Does Anyone Have Any Info on Neumann Homes Going Belly Up?! (real estate, insurance)

[HOWELL_STREET]

Dear Friend:

Well, you are close in guessing the square footage of the "Sunrise" ranch. Add about 68 square feet onto your estimate.
What does the Cortland / De Kalb / Sycamore area have to offer? Well, Cortland is six miles east of Northern Illinois University. IF you live in Cortland and are seeking a graduate degree - - you can take general courses at nearby Kishwaukee College as an in - district resident - - and then transfer them back to NIU. You save a considerable amount of money that way. And I suspect that there are going to be more and more people interested in attending 'graduate' school in the future. That's because companies are starting to be very selective in their hiring because the four year degree is now too common. So perhaps the next minimum requirement will be an 'MBA'?

De Kalb in particular has everything that the Chicago area has except no high crime rate. In fact it is quite low in comparison to the city of Chicago.

Those tri - cities of DeKalb, Sycamore and Cortland are out in beautiful country - - prime farm land. And the most important thing to me, is that those people of that area are very friendly.

Last autumn, my two son's had car trouble along one of the country roads. A young gal came long in her automobile and stopped to see if they needed help. She in fact drove them out of her way back to Cortland and and to my son's home.

Have you ever seen such a similar incident in the City of Chicago or even the near collar counties? Well, I have not since I have been living in the Chicago area for 66 years.

The Richland Trails home that I cited is not for everybody - - and obiviously not for you. I would suspect that you are single and probably quite wealthy - - or at least your parents are wealthy. So I would also 'guess' as 'RACERX68', that your 'X' means multiplier of the speed that you do down the expressway. So do you call yourself a 'hippy', 'yippy' or 'yuppy'?
I would also suspect that you have a very fancy automobile that cost a bunch.

But there are family people that don't have the wealth that you do. IF our economy collapses due to the loss of the middle class - - then we may all end up walking or riding bicycles due to the lack of reasonably priced gasoline.

Since you seem to want to argue with everyone, why not try to write a rebuttal?

Carter Glass

[irish setter girl]

It was mentioned in an earlier post whether "Ken" is the owners true name. Well...Ken Neumann is a real person, he was a former neighbor of mine. Ironically he didn't live in one of his "Neumann Homes." He is a good person who had some very unfortunate things happen to his company. I am very sorry to those who have money tied up in escrow, I can't imagine how frustrated you must feel. Rumors floated around a few years ago that Neumann Homes was filing BK but I don't think they actually did. He did pull out of a large project in Sugar Grove and that is part of a lawsuit filed against Neumann Homes from a Michigan Developer. Again, so sorry to all the customers who are without a home, without your money and without any answers. Best wishes to you all.

[HOWELL_STREET]

The Business section of today's Chicago Tribune (Oct. 24, 2007) has an updated "FYI" article for people concerned about their financial investment in Neumann Homes.

In skimming it, several points are interesting and one should definietly read the article. An important point that I noticed is that if 'your' money investment is co - mingled with the finances of Neumann, then there is a good possibility that you have lost your investment. So do NOT depend upon what I say but PLEASE read the article for yourself !

"Builderonline.Com" also thinks that since Neumann laid off their majority of employees, then secretly perhaps they have no intention of reformation even though it is chapter 11. But that is their opinion and I just don't know.

Carter Glass

[sbd78]

This may be the article that Carter is talking about:
Customers caught by builder's plight -- chicagotribune.com

[gardener34]

Someone gave me these tips:

See an attorney right away and make sure you lien your investment in the
development. It will probably be quite a while before this is all settled.

If you have a home under construction - you should try to make sure it's sealed up and winterized asap. Even if you have to do it themselves. I would also recommend checking often for to make sure it doesn't get vandalized.

The subs will immediately stop working and probably won't get their money.

[CareBehr]

FWIW, I also live in a Neumann home. (Neucort Lakes actually... so hello to Mr. Glass's family! ) As was stated a few posts up, the subdivision was built out nearly a year ago. However, there's still a lot of unresolved issues with the development... final resurfacing & paving of the roadways has yet to be done, the bike path has yet to be built, etc. Apparently the streets can's be paved until the bike path is finished, but there's some sort of drainage issue with the retention pond that's holding that up, and so on and so on. Over the summer the park areas were not maintained (the ball field isn't even usable anymore which is really sad), and the grass got so high that the neighborhood kids couldn't even play there. Two weeks ago said areas were cut and baled! No one seems to have any idea who orchestrated that move or who gets the money from selling the feed. There are a few (obviously now all former) Neumann employees who live in the subdivision, and one that I spoke with claims that the writing has been on the wall for quite some time. I also spoke with our HOA today but they don't have any information, nor can they tell us if / when any of the issues in the neighborhood will be addressed. We tried calling our warranty rep Matt Horner (whose email was listed as a contact by NBC5) but all calls went straight to his voice mail. For all I know, he's been canned too and they're just using his email address to field inquiries.
Looking around the web I see many bashing this builder... but I have to say I was satisfied with the quality of my home. Don't get me wrong, there were of course issues here and there, but the company always did its best to resolve them for us. I was blown away by their customer service every step of the way, and I am sad to hear that all of the fine people I dealt with during the process are most likely unemployed now. But my heart really goes out to those who may lose their earnest money or whose construction has been halted. What a nightmare this must be for them.
If I ever get through to the builder or receive any info from the HOA that Neumann was using, I'll pass it along here.

[HOWELL_STREET]

First off, a hello to Care Behr and it is very nice to hear from you ! I sent you a City - Data 'direct' message and so you can read my other comments, there. However, I forgot to mention that my private email system uses extensive 'attachment' filters. So if you don't hear from me, then return to the direct message center of City - Data.

And also a note to RACERX69. We all welcome you to City - Data which is a fantastic media of information exchange. However, there is no room for argument here because sincere people are in desperate need of help. As a note, the very expensive homes around the Chicago area will soon drop in asking prices as much as 40%. So everyone should patiently wait for that to happen. Right now, Chicago area homes on average have been reduced about 7%.

I am sure our moderator will permit more of your comments, RACERX69, if that City - Data mandated rule is kept in mind. After all, "MDZ" is also interested in the opinion of people, too.

To reiterate from a previous thread or two - - and in agreement of what my friend / neighbor CARE BEHR said - - Neumann Homes Corporation has been a very good company. So, even though people finanacially involved with Neumann - - are scared ( and I don't blame them !) - - as encouragement to you folks, just be patient. As many of our writers have mentioned, though, it is probably best for you to retain your own private attorney for your safety.

Best Regards,

Carter Glass

[nanannie]

Originally Posted by racerx69

<< Cortland discussion cont.... >>

I don't pull any punches so my posts here keep getting removed. I guess the moderator is not a fan of free speech..

I dont think our MODS have any problam with 'free speech'. One mans "free speech" is to another, a rude bully

[sbd78]

Here is an article I found about my subdivision, and how the city of Joliet is handling things:
Bankruptcy leaves subdivision incomplete :: Herald News :: Business (http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/business/616628,4_3_JO24_NEUMANN_S1.article - broken link)

[HOWELL_STREET]

I read the interesting newspaper article that SBD78 graciously provided for us.

In that article, it says something to the effect that the city of Joilet is going to go after the Neumann bonds to help protect the subdivision and those people who are alrady involved, financially.

But since Neumann has already entered chapter 11 bankruptcy, it may be difficult for Joilet to place a lien on those bonds. Maybe 'yes', maybe 'no' (?)

Everyone including Neumann Homes and the city of Joliet have good stated intentions, but with Chapter 11 it is going to become a VERY LONG 'winter' - - I.E. a drawn out ordeal in bankruptcy court. As my opinion, it is a grand mess.

IF you have a substantial 'up front' down - payment monetary investment with Neumann - - already in your future Neumann home contract - - then through your private attorney, you should also ask if Neumann's Chapter 11 is willing to pay for the interest on that invested money?

IF you hire an attorney familiar with building construction bankruptcies, then he will already know how to handle everything.

I believe the information in the Chicago Tribune article mentioned several names of qualified Chicaog area attorneys. Look for that article in one of the above threads.

Carter Glass