BeforeBuyingNVHomes.com

Things go wrong. What matters is what your builder does next.

You’re considering one of the largest financial decisions you’ll ever make. Problems happen with any big purchase. When they do, the company on the other side of the table may matter more than the house.

We’re homeowners at Osprey Point, a community on Delaware’s Rehoboth Bay. We bought our homes from NVHomes. This is how NVHomes handled our problem.

Written by Osprey Point homeowners. We speak for ourselves, not for every resident or the property owners association.

We were sold a waterfront community.

NVHomes marketed Osprey Point as the last chance to build on Rehoboth Bay. Its homeowners’ association brochure listed “Kayak Launch & Baybeach” under Included Amenities. Sales renderings showed a bay beach, a marina with boat slips, kayaks on the water, a waterfront pool and a clubhouse looking out over the bay.

Many of us paid a premium for that. Years after the first homes closed, those waterfront amenities still haven’t been built, and we still have no access to the water.

NVHomes Osprey Point HOA brochure. Under the heading Included Amenities it lists Community Clubhouse, Fitness Center, Pool, Trash Pick Up/Recycling, Dog Park, Tennis/Pickleball, and Kayak Launch & Baybeach, with renderings of a pool, a bay beach and a marina.
NVHomes’ HOA brochure for Osprey Point. The circle was added by homeowners.

Delaware law requires a label.

When a seller shows buyers a picture of an amenity that hasn’t been built yet, Delaware law requires the picture to be clearly labeled with one of two phrases:

MUST BE BUILT NEED NOT BE BUILT

If a picture isn’t labeled “need not be built,” the seller has to build what it shows. The rule exists so buyers can tell a promise from a possibility.

NVHomes rendering of the Osprey Point waterfront showing a sandy bay beach, kayaks, a marina with boat slips, a waterfront pool and a clubhouse.
Required labelingNeither “Must be built” nor “Need not be built” appears on this rendering.
An NVHomes sales rendering of the Osprey Point waterfront, dated May 2022.

The materials we were shown carried neither label. That’s why we believe NVHomes owes us the amenities it showed us.

This is a claim in our lawsuit under the Delaware Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (25 Del. C. §§ 81-418 and 81-419). The court has not yet ruled on it.

The disclosure form said “N/A.”

Our seller’s disclosure asked whether there was anything else a buyer should know that might materially and adversely affect the property, such as zoning changes. NVHomes answered “N/A.”

We believe the unresolved questions about who owned the waterfront, what zoning it needed and which permits it still required were exactly what that question was asking about.

Seller disclosure form, question 31: Is there anything else you should disclose to a prospective Buyer because it may materially and adversely affect the property, for example zoning changes? The answer column is marked N/A and circled.
Question 31 of a homeowner’s seller disclosure form.

What NVHomes did next.

We understand that plans fail. Permits get denied. Builders and developers disagree. Our concern is what happened after that.

  1. August 2022

    The first homes are sold.

    Buyers are shown the waterfront amenities in brochures, renderings and the sales office.

  2. 2023 to 2025

    The waterfront plans stall.

    Sussex County rejects the commercial zoning for the marina and restaurant. Homeowners learn the waterfront parcel belongs to the developer, not the community.

  3. May 2025

    NVHomes sues the developer.

    NVR, NVHomes’ parent company, files suit to force the developer to build the amenities and turn over the waterfront land.

  4. August 2025

    Homeowners sue both.

    We file a class action against NVR and the developer in the Delaware Court of Chancery.

  5. August 19, 2026

    NVHomes loses its case.

    After a two-day trial, the court rules for the developer. It finds that NVR breached their agreement, that the developer validly ended it, and that the developer owns the waterfront parcel. The ruling did not decide our claims.

  6. Today

    Still no sit-down.

    Our case continues. NVHomes has not sat down with us to work out a way forward. From where we stand, it seems prepared to let this run through the courts for years.

A note to NVHomes

We bought from you. We live here. We’re still here.

We know it may not be possible to deliver everything you showed us. We’re not asking for the impossible, and we’re not asking for perfection.

We’re asking you to sit down with us, and with the developer if that helps, and work out what can still be done. A solution where everyone comes out as whole as possible is better than years in court, for all of us.

Our door is open.

If you’re buying a new home, ask these first.

Our experience changed what we think every buyer should ask, about the community as much as the house.

  1. Which amenities are guaranteed, and which are only proposed? Ask to see it in writing.
  2. Who owns the land the community amenities are drawn on?
  3. What permits, zoning changes or approvals are still needed?
  4. What exactly does the purchase agreement require the builder to deliver?
  5. What happens if a promised feature isn’t built?
  6. If something goes wrong after closing, who will sit down with homeowners to fix it?

Don’t take our word for it.

Read the court’s decision and the local reporting, and reach your own conclusions.