Ann D

Review of Trendmaker homes

The Consumer Review Fairness Act (CRFA) protects p...

The Consumer Review Fairness Act (CRFA) protects people's ability to share their honest opinions about a business's products, services, or conduct, in any forum, including social media. Is your company complying?

Contracts that prohibit honest reviews, or threaten legal action over them, harm people who rely on reviews when making their purchase decisions. But another group is also harmed when others try to squelch honest negative reviews: businesses that work hard to earn positive reviews.
The Consumer Review Fairness Act was passed in response to reports that some businesses try to prevent people from giving honest reviews about products or services they received. Some companies put contract provisions in place, including in their online terms and conditions, that allowed them to sue or penalize consumers for posting negative reviews.

What's the penalty for violating the Consumer Review Fairness Act?
Congress gave enforcement authority to the Federal Trade Commission and the state Attorneys General. The law specifies that a violation of the CRFA will be treated the same as violating an FTC rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice. This means that your company could be subject to financial penalties, as well as a federal court order.

To make sure your company is complying with the Consumer Review Fairness Act:
Review your form contracts, including online terms and conditions; and
Remove any provision that restricts people from sharing their honest reviews, penalizes those who do, or claims copyright over peoples' reviews (even if you've never tried to enforce it or have no intention of enforcing it).
The wisest policy: Let people speak honestly about your products and their experience with your company.

We brought a Trendmaker home and it has been problem after problem with our home. They never repair anything, and the customer service is the worst. Since we been in our home, we've had sniffles, sneezing, coughing, and headaches. My neighbor said they have problems with getting Trendmaker to repair things and they always make excuses to avoid doing repairs. My neighbor and I filed complaints against Trendmaker with the Texas Attorney General's Office, Consumer Complaint division. We were encouraged by another homeowner that filled out the online complaint because they are also having problems with Trendmaker repairing things. We were told the Texas Attorney General's Office monitors customer complaints and if they get enough complaints about a company, they can file a civil lawsuit acting in the public's interest. I think that means class action. Also, my neighbor emailed me the following newspaper articles because we have been having allergy/mold symptoms

Texas Couple Says Construction Defects Caused Mold Infestation, Sues Home Builder
RICHMOND, Texas -- A Texas couple sued the builder of their home in state court on March 1, alleging that construction defects by the defendant caused mold growth that will require extensive remediation and replacement of their possessions (Nick Smith, et al. v. Trendmaker Homes Inc., No. 19-DCV-260160, Texas Dist., 400th Jud. Dist., Fort Bend Co.).

Homeowners Say Mold Growth Caused By HVAC Unit Made Home Uninhabitable
RICHMOND, Texas -- A defective air conditioning unit installed in a newly built home caused mold growth that rendered the home uninhabitable, a couple says in lawsuit against the builder of the home filed June 20 in Texas state court (Daniel J. Mech, et al. v. Trendmaker Homes Inc., No. 19-DCV-263661, Texas Dist., 400th Jud. Dist., Fort Bend Co., 2019 Tex. Dist. Ct. Pleadings LEXIS 11803).