The company claims it has been defamed by a homeowner who is airing complaints about troubles he's had with a new house.
By KELLY VIRELLA
Published May 1, 2004
Retired Long Island businessman Peter Siskind fancied himself a champion of the people who would fight a Tampa Bay home builder.
So Siskind set up his Web site Jan. 3 to catalog what he called his two-year nightmare of getting his wife's 3,200-square-foot Hernando County house built. Among the problems: a toilet that gurgled and spit up in the bathtub and shower.
But soon, the Web site could tank. Officials with Lexington Homes Inc., of Port Richey, deny the accusations and are suing Siskind and his wife, Collette, for defamation and interference with the company's business relationships.
"These are all half-truths and misstatements," said Jonathan Ellis, the Tampa lawyer representing the builder. "Just because something went wrong during the construction of the house doesn't make them a horrible builder.
"The issue you're dealing with here is how good you correct" the mistakes, Ellis said. "At the end of the day, if it's not correct, we'll send somebody out there, and to the extent that it's wrong, we'll fix it."
In Hernando, Lexington and its president, Craig Gallagher, build about 50 homes per year and have a good track record, said Ron Aliff, an investigator with county development services' contractor licensing division.
"The fact that I don't personally know Gallagher's name right off the top of my head is a good sign," Aliff said. "As far as the way he builds his homes, we've got no complaints."
Peter Siskind, 55, said that's because people are afraid to speak up. On one page of his Web site, six or seven anonymous testimonies, supposedly from customers, criticize the company.
Siskind said the house, which is in his wife's name, came in $9,000 over budget and months behind schedule. When she paid the balance last month, the couple found a list of problems, he said.
For example, he said:
The surface and walls of the pool were covered with algae.
The house was missing two thermostats.
A smoke detector in the house wasn't attached correctly.
The Siskinds have indefinitely postponed their move to Florida and are considering selling the three-bedroom, three-bathroom home in the Woodland Waters subdivision, on U.S. 19 just north of Weeki Wachee.
Peter Siskind said he plans to visit Tampa on Monday to hire a lawyer to defend the Web site he built using a do-it-yourself kit.
"No one likes to be sued," he said. "But there comes a time when someone has to stand up to a bully."
A lawsuit would have been too expensive, Siskind said, and no one in Hernando County's contractor licensing division would have listened to his grievances.
"It was the only thing I could do to tell people what they were doing," he said. "You can't contact contractor licensing, and the Better Business Bureau doesn't really do anything."
On the Web site, Siskind recounted what he said were the blunders of Lexington and its subcontractors. Gradually, he said, other Lexington customers heard about the Web site and called him to tell their stories.
Since Lexington opened about nine years ago, one Hernando County lawsuit has been filed against it alleging problems with workmanship. On Sept. 30, 2003, Robert W. Somers of Spring Hill sued the company in small claims court alleging 23 gripes with his 1-year-old house, including, "three vaccum (sic) outlets need spakle (sic) and paint" and "five outlets don't work."
No ruling has been issued in the case.
Outside the lawsuit, Lexington has not been cited for poor workmanship by Hernando, Pasco or state contractor licensing organizations, according to those agencies' records.
The company was cited in December 2002 by the Hernando contractor licensing division for hiring an unlicensed framing subcontractor, Aliff said. Gallagher paid a $662 fine for the infraction, Aliff said.
"A house is so big, it's hard to make everything perfect," Ellis said. "But Lexington is committed to addressing legitimate problems."
- Times staff writer Richard Raeke contributed to this report.
