised to fix these issues, they are “now refusing.”
“We’re going to have to use what money we have left to sue them like our neighbors have to do,” she continued, adding that this was not an “isolated incident.” Her neighbors, she claims, have had similar, and in some cases, worse issues and are also going down the legal route.
“Unfortunately for us, the economy has put our family in a really shitty spot the last couple years, and we didn’t really want to shell out our savings account and our emergency money to fight our home builder in court, but now we don’t have an option,” she said.
“We want to sell our home and move, but we can’t, because it needs to be fixed to sell it, to move, and they will not fix it,” she said. “We’re supposed to be under a warranty.”
She concluded, “Mark my words. Never will I live in a new construction home again in my life, ever. I’m done.”
The Daily Dot reached out to the TikToker via TikTok.
@streetsavvy_ Just having a menty b over our Oakwood Homes ‘dream home’ that has been a fucking nightmare 💔😭 @Oakwood Homes Denver #oakwoodhomes #oakwoodhomesdenver #newbuild #newbuildhome #newbuildnightmare #shazamhomeservices #newconstructiondenver #colorado #coloradocheck #scam ♬ original sound – rebellionrevival
What did viewers say?
It surprised many that the home passed initial inspections. The TikToker replied, “I swear all of the inspectors are paid off by the builder, but that’s me putting my tin hat on.”
Numerous others encouraged her to proceed with the lawsuit, with one saying, “Take them to court and don’t let up. Make them buy the house back. The county inspectors should also be held accountable also because they sign off on it. Go to the codes department and throw a fit!”
Meanwhile, another encouraged the TikToker to join with her neighbors and file for a class action lawsuit. “I think it’s better financially for you to go this route, one attorney will take all of your cases as one,” they added.
Furthermore, a fellow Oakwood Homes owner expressed similar complaints, writing, “We also purchased a home from Oakwood homes and I keep having to take time off work for them to fix stuff. Our fear is it’s going to get worse once the warranty is over.”
On TikTok, there’s plenty of others whose newly-bought homes very quickly turned into a nightmare. One woman claimed that there was so much black mold in her new house, it made her sick.
Another blasted Lennar Homes—a similar new-build company to Oakwood—for charging hidden fees. But arguably, the worst example is the “cat pee house.” In that one, a new homeowner discovered that the ceiling and floorboards were soaked in old cat urine.
Update 11:58am CT, Sept. 19: Oakwood Homes told the Daily Dot the following in a statement:
“At Oakwood Homes, we take quality construction and homeowner satisfaction very seriously, so we were sorry to hear about this homeowner’s experience and grateful for the opportunity to make it right quickly. Our team is actively working with them to address the issues raised and are making any needed repairs, at our expense, to ensure their satisfaction.
Over the years, Oakwood Homes has had the honor of building more than 25,000 homes here in Colorado. We take pride in hearing from homeowners through surveys and feedback, and in our most recent survey, we earned a Net Promoter Score of 70.6%*. A score above 50 is considered excellent, and an 80 is world-class, but we’re not stopping there. Our goal is continuous improvement in our customer satisfaction and even one unhappy homeowner is too many.
*Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a nationally recognized metric that quantifies customer experience and overall business health”
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