it's boots and chaps it's cowboy hats ? this is "nightline." >> tonight, new home heartbreak. >> if it could happen to the rich and famous like sandra bullock, it could happen to you. >> i've got some good mold in it. >> homeowners who say their dream houses have turned into nightmares. >> all i've had is issue after issue after issue. >> abc's brian ross investigates along with stations across the country helping home buyers who say they're stuck with shoddy work. >> it's our house. we had to just walk away from it. plus living the mcdream. one on one or maybe side by side with patrick dempsey. >> it's cold! >> the former "grey's anatomy" star revealing a stunning fact about his character's abrupt

episode. never saw the final episode. >> how he saved his marriage and his extremely personal connection to his charity bike race. does the departed doctor have another act in store? >> the question will be, will i be known for anything other than that later in life? >> first the "nightline 5." ? ? >> simulation initiated. ? >> take on any galaxy with a car that could stop for you. >> simulation complete. >> the new nissan rogue. "rogue one: a star wars story" in theaters december 16th.

good evening. thanks for joining us. it's the biggest investment most people will ever make in their lives. imagine buying a brand-new dream home and discover it riddled with problems. to make it worse, the builder isn't returning your calls. that is what homeowners around the country are alleging. abc's chief investigative correspondent brian ross and our affiliates investigate reports of shoddy construction and a variety of new home problems. >> nick saban, nice to meet you. >> reporter: in the movie "the blind side," actress sandra bullock plays the owner of a fabulous house. >> thank you. >> reporter: in real life the actress ended up in court. suing her builder over huge defects in her multi-million dollar texas mansion she famously later bulldozed to the ground. in suburban washington, d.c., the owner of this new home has a hole in her foundation and a snake that moved in underneath. >> up and down you hear the same

>> reporter: the people in this new subdivision in virginia say they know the feeling. with great-looking houses on the outside and a long list of problems on the inside. >> very upsetting. it's the most expensive purchase any of us are going to make. >> reporter: it happened to simone angle of birmingham, alabama, whose $400,000 brand-new home had bouncy, creaky floorboards -- >> it's like playing music. >> reporter: that had to be ripped up and a messed-up draining system fixed by builder only after abc news got involved. >> all i've had since i moved in is issue after issue after issue. >> reporter: what they all had was a bad case of new home heartbreak. >> look at that. >> reporter: a dream house turning into a nightmare. >> it's kind of typical of the hopes that are built to sell, not built to last. >> reporter: these two men, sort of the sherlock holmes and watson of new home construction problems, say they see it all the time in cases they investigate for homeowners. >> that's a sign you have

is a forensic architect. >> they put them up in a hurry, they don't pay attention to detail. >> reporter: booil loden is former president of the american association of home inspectors. >> makes less than a five-degree slope, it should be at least 15 degrees. >> reporter: there's been a building boom in this country. test of thousands of new homes going up every year. with big national builders including the biggest, d.r. horton, promising quality homes and superior customer service. yet documents show horton has set aside some each of the last two years to deal with construction defect claims calling it the "ordinary course of business." >> it's got black mold in it. definitely shouldn't see that. >> reporter: now an abc news investigation conducted with stations across the country -- >> wow, you're wringing water out of the wood. >> reporter: case after case of homeowners claiming shoddy construction. >> the water would start here then travel along the ceiling. >> reporter: the big well-known

to fix the problems. big and small. >> black soot, water damage, a giant crack in the foundation. >> reporter: as wls discovered in chicago. >> we had no choice. no one will fix it. it was our house and we had to just walk away from it. >> reporter: in raleigh, north carolina, wtvd heard from army captain morrow bizan who had to put sandbags around his new home because it floods outside and inside with almost every rainfall. in seattle, komo-tv heard from about what the sun racy rays were doing to their siding. >> melted siding. extensive buckling. glaring gaps. >> reporter: the homeowners say the builder keeps putting off any fix. >> hardly any calls get returned. >> reporter: in columbus, ohio. frustrated homeowners took our reporter from wsyx along as they showed up at the builder's office to demand their problems be fixed. >> abc 6. here are homeowners who want some answers. >> i'm going to have to ask you to leave.

live in one of these places? >> thank you very much. >> reporter: the industry trade group says unhappy homeowners are in the minority and all too often americans have expectations that are just too high. >> the american consumer expects a perfect home. there's no such thing as a perfect home. >> reporter: jerry howard is the chief executive officer of the national association of home builders. >> i think the quality of housing being built is as good as it's ever been. better. >> better than ever? >> yes, sir. >> are they shoddy? >> i say no. >> reporter: builders are masters of enticing openers with a dream house, name-brand amenities, designer rooms. >> a fridge dare, galaxy series is their upper end, you'll see tiger woods and a lot of these stars will use those. >> what we don't see in the model home are the bones. the hidden parts of the home. >> reporter: veteran home inspector mark mcgovern says homeowners should always try to go beyond what the sales reps pitch.

considering buying in your neighborhood, can you tell me what your experience is? >> point out all the houses where there are issues. >> reporter: that's what we did at a d.r. horton development in virginia where we met a lot of very unhappy homeowners with problems they say d.r. horton would not fix. >> i'm generally calm but i got to the point i was calling them every day and cussing at them. >> reporter: we brought in the two home detectives to look at what these homeowners described as problems and one of the homeowners, jackie walker, a freelance makeup artist who works for abc news and other media outlets in washington -- >> every one of these is a? >> nail pop or seam. >> reporter: she's marked with blue tape over 800 nails she says have popped out of the wall, along with cracks in the door frames. >> should this happen in a brand-new home? >> no, absolutely not. this is excessive by any standard. there's a real problem. >> reporter: but she says she's had to go to war with d.r.

it still is not. well after her warranty expired. >> it has been a nightmare. i've made several attempts to be here for appointments for them to show up. i had 23 appointments and they missed 17 of those. >> reporter: a spokesperson for d.r. horton said the company has reached out to address the problems we raised about the homes in walker's subdivision but the homeowners say as of tonight, no one has contacted them. and as our station katu in portland, oregon, reported, homeowners with problems and defects claim their builder seems to be waiting them out until their first year warranty expires. >> you just get that sense, they're dragging this out so my year runs out, then they're going to dump me. >> have you ever heard of that happening? >> no, sir. >> not to this point? >> not to this point. >> i'm the first person to mention that to you? >> yes, sir. >> that's not been an issue in this industry? >> no, sir, not to my knowledge. >> reporter: more and more owners come to realize often when it's too late the contract

most builders insist on what's called mandatory arbitration, whose outcomes generally cannot be appealed and are kept secret. >> they like arbitration because it favors them. >> even though it's supposed to be neutral and unbiassed? >> even though it's supposed to be neutral and unbiased. >> reporter: this lawyer served for years an an arbitrator in construction defect case. he says arbitrate hoarse come down hard on the builders are unlikely to be hired again. >> they're not going to get repeat business. >> that's what's at play here? >> yes. >> for the hom the deck is stacked? >> yes. the secret deck is stacked against the homeowner. >> reporter: the american arbitration association says its records show that more than half the time, the homeowner prevails. but in south carolina, the state supreme court ruled this year that the mandatory arbitration clauses used by d.r. horton are unconscionable and unenforceable. >> it's a take it or leave it situation. a lack of meaningful choice. you don't like it? hit the road. >> reporter: again and again, it

abc news or one of our stations was on the case that repair crews showed up. in indianapolis, it was only after wrtv got involved that the builder sent an executive to check out alleged roofing and drainage problems. >> this is how we knew it was leaking. >> reporter: and outside houston, the builder d.r. horton actually offered to buy this house back after our station ktrk began to investigate a homeowner's complaints of defects and problems. >> t until you guys got involved. >> reporter: for "nightline," brian ross, abc news, new york. up next, patrick dempsey bringing us up to speed on his life after "grey's anatomy." his response to those tabloid rumors about his marriage. discover why ford is america's best-selling brand. ?i'm on top of the world, hey!? with the most 5-star ratings... award-winning value...

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you know, biking in the woods of maine with patrick dempsey is something most "grey's anatomy" fans can only picture in their wildest mac dreams are if you live in his hometown or a correspondent -- not me -- you may get to do just that. here's abc's neal karlinsky. >> reporter: we're about as far as hollywood as you can get in patrick dempsey's tiny hometown of lewiston, maine. the actor best known as mcdreamy from "gray's anatomy" hasn't been on the hit show for a year. >> can we take a picture? >> yes, you can be on "nightline," say hello to "nightline." >> reporter: it makes walking

trying to find out what his next act might be surprisingly challenging. >> somebody wants to say hello. she's looking at you here. >> hello. >> you won't interrupt, it's okay. >> i remember you juggling in the front yard. for me, i was younger, it was great. >> we were all younger back then. >> it was great to see your success in life. >> thank you very much. >> i've been very proud of you. >> reporter: turns out juggling helped the pre-mcdreamy version of dempsey make it out of this old mill town of 36,000 people. that after his through. he'd hoped to become an olympic downhill skier. >> i left maine when i was about 17. and i was going to run away with the circus. i auditioned for this play, "torch song trilogy." >> you were actually going to run away. >> i was too young, they wouldn't let me in at ringling brothers. >> reporter: we spent three days watching him decompress, learning about his dempsey center to help people battling cancer, a cause very personal to

here in this footage from ten years ago. >> that's where patrick lives when he comes in the summer. >> reporter: to ovarian cancer in 2014. >> your mother i know fought for a long time before she lost her own battle with cancer. >> it seemed like it came back every two years. it was slow-growing. we had her a lot longer than the doctors sort of predicted. >> reporter: i spent the weekend with him riding race bikes, a passion we both share as part of his huge dempsey challenge fu >> make a right-hand turn up here. this is the first one. i'll let you be incognito. >> reporter: dempsey comes here after a whirlwind year. >> no hands. >> it's cold! >> reporter: the dramatic and sudden end of his ten-year run on "grey's anatomy" sparked questions about why his character was killed off. a split with his wife of 17 years and talk of divorce. they're back together now.

baby." enough tabloid headlines to get under anyone's skin. >> "grey's anatomy" was a remarkable ride. without that success i probably wouldn't be here today talking to you. >> are you happy with the way it ended? >> well, you know, i think everybody was sort of surprised how abrupt it was. >> was shonda rhimes done with you? >> i think it was time for us both to be finished. >> that's diplomatic. >> well, you know, it was -- it's hard to keep the creative energy going for ten years. >> there was a lot written that you'd become a diva on i can understand why people would say that. it's interesting. i think you can never really judge an actor on set. because depending on the dynamic of the scene, you are asked to plug into an emotion. >> reporter: then there's this surprising fact about the controversial end of his character. >> i haven't seen the final episode. >> you haven't? >> never saw the final episode, didn't watch it. >> do you want me to tell you what happened? >> i think it doesn't end well.

opens, my old man used to say. >> this is jack. >> reporter: the next door was "bridget jones' baby," alongside renney zelling weer and colin firth. >> it's all new to you. >> reporter: playing the familiar role of that irresistible guy. >> i knew i had to do something. everybody's like, he's done, career finished, retiring, he's not acting anymore. that wasn't at all the case, i love acting. >> reporter: he says things are good at home again w and three kids. >> how are you doing with your wife? >> great, really good. it's a lot of work. you can't not work on it. it's good to say, okay, what's my issue, what's yours, and how do we work on that? >> is it true you're looking to have another baby? >> this is the funny thing about what you get into magazines and they put these quotes out. then it gets picked up online. then all of a sudden you're having another baby. >> what you're saying is you're having two more? >> we're having triplets.

more babies. but it took coffee and pastrieds at his favorite local spot -- >> good to see you again. >> you too. >> reporter: to find out his first nickname. and a clue that all this admiration, a steady stream of women we never saw ease up, didn't always come so easy. >> what'd they call you growing up here? >> nothing i want to repeat. >> come on. >> i had nicknames. >> like? >> i was a small guy, i was "the amoeba." not your normal nickname. i was a late bloomer. >> i was too. >> yeah. >> reporter: after pastries comes bikes. and the eighth annual dempsey challenge. a huge weekend bike ride and fund-raiser for his dempsey center. >> are you blown away the way this has grown? >> absolutely. beyond question. it's just remarkable the turnout. but it also speaks to how

>> look at this. >> reporter: the route is filled with supporters on and off the bike. >> thank you very much. nice to meet you. thanks for being here. >> reporter: less interested in hollywood than a local boy done good who put his hometown on the map by helping care for those affected by cancer. >> thanks f s fs for representi >> my pleasure. >> proud of you. >> thank you. >> reporter: the fact that he has fun doing it doesn't hurt either. >> this is mile 200 of the dempsey challenge. it it. >> whoo! >> reporter: he finished his ride to great cheers. more than $1 million raised. as for his career, that ride has taken a new path and dempsey says he's ready. >> you've got that rom-com thing down. do you ever shake your head, i want to play a serial killer now? >> of course you do. i want to be careful about what i do next. >> are you tired of being

>> i don't think i'll ever get tired of that, it'sing there about be to the rest of my life, i have to accept that. the question is will i be known as anything other than that later in life? that's the question. >> reporter: for "nightline" i'm lewis karlinksy in lewiston, maine. next up, what hillary clinton said in her very first public appearance since the election. ? my hero zero. ? ? such a funny little hero ? ? we counted on our fingers and toes ? ? now you're here to stay ? ? and nobody really knows... ? zero really can be a hero. get zero down, zero deposit, zero due at signing, and zero first month's payment... ...on select volkswagen models. right now at the volkswagen sign then drive event. it's just a cough. if you could see your cough,

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first public appearance since losing the white house honoring a commitment to the children's defense fund. she acknowledged the pain of her loss with a message of hope. >> i know this isn't easy. i know that over the past week a lot of people have asked themselves whether america is the country we thought it was. the divisions laid bare by this election run deep. but please listen to me when i