Westcott Plantation Worries Bring Erin Brockovich To Town
Erin Brockovich came to Charleston to help unhappy homeowners living in Westcott Plantation. "She flew out and met with homeowners, about eight of us, and brought in members of her own team to check into it," Hull says. They found the homeowners are bringing in other more dangerous chemicals, like benzyne and acetone, chemicals commonly found in paint thinner.

During the Past Year, Sales of New Homes Have Dropped 21 Percent
 August was the worst month for sales of new homes in seven years, according to figures released this morning by the government. The official sales pace for last month was a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 795,000 units – well below the 867,000 economists were betting on and the slowest since June 2000.

Report faults binding mandatory arbitration
Credit card holders stand little chance of winning in mandatory arbitration of disputes with their banks, according to a report released Thursday by national consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. Arbitration firms used by companies such as MasterCard Inc., Visa, Discover Financial Services LLC and American Express Co. ruled against consumers in about 18,000 of 19,000 disputes analyzed in Public Citizen's study. The group examined data from California because it is the only state that requires arbitration companies to publish the results of cases they hear. However, consumer advocates at Public Citizen and in Maryland are confident the problem is national in scope.

Real Estate Disaster the Result of Greedy Lenders and Homebuilders, Says Watchdog Group
According to the release, the single biggest contributor to the 2007-2008 real estate disaster has been mortgage lenders being most concerned about making fast profits, regardless of the long term impact on the economy. This boils down to nothing more than greed, which AW says manifested itself in three primary ways: pay option adjustable rate mortgages, stated income loans and massive appraisal fraud on the part of homebuilders... Massive appraisal fraud occurred when homebuilders conspired with appraisers to over-value builders' new houses by as much as 25 to 35 percent. As a result, says AW, homeowners in existing neighborhoods naturally assumed their homes were worth more money than they actually were. AW says that now "our big worry is formerly hot real estate markets adjusting down 25% to 35% to pre-frenzy levels by this time next year."

Binding arbitration a loser for consumer
In a review of 34,000 arbitration cases, Public Citizen said that companies initiated nearly all of the cases and used arbitration firms that they know will rarely rule in favor of consumers.The report focused specifically on cases handled in California by Minneapolis-based National Arbitration Forum. California is the only state that requires arbitration companies to publicly disclose details of arbitration cases.

Americas Watchdog Explains How The 2007 Real Estate Disaster Happened Along With A Grim Preview of 2008
For years Americas Watchdog has been warning about the implosion of the US real estate "bubble." Wall Street talks like the problem is behind us. In reality the "problem" is just in its initial stages, with more severe hardships that will affect individual homeowners as well as the over all economy. In order to better understand this real estate and economic disaster, Americas Watchdog along with its Homeowners Consumer Center have put together the main reasons this disaster happened, along with what citizens can do to position themselves from the storm that is about to come.

Builders Eliminate Hurricane Clips 
 In 2004 Pulte Homes decided to stop installing hurricane clips on houses that they are building in Sun City Hilton Head, a hurricane-prone area located near the coast. Pulte has recently resumed installing hurricane clips on new houses that they're building here, but refuses to install them in the more than 2,000 houses they built in 2004, 2005, 2006 and early 2007 Read more...

Creditors have upper hand in disputes
What credit squeeze? The Federal Reserve says Americans are charging as much stuff as ever on credit cards. But a report out today from the consumer watchdog Public Citizen says that when we dispute those charges, cardholders lose almost every time. Helen Palmer reports.Listen to this Story

Pennsylvania Moves to Regulate Home Building Arbitration Contracts
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is considering legislation that would set conditions for the enforcement of pre-dispute arbitration agreements in contracts between home builders and customers, and make a failure to comply grounds for a court to void the clause... The bill would make a home construction contract voidable by the consumer if it has any of the following types of clauses, a clause purporting to waive a customer's right to a jury trial, an agreement not to assert any customer claims or defenses arising out of the contract, a provision authorizing a homebuilder to recovery attorney's fees and costs from the customer...

CtW Investment Group Urges Homebuilders to Address Compliance Failures
The CtW Investment Group, pointing to large homebuilders' role in creating the current crisis in the housing and credit markets, today called on the boards of directors of the nation's largest homebuilders to establish dedicated compliance committees to protect the companies and their shareholders in the face of mounting legal and regulatory scrutiny. "Homebuilders are not passive victims here," said Bill Patterson, Executive Director of the CtW Investment Group.  "Through improper business practices, particularly within their mortgage affiliates, the nation's largest homebuilders in fact helped cause the industry-wide collapse. This turmoil has already destroyed billions in shareholder value, while exposing shareholders to considerable legal, regulatory and reputation risk."  

Pennsylvania Moves to Regulate Home Building Arbitration Contracts
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is considering legislation that would set conditions for the enforcement of pre-dispute arbitration agreements in contracts between home builders and customers, and make a failure to comply grounds for a court to void the clause... The bill would make a home construction contract voidable by the consumer if it has any of the following types of clauses, a clause purporting to waive a customer's right to a jury trial, an agreement not to assert any customer claims or defenses arising out of the contract, a provision authorizing a homebuilder to recovery attorney's fees and costs from the customer...

A catch and release contractor sting
The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation conducts stings, looking for unlicensed contractors. "Jason, this is a huge problem here in Houston," one undercover investigator said. "Not only in this city, but all across the state of Texas."  Investigators invited 11 News to take part in their second such operation in Houston. Agents have taken these stings statewide, but they can't arrest violators. They can only issue fines that can go as high as $5,000. In April, investigators caught almost 40 men at one location, including Adrian Kenrick. He was notorious at the time for allegedly taking money without finishing work. Now he's now paying off a $3,000 penalty.

Lennar Reports Biggest Loss in Its 53-Year History
Lennar Corp., the largest U.S. homebuilder, reported the biggest quarterly loss in its 53-year history after $848 million of costs to write down the value of real estate. The third-quarter net loss was $513.9 million, or $3.25 a share, exceeding the most pessimistic estimates from analysts and suggesting the worst housing market in 16 years shows no signs of stabilizing. Revenue at Miami-based Lennar fell 44 percent to $2.34 billion, the lowest in more than three years.

Troubled home builders turn to layoffs
Lennar Corp. became the latest to downsize, revealing Tuesday that it has slashed 35 percent its work force amid the national mortgage crisis. The latest cuts follow similar moves by other big builders. Pulte Homes Inc. cut 1,400 full-time jobs, or 10 percent of its work force, last year. Centex Corp. also slashed 10 percent of its salaried work force in 2006 to around 6,400. A tightening credit market, rising foreclosures and the sales slowdown have boosted housing inventory while forcing painful markdowns that have hurt housing companies' bottom lines.

Mortgage scam threatens 200 homes with foreclosure
...The couple now fear they are victims of a $100 million mortgage fraud that may have touched hundreds across the south metro. Up and down their street, friends and neighbors who rented from Parish Marketing and Development - an Eagan homebuilder - have received foreclosure notices informing them their two-story dream homes will be sold at sheriff's sales. Some houses already have been resold.  As the housing market has cooled and foreclosure rates have skyrocketed, authorities are investigating a bevy of mortgage fraud cases across the state and nationwide - particularly in rural and far-reaching suburbs. This latest investigation is notable not only for the dollar amount but also for the number and concentration of homes.