Home construction agency faulted for careless reporting
 Sloppy record keeping by the state agency that investigates complaints about home construction prevented state auditors from measuring key performance criteria, a report released Thursday said. The Texas Residential Construction Commission had inaccurate or incomplete data on four of seven performance measures, including the number of disputes between homeowners and builders it closed and the length of time it took to resolve disputes, auditors found. The report also said the commission underreported telephone calls to its toll-free help lines and overcounted the number of Texans receiving in-person assistance. Related Report: Texas Comptroller Condemns TRCC Builder Protection Agency-Recomends to blast TRCC be blasted off bureaucratic books

Local 2 Investigates Uncovers Heating, Air Workers Avoiding Background Checks
Violent felons, ex-prisoners and other criminals are finding work as heating and air-conditioning contractors, thanks to a loophole uncovered by Local 2 Investigates.An ex-convict who had just finished serving a 35-year prison term was caught by Local 2 Investigates' hidden cameras, buying crack cocaine from what Houston police describe as a heavily armed gang. He was driving an air-conditioning repair truck, in between house calls for a Houston company.

Home inspection limits scuttled
Plan to stop inspectors from suggesting repairs in their reports had support of real estate industry. State regulators on Friday reversed a decision to streamline home inspection reports, dealing a rare setback to the powerful real estate industry.The about-face followed increasingly vocal outcry from home inspectors and Gov. Mike Easley, who warned that the rule change could harm consumers.

Home builders mothball projects
As troubles rise, major several Sacramento-area builders are shutting down. Pardee Homes has halted its planned 660-home Natomas project, but has $200 million invested in the region and has future plans.

Janet Ahmad, HOBB President Testimony on Affordable Housing
Affordable Housing promotions promised hope and opportunity for the American Dream to families for a brighter future.  Unfortunately, the ever-opportunistic building industry saw it as a promise for mega profits that has left a landscape of decline in home quality and values throughout new communities due to shoddy construction and widespread mortgage schemes that ensnared naive buyers... Before launching anymore affordable housing programs, members of this subcommittee should consider the unprecedented failed federally funded public housing programs, failures to build homes that will last, and the abuses of sub-prime, zero-down payment assistance scams...The economy that thrived through frequent greed of selling affordable houses, no matter the price, now threatens our entire economy.

STATE AUDITOR CITES RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION FOR SLOPPY RECORDKEEPING
The State Auditor reports that the controversial Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC) reported unreliable results on four out of seven key measures mandated by the legislature.The auditor conducted the report to certify that the agency is meeting the performance measures laid out by the legislature.  According to the auditor's report, the TRCC failed to properly maintain its records and failed to follow written policies, and miscalculated expenditures.  Because of these deficiencies, the auditor was unable to certify that the agency was meeting its goals.

Lennar worker admitted to police he was looking in bathroom windows
Hutto police say a man accused of looking into people's bathrooms in a subdivision last week has turned himself in. Dwayne Keith Campbell, 40, worked for the national home builder Lennar Corp., which constructs residences in the Legends of Hutto subdivision, police said. Campbell initially told police Tuesday that he was checking out the houses as part of his job, Police Chief Harold Thomas said.

 Peeping Tom In Hutto Turns Himself In

Police Looking For Peeping Tom In Hutto  
Police are searching for a Peeping Tom in Hutto after neighbors spotted a man looking into bathroom windows twice last week...The man said he worked for Lennar Homes and was just doing a home inspection... Some neighbors said they have seen Lennar employees inspecting early but not like this. "For them not to stop and say, 'I got your information. I'm inspecting this house.' Why didn't he just show it and say, 'This is my identification,' and that's unusual for him to have done, just to take off," said neighbor Emily Ojeda.

'HOUSE IN THE WETLANDS ESTATES' SEEKS SUBDIVISION APPROVAL
condition that the Developer had NO FUTURE PLANS TO SUBDIVIDE HIS PROPERTY unless he were able to establish an ALTERNATIVE ACCESS EASEMENT...Here is precisely why the Summer Rest Road Community was so insistent that New Hanover County Code Enforcement Services Division ENFORCE the regulations and laws on the books and STOP the developer from Illegally building a bulkhead and road in the Wetlands, WITH NO PERMIT!!!!!  Of course, with the help of the County, Mr. Miller was graciously granted a permit for the bulkhead many months after construction was complete, despite the confirmation by Jonathan Graham, Director of County Code Enforcement Services (ON VIDEO TAPE!!!)  that Mr. Miller had broken the law.

Ryland Facing "Junk' Rating
Moody's Investors Service may cut its credit rating on Ryland Group Inc. into junk territory, citing concerns about the home builders' ability to cut inventory and generate positive cash flow, the rating agency said Monday. The Calabasas homebuilder and rival D.R. Horton, the largest U.S. homebuilder, have struggled recently to generate cash flow, "in part because of their limited success to date in reducing inventory, in part because of continuing high cancellation rates, and in part because of the fiercely competitive environment the two companies face in most of their markets," according to a Moody's statement.

Pulte, other builders settle kickback claims
Pulte Homes Inc. and KB Home are among six home builders that agreed to pay a total of $1.4 million to settle federal investigations into whether they accepted rebates from insurers for referrals when selling homes. which ended as part of the settlements, are among hundreds being conducted by states and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development into payments by title insurers. State regulators found the referral payments -- to real estate agents, developers, lenders and builders -- led to higher closing costs for consumers.

Cisneros quits Countrywide board
Cisneros had served on the board since 2001. He earned $358,966 as a Countrywide director in 2006, according to a company filing. His departure was announced before Countrywide on Friday announced a $1.2 billion loss in the third quarter, triggered by the worst U.S. housing slump in more than 15 years. But because the company said it would be profitable in the fourth quarter and in 2008, its shares rose more than 32 percent Friday to close at $17.30.  In San Antonio, Cisneros, 60, is executive chairman of CityView, a company that provides financing for urban home builders.

Census Bureau says the pace of new home sales was weaker in September and revises August's numbers to an 11-year low.
The latest reading on the state of the battered market for new homes was pretty bad. Experts say it's even worse than it appears. New home sales in September came in at an annual pace of 770,000, according to the Census Bureau report Thursday. That's up from the revised 735,000 rate in August, but it's down from the original August reading and just below the forecast of economists surveyed by Briefing.com, who had been looking for sales to slow to a pace of 775,000 in the month.