Letters to the Editor: Reaction to 'flawed homes'
It has been nearly six long years since "Bob the Builder" Perry and his builder friends bought, built and now operate the Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC). The state agency offers no help for aggrieved homebuyers; instead, its process forces homeowners into costly protracted legal disputes ending in abusive, binding mandatory arbitration that most cannot afford.  There is far too much blame to go around. It is our obligation as victims to fight for our basic rights that the building industry has systematically taken from us. No one group or group of organizations can possibly stop this madness, which will continue to devastate families unless more become actively involved. See: YouTube Video on Tremont Towers

Families' costs mount, but state, builder give scant help, files show
For years, neighbors in a stylish Montrose cul-de-sac named Hyde Park Crescent fought to get something out of the developer they claim failed to fix faulty windows, water-soaked balconies and defective roofs that spawned leaks, mold and rot in their nearly new $350,000 homes. Families alleged in a lawsuit that they were sold flawed town homes and then stuck with thousands of dollars in repair bills. They also contended that the men behind the company committed a kind of corporate identity fraud to avoid responsibility and keep right on building on other fertile ground in construction-friendly Houston... Texas laws offer minimal recourse for homeowners, and their complaints often drag on for years with disappointing results, advocates say. Some owners lose money fixing their homes or lose their homes because they can't afford to fix them. See Houston Chronicle Readers Comments Plus: See: You Tube Video on Tremont Towers

Home builders group spent $3.2M lobbying
So far this year, the builders group has been especially active in pushing for legislation designed to jump-start the lethargic housing market. It favors an emergency tax break that would let companies use losses from this year and next year to offset profits earned over the previous four years, instead of the usual two-year timeframe and a tax credit of $7,500 for first-time home buyers, estimated to cost $3.8 billion over 10 years...Earlier this year, the builders were so distressed by what they saw as lawmakers' lack of attention to the housing market in an economic stimulus bill signed by President Bush in February that the trade group's political action committee halted contributions to congressional candidates' campaigns.

Foreclosure Act Does Squat for Homeowners
Representatives from numerous organizations assembled this week at a press conference in Washington, D.C., to call upon the House of Representatives to fix the legislation, which includes billions in taxpayer-funded breaks to homebuilders and financial-services companies...Critics of the legislation say the measure doesn't do enough to help individuals and families who are now suffering the consequences of a stalled economy. Instead, it aids the homebuilding and financial-services industries, who are in dire straits because of their own actions.

N. Idaho woman with sinking home sues builder
The owner of a slowly collapsing northern Idaho house built over landfill that includes decaying animal bones, tree stumps and other trash has filed a lawsuit against the builder, who in turn has filed a suit against the company that sold the land. "I want to be paid back everything it's costing me to get this house into livable condition," Margaret Cultice, the homeowner, told the Coeur d'Alene Press. "Dealing with all this is a nightmare."

Lennar CEO Miller Forfeits $9.95 Million Stock and Options for Homebuilder's Money-Losing 2007 
Lennar Corp.'s chief executive could have earned more than $11 million in compensation in 2007 but forfeited $9.95 million of it because the homebuilder failed to meet financial goals amid the troubled housing market, an Associated Press analysis of company filings showed. Stuart Miller received $1 million in salary and $130,397 in other compensation that included $96,000 in dividends, $26,547 in car lease payments, a $6,750 matching payment for his 401(k) and $1,100 in life and disability insurance, according to the company's proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

No help for 70% of subprime borrowers
Seven out of 10 seriously delinquent subprime mortgage borrowers are still not getting the help they need to keep their homes, according to a report released Tuesday by state officials working to stem the foreclosure crisis...More than 1 million of those loans, or nearly 25% of the total, were delinquent as of Jan. 31. And foreclosure proceedings have begun on 300,000 of them - an 8% increase since October.

Hutto clay leaves some homes needing repairs
City officials say the problems, which might affect all 787 homes in the HuttoParke neighborhood and several homes in Legends of Hutto, are not serious structural issues. But they have spurred the City Council to consider a more stringent building code. The clay expands and contracts with moisture. If foundations are not designed to handle that movement, the stress can cause cracks, popped nails and separation between walls and ceiling trusses.

1,000 homeowners taking legal action
Owners of about 1,000 homes in Sun City Grand, one of Surprise's most affluent retirement communities, are seeking legal action against developer Pulte Homes to correct alleged construction defects. The sheer number of participants puts this among the largest such complaints in Arizona history, building experts say. "The homeowners relied on Del Webb and the promises they would use quality-control measures in connection with the construction, and they're terribly disappointed," said attorney Ken Kasdan."What they see is Del Webb walking away from responsibility in the community."

Homeowners Battle to Stop Home Foreclosures and fines
See who is behind HOA abuses of power. Associa Management Company is the largest HOA management company in the US and is owned byTexas Senator John Carona. Need help see American Homeowners Resource Center and Texas Homeowners for HOA Reform.
See Fox News Report  

LBI home builder sentenced to 364 days in jail
Superior Court Judge Wendel E. Daniels placed Louis Vanacore, 42, on probation for five years, ordered him to serve 364 days in the county jail as a condition of probation, and ordered him to repay a total of $169,311.87 to six victims "€” customers who paid for homes that were never completed and subcontractors who performed work but were not paid for it.

New Home Woes: Shoddy Construction - Elizabeth Leamy reporting
Complaints about home builders increased more than 50 percent in five years Two million brand new homes built a year and 90% of buyers say they are happy; but if you do the math that means that 200,000 new homeowners are not happy. Jerry Howard with the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) said and few as 80% of homeowners are happy. Doing the math that would mean that  as many as 400,000 new homeowners are not happy.  Consumer complaints about builders have gone up by 50% according to the Better Business Bureau.  Structurally unsound, leaking water, undersized, are examples on problems... Cross out Mandatory Binding Arbitration Clauses in the contract they deny you the right to sue your builder in a court of law. 

Read more...

House Democrats reshape bill to help more homeowners
House Democrats, opposed to the Senate's focus on helping homebuilders, moved Tuesday to reshape housing legislation to help more homeowners. "We need to provide relief to the buyers and families themselves, not just the banks and builders," said Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. House Democrats, he said, intend to put "families first."...Also today, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., will hold a hearing on his bill to provide $300 billion for federal guarantees of mortgages for troubled borrowers if lenders make them more affordable.

Looming Deficit Impedes Federal Housing Agency
Housing officials say the agency will face a deficit for the first time in its 74-year history, starting in the fiscal year that begins in October. And they blame a rapidly growing and increasingly troubled sector of the F.H.A.'s mortgage portfolio, known as the seller-financed down payment loan program, which has suffered from high delinquency and foreclosure rates in recent years... In 2000, such mortgages made up less than 2 percent of F.H.A.-insured loans, officials say. By 2007, statistics show, they accounted for 35 percent of F.H.A. loans..."These types of loans have pushed F.H.A. to the brink of insolvency,"  Alphonso R. Jackson, the housing secretary, told senators recently. "They are costing hard-working Americans their homes." Mr. Jackson announced last week that he would resign his post as of April 18...But HUD is not the only agency to raise concerns about seller down payment loans. In 2005, the Government Accountability Office raised concerns that were echoed by the Internal Revenue Service a year later.