If you plan on visiting a model home in the near future this book is an absolute must. Learn before you buy.
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Wednesday, July 23, 2008. US: Housing bill offers limited foreclosure relief Will have little or no impact on foreclosures. Many of the buyers were flippers.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008. US: Solving the Fannie and Freddie problem Housing bill is dangerous...would bailout big banks and mortgage lenders that made risky bets in the housing bubble – putting up to $300 billion worth of taxpayer dollars at risk.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008. IN: UPDATE: Davis Homes chief to start again Davis Homes CEO Brad Davis said today he plans to begin building custom and semi-custom houses before the end of the year.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008. CT: Attorney General Blumenthal suit alleges homebuilder cut corners Shoddy work cost consumrs half a million in repairs. Bowden Development and owner Lloyd Bowden did not bolt roofs to walls or install vital column supports. ... "These mistakes could have been fatal, collapsing roofs or walls, injuring or even killing families," Blumenthal said. "The developer left these homes unfinished, uninhabitable and unsafe because he was unqualified and unscrupulous." ... Also, Bowden's work resulted in cracked walls, unsecure foundations, water damage and missed deadlines, Blumenthal said. The company also would not make repairs when consumers complained, the suit adds.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008. Consumer Reports: Child's drowning leads to manslaughter charges against pool builder State Attorney David Cohen told the Greenwich Time that Lionetti's company failed to install a legally required safety vacuum-release system on the Cohn family's pool, and a mandated dual-drain system, Cohen said. Under Connecticut law, municipal building inspectors are responsible for ensuring that pool plans are up to code and for inspecting the finished pool before issuing a certificate of occupancy. The Cohn's lawsuit contends that the town issued the permits without inspecting the plans and did not conduct a final inspection before issuing the certificate.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008. US: FEMA seeks immunity from suits over trailer fumes Federal Emergency Management Agency asked federal judge Wednesday for immunity from lawsuits over potentially dangerous fumes in government-issued trailers that have housed tens of thousands of Gulf Coast hurricane victims. Related video: Mold found in trailers for Iowa flood victims.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008. FL: Builder Laurent Gillot's Plane crashes into Ocean Ridge City Hall A home developer who said in court documents that he kept a plane secret from creditors during his bankruptcy crashed a twin-engine Cessna on Tuesday afternoon at the site of the town's nearly completed $4 million municipal complex. (Builder may have been doing biz under "L.G.P.M.")
Wednesday, July 23, 2008. US: Housing Bill Adds Second Lien Amendment; DAPs (DPA's = Down Payment Assistance programs) to Be Eliminated Seller-funded downpayment assistance allows property sellers, including largely home builders, to donate funds to a non-profit agency, which then “gifts” the funds to a borrower as a down payment on a new home. The non-profits make a tidy processing fee, while critics — and even government agencies such as the IRS — have for years blasted the practice as a legalized scam.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008. AZ: MORE: Homebuilders fighting home warranty proposition (This article does not require registration to view) Officials from the organizations that represent homebuilders in Arizona are asking a judge to prevent a vote on a measure that would require their members to provide 10-year warranties on what they sell.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008. CA: Santa Clara County housing defaults set record, thousands nearing foreclosure Going bust: Homeowners aren't only ones getting battered. Lafferty Homes joins builders Tousa, Levitt & Sons, Kimball Hill, in bankruptcy
Wednesday, July 23, 2008. AZ: Comments on "Builders protest warranty bill" Comments appear to be free to read, while article requires registration.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008. IN: Davis Homes shuts down One of the state’s largest local homebuilders ceased operations
Wednesday, July 23, 2008. US; corporate press release: HOMEBUILDER GETS UNEXPECTED FUNDING FROM IRA INVESTORS When the banks say "No," some smart investors say "Yes" to these frustrated borrowers, using their retirement funds. (Wouldn't you just love to have yours or your company's retirement account used to fund homebuilders right now? NOT! --Ed.)
Wednesday, July 23, 2008. US: Builders Sue Banks That Pull Financing The love affair between banks and builders during the housing boom has deteriorated into a series of divorces now spilling into the courts.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008. US: Builders Dislike Taste Of Own Medicine Turnabout, apparently, isn’t fair play. After years of graft, deceptive lending and millions in profits on shoddily built houses, homebuilders are getting their just desserts. The Wall Street Journal reports that banks, under pressure from regulators and shareholders to reduce their exposure to the housing market, are backing out of construction loans en masse. Builders, for their part, are crying foul.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008. FL: Demand Is Intensifying For Mortgage Chief To Resign A second group called for Florida's top mortgage regulator to step down Tuesday, a day after the state's chief financial officer asked for his resignation. Their demands followed a newspaper investigation that revealed his office approved licenses for thousands of mortgage brokers with criminal backgrounds. Some went on to commit nearly $85 million in mortgage fraud.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008. US: White House Drops Opposition to Housing Aid Bill In this HADD news editor's opinion the bailout mostly helps the industry sell more houses, hich is why the industries lobbied for the bailout. E.g. this quote: "First-time homebuyers who purchase a house by July 2009 would be eligible for a tax credit worth up to $7,500, though the credit would eventually have to be repaid to the Treasury." And, this one, "[D]ozens of provisions aimed at halting the worst slide in house prices in a generation." If one definition of a bubble is that prices were unsustainable and unaffordable, WHY is it a good idea to keep them inflated? No mention here about other pending legislation to ban or limit "down payment assistance programs," DPA's, that result in so many foreclosures. There is a whole industry fighting that, too, despite the IRS having labeled many of them a scam. --Ed.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008. US: Housing's Headwinds: Demographics, Rising Rates, Peak Oil and Oversupply "Last but not least, let's ponder the consequences of lawsuits: against the builders of shoddy/defective homes, against fraudulent lenders, predatory lenders, investment banks which packaged high-risk mortgages and sold then as low-risk "investments," and on and on." (Also: statistics on how many empty houses, including new ones, exist in the US, and more. By Charles Hugh Smith.)
Wednesday, July 23, 2008. WSJ Letters to Editor: Arbitration or Trial in Court Should Be a Fair Choice (Responses to Christine Varney's pro-arbitration article last week) "Christine Varney's op-ed "Arbitration Works Better Than Lawsuits" (July 14) demonstrates a lack of understanding about the arbitration legislation...Congress has already passed legislation to stop automobile manufacturers from forcing automobile dealers into arbitration, and large poultry producers from doing the same to contract growers. Congress should provide the same protection for automobile buyers, nursing-home residents, franchisees and, in fact, all consumers and employees. No powerful party should be permitted to immunize itself from accountability by forcing others into a private justice system of its own choosing." --Rep. Linda T. Sánchez (D., Calif.) House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law. "The Arbitration Fairness Act would restore the balance." --Nina Keilin, NY "[T]he arbitration committee" is stacked two to one in favor of the "big guy."" --Burt L. Talcott, WA
Wednesday, July 23, 2008. US: Senate Judiciary, decrying 'pro-business' Supreme Court (Leahy) lays into the court for "blind devotion to corporation arbitration schemes."
Wednesday, July 23, 2008. US: UPDATE on Arbitration Fairness Act in Congress now: Bartholet testifies before Congress about arbitration laws "Arbitration is by definition a private justice system in the sense that the parties select and pay for the arbitrators who resolve their disputes," Bartholet wrote in her testimony. "There is a risk in this system that one side will be in a position to purchase the justice that they want. My own experience over the past two decades as an arbitrator has led me to conclude that in many instances, corporate players are...benefitting from a system of purchased justice in both the employment and the consumer credit areas." (Arbitration clauses are also found in builders' contracts and home warranty policies. See the HADD Message Boards for more on these topics. --Ed.)
Wednesday, July 23, 2008. FL: Foreclosures shutter Sorrento Springs homes "I can't say it's not my fault," he says. "I should have known better. But at the same time, I was misled. Now that I look back, the fact that the builders all of a sudden started dropping the prices tells me that they knew something I didn't." What Engle Homes might have seen was the bubble about to burst. Even so, it didn't save it. In late January, Engle's parent company, Hollywood-based Tousa Inc., filed for bankruptcy protection -- the nation's largest home builder to fail amid the housing crash.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008. FL: Residents, Builder Clash Over Panel's Mission Two East Pasco residents, Richard Riley and Nancy Hazelwood, complained the stakeholder committee has too many builders on it. It's like a "fox guarding a hen house,"...builders on the committee appear to be in a "blind rush" to develop every nook and cranny of the county, Riley declared.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008. CA: Former regional boss says Centex stiffed him on bonus, fired him when he complained Doug Pautsch Jr. suing builder for $355,000 he claims is owed to him.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008. AL: An education in erosion Wathen blames the runoff on developers, whom he says are not using adequate erosion control measures, and the city of Tuscaloosa, which he said issued permits for the subdivisions but has not properly monitored them. The city is at risk of being sued because it’s not enforcing its permit requirements ...“I haven’t found one site in this city that’s in compliance,”
Tuesday, July 22, 2008. IL: Macom facing foreclosure lawsuit Naperville-based home builder Macom Corp. is facing a foreclosure lawsuit on a proposed development...The lawsuit is the third foreclosure lawsuit to be filed against Macom
Tuesday, July 22, 2008. USA Today: Wealthy few provide cash for independent political groups Includes Bob Perry of Perry Homes, a TX home builder.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008. CA; US Dept of Justice: DEA Foils Indoor Marijuana Grow Operation Another pot growing operation uncovered in mostly new houses. Addresses of grow-houses given.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008. FL: Exculpatory Clause Not Enforceable in Home Building Contracts, Says 5th DCA The Fifth District (Evander, Pleus, and Cohen) reversed, noting that the exculpatory clause violated public policy in that "a party cannot contract away its responsibility to comply with a building code when the person with whom the contract is made is one of those whom the code is designed to protect."
Tuesday, July 22, 2008. FL 5th District Court of Appeal: PDF: Loewe v. Seagate Homes The case relevant to article above on exculpatory clause not being enforceable. Cannot waive liability in builder contract.
Monday, July 21, 2008. NV: City policy questioned: Structural Engineering Association of Southern Nevada says developer-trust policy will result in attempts to 'rig system' A group of local engineers is expressing alarm at the city's elimination of structural reviews on some buildings as tall as four stories, strip malls, tract homes and big-box stores, saying it could put the safety of residents at risk and lead to faulty construction.
Monday, July 21, 2008. FL: Brokers on the fringe: Ex-convicts find niche Fresh out of prison after serving time for bank fraud, he never went through a criminal background check before selling loans. He never took a competency exam. He never had to...The Miami Herald also found 31 instances of people with stripped or denied mortgage-broker licenses who managed to get work as loan originators.
Monday, July 21, 2008. SC: UPDATE: Family Faces Huge Costs to Fix Mold Contaminated Home At least four Daniel Island homes are contaminated with mold and have the families tangled up in a legal battle with mega home builder D.R. Horton. The company recently conducted their home tests, but fixing the problem could cost more than the houses are worth...“This is a systemic problem. It’s not just my home. It’s not just my neighbor’s home. Its homes throughout the entire neighborhood that were built by D.R. Horton and Dobson builders in that exact same period of time,”
Monday, July 21, 2008. US: Defense earmarks went beyond mission, IG says Members of Congress appropriated more than $18 million in Defense Department earmarks in fiscal 2007 for projects that either were not needed or failed to support the Pentagon's mission, according to a report released on Friday...In one instance, funds were used to pay for the travel of a team of high school students to compete in a National Association for Homebuilders competition.
Monday, July 21, 2008. NV: Lake Las Vegas Owners Place Resort in Bankruptcy The development is owned by a unit of Las Vegas-based Atalon Group, which specializes in turning around financially troubled companies. On Thursday Atalon put the development, Lake at Las Vegas Joint Venture LLC, and 14 affiliates into Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court
Monday, July 21, 2008. FL: Homebuilder pulls plug on development Lennar Homes pulls plug on JB Ranch retirement community after building model homes.
Monday, July 21, 2008. NC; SC: Landcraft projects in bankruptcy Landcraft Properties, owner, Frank Martin.
Monday, July 21, 2008. PolicyholdersOfAmerica.org: PDF: Current Newsletter of Policy Holders of America 44 pages. Numerous articles on insurance, mold, (incl. articles on D.R. Horton homes affected by mold), construction defects, flooding, an editorial on why the govt bailing out the housing/finance industries is a bad idea, and more about the mold case "Cosner v. Maronda Homes of Ohio."
Monday, July 21, 2008. CA: Brown Adds 'Shocking New Details' to Countrywide Allegations California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. has disclosed “shocking new details” about Countrywide Financial’s business practices which he said included ignoring their own underwriting guidelines and rewarding employees for selling risky home loans.
Sunday, July 20, 2008. AZ: Ariz. company sues local real-estate developer for alleged fraud Jim Kreutzer and his company, Hermosa Park LLC, as well as two lender representatives, are the primary defendants in a case filed July 11 in U.S. District Court by the EPC Corp. of Glendale, Ariz., and its owner, Dennis Shaw of Paradise Valley, Ariz. ... Kreutzer is the owner of the Hermosa-based Paragon Development Co
Sunday, July 20, 2008. NC; Nat'l interest: Business owner says illegal immigration costing local jobs The owner of Olympic Drywall and Texturing in Rowan County says he's losing out on jobs awarded instead to subcontractors who employ illegal immigrants
Sunday, July 20, 2008. US: Florida man's mountain deals in N.C. are a mystery Rabuffo and his partner were accused of masterminding a $49-million mortgage fraud. Rabuffo pleaded guilty, went into the witness protection program and served a brief prison sentence. Now, amid the huge downturn in the real estate market, he is shepherding a real estate development that is completely out of character for the area. He is building huge luxury homes sandwiched on 1-acre tracts, in a gated community he values at more than $200-million. Rabuffo has been buying land, often paying dramatically more than it's worth, and selling it to people who pay even more.
Sunday, July 20, 2008. US: Confessions of a Subprime Lender The lack of professionalism, the crazy loans, the finagle factor and the open fraud finally drove Bitner from the business. Although he escaped the worst of the mortgage meltdown, the company he founded did not; it folded in early 2007.
Saturday, July 19, 2008. US: Housing Starts and Permits Were Actually Down -- Not Up -- In June Sside from aberrational rush to beat new building codes, we saw 4% decrease.
Saturday, July 19, 2008. US: Freddie Mac brass cash in as company tumbles: Freddie CEO brings in $10.6 million for himself If Freddie decides to seek public funds, it will look laughably hypocritical. When it comes to CEO pay, this is a company that wants to operate like a private business but, when the going gets rough, it pulls the federal trump card. That's crap. Think about it: any bailout will be indirectly supporting that eight-figure compensation.
Friday, July 18, 2008. US: Calif. Attorney General Amends Countrywide Complaint On June 20, 2008 California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. sued Countrywide for engaging in deceptive advertising and unfair competition by pushing homeowners into risky loans for the sole purpose of reselling the mortgages on the secondary market. ... “These shocking new details provide further evidence of Countrywide’s dangerous lending practices, which included ignoring borrowers’ low credit scores and rewarding employees for selling risky loans,” Attorney General Brown said. “In one case the company approved an adjustable rate mortgage to an 85-year-old disabled veteran with such a low credit score and high debt that he defaulted in less than six months.” (Countrywide is the preferred lender of KB Home and Beazer, both of which quickly shed their in-house mortgage firms after federal fines and investigations into their lending practices. --Ed.)
Friday, July 18, 2008. Mother Jones: Diddling While America Burns The subprime crisis isn't simple. It isn't about wanna be Donald Trumps buying McMansions. Rather, it wasn't just about that...there was a clear pattern of deception, hard sell, and outright fraud in these loans. And that they were specifically targeted at poor, elderly blacks, and black neighborhoods.
Friday, July 18, 2008. US: The fine print: 10 secrets your bank keeps SmartMoney reveals the top things that your bank may not be telling you including arbitration clauses.
Friday, July 18, 2008. TX; Nat'l interest: BBB Q&A: What do you think of new BBB ratings? By Dan Parsons, president of Better Business Bureau, Houston. dparsons@bbbhou.org. Parsons asks readers to answer questions and comment about the BBB's rating system. See also HADD's Message Board under Everything Else, where we've started a BBB thread for the whole country not just TX.
Friday, July 18, 2008. TX: UPDATE: Judge: Kids in homes near wall must leave Wall originally built by Meca Homes crumbling for years, recent rains have caused large boulders to fall. Has also led to flooding. Meca is bankrupt.
Friday, July 18, 2008. Counter Punch: Eulogy for the Ownership Society: Swan Song for Fanny Mae It makes no sense to provide trillions of dollars of taxpayer money to shore up a system that is essentially dysfunctional. It's just throwing money down a rat-hole.
Friday, July 18, 2008. US: Corporate Fraud + Government Intervention = Bailout Nation More on how bailout bills in congress mostly reward the industries/people who caused a bubble and bust.
Friday, July 18, 2008. NV: Lake Las Vegas Developer, Affiliates File Ch. 11 Lake at Las Vegas Joint Venture LLC, the master developer of the 3,600-acre Lake Las Vegas and its independent subsidiaries on Thursday filed for protection from creditors under Ch. 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code.
Friday, July 18, 2008. US: Windward Homes changes name to K. Hovnanian Homes FL company will now be known as K. Hovnanian Homes after Hovnanian Enterprises, headquartered in Red Bank, N.J.
Thursday, July 17, 2008. US: Builders Protection Group; (finally a home warranty company whose name says it all!) (Click on "Limited Warranty Document" to read that there will be an arbitration clause the homeowner is 'tied' to. Also, on the About Us page on this site, pictures scrolled by of construction sites including a house with windows installed without one lick of window flashing. That omission can be a code violation and many GOOD builders know it means the windows will leak, rotting the walls from the inside out. We'll keep an eye on this company and would appreciate feedback from homeowners who have this co's policy. --Ed.)
Thursday, July 17, 2008. Building Online, a building industry site: Louisiana-Pacific Reaches Settlements in OSB Litigation OSB antitrust litigation. Appears industry people are the "class" in this lawsuit, not consumers.
Thursday, July 17, 2008. FL; CNN: Yahoo news VIDEO: Bombs found in Orlando suburb UPDATE on Lennar development.
Thursday, July 17, 2008. Nat'l interest: Florida's economy: 'a human pyramid scheme' A construction-based economy that depends on a thousand newcomers today, whose jobs in turn depend on drawing another thousand the next day...Florida has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation, and leads the nation in mortgage fraud.
Thursday, July 17, 2008. US: Troubles Could Diminish Clout of Fannie, Freddie The financial troubles of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could diminish their legendary influence on Washington decision-making just as lawmakers prepare to put a tighter leash on the two mortgage giants. The companies together have spent more than $170 million on lobbying since 1998 and their political action committees have given around $1.5 million in campaign contributions to members of Congress.
Thursday, July 17, 2008. CA: Neighbors have been worried about crumbling rock wall for years Several homeowners may have to vacate homes, as bankrupt Meca Homes' crumbling wall threatens their property and safety.
Thursday, July 17, 2008. Law blog: Mortgage Fraud News of the day on mortgage fraud indictments, scams, etc.
Thursday, July 17, 2008. Patrick.net: Housing Crash News of the day on mortgage mess, bailouts, etc.
Thursday, July 17, 2008. CT: Written Memorial of Oral Agreement to Arbitrate Not Always Enforceable Arbitration industry website discussing construction defect case Paley v. PMC Design Builders.
Thursday, July 17, 2008. US: Mortgage Misery - Part 2: Talking to a scam victim After taking a closer look at the numbers, John learned that he bought his homes at prices inflated by tens of thousands of dollars. At the time, he believed the price was fair because it checked out with the home's appraiser, realtor, and mortgage broker. But John claims they were working together to set the home at a specific price, for their profit.
Thursday, July 17, 2008. Wall St. Journal Law Blog: Subprime Legal: Feds and States Probe Wachovia, IndyMac Among 21 banks under FBI investigation for mortgage fraud.
Thursday, July 17, 2008. IN: Lawsuit continues over Clark County drainage board’s authority Another development with drainage problems that was approved by the local govt.
Thursday, July 17, 2008. US: Earthship Enterprise: The Ultimate Eco-House “Imagine a home that heats itself, that provides its own water, and grows its own food,” says Reynolds. “Imagine that it needs no expensive technology, it recycles its own waste, and it has its own power source. And now imagine that it can be built anywhere, by anyone, out of the things that society throws away.”
Thursday, July 17, 2008. IA: Regency Homes UPDATE: Lender sues Regency founder's trust Regency, once the state's largest homebuilder, ceased operations at the end of April
Thursday, July 17, 2008. CO: Manhunt Underway For Fugitive Colorado Homebuilder (Mortgage Fraud Scam) Mark Strodtman of J.S. Real Estate charged with Racketeering, 11 Counts of Theft and 11 Counts of Forgery
Thursday, July 17, 2008. WSJ: UPDATE: KB Home and it's lender Countrywide Sued Again Alleges KB-Countrywide venture was "sham" entity designed to skirt federal Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). (HADD has posted numerous articles over the years about builders' lenders, incl. KB Home's lending practices, being fined by HUD because of it, and Countrywide's problems. Countrywide is now also the lender of Beazer Homes, after Beazer shut down it's Beazer Mortgage on the heels of a govt investigation into it's lending operation. --Ed.)
Thursday, July 17, 2008. SC: Sun City residents need full incorporation debate Some Sun City Hilton Head neighborhoods are affected by developer-created problems with lagoons, stormwater drainage, stucco, roof trusses, etc. Residents should expect the support of the Sun City board of directors in helping to resolve these major issues. However, Pulte Homes took back control of the board last January, and Pulte employees now hold a four-to-three majority over residents. In addition, a Pulte employee now serves as the board's president. As a result, Pulte controls the board's agenda. ... So what happens? The Pulte-dominated board comes out with a public statement against incorporation, trying to pre-empt any communitywide dialogue among residents. It's reported that residents cannot hold workshops or collect petition signatures at Sun City facilities.
Thursday, July 17, 2008. US: Financing arm of Centex Corp. sells mortgage retail offices CTX Mortgage, financing arm of homebuilder Centex.
Thursday, July 17, 2008. US: Don't Go for the Housing Report 'Head Fake' The Commerce Department today reported that housing starts in June surged by more than 9 percent from May. Permits, meanwhile, increased even more so, rising nearly 12 percent from the previous month. But don't break out the funnel cake just yet, as the report is in fact what economists and basketball analysts refer to as a "head fake." ... The Census Bureau noted that most of this increase came from New York City where builders rushed to file permits (and start new buildings) ahead of the July 1 imposition of a tougher building code.
Thursday, July 17, 2008. FL: State Farm's rates could rise 70% for some EXCERPTS: ''That's outrageous,'' said Sen. Jeff Atwater...''The only thing that I can feel good about is that 60 days ago we changed Florida law, and Florida consumers will not be victimized by State Farm,'' Before, insurers had been allowed to implement a rate increase first and then get state approval. The new law also abolished the arbitration panel, a system for appealing rate increases that had been denied by the state Office of Insurance Regulation. Arbitration had proved extremely favorable to insurance companies, who won all but a few cases.
Thursday, July 17, 2008. Consumerist: Let's Face It: Mandatory Binding Arbitration Sucks Another rebuttal to recent Wall Street Journal article.
Thursday, July 17, 2008. OH/U.S.: January 2008 article relevant to new one below, on predatory lending Cleveland sues lenders over subprime: City says 21 banks and mortgage companies signed off on deals they knew they shouldn't have made.
Thursday, July 17, 2008. OH; Nat'l interest: Sue The Bastards! What To Do About Mortgage Brokers And Lenders Who Don't Play Fair? The suit represents a tectonic shift in how predatory lending cases are handled. Case-by-case approaches have left attorneys and investigators unable to detect larger patterns of racially motivated lending. But now, Kramer's new approach, and pricing data available only since 2004, has emboldened a host of players - all separately coming to the conclusion that it's time to switch targets: to the banks and investment firms.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. FL: With leak fixed, Villages resident is hot to alert neighbors to check water heaters After long struggle to get leak fixed, and others' complaints of mold and shoddy work, man wants neighbors to make sure hot water heaters don't have same defect.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. AZ: Builders oppose law that would require them to hire only legal workers "Poised to undermine the will of the people" builders, other businesses that hire illegals pump money into effort to kill the legislation known as the "Stop Illegal Hiring Act."
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. US: MORE on DPA's: Housing bill faces veto risk US Dept of Housing and Urban Development says Down Payment Assistance Programs are a driving force behind foreclosures.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. US: Freddie and Fannie Hit Snooze on American Dream Plan bails out lenders and sandbags the people.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. US: Fannie, Freddie Spent $200 Million To Buy Influence Over the past decade, they have spent nearly $200 million on lobbying and campaign contributions. But the political tentacles of the mortgage giants extend far beyond their checkbooks.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. US: Angelo's Many "Friends" The Countrywide V.I.P.-loan scandal went far beyond a few members of Congress. An exclusive look inside C.E.O. Angelo Mozilo's secret effort to curry favor with lawmakers, politicians, and others who could influence the company's fortunes...Current or prospective business partners who received special treatment include former C.E.O.’s William Esrey of Sprint, which teamed up with Countrywide to provide property information to homebuyers on their cell phones, and Bruce Karatz of KB Home, a leading homebuilder that refers customers to Countrywide for mortgages.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. US: UPDATE: Report says FBI probing IndyMac for possible fraud IndyMac IDMC.PK is under investigation by the FBI for possible fraud involving home loans made to risky borrowers. (This bank was taken over by the govt last week. Beazer, Countrywide, other co's also under investigation. --Ed.)
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. NY: No bail after fugitive developer busted, charged in massive condo scam Eliyahu Ezagui, 47, pocketed $15 million in mortgages on condos he sold to families living in two buildings he developed in the Brooklyn neighborhood. Authorities said it was the biggest local case of subprime mortgage fraud on record.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. US: Clear and Simple Mortgage Disclosure "The mortgage business has been calling loud and clear for better laws. But infighting among the various players in the process--brokers, funding lenders, real-estate professionals, title companies, builders, appraisers, and so on--has served only to block whatever efforts put forth to improve consumer protections."
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. FL; Nat'l interest: No Bailout--No Bail! As the Bush administration unveiled a publicly-financed plan to "save" mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, local residents at a town hall forum in Miami were calling for criminal prosecutions of the loan-shark mortgage brokers and investment firms that profited from poor people's housing despair.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. Inman Real Estate news site: Companies rallying for seller-funded down payments UPDATE on Down Payment Assistance Programs, (DPA's), "Nonprofits" that have been called financial shell games, money laundering, and (by the IRS) a scam. Builders are one of the biggests users of DPA's, a scheme to sell houses that often results in foreclosure. FHA may have to ask Congress for money to cover the defaults. Previously FHA loan defaults were covered by buyers' mortgage insurance. DPA's and other schemes that result in more foreclosures could mean tax payers pick up the tab. --Editorial summary of this and past articles/documents on DPA's posted on HADD Headline News and HADD Message Boards.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. WSJ: UPDATE: Real-Estate Financier's Death Hints At Trouble for Lenders Scott Coles (owner of Mortgages Ltd) dead, suspected suicide.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. Press Release: Americas Watchdog Home Builders need to get out of the home lending business. Aside from inflating appraisals, home builders have been gouging consumers with undisclosed yield spread premiums for years. The mortgage industry is currently being crushed with calls on non-performing loans. Home builders could be next. What will home builders do when Wall Street comes knocking with pay back provisions for non-performing loans. Many home builders could end up going the way of New Century Mortgage. Appraisal fraud in the home building industry is a massive national problem that has received little to no attention. (Posted for informational purposes only, not an endorsement of this or any company. --Ed.)
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. Minnesota Public Radio: Minnesota Slowdown: Tracing the roots of a sliding economy Builders increased production, then offered 'incentives' when market slowed down; pressure was on by Countrywide to offer more risky loans which were bundled w/other loans and sold as investments. More than half the foreclosures were owned by 'investors.'
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. TX: Twice Victims Of Mortgage Fraud, Family Faces Eviction A Tarrant County couple is being evicted from their home -- even though they made their mortgage payments every month... According to the FBI, such crimes have doubled in the past few years...He said he and his wife thought they were leasing to buy their home...Lee said that while the couple was writing checks to the builder, he never paid the bank...The builder, meanwhile, has disappeared...Davis and his wife then met Sabrina Jones, who claimed to be a senior loan officer for a mortgage company...They have canceled checks for the thousands of dollars they wrote to her. She told them it was "earnest money,"..."She would look at you eye-to-eye like she was telling the truth," he said. "All along she was just telling us the biggest fib...Jones, like the builder, ran off.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. AZ: Marana faces $1.3M sewer-line suit The insurance company that had to finish the long-delayed Honea Heights sewer project after the original builder went bankrupt has sued Marana in federal court to recover $1.3 million in cost overruns.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. US: Home Builders: Tousa's lenders sued Creditors accused Tousa, the bankrupt home builder, of forcing subsidiaries to take on debt that they could not repay in its purchase of Transeastern Properties.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. WA: MORE: Agency seeks tales of woe regarding work on homes If you’ve had problems with a residential building contractor, the Washington State Department of Licensing wants to hear from you...Members of the public are invited to share their experiences with residential contractors and their thoughts on what type of regulation would best serve consumers. The results will be compiled into a “Sunrise Study” of whether legislation to expand professional licensing or some other kind of other regulation is needed. Information will also be gathered from the building industry, the Department of Labor and Industries and the consumer affairs division of the Attorney General’s office. (YOUR chance to speak up! Don't let the main voice they hear be that of the builders! --Ed.)
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. WA; HOME WARRANTY POLICY PROBLEMS: Law skewed in favor of builders Typically a new home buyer signs the purchase agreement handed to him by the builder. Oftentimes these agreements provide for a so-called "third party warranty." These "warranties" are not what a typical consumer would consider a warranty. They require owners to pay a processing fee to report a claim, then wait for the warranty company to notify the builder of the problem. Nothing requires the builder to respond in any way. If the builder fails to respond, the homeowner can request arbitration at the homeowner's expense. Usually, the arbitrator is one selected by the warranty company, rather than a neutral source. ... Judge Strophy, a highly regarded Thurston County Superior Court judge, examined one of these warranties and declared it so one-sided it "shocked the conscience."
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. US: Another blog criticizes Christine Varney's praise of arbitration clauses in the WSJ "The true inconvenient reality, however, is that in many cases arbitration is neither cheapest nor fairest route to resolve disputes."
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. US: Big Business Wants You Out of the Courtroom, (Blog criticism of recent WSJ article) (UPDATE on progress of the Arbitration Fairness Act, which HADD supports. We've been told the bill is moving through committees in congress.) "Ms Varney makes many ridiculous claims in her attack on this bill, which is merely designed to forbid most mandatory arbitration "agreements" and give consumers access to the courts...Ms. Varney then makes the preposterous claim that arbitration actually helps level the playing field between consumers and big businesses!! Why does Big Business support arbitration, if it levels the playing field between it and consumers? Because Big Business knows arbitration takes the fact-finding out of the purview of citizens and places it into the hands of arbitrators bought and paid for by Big Business.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. MI: Rackham must remain a golf course, appeals court rules Michigan Court of Appeals has upheld a decision that the Rackham Golf Course must remain a golf course and cannot be sold by the City of Detroit for other purposes. Detroit has been seeking permission to sell the land to a housing developer.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. MI; Nat'l interest: REMINDER: Murray Gula show Thur July 17, 2008 Topics of defective construction, housing crash, etc, are expected to be covered.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. TX: Tremont Tower update It didn’t garner much local attention, but a certain local condo building — along with a few close friends — made a star appearance in last week’s big mortgage-scam announcement by the FBI. More than 400 people were charged in 144 separate mortgage fraud cases nationwide over the last 3 months as part of the agency’s “Operation Malicious Mortgage.” Six of those arrests were in Houston:
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. International Code Council News: Grant Program to Support Code Compliance Passes Committee (And other articles.)
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. WA: Residential Contractor Customer Survey From WA state dept of licensing: "Take a survey to tell us how satisfied you are with your experiences with residential contractors in Washington State."
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. US: Barron's: Wrong on Housing Author doesn't see bottom yet: "An unprecedented 10% of homes built after 2000 stand vacant...bailout will only delay the inevitable repricing that needs to take place"
Wednesday, July 16, 2008. US: Homebuilders Still Building Plenty Many new developments still building; D.R. Horton mold lawsuits, etc.
Monday, July 14, 2008. US: Other voices: Fannie mayhem, Freddie doubt finally come into public focus We haven't suddenly become socialists. What taxpayers need to understand is that Fannie and Freddie already practice socialism, albeit of the dishonest kind. Their profit is privatized but their risk is socialized...The Washington political class has nurtured and subsidized these financial beasts for decades in return for their campaign cash and lobbying support. Wall Street and the homebuilders also cashed in on the subsidized business, and also paid back Congress in cash and carry. The losers have been the taxpayers, who will now have to pay the price for this collusion.
Monday, July 14, 2008. NV: Lobbyists flout disclosure rules Lobbyists who failed to disclose include Jennifer Lazovich of Kummer, Kaempfer, Bonner, Renshaw & Ferrario, who represents check-cashing stores, homebuilders and billboard companies.
Monday, July 14, 2008. US: Let the Lawsuits Begin; Banks Brace for a Storm of Litigation The ticking time bomb in the U.S. banking system is not resetting subprime mortgage rates. The real problem is the contractual ability of investors in mortgage bonds to require banks to buy back the loans at face value if there was fraud in the origination process.
Monday, July 14, 2008. NPR: Fannie, Freddie Critics Say Warnings Were Ignored Political clout and donations of Fannie, Freddie, builders, realtors.
Monday, July 14, 2008. AZ: UPDATE: Queen Creek community upset about flooding Pulte development
Monday, July 14, 2008. Yahoo News: Downsize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (Fannie and Freddie) are socialist instruments holding great sway over private finance from Wall Street to Main Street, having built up powerful allies among home builders and real estate agents to keep it that way.
Monday, July 14, 2008. NC: Portrait Homes firewalls unfinished Update on inadequate firewall construction in new townhomes that failed to meet state law.
Monday, July 14, 2008. IA: Central State Bank sues Regency executives Regency Homes owes nearly $400,000
Monday, July 14, 2008. UT: Dared to dream, and lost it all: Sour investors say firm misled them with inflated land appraisals Although Moss named a dozen defendants in the lawsuit -- including appraisers, loan officers and builders -- he lays most of the blame in the lap of Kimberly Schneider, of South Jordan, who ran Transform America Mortgage and Dare to Dream.
Monday, July 14, 2008. The Oregonian: Real estate is shaky ground for Northwest banks Construction and development loans come back to haunt Oregon lenders as their stocks plunge amid the national credit crisisConstruction and development loans come back to haunt Oregon lenders as their stocks plunge amid the national credit crisis
Monday, July 14, 2008. WashingtonCEO.com: Bank data shows big spike in potential foreclosures Mounting problems with loans builders, developers.
Monday, July 14, 2008. WSJ: Bank Fears Spread After Seizure of IndyMac For much of the past decade, borrowers and lenders have been lulled into a sense of security about the safety of the banking system. As real-estate values soared, banks doled out loans that fed the explosion in residential construction, mortgages and home-equity borrowings. Loan defaults hovered at historic lows as home buyers and builders flipped properties and sold them at huge profits.
Monday, July 14, 2008. KY: Borrowers say fraud fueled rise of banker Lee Tevis, a Georgetown builder, said in his claim that Tate told him to create several corporations solely to move around his mounting debt. Eventually, Tevis said, his business depended on this ”refinancing Ponzi scheme.“
Monday, July 14, 2008. FL: Freedom Bank struggles with bad loans Freedom's problems stem from lending to a group of builders and developers who appeared to be making it happen during the madness of the boom, and crashed hard in the bust. Daniel Prewett, who was sentenced last month to 18 years in prison for drug and money laundering convictions, borrowed $2.509 million from Freedom in July 2005 to finance the conversion of a resort hotel on St. Pete Beach to condominiums, and defaulted two years later. Similarly, companies belonging to David Winterrowd, a Sarasota accountant and home builder who was once a partner of jailed mortgage broker Todd Kolbe, defaulted on $2.4 million in loans. And Anna Maria Island developers Steve Noriega and Robert Byrne, who filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2006, listing more than $30 million in debts to a slew of banks and private investors, defaulted on a $200,000 loan.
Monday, July 14, 2008. Federal Reserve: Federal Reserve Board on Monday approved a final rule for home mortgage loans Fed closes barn door after horses escape.
Monday, July 14, 2008. Consumer Affairs: FDIC takes over as IndyMac becomes the second-largest bank failure in history The Center for Responsible Lending, a consumer advocacy organization, said IndyMac's decline was caused by “unsound and abusive lending” practices.
Monday, July 14, 2008. Seeking Alpha investment site: You Don't Own Real Estate - It Owns You Summary: Three types of real estate: investment, speculative, and personal. Investment means it produces income. Speculation is a bet. Personal is a place to live, NOT an investment.
Monday, July 14, 2008. NY Times: Silence of the Lenders: Is Anyone Listening? Summary: Lenders like Countrywide and others still not doing much to work out loans as they were supposed to be doing. "Using what is known as a qualified written request under Section 6 of Respa, LoanSafe also asks the servicers whose loans it is examining to detail the amounts owed by a borrower as well as asking it to justify all fees. “Magically, when we do that, we will get an offer of a modification and those fees often go away,” Mr. Bedard says. Because servicers must answer such requests within 60 days, Mr. Bedard suggests that all borrowers make them. (A sample letter is on the Web site of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, at www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/res/reslettr.cfm.)"
Saturday, July 12, 2008. WA: Complaints about contractors aired at Vancouver meeting Frustrated homeowners offered a litany of complaints about experiences with residential building contractors Friday at a Vancouver information-gathering session held by the Washington Department of Licensing. The department is soliciting information to help shape legislation for the 2009 Legislature that could tighten contractor standards and make the industry more accountable in cases of shoddy construction practices and contract violations...If there was a theme in the day’s testimony, it was that consumers have little or no recourse when work is of poor quality — or isn’t performed at all.
Saturday, July 12, 2008. KS: Man pleads guilty to 3 counts of writing bad checks Robert Kafka also under investigation for construction fraud.
Saturday, July 12, 2008. CA: UPDATE: Financing approved for Diablo Grande Diablo Grande’s new owner also would acquire the developing community’s debts, which so far total about $59 million — a sticky selling point.
Saturday, July 12, 2008. FL: Holiday Builders lays off workers Holiday, the second largest locally-based homebuilder, also has pulled out of markets in Ohio and Mississippi.
Saturday, July 12, 2008. Wall St. Journal: Fannie Mae Ugly If there's any other good news in all this, it is that the scandal of Fannie and Freddie is at last coming into public focus. The Washington political class has nurtured and subsidized these financial beasts for decades in return for their campaign cash and lobbying support. Wall Street and the homebuilders also cashed in on the subsidized business, and also paid back Congress in cash and carry. The losers have been the taxpayers, who will now have to pay the price for this collusion. Maybe the press corps will even start reporting how this vast confidence game could happen.
Saturday, July 12, 2008. CO: Foreclosures go high-end Million-dollar homes, offices, show up on rolls
Saturday, July 12, 2008. Nat'l interest: $1 million is lost in deal backed by risky loans What the city thought was a highly rated short-term investment known as commercial paper turned out to be a risky security backed in part by subprime mortgages, city officials said. The name of the paper is Golden Key, which at the time of the investment was a $5 billion program. St. Paul is joining a growing list of municipalities, institutions and agencies trying to recoup losses as the subprime mortgage meltdown continues to rock financial markets. Cities in Iowa and Indiana have sued brokers for selling them investments not allowed by governments because they are too risky.
Friday, July 11, 2008. OK: Legislators Seek Regier's Ouster State Senators Debbe Leftwich and Harry Coates called on the Construction Industries Board (CIB) today to remove Jerry Regier as the agency's Interim Director. Regier was hired last week - a move the two legislators believe to be pointless...good 'ole boy system
Friday, July 11, 2008. OK: State construction board hires interim leader Jerry Regier, who resigned a state post in Florida after he was accused of ethical lapses, has been hired as interim administrator of a state agency in Oklahoma. Regier was chosen to head up the Board of Construction Industries of Oklahoma until a permanent director is named
Friday, July 11, 2008. SC: UPDATE on DR Horton cases: Homeowners file suit; mold tests planned Poor workmanship and lack of appropriate window flashings are factors in the water intrusion...Two Daniel Island families already have said they moved from their D.R. Horton homes because their kids' doctors recommended it after seeing the results of mold tests.
Friday, July 11, 2008. SC: UPDATE: D.R. Horton faces mold lawsuits Several other families recently talked about having mold problems with their D.R. Horton-built homes
Friday, July 11, 2008. AZ: Rising Water Traps Gilbert Residents Homeowners like Keenan said they blame the city of Gilbert and the home builder for not creating a better water drainage system that could have prevented this from happening. There's so much flooding that homeowners still couldn't get out by late Friday afternoon.
Friday, July 11, 2008. CA: UPDATE on Hertel: Scroll down to: "In an unrelated matter, a custom home builder at the troubled resort has been cited..." The complaint alleges that the subdivision developer didn't adequately control sediment and erosion at the site in January and February, causing sediment-laden storm water to flow onto adjacent wetlands. (Part of story is also about contaminated drinking water in Diable Grande resort.) The 86-acre subdivision includes 197 lots and is being developed by RW Hertel & Sons.
Friday, July 11, 2008. TX: UPDATE: SAHA Ups Buyback Offer For Mirasol Homes SAHA has already spent about $5.5 million to decontaminate and repair more than 400 homes built by K-B Homes... (Article also has links to past stories about Mirasol development.)
Friday, July 11, 2008. US: Senate Passes Housing Stimulus Bill, National Association of Home Builders Urges House to Quickly Follow Suit (Late breaking news: Builders one step closer to a govt bailout.)
Friday, July 11, 2008. US: Senate Passes Housing Bill Banning Seller-Funded Downpayment Assistance (Late breaking news: So far Nehemiah and Ameridream, two providers of controversial DPA's, have issued statements on their disappointment over the senate decision. This article is Nehmiah's statement. DPA's have been in the news over the last couple of years due to higher foreclosures, have been called a scam by the IRS. HUD has tried to shut them down. They've been compared to money laundering and shell games. One of the biggest users of DPA's are the homebuilders. See the HADD news page and our Message Boards (Mortgage forum) for more. --Ed.)
Friday, July 11, 2008. US: IndyMac Bank seized by federal regulators Second-largest bank failure in U.S. history...bank has been reeling from losses on defaulted mortgages made at the height of the housing boom.
Friday, July 11, 2008. IN; Nat'l interest: Great letter about arbitration clauses in consumer contracts Such agreements usually severely limit the process of discovery in which both sides probe the facts of what happened with a series of questions. The consumer typically needs this process much more than the business, which already knows all it needs to know about the consumer and usually about what happened. There is usually little or no choice of the arbitration agency, which is customarily stipulated in the contract. Such agencies benefit financially from these contracts, and it is impossible for me to believe that there is no long-term bias in favor of business; businesses would not be using binding mandatory arbitration if it were not to their advantage. The consumer cannot appeal an arbitration result to an outside court, and an award can stand even if it is legally wrong and unjust. Shockingly, I have seen binding mandatory arbitration contracts that allow the business the option of proceeding in outside courts even though that option is denied to the consumer... by JOHN ROBINSON Huntertown (Excellent letter pointing out many drawbacks of arbitration for consumers. --Ed.)
Friday, July 11, 2008. TX: Ocean Tower problems prompt $125M lawsuit "Leaning Tower of Padre Island." The suit names as defendants all three of Ocean Tower's contractors: engineering firms Raba-Kistner Consultants Inc., based in San Antonio, and Datum Engineering Inc., based in Austin, as well as Delaware based Zachry Construction Corp. Ocean Tower accuses the firms of fraud and/or gross negligence and is seeking $125 million in damages. (Cracks and settling.)
Friday, July 11, 2008. ID: Idaho loan fraud trial delayed to Oct. 7 A federal grand jury indicted Christopher Upchurch, Barbara Cobos, Nicholas Gossi, Nicholas Coats and Max Reich, accusing them of operating a fraudulent construction loan and kickback scheme...Cobos, a loan officer, allegedly helped approve the loans and in return received kickbacks. Upchurch, a building contractor, withdrew the money from the loans but didn't always build the house, court records show. The others received "finder fees" for locating the straw borrowers
Friday, July 11, 2008. AZ: Scroll down to: Homeowners’ Bill of Rights Signatures being verified This measure would provide for a 10-year warranty on new homes and give consumers the right to demand the correction of construction defects or compensation. They could sue if no agreement can be reached with the builder. It would give homeowners the right to cancel within 100 days and get back most of their deposit.
Friday, July 11, 2008. NC: 'Dream Home' developer closes In addition to Grey Rock, Land Resource’s Wild Ridges development in McDowell County has also been shut down...Grey Rock, in its three-plus years of development, has generated considerable controversy with neighbors, who have complained about construction-related erosion problems. A residents’ group is taking the developers to court, nearly three years after the neighbors first noticed sediment in the creeks near their homes. The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources cited developers for sediment problems during the building of the Dream Home and fined the developers nearly $94,000 for erosion problems that inspectors documented from Sept. 21, 2005, to Feb. 16, 2006. The state also stopped construction at Grey Rock early last year after developers failed to comply with state orders to fix environmental problems.
Friday, July 11, 2008. SC: UPDATE: Mold making life hard Two families have been forced to flee their homes because of toxic mold. The homes on Jordan Court on Daniel Island were all built by D.R. Horton home builders. Now a third home in the area is being inspected as well. (Attorney's quote in article that the homeowners should be able to recover all their damages are in this editor's opinion, naïve; arbitration clauses in the builder's contract or 3rd party home warranty policy may prohibit suing unless they find a way out of it, which is hard to do. As for going to court, they are not guaranteed to win or recover damages and could suffer much financial hardship waiting for the outcome of any type of dispute resolution. -Ed.)
Friday, July 11, 2008. TX: Foreclosures, late payments plague area housing developer Pacific Summit Partners and its associated partnerships and companies have fallen behind on payments...At least 141 of the 326 acres involved in Pacific Summit's highest-profile local project, Lakeline Station near U.S. 183 and RM 620, have been posted for foreclosure after the group failed to make at least one quarterly payment to the landowner...about two dozen suppliers have secured or attempted to secure scores of liens on properties owned by Pacific Summit and several affiliated partnerships and companies, including the home builder Pacific Century Homes
Friday, July 11, 2008. Bloomberg: U.S. Adopts Capitalism Lite for Housing Bailout Expansion of FHA poses direct risk to us, the taxpayers.
Friday, July 11, 2008. US: Builder Implode-O-Meter News, builder bankruptcies, message board.
Friday, July 11, 2008. Blog: Flipping Frenzy Current news and commentary on real estate, mortgage fraud, etc.
Friday, July 11, 2008. Of Two Minds: (Parody) Turning a Profit on Abandoned McMansions and SUVs Capitalist extraordinaire Ronald Dump is touting two "huge" profit-center ideas: converting abandoned/worthless McMansions into modern tenements...
Friday, July 11, 2008. MA; Nat'l interest: The Building Permit and the Homeowner Homeowners do not consider the responsiblity that goes along with pulling the permit and do not really think things through before doing so.
Friday, July 11, 2008. Attorney Rachel Dollar's law blog: Mortgage Fraud Daily news, indictments, etc.
Friday, July 11, 2008. US: Mortgage scam is front for identity theft A White City woman was approached recently by a man claiming to work for a mortgage "watchdog" group. The suspect said he could look over mortgage paperwork to spot potential errors that could save the buyer thousands of dollars, Jackson County Detective Sgt. Colin Fagan said. "He charges a $300 fee for this bogus service," Fagan said. "Also, he takes the paperwork with him and does not return." The suspect said he was affiliated with a local mortgage lender. Detectives believe he may have visited the company and made away with several business cards, which he displayed to the victim, Fagan said. Mortgage paperwork gives a criminal a wealth of financial information that could be used to drain a bank account or open credit cards in the victim's name, Fagan said...Police believe the suspect is Bart Arthur Blahosky
Friday, July 11, 2008. Patrick.Net: Housing Crash Daily news.
Friday, July 11, 2008. MSNBC: SNEAKY FEE ALERT: AGENTS DING HOME BUYERS Sometimes the fees aren't disclosed until closing day. They don’t appear on the Good Faith Estimates provided by banks when pricing mortgages, for example. Instead, buyers’ agent fees first appear on the complex HUD-1 settlement form given to both parties at the closing table. At that point, it's difficult for a buyer to stop the proceedings and argue about the fee. That's why it's always best to ask for a preliminary HUD-1 draft estimate, which is often available 48 to 72 hours before closing.
Friday, July 11, 2008. Seeking Alpha investment site: Fannie & Freddie: Affirmative Action for the Rich and Stupid Any bailout of the GSEs would not be about homeowners. It would be about charity to financial institutions and investors who have not behaved logically and stand to lose terribly due to sloppy decision making.
Friday, July 11, 2008. NY Times: U.S. Weighs Takeover of Two Mortgage Giants Alarmed by the growing financial stress at the nation’s two largest mortgage finance companies, senior Bush administration officials are considering a plan to have the government take over one or both of the companies and place them in a conservatorship if their problems worsen...A conservatorship or other rescue operation would be the second time in four months that the Bush administration has stepped in to engineer a rescue to prevent the financial system from collapsing. Last March, it forced the sale of Bear Stearns to JPMorgan Chase to avert a bankruptcy of that venerable investment house.
Thursday, July 10, 2008. FL: Heritage Isles Supervisor Suggests Suing Developer Even after Lennar paid down half of the debt, residents have subsidized the golf and restaurant operation by more than $700,000.
Thursday, July 10, 2008. FL: UPDATE: Development Denies Army Corps Search For Bombs Residents said more searching needs to be done to make sure their neighborhood is safe, but the development’s owner, Lennar Homes, has denied the Army Corps access. A resident found an explosive in her flower bed on Tuesday
Thursday, July 10, 2008. WI: Scroll down to: High court lets insurer off the hook American Family Insurance, the contractor's general liability insurer, doesn't have to pay damages because the contractor's misrepresentations were not accidental. (This is from the Milwaukee Journal. For more articles on when a builder's insurance covers defective work check out www.irmi.com and the HADD message board under "Everything Else." --Ed.)
Thursday, July 10, 2008. MO: County adopts builders contract assuring promised amenities are delivered DeSoto County developers will be required to sign contracts providing that amenities promised in subdivision applications are either built or bonded before final plans are approved, beginning Aug. 1.
Thursday, July 10, 2008. US: UPDATE: FEMA trailers debated on Hill “What happened is a disgrace on the part of government,” he said. “But it is not an exoneration of the manufacturers.”
Thursday, July 10, 2008. CO; Nat'l interest: Fewer than 2,000 move to Fort Collins in year "(Builders) got overaggressive on housing ... they overbuilt, provided mortgage money to people who they knew couldn't afford it," Neenan said. "Now the call is for more governance."
Wednesday, July 09, 2008. SC: Another Family Forced from Mold Infested Home Mold is taking over some Daniel Island homes and forcing families to move out. The families say shoddy construction is to blame. They are prepared to fight mega home builder D.R. Horton. ... Contractor David Geesaman thinks the problems are a direct result of the builder cutting corners. "There is no flashing. The contractor just skipped that phase and didn't add any flashing at all," Geesaman explained. Flashing is the protective border between the siding of a house and the house itself. "It’s very important. You'll just end up with this problem we have in these houses, mold and mildew and always being wet around the windows."
Wednesday, July 09, 2008. US: Mortgage crisis worse than advertised The latest shoe to drop is the role of hundreds of regional banks, previously thought impervious, that are now being exposed as having been complicit. This means that involvement with faulty mortgages ensnared in the overvalued assets is more widespread than first believed.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008. PA: Effort contractor took money, didn't perform the work A jury Tuesday convicted J&R Contracting owner Richard Coad of Effort on theft charges.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008. US: Why This Housing Bust Is Worst Ever: The American Dream Ends Reader comments at end, too.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008. FL: Homeowner's two-year battle with contractor yields charges (Homeowner's 2 yr battle with "Jack B. Quick:") Getting prosecutors to charge Quick was a battle for Rowe. The disputes, which the St. Petersburg Times first profiled in 2006, were the kind that authorities often dismiss as matters for the civil courts. Other victims — fearing costly legal fees and emotional trauma — might have abandoned the cases long ago. Quick's state and county contractor's licenses remain active and in good standing...Even with Quick's bankruptcy case, a judgment against him would allow Rowe and Myers to seek money from a recovery fund for victims of construction fraud. But there are hurdles to getting access to that money, which suggests all the more to Rowe that the system favors contractors more than homeowners. "That's why most people give up," Rowe said. "But as they say, it only takes one person to start something and others will follow."...Rowe sought out other Quick customers, including Myers, to see if they had experiences like hers. Several said they did and filed complaints with various local and state agencies. After their investigation, prosecutors found cause to pursue Rowe's and Myers' cases. ... Rowe said someone needs to protect the homeowner, so she's looking into starting a service to provide background checks on contractors. Times researcher Carolyn Edds contributed to this report. Ivan Penn can be reached at ipenn@sptimes.com or (727) 892-2332. Still, Rowe's struggle for restitution is far from over.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008. US: GOP sides with businesses over toxic trailers Manufacturers say they are not responsible for FEMA trailers that had toxic levels of formaldehyde, despite Democrats' findings that companies knew about the dangers yet sold them to the government anyway after Hurricane Katrina.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008. SC: Builder going into bankruptcy The developer of Whitney Lakes subdivision on Johns Island, John D. Lisi, says his company will be filing for bankruptcy protection in hopes the reorganization will allow the project to move forward.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008. NV: Reno lender taken over by regulators Regulators took over Cetus Mortgage, a closed Reno-based hard-money lender, citing evidence that investor signatures were forged and other improper actions occurred, officials announced Tuesday. Cetus solicited money from individual and institutional investors and used the money to make loans mostly for single-family home construction....In a meeting with the division, Benvin admitted that she made payments to borrowers on behalf of J.E. Morros Construction, which had not made payments on loans, the order said.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008. WI: Owners of McGrath condos rail against big repair costs Franklin Street Condos, 115 S. Franklin St., is one of two downtown condominium projects developed by Todd McGrath and built by Krupp Construction that residents say suffer from myriad water issues due to flawed design, shoddy construction or missing water protections, costing residents more than $200,000 in upgrades and repairs.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008. US: Amalgamated Bank urges Centex board to hold annual elections Citing a desire for more accountability, Amalgamated Bank's LongView Funds wants the board of directors at homebuilder Centex Corp. to hold director elections annually instead of remaining with its current system of classified elections.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008. US: Builder Implode-O-Meter Good list of bankrupt and ailing builders, current news, and recent forum posts. This is the site that we posted an article about yesterday, that it might be for sale. --Ed.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008. US: Housing Crash Current news on mortgage mess, etc.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008. WA: UPDATE on Homeowners Bill of Rights legislation: Chopp's House holds up homeowners' rights [W]e need standards for contractors, and a clearinghouse where consumers can learn the rules and check the records. But legal recourse needs to be part of the package. The compromise needs teeth, even if the BIAW bares its fangs.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008. VA: Loudoun County makes political move against builders The Board of Supervisors has agreed not to take campaign cash from developers who have proposals in the pipeline. If supervisors still feel tempted to snag the money, they will have a choice to make — return the dough or recuse themselves from the vote on that developer’s proposal. The newly elected board is touting the legislation as a response to criticisms that previous boards got too cozy with the development community
Tuesday, July 08, 2008. CA: IRS places lien on local builder Internal Revenue Service seeking $5.4 million in unpaid taxes, interest and penalties from Bakersfield homebuilder David Cates and his wife, of Lenox Homes Inc. and Stuart Thomas Inc...Cates’ attorney says he believes it was imposed in error
Tuesday, July 08, 2008. FL: Home Built on Wetlands They found out when the pool contractor applied for a permit and it was denied. County officials said the Connor's property is located in a Conservation Easement...It is clear on the Water Management's map, but not on the map the builder Maronda Homes filed with the county...Connor says neither the builder nor the title insurance company have responded to him yet. When the Connors purchased the house, it was a Maronda model on lease from an investor.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008. NM: Uphill Battle for Man Suing HOA Many residents wanted to know why Kuhn was suing the HOA, rather than the company that built the subdivision, Fuller Homes. Several people pointed out that Kuhn originally contended Fuller had promised to maintain the slope and install landscaping and other anti-erosion measures. Kuhn responded by saying what he's always said: Starting in 2004, he tried for more than a year to get Fuller to honor its commitment. The builders, he maintains, put the onus on the HOA.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008. FL: UPDATE: Homeowner Finds Live Ordnance In Orange County Front Yard Property owners in the community were already involved in a lawsuit with Lennar Homes prior to the latest incident because of concerns about the land being part of the old bombing range. Now, they say they are really in fear of what could be under ground.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008. IN: Most mortgage brokers set to lose licenses The state is threatening to revoke more than 600 mortgage broker licenses — covering about 70 percent of all existing brokerages — because they haven’t passed a new state-mandated test.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008. CNBC: Reader Responses on Jane Wells column On whether much has changed in the mortgage biz, lender Pat G. tells this tale: To receive their incentives - of course (the builder) has their 'preferred lender'. This old time practice is such a disservice to the customer. The lender will, at any cost, get this customer approved - hence the 'mortgage mess'."
Tuesday, July 08, 2008. PA: Defendant Greg Langille, owner of Langstaff Inc. in Effort, has week to respond Home improvement contractor Glen Langille, owner of Langstaff Inc. of Effort, has a week left to respond to a lawsuit filed against him by the state Attorney General Tom Corbett. Langille, who founded Langstaff in 1990, is accused of failing to complete remodeling and room addition projects and performing work in an unprofessional or unsatisfactory manner. Related Stories Attorney General files suit against Effort contractor He is one of 11 contractors across the state being sued on similar grounds by Corbett's office, which is seeking more than $660,000 in restitution from those contractors for consumers.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008. IL: Schore defends Kennedy Homes inspections Kennedy has either filed for bankruptcy or is close to such an action, according to published reports. Some residents at the earlier meeting complained of not being able to talk to someone from the builder about vacant lots, partially finished, poor workmanship in some cases; and construction waste found dumped in the neighborhood. They also decried tax assessments they say have risen dramatically.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008. NC: Councilwoman forced to close her company After 29 years building homes in Greensboro and Winston-Salem, Sandra Anderson Builders is closing. Owned by City Councilwoman Sandra Anderson Groat, the business has fallen on tough financial times and has been unable to pay creditors
Tuesday, July 08, 2008. CT: Additional complaints on contractor lead to necessary enforcement on New Home Contractor Bowden Current customers of Bowden Development who are having problems with a newly built home may call the Department of Consumer Protection at (860) 713-6130.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008. World: European construction sector headed for sharp slowdown After a clear growth in construction activity in the past two years, a perceptible weakening will likely mark the European building sector up to 2010
Tuesday, July 08, 2008. US: Loan Pains Turned Site Into a Hit (Article about Implode-O-Meter site that also has a section on builder bankruptcies. This has been an excellent resource, which unfortunately it appears is for sale. If not purchased by someone with the same motives and dedication the site could disappear or become less useful. We hope that if it's sold, the new owner will continue it in the same vein. --Ed.) "As more mortgage companies go broke, Mr. Krowne hopes to turn a tidy profit by selling his site, possibly to a media company."
Tuesday, July 08, 2008. FL: Estates resident under fire for taking money, not building homes The Reys are among several Collier residents who have filed formal complaints with the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation, or filed a civil suit, against Estates resident Veronica Fernandez and her companies Esquadra Developers and Golden Dream Homes....To top it off, Eladino Rey said, the check for the permits bounced. The state investigation revealed that the Reys’ home remained “unfinished and uninhabitable,” with shoddy workmanship and a roof so haphazardly put together that it needs to be replaced before anyone could even consider moving into the structure.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008. CA: Defaults, foreclosures grow in not-so-rosy Wasco Wasco Village LLC, a 380-unit development planned for the southeast corner of Highway 46 and Magnolia Avenue, defaulted on a $3.2 million loan...The filing brings Wasco’s tally of defaulted and foreclosed sites to at least nine. All were projects of out-of-town developers...buyers are in limbo while the bank that repossessed the property figures out what to do...Liens and lawsuits from contractors and subcontractors who worked at the site and claim they weren’t fully paid have also clouded titles at Poplar Pointe. (Other developers named in article too. --Ed.)
Tuesday, July 08, 2008. The Street: Cramer: An Elegy for Fannie and Freddie So, over a multiyear scheme, he hamstrung the agencies and let the private banks take over lending and securitizing pretty much anything, because homeownership was another one of his themes, of course, aided by the Fed's insistence that exotic mortgages, especially weird adjustable types, made the most sense. That created the madness of speculation boom, and now bust, that wiped out almost all of the mortgage issuers, and now, because Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were at last invited into the party, them, too. They lowered their standards, believed in the fiction of personal mortgage insurance and didn't know they were often being scammed like everyone else.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008. US: Beazer Homes: Old Name Reaches New Low Stock trader says, "Beazer Homes Worthless."
Monday, July 07, 2008. Mother Jones: Why the Economy Went South A reformed Wall Streeter explains where Congress went wrong on lending. Plus, a timeline of the mortgage crisis.
Monday, July 07, 2008. Big Builder Online: Lobbyist Says Tax Carry-Back Not Dead Even though the Net-Operating-Loss Carry Back (NOL) provision has been stripped from the housing relief bill now before the U.S. Senate, an independent lobbyist who has been working with 16 large public and private home builders on the issue said there is considerable support among lawmakers for such a provision and that NOL is not dead. (MORE on the Builder Bailout effort in congress, to bail out industries that some say created the housing bubble. Article is update to one previously posted, Big Builders at odds wtih NAHB. Link to it is in this article in sentence beginning with, "The National Association of Home Builders has withdrawn its...")
Monday, July 07, 2008. NJ: No one's home: Newark and builder at odds over housing project Nearly a third of the units have been vandalized. Copper pipes have been ripped from the walls, leaving several units flooded and moldy. Still, developer Tony Gomes insists the project is complete and, with a few repairs, ready for occupancy.
Monday, July 07, 2008. US: Foreclosures to rise, whoever wins White House Which candidate would do a better job of handling housing prices? In the poll, 25 percent said Obama and 17 percent thought McCain. Nearly 30 percent said neither. Although most voters think the next president will have a "great deal" or "some" influence over housing prices, the reality is there is no quick fix.
Monday, July 07, 2008. US: Obama's and McCain's Housing Plans Comparison.
Monday, July 07, 2008. US: The Hazards of Flooding – Parts I and II Floodwater may cause toxic mold
Monday, July 07, 2008. US: We Act or Market will Do So For Us Congress was warned...(but) sits on its hands and does nothing about rampant, blatant, admitted fraud in the banking system....The "solution" from Congress? Spend more money we don't have. Create more "programs" for "economic stimulus" and handouts to lenders and builders. Shift even more burden onto the backs of taxpayers, even though the money is not there to fund these programs, leading to nearly five hundred billion dollars in new deficit spending proposed or passed in the first six months of this year alone.
Monday, July 07, 2008. SC: Buyers seek builder's answers Unfinished projects, defects: Homeowners wonder if developer Martin Henry Investments and affiliated construction company A & J Builders have run out of money.
Monday, July 07, 2008. DE: Rehoboth builder charged with fraud Police said Curtis M. Ricketts, 45, of Rehoboth Beach, who is the owner of Oasis Property Development, was charged for allegedly failing to pay subcontractors for their services and for allegedly failing to complete work on a new home that he contracted to build for a New Jersey man despite receiving money for the work.
Monday, July 07, 2008. PA: Attorney General files suit against contractors Glen Langille, owner of Langstaff Inc.; Robert Scott Clause, owner of Design By Robert Clause; Arthur McKeown, owner of AEM Custom Builders and Buildcrafters, Inc; Kenneth Pomo, owner of Ken Pomo General Contracting; Ronald Renninger, owner of A Chimney Doctor and Ace of Sweeps; Brad Soref, also known as Brad Scott and Brad Sores, owner of Prima-Seal; James Ryan Ward, owner of Windy Ridge Construction; Harry W. Nash, owner of Nash Construction and Nash Building & Remodeling; Benjamin J. Seidel and Troy D. Shope, owners of Home Pro Improvements (no longer in operation); Bryant Hammond, owner of Windows Express; Christopher C. Stratton, owner of Roof Pro+ Home Improvements. (Basically, contractors can be sued by the govt for taking money and not doing the work or in some cases not finishing it or doing it correctly. We wonder why, then, does the state rarely go after homebuilders who do essentially the same thing when they build whole houses with serious defects that do severe financial damage to the home buyers? --Ed.)
Monday, July 07, 2008. NJ: EnCap's bankruptcy filing risks $50M in N.J. funds It should be a simple question: Where did all the money go? The state and Bergen County paid out $232 million in loans to EnCap Golf Holdings to help transform polluted Meadowlands landfills into a village of 2,600 homes and a golf course. Now EnCap has filed for bankruptcy protection, leaving the cleanup unfinished.
Monday, July 07, 2008. Tort Deform: Looks like Oregon needs to follow Colorado’s example I find it shockingly hypocritical that “reformers” fight for mandatory arbitration clauses on the grounds that the government shouldn’t interfere with the freedom to contract, but have no issue with limiting the freedom to contract with attorneys.
Monday, July 07, 2008. WA; Nat'l interest: Traps for Unwary Real Estate Buyers Little legal recourse for buyers if building is defective, codes not complied with, disclosure forms not modified to protect buyer, etc.
Monday, July 07, 2008. TX; Nat'l interest: Texas Couple Sues Building Products Companies for Fraud, Misrepresentation Were Sold Inferior Concrete 'Brick' Rather than Genuine Fired Clay Brick: The lawsuit names as defendants two Beaumont-area companies: Beaumont Brick and Stone, the distributor, and IPC Building Products, the manufacturer.
Monday, July 07, 2008. MO; Nat'l interest: Letting the Markets Work: St. Louis Fed Analyzes the Mortgage Crisis Economist William R. Emmons offers that perspective in a review of the current mortgage crisis for the July issue of The Regional Economist, the quarterly journal of business and economic issues published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The publication is also available online at: http://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/re/default.html. While house prices in many parts of the country may fall from their peak levels in 2006 or 2007 by the largest amount in several decades, from an economic standpoint this decline of overvalued properties is necessary. If house prices are allowed to remain artificially high, homebuilders will make the eventual correction even worse by supplying more unneeded houses and driving prices down even further. The second unpleasant, but essential aspect of the mortgage market is foreclosure. In order to ensure the mortgage market functions effectively, the lender must have the ability to seize the borrower's property as collateral. "Without the possibility of foreclosure, mortgage rates would be more on par with those of credit cards," said Emmons.
Monday, July 07, 2008. WA: State and local governments side with builders on runoff pollution Summary: Storm runoff from construction sites, and eco-un-friendly development contributing to pollution and flooding. Builders oppose mandatory rules.
Monday, July 07, 2008. US: When it Comes to Housing, Money Talks Mortgage brokers, real estate companies and homebuilders have made more than $95 million in political contributions so far this election cycle...The contributions serve as carrot and stick, awarded to lawmakers who share the groups' positions and withheld from those who don't. When the National Association of Home Builders wasn't getting what it wanted in the housing bill, it shut off the campaign-cash spigot.
Sunday, July 06, 2008. You Tube: VIDEO: Leaky Windows.. Wildwood Builder Leaky window on new house.
Sunday, July 06, 2008. MI; Nat'l interest: MichiganSupreme Court Overturns Foreclosure, Rules Owner Not Given Proper Notice In an important victory for consumers, the Michigan Supreme Court unanimously ruled Wednesday that the Wayne County Treasurer violated a 75-year-old woman’s constitutional right to due process by foreclosing on her house without notifying her first.
Saturday, July 05, 2008. US: Vital Part of Housing Bill is Brainchild of Ba Back in April (Apr 4: Congress is Rushing to Help Homeowners Out!! (Not)) I pointed out how the wonderfully cute and fuzzy "Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008" - which sounds like a wonderful thing for consumers - was in large part simply a program that mostly benefited banks and homebuilders; two of the top 10 lobbyist groups on the Hill. Think Washington D.C. is a broken model that can't get anything passed? Think again - the homebuilder lobby basically said we are going to suspend contributing to campaign coffers and not more than 60 days later they received their gift - the new bill. And ta-da, the spigot of campaign contributions suddenly turned back on. Now let's move on to the latest handout... err bill.
Saturday, July 05, 2008. DC: Mold drives family from 'dream' home Expert says repairs could cost more than $100,000: Moisture seeped into the home's walls, creating a wet environment conducive to mold because, Tully thinks, window flashing was not properly installed. Flashing is material that fills the space between the edge of a window and vinyl siding that prevents wind-driven rain from getting inside walls. (Builder is D.R. Horton.)
Saturday, July 05, 2008. You Tube: Las Vegas Real Estate Update-Mortgage Crisis-Loan Fraud PT.3 Conclusion.
Saturday, July 05, 2008. You Tube: VIDEO: Las Vegas Real Estate Update-Mortgage Crisis-Loan Fraud #2-A Las Vegas Real Estate Experts Kendall Trotter and Steve Hawks discuss the adverse effects of cash back loan fraud transactions have had on the local economy and housing market.
Saturday, July 05, 2008. You Tube: VIDEO: LAS VEGAS REAL ESTATE UPDATE-BUILDER MORTGAGE FRAUD Pt. 1 Las Vegas real estate agents and consumer advocates Kendall Trotter and Steve Hawks discuss questionable transactions that new home builders were facilitating to move homes with a former insider and builder employee Dana Ellis.
Saturday, July 05, 2008. TX: Readers react to builders "spin" article "Built on a firm foundation," Houston Chronicle
Saturday, July 05, 2008. US: Bulder Implode-O-Meter Listing of bankrupt builders and relevant news.
Saturday, July 05, 2008. US: Mortgage Fraud Lawyer's law blog on mortgage fraud news, indictments, etc.
Saturday, July 05, 2008. US: Housing Crash Current news of the housing bubble and bust.
Saturday, July 05, 2008. US: Housing Industry Ramps Up The housing industry already has given more money in political contributions this election cycle than in the entire previous cycle, while winning favorable provisions in an emergency housing bill moving through the legislature...But government watchdogs and even some in the lobbying community question the propriety of the industry showering money on lawmakers at a time when government investigations are examining the role of banks, brokers and real-estate agents in the housing troubles.
Saturday, July 05, 2008. US: Fix flawed housing rescue Lawmakers need to start over and come up with a solution that matches the scope of the crisis, that reduces the potential for abuses and that doesn’t benefit the very industries that are responsible for the current crisis.
Saturday, July 05, 2008. IN: Construction Firm Owner Sentenced (Judge) felt sentence was "somewhat lenient" considering vast number of crimes (Anthony) Flaherty committed, but said placing him on work release will allow Flaherty to more quickly repay those he bilked.
Saturday, July 05, 2008. IN: Weeds sprout as home sales dip "We have contractors mow the lots, and the town pays for it and then sends the developer the bill," said Ryan Granata, assistant plan director and code enforcement coordinator. "If they don't pay, the town clerk can place a lien on the property."
Saturday, July 05,