By Contributor published 12-2-2019 updated 1-15-2022
The Restore Louisiana Homeowners Program (RLHP) offers a limited warranty on new construction and home repairs made by the Program contractor (Solution 1 only). Reconstruction projects will have a 1-year fit and finish warranty period, a 2-year mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) warranty period, and a 5-year structural warranty period. Rehabilitation projects will have a 1-year warranty period for all scope of work (SOW) included in the Estimated Cost of Repairs (ECR). Instructions on how to file a warranty claim and a copy of a claim form are provided to the applicant at the final inspection along with the final acceptance form. The warranty is limited to the cost of reasonable repairs and shall not exceed the Repair Estimate (Scope of Work) determined by the Restore Louisiana Homeowner Assistance Program (RLHP). This Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) serves to provide a comprehensive overview of warranty claim and grievance procedures.
Federal Register Notice Vol. 81, No. 224 published on November 21, 2016 strongly encourages the grantee, who is the Office of Community Development &ndash Disaster Recovery Unit (OCD-DRU), to require a warranty period post-construction, with formal notification to homeowners on a periodic basis to be issued by the Restore Louisiana Homeowner Assistance Program (RLHP). Applicants that file a warranty claim for repair projects must do so within one calendar year following passed final inspection. Applicants filing warranty claims for reconstruction projects must do so within one calendar year following passed final inspection for fit and finish items, 2 years for MEP, or 5 years for structural concerns. Claims filed after deadlines provided will be accepted, but the Warranty Response Team (WRT) determination could be &ldquorejected&rdquo based on the expiration of deadlines or because the claim is invalid. The RLHP will not accept warranties filed by individuals or entities that are not listed as an applicant on the respective file, nor will the RLHP accept warranties received prior to the issuance of a passed Program final inspection. Prior to Program final inspection, if construction issues cannot be resolved, the applicant may submit a formal grievance.
Pursuant to the Homeowner Program Manual, for Solution 1 only, applicants may submit grievances with their Solution 1 contractor for work that is not in keeping with established homebuilding contractor standards and workmanship outlined by RLHP. The applicants can present their grievance to the state to contest the work that is being or has been performed, or that should have been performed under the RLHP policies.
Solution 1 applicants that had a successful Program final inspection for 6 months will be issued a Warranty Packet (Appendix A). The Warranty Packet includes a letter reminding the applicant of the remaining time left to file a Warranty Claim for their project type (i.e. - rehabilitation or reconstruction project). Additionally, the packet will contain a Warranty Claim Form and a Warranty Instructions and Disclaimer document.
A monthly report will be generated by the Reporting Team that identifies Solution 1 files that require a Warranty Packet the report will also specify the project type (i.e. - rehabilitation or reconstruction project). The report will be distributed to the Applicant Relations Team and a Solution 1 Designee for review and vetting. After the review, the Applicant Relations Team will issue the Warranty Packet with the applicable letter (rehabilitation letter or reconstruction letter. See Appendix A for both letter types) to all vetted account IDs on the dataset.
The Applicant Relations Team will enter one of the following standardized notes into eGrants, depending on the project type:
The following is a high-level overview of the Warranty Process once a claim is filed. Elements of the workflow are addressed in greater detail under the internal warranty procedures below.
There are several mechanisms by which an individual can file a claim.
Claims Filed Through the Call Center/Homeowner
Assistance Center (HAC)
If an individual verbally requests to file a Warranty Claim (via the Call Center or through a HAC), the Case Manager (CM) or Customer Service Representative (CSR) should take the following steps:
Claims Filed Through the U.S. Mail
Some individuals may not have access to a computer and may wish to send a letter detailing their warranty issues with the Program. If Program staff receives a call, they should instruct interested parties to send all written communications via U.S. mail to:
IEM
Attn: Legal
8550 United Plaza Boulevard, Suite 400
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70809-2256
The written claim, whether submitted via U.S. mail or in person, should be completed on a Program approved Notice of Warranty Claim Form and include the following elements:
Warranty Claim Forms submitted via U.S. mail to IEM will be date-stamped by IEM Legal and then emailed to: Warranty@restore-la.org.
Some applicants may erroneously mail their Warranty Claim Form to the Baton Rouge HAC. The Applicant Relations Team will collect all Warranty Claim Forms that are mailed to the HAC and will provide them to an IEM representative. Once IEM retrieves the Warranty Claim Form, IEM Legal will date stamp the form and email it to Warranty@restore-la.org as specified above.
Documenting Receipt of the Claim
Warranty Claims will be logged on a SmartSheet dataset and will be exported daily to SharePoint > Application Phases > Construction Management > Libraries > Solution 1_Warranty and Grievances. The Warranty Claim Form will also be saved to eGrants > Correspondence > Letters with the following naming convention: accountID_Warranty_Claim.pdf
Note: If an applicant files multiple claims, each claim additional claim will be saved with the following naming convention: accountID_Warranty_Claim_#.pdf.
Upon receipt of a valid claim, a WRT Member will enter the following standardized note into eGrants (note type: Construction):
Accounts with this standardized note will be captured on a weekly report for the Applicant Relations Team. All accounts noted on the dataset will be issued the Valid Warranty Claim Letter (Appendix B). Applicant Relations will enter the following standardized note after issuance of the Valid Warranty Claim Letter:
The Valid Warranty Claim Letter will be saved to eGrants with the following naming convention:
Valid claims will be submitted to the prime contractor and contractor liaison for review, and the contractor will be responsible for performing an inspection of the home and verifying construction completion and quality. The contractor must respond with a claim review and action required within 30 days of the date stamp. The contractor will complete the work required as outlined in the claim review.
Once work is completed, the contractor will issue a Warranty Claim Response Form (see Appendix D). The form outlines work completed, actions taken, and rejected warranty items. The form will be signed by both the contractor and the applicant. Warranty Claim Response Forms for valid claims will be saved to eGrants with the following naming convention:
If the applicant refuses to execute the form after the contractor verifies that work has been completed, the contractor will execute and return the form without the applicant’s signature. The form will be returned to the WRT so they can contact the applicant and verify completion. The WRT will follow the RLHP grievance due diligence procedures for all unsigned Warranty Response Forms:
Grievances may arise from unsigned Warranty Response Forms, in which case the WRT will immediately note the grievance on the Warranty Claim and Grievance Tracker on SharePoint. Alternatively, applicants may choose to file a grievance in writing. Grievances that are submitted via mail, website, or CM/CSR will be forwarded to the Applicant Relations Team. Applicant Relations will forward the grievance to the Construction Expeditor and will cc Warranty@restorela.org. Upon receipt, the WRT will log the grievance on the Warranty Claim and Grievance Tracker. See Warranty Claim and Grievance Tracker section below for more information about tracking grievances.
Once a grievance is filed, it will be forwarded to the Construction Management Team (CMT) for review. The CMT will attempt to solve the problem to the satisfaction of the applicant and the contractor. If the grievance cannot be satisfactorily resolved at the construction management level, it will be referred to senior management for a final decision. The outcome of the review will be logged accordingly on the Warranty Claim and Grievance Tracker.
Upon receipt of an invalid claim, a WRT Member will enter the following standardized note into eGrants (note type: Construction):
Accounts with this standardized note will be captured on a weekly report for the Applicant Relations Team. All accounts noted on the dataset will be issued the Invalid/Untimely Warranty Claim Letter (Appendix C). Applicant Relations will enter the following standardized note after issuance of the Invalid/Untimely Warranty Claim Letter:
The Invalid/Untimely Warranty Claim Letter will be saved to eGrants with the following naming convention:
Invalid or untimely claims will be recorded as such on the SmartSheet dataset, and the SmartSheet tracker will be exported daily and saved to SharePoint > Application Phases > Construction Management > Libraries > Solution 1_Warranty and Grievances. Invalid claims will be saved to eGrants with the following naming convention:
**Note: As of August 7, 2019, the WRT will be using the following naming conventions:
Prior to August 7, 2019, the WRT only used naming conventions for accepted and rejected claims. This is noted here for historical and reporting purposes.
A Warranty Tracker will be maintained on SmartSheets and will be exported daily to SharePoint > Application Phases > Construction Management > Libraries > Solution 1_Warranty and Grievance Tracker. The Warranty and Grievance Tracker contains the following fields (Note: The below data has been collected for warranties since February 1, 2019. All data is now housed on the SmartSheet and SharePoint tracker as of the date of this publication):
If a claim is partially accepted or rejected, one of the following reason codes will be noted on the SharePoint Warranty Claim and Grievance tracker to justify why the claim wasn’t accepted in full (see following page for a breakout of the reason codes).
Reason Codes:
Deficiency
Response QC
Note: No cells on the tracker will be left blank. If there’s no information or available data for a column, the WRT will note “n/a” in the applicable cell. To ensure compliance and accuracy of all fields, the WRT will QC the Warranty Claim and Grievance Tracker data on a daily basis and will compare the SharePoint tracker data with eGrants data.
Date
Account ID:
Name
Address
City, State Zip
Dear Homeowner,
This correspondence is a notification and reminder that you have approximately 6 months remaining on the 1-year warranty provided by the Restore Louisiana Homeowner Assistance Program for repairs to your home made by the Program.
For your convenience, we have attached a copy of the warranty claim form to this mailing.
Please follow the directions included in the form to submit any warranty claim that you may have and mail the form and any additional documentation to:
IEM
Attn: Legal
8550 United Plaza Boulevard, Suite 400
Baton Rouge, LA 70809-2256
We will reach out to you when we receive your warranty claim documentation.
If you have any questions concerning this process, please contact your case manager or call 866-735-2001, Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5 pm.
Sincerely,
The Restore Louisiana Homeowner Assistance Program
Reconstruction Warranty Letter
Date
Account ID:
Name
Address
City, State Zip
Dear Homeowner,
This correspondence is a reminder of the warranties provided to you by the Restore Louisiana Homeowner Assistance
Program for your reconstructed home.
As the owner of a reconstructed home, you are eligible for the below three warranties which begin the date of your final inspection. Please make note of the timeframes. It is your responsibility to submit any warranties in a timely manner.
For your convenience, we have attached a copy of the warranty claim form to this mailing.
Please follow the directions included in the form to submit any warranty claim that you may have and mail the form
and any additional documentation to:
IEM
Attn: Legal
8550 United Plaza Boulevard, Suite 400
Baton Rouge, LA 70809-2256
We will reach out to you when we receive your warranty claim documentation.
If you have any questions concerning this process, please contact your case manager or call 866-735-2001, Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5 pm.
Sincerely,
The Restore Louisiana Homeowner Assistance Program
NOTICE OF WARRANTY CLAIM FORM
The Owner, _________________, of the home property located at ___________, as part of the Step By Step Claims Procedures set forth in the Limited Warranty, hereby gives notice by certified or registered mail to:
(1) The Builder _____________, whose contact information is ______________;
AND
(2) Innovative Emergency Management, Inc. (IEM), whose contact information is:
IEM
Attn: Legal
8550 United Plaza Boulevard, Suite 400
Baton Rouge, LA 70809-2256
of the following defect which the Owner contends are in need of repair and/or completion and without which constitute a breach of warranty by the Builder and/or by IEM.
Listing of Alleged Defects That Require Repair or Completion
_________
____________
__________
(IF ADDITIONAL SPACE IS NEEDED PLEASE ATTACH ADDITIONAL PAGE(S))
These Alleged Defects were discovered by the Owner on or about the following date(s):
___________
This Notice officially gives the Builder and/or IEM the reasonable opportunity to repair or complete the Alleged Defects to the Satisfaction of the Owner and in compliance with the Limited Warranty and applicable law, or to dispute the accuracy of this Notice. The Owner(s) contact information is noted below.
Owner Name:
Co-Owner Name (if applicable):
Mailing Address, City, State, Zip Code:
RLHP Application ID:
version 1
Warranty Instructions and Disclaimer
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Appendix B: Valid Warranty Claim Letter
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Appendix C: Invalid or Untimely Warranty Claim Letter
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Appendix D: Warranty Claim Response Form
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