February 21, 2003
Home Buyer's Warranty Scam
For those of you shopping for a new home: if you are considering purchasing a "Home Buyer's Warranty" on the appliances in your new home, stop now.
Home Buyer's Warranties are a scam.
The contracts come with so many fine-print loopholes, 2-10 will almost never have to pay a dime when it comes to fixing anything. In my case, the deductible cost about the same as repair visit would normally cost. The repairman took one look at my oven and suggested I replace it, due to the inner lining being rusted out. 2-10 refused to pay replacement costs, because they don't cover damage "due to rust, within the first 30 days of closing."
Save your money and put it in a "rainy day" savings account, rather than falling into the Home Buyer's Warranty Scam.
Posted by Eric at February 21, 2003 03:48 PMHey Eric,
There are terms and conditions to all warranties and insurance policies. Not everything is covered. It is your responsibility as a consumer to know what your warranty covers and how it works.
Posted by: Bryan at October 27, 2003 06:44 PMThis coming from a guy who's email address is "Ass U Rant.com"
Posted by: Eric at January 27, 2004 05:56 PMThe main problem is not the fine print dealing with 2-10 contract, but the language letting out the contractor..."contractor does not warrant house as inhabitable"..then why is a homeowner buying a home that the contractor won't back up. Why? Because the contractor builds a cheap house with substantial defects, undiscoverable and not covered in warranty. Seems like 2-10 people should know the scam of the builder in constructing defective homes and releasing builder from all responsibility for his intentional acts.
As a lawyer, the 2-10 is okay except for the part of letting the builder out...It's good only for builders that are here today and gone tomorrow. But not that good!!!!!be careful.
Posted by: wayne M. LeBlanc at May 10, 2004 10:44 AM
I have a policy on a newly built home from HBW. The policies are typically purchased by the builder for new homes, and by the seller for resale homes. The buyer may never see or get the actual policy until after closing, and it is basically a marketing tool to sell new homes. There are numerous exclusions and a few builders have posted versions of the policy online, which do not even show ALL the exclusions and conditions. There are also some catch 22's in it and they almost never cover much. Or, you could be like me, the rare person who got them to drop their very biased arbitration and accept a claim...however HBW has never paid the claim, and they made the offer three years ago. We're still trying to get them to pay it. Read the report on home warranties at the hadd.com link above. It is every bit like this report says, and worse.
Posted by: CS at May 10, 2004 01:23 PM