When Bill Lundy bought his brand-new home at The Preserve at La Paloma in Sun City Center just off I-75, he wasn’t expecting the need for contractors and repairs almost soon as he got the keys.
“Dishwasher didn’t work. It took four visits and four months to fix the French doors. I had leaks in the guest bathroom…shutting down that bathroom for use,” Lundy said. “At the same time that was going on, there was another work crew in the other restroom doing drywall repair. So, I had no bathroom for a number of days, which caused some problems I won’t go into.”
Lundy said this is on top of mold concerns and other problems that cause crews to frequently be in and out of his home. The repairs have been ongoing since last year.
“There were probably 40+ drywall issues. Seams…in the walls that had to be fixed. Six months later, they’re still fixing. There’s little blue tape here, there and beyond where they’re still fixing the drywall issues,” he explained.
“You feel like you’re held hostage. I’m working and I had loud equipment drying the leak problem while I’m on Zoom calls trying to work,” Lundy said.
Property records show Lundy purchased the property in 2023 from a homebuilder called Mattamy Homes. A behemoth in the development world, the company has built thousands of homes across the nation and in Florida, with CEO Peter Gilgan at the helm.
“I would think that particularly when this is 55 and up people buying these homes that he would care and say that we have to take better care of these people,” Lundy said.
10 Investigates reached out to Mattamy Homes for an interview. The company declined our request to speak to someone on camera, but a spokesperson responded to all questions that arose during the course of reporting.
“With respect to Mr. Lundy’s situation, we have completed all his requested warranty repairs and have offered additional and appropriate reimbursement for utility expenses during the times we were addressing warranty items, which he has declined,” a spokesperson said in an email. “Overall, feedback from residents of Mattamy’s The Preserve at La Paloma community in Sun City has been extremely positive.”
Lundy refuted claims that he declined reimbursement, instead saying he asked for modifications the company did not respond to.
