60 Midlands lawsuits allege flaws in homebuilder D.R. Horton’s SC houses
Approximately 60 lawsuits have been filed in Richland, Lexington and Horry counties alleging construction flaws in residential houses built by major national homebuilder D. R. Horton.
The lawsuits allege various construction flaws relating to roofs, I-joists, flashing, siding, weather resistant barriers and cladding (protective coverings), depending on the house. Some defects allegedly can allow water intrusion, the lawsuits allege.
They charge D.R. Horton with negligence, breach of warranties and breach of contract, and in some cases, violations of South Carolina’s Unfair Trade Practices Act. In some cases, D.R. Horton sold homes to people knowing there were defects, some lawsuits allege. The plaintiffs seek actual and punitive damages.
D.R. Horton sold homes to plaintiffs “that required tight construction schedules with insufficient resources and labor to build a top-quality Residence,” says one lawsuit, filed by Sam and Kristina Prest about their Little River home.
D.R. Horton, a Fortune 500 company whose stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange, describes itself as the largest housebuilder in the nation. It is headquartered in Texas.
The company is currently building houses in 125 markets in 36 states, including South Carolina, according to its 2024 annual report. In South Carolina, its projects are in areas around Charleston, Columbia, Greenville, Spartanburg, Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach.
After being contacted by The State, a D.R. Horton official emailed a statement saying it doesn’t comment on ongoing litigation.
But the official said the company “is aware of the claims and actively engaging with these homeowners and their counsel” and added, “We have retained independent third-party engineers and experts to investigate the claims.”
“D.R. Horton stands behind the homes we build and remains willing to work with our homeowners to address any valid and warrantable concerns,” the statement said.
The current lawsuits are not the first against D.R. Horton in South Carolina.
Last year, D.R. Horton, subcontractors and suppliers reached a $16.1 million settlement in a class action lawsuit alleging construction defects in more than 200 houses in a development in Easley in Pickens County.
The alleged defects were to foundations, concrete, siding, framing, windows, doors, stone veneer, and brick veneer of houses, according to an order approving the settlement by state Judge R. Scott Sprouse.
D.R. Horton sold more than 86,000 houses nationally last year with sales totaling $34 billion, according to its annual report. The average selling price of a D.R. Horton home last year was $378,000, the report said.
The company’s annual report says lawsuits alleging construction defects are part of D.R. Horton’s business. The company appeared to blame the subcontractors it hires to build houses.
“We are subject to home warranty and construction defect claims arising in the ordinary course of our home building business. We rely on subcontractors to perform the actual construction of our homes, and in many cases, to select and obtain construction materials,” the annual statement says.
“Despite our detailed specifications and monitoring of the construction process, our subcontractors occasionally do not meet adequate quality standards in the construction of our homes. When we find these issues, we repair them in accordance with our warranty obligations.”
“We spend significant resources to repair items in homes we have sold to fulfill the warranties we issued to our home buyers, the annual report said.
At any given time, the company “is managing several hundred individual claims related to construction defect matters, personal injury claims, employment matters, land development issues, contract disputes and other matters,” the annual report said. Nearly all the claims relate to construction defect matters, the annual report said.
The three law firms handling lawsuits against D. R. Horton are Mullen Wylie of Myrtle Beach, Callison Tighe & Robinson of Columbia, and Richardson Thomas of Columbia.
“We are currently representing homeowners across South Carolina who have raised concerns about construction issues involving D.R. Horton and its subcontractors,” said attorney Will Lewis of Richardson Thomas. “By collaborating with the firms of Mullen Wylie and Callison Tighe, we have a team committed to helping these families and ensure they receive the resolution they deserve.”
D.R. Horton calls itself “America’s Builder,” according to its web page, and has built more than 1 million houses since 1978, when it built its first house.