LANDMARK CORPORATION

My elderly parents contracted with Landmark through their insurance company (Nationwide) after a house fire. The whole house had to be taken down to the studs so it was a large project. After hearing about multiple issues from my brothers, I moved and joined my parents to assist them during the final few months of construction. Horrible experience. [Note: I have a Power of Attorney that qualifies me to represent my parents on this subject.] • My parents, who are in their 80's and are highly agreeable and trusting, were put under way too much stress due to poor management by Landmark. My mother even suffered a stroke during this time. My father was there every day to try to make sure things were done right (largely unsuccessful) and to clean up after the subcontractors. • The project manager was simply incompetent. I never saw him write anything down so he and his crews predictably screwed up a lot. • Completion kept getting delayed, stringing my parents along for at least three months extra with more undue stress trying to work with insurance to extend their temporary living arrangements and having to move back to a hotel. • Landmark installed materials that were inferior to what was originally installed and ascribed in Nationwide’s estimate. E.g., hollow-core doors instead of solid-core, knotty pine ceiling instead of knotty spruce, and construction-grade windows instead of premium. • At the end, Landmark presented over $23K of illegal "change orders". There was no notice to my parents that the changes performed would cost extra, and most importantly, there was no paperwork for the change orders as required by their own contract. The costs were outrageous and had no backup documentation. They seemed to just brainstorm a list of changes and assigned some charges to it to try to make up for the numerous do-overs their subcontractors had to perform. • Before the final settlement meeting, I spent a great many hours combing through Nationwide's estimate and task breakdown to provide a detailed analysis of tasks completed versus uncompleted by Landmark. (My father pulled many line items out of Landmark's scope of work and either chose to not do the items or secured his own contractors.) I asked Landmark for comments and never received any. At the meeting with the Landmark project manager and one of their business officers, they presented their own VERY brief (less than one page) breakdown and refused to discuss my analysis with astonishing hubris and hostility. • The presence of two Landmark reps to close out the contract was obviously an attempt to double-team and shake down my parents for the remaining balance of the contract plus all the "change orders". I protested, they threatened my parents with a lawsuit, and my dad folded like a wet noodle. He held back only a few thousand dollars, which he didn't owe anyway, because there was still a punch-list to be completed. • Not a single item on the punch-list was completed. Instead, Landmark came after my parents for the remaining amount "owed". Fortunately, I acquired a special power of attorney and put a stop to it. Their attorney's final message was insistence on the final payment, PLUS his fees AND release of all claims including punch-list items and future warranty claims. Landmark refuses to honor the warranty that is stipulated by contract between Nationwide and Landmark! Incredible. My parents are owed about $40K based on my analysis of work not performed and what was paid. Even if you discount what my father pulled out of Landmark's scope (because he also was guilty of not acquiring change orders), then they still overpaid by about $7000. They are the only ones I've ever heard of that had a complete post-fire insurance rebuild and ended up with a lesser house.