Experienced whistle-blowers Jeff and Susan Treganowan of Livingston, TX are off on a 10-month national campaign from Atlanta, GA to Woodland, CA, to alert consumers and public officials to new home industry ills while they push a new book written for the same audiences.

The self-proclaimed new home experts and former new home sellers packed the cat and sleuthing gear in a recreational vehicle emblazoned with "Stop the New-Home Nightmares! Campaign Across America" for a whirlwind tour of the nation after becoming disillusioned with new home marketing programs.

"We simply refused to lie to our buyers," said Jeff Treganowan, of their experience in the new home sales business.

With seven planned stops in California, four in Florida and two each in South Carolina and Arizona, among other stops, the campaign has numerous goals:

• Survey new home owners about builder performance to complete a report to send to public officials.

• Go undercover as home shoppers visiting the new home sale offices and sites of eight major builders.

• Conduct a library lecture tour to teach home buyers how to avoid problems when buying a new home.

• Press for the adoption of a Homebuyer's Protection Addendum, a sort of consumer Bill of Rights for new home buyers.

• Sign and hawk their newly published "The Ultimate New-Home Buying Guide" (Maple Leaf Press, $15.95), at book signing stops.

The authors are donating 10 percent of their book proceeds to Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings (HADD) a loose-knit group of consumers irked about new home defects. HADD is among a growing group of grassroots consumer activists out to change the new home building industry.

The guide reveals what Jeff Treganowan calls "tricks of the trade" new home buyers face when buying a new home from misleading advertising to model home come-ons. Half the book helps prospective buyers determine what they want in a new home and where they want to live. The second half teaches shoppers to ask tough questions, research the builder, negotiate like the Mother of all Diplomats, scrutinize the building process and avoid walk-through and closing traps.

Treganowan says he's no stranger to pointing fingers. He claims he exposed and help remove a U.S. Air Force discrimination policy against women and helped stop the military from sending troops in the Gulf War with ill-fitting gas mask inserts.

The couple say recent settlements in cases involving building defects are examples of the building industry's unwillingness to quickly respond to new home owners complaints about defects and dishonest practices.

A Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge recently approved a $41 million class action settlement granting thousands of home owners in Santa Clarita Valley money to fix plumbing problems stemming from incorrect piping used in homes built from 1986 to 1994.

That settlement came on the heels of a $32 million settlement against Farmers Insurance Group for mishandling claims about a moldy home that must be demolished in Texas.

"We are doing this tour because we've talked to a lot of people and we think this is a national problem," said Jeff Treganowan.

In the months ahead we'll "ride along" to keep you posted on the Treganowans' efforts. To keep apprised of Jeff and Susan Treganowan's progress directly, contact them by e-mail at newhomeexperts@aol.com or by regular mail, c/o Maple Leaf Press, P.O. Box 5002-115 North Conway, NH 03860.

Meanwhile, the The National Association of Home Builders' Research Center offers a channel for consumer complaints about building materials and techniques, the "ToolBase Hotline", available on the Web, by e-mail, by snail mail at ToolBase Hotline, NAHB Research Center, 400 Prince George's Blvd., Upper Marlboro, MD 20774-8731, by telephone (301) 249-4000 and by FAX (301) 430-6180.

For more articles by Broderick Perkins, please press here.

Published: July 12, 2001

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

A journalist for 35-years, Broderick Perkins parlayed an old-school daily newspaper career into a digital news service offering editorial content and consulting services. Perkins' San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group includes the flagship news site, DeadlineNews.Com, offering real estate, personal finance and consumer journalism, and a backshop, the Deadline Newsroom.