Slab o' Trouble

Mark Voit's ordeal finally came to an end when Weekley settled on his Dallas home. Though terms of the agreement prevent Voit from talking about his case, he voices a simple opinion of the product. "I just wouldn't recommend buying one," he says.

And in Denver, where David Weekley Homes has established another significant beachhead, OSHA just fined the company $221,500 for six "willful" health and safety violations at one of Weekley's building sites -- the largest fine ever levied against a homebuilder in Colorado. What exacerbated the penalty, according to OSHA's John Healy, was Weekley's "plain indifference."

But to David Weekley, reconciliation of his company's image with the customers' complaints isn't an issue, because if he had actually engaged in deceptive business practices and treated customers like dirt his company would have quickly faced disaster. Instead, the business is thriving: Weekley sold more than 2,200 homes last year, totaling revenues of $428 million, and is one of only two builders nationwide selected by Disney for a planned community in Florida.

"There's some thought on the other side that there's either some grand conspiracy or that we were attempting to cut corners or something in that vein, and I just want to assure you that we haven't done that in 20 years," Weekley says. "We haven't been successful by doing that. It makes no good business sense."

To the Townsends and Ganjis and Claudia Murillo and others who have spent half a decade or more stuck in homes they don't want and can't sell, reconciliation isn't the point, either, which is one reason the cases continue to approach the trial stage. "Most people have homes," says Kevin Townsend. "[Ours] isn't a home, it's a house."

"I want another home," adds Claudia Murillo. "I will have another home.