Residents take issue with K. Hovnanian homes
Developer spokesman says company stands behind homes
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

UPPER FREEHOLD — A group of residents wants the township to hold a local developer’s feet to the fire.

Citing ongoing problems in their homes such as leaky windows, freezing pipes and dry wells that don’t work, Lynwood Estates residents asked the Township Committee to postpone the release of maintenance bonds to K. Hovnanian Corp., during the committee meeting on Feb. 3.

The four maintenance bonds, written by the American Insurance Co., total $477,500 and guarantee site improvements at the development are built according to town standards, Township Attorney Granville Magee said.

Although Township Engineer Glenn Gerken already gave the go-ahead to the township to release the bonds, after hearing residents’ complaints, Magee urged the committee to meet with representatives from K. Hovnanian.

“It sounds like a real problem, and K. Hovnanian should deal with it,” Magee said. “I’m most interested that K. Hovnanian is apparently stonewalling, and the Township Committee would like to know why.”

In a letter dated Dec. 21, 2004, Gerken said he had inspected the development and that the developer had completed all of the obligations under the maintenance guarantee.

Lynwood Estates, located off Route 539, consists of 96 houses. Robert Pinto, president of the Lynwood Homeowners Association, said homeowners living in two of the six different models of homes have continuing maintenance problems.

“Virtually all of the Fairmont model houses, and many of the Addison models, have had pipes freeze every winter in the master and guest bedrooms,” Pinto said. “It’s been an ongoing problem for five years. Pipes even froze in some of the homes this week.”

Homeowners have also had problems with their dry wells and bay windows, according to Pinto.

“In some models, the bay windows have been leaking since the day of closing,” Pinto said. “One house has water coming into the basement through the sidewall, which [the owners] are still waiting for the developer to fix.”

In some cases, K. Hovnanian has repaired the problems, and in others they have not, Pinto said.

“Hovnanian is incompetent,” Pinto said. “They are just hoping the problem will go away.”

Committeeman Stephen Alexander, a resident of Lynwood Estates, recused himself from the committee when the issue came up, but spoke in the public portion as a private citizen.

Alexander said pipes in his Addison model had frozen. He also expressed concern about flooding on Route 539 that could have been caused by Lynwood Estates.

“Initially, I thought the flooding had been brought on by the construction of the Matrix business park across the street, but I was told by Board of Health Chairman Dr. S. Perrine Dey that the flooding was coming from Lynwood,” Alexander said.

Wilson Dey, who owns land near Lynwood Estates, said the south side of the Lynwood Estates property floods when it rains.

“In my view, the drain installed at the corner of Lynwood should be at the end of the property,” Dey said.

Resident Gerald Nathanson said he’s accustomed to problems with K. Hovnanian construction.

“My development had hundreds of items needing attention by the developer in the common area alone, not including the concerns of individual homeowners,” said Nathanson, who lives in the K. Hovnanian-built Four Seasons active-adult community on Ellisdale Road.

K. Hovnanian spokesman Douglas Fenichel stated that the company always stands behind its homes.

“We were aware of only a few instances of freezing pipes at Lynwood, and they were addressed quickly and completely,” Fenichel said. “If others are having a problem, they need to bring it to our attention, and we will look into them.”

“It is obvious K. Hovnanian’s engineers do not live in their product,” Pinto said. “If they were so concerned, why haven’t they been fixing the problem?”

Pinto said he has had to deal with four different project managers in trying to get his frozen pipe problem rectified.

“It’s been such a long time that I don’t even know if any of them work for K. Hovnanian anymore,” Pinto said.

Four Seasons residents with complaints should contact construction official Ron Gafgen, according to Deputy Mayor William Miscoski.

As for Lynwood Estates, Miscoski said, “Pipes freeze in old houses due to lack of insulation. It shouldn’t happen in new houses.”