Florida builders lobby for code reprieve
Florida's home building industry is pushing to delay tougher building codes, claiming hurricane protections sought by Gov. Charlie Crist and passed by the Legislature in January come too fast.  "While your efforts will bring forth reductions in property insurance rates, the very law that provides the relief has spawned an immediate, and minimum, $72 million negative impact on Florida's second largest economic engine the construction industry," wrote John Wiseman, president of the Florida Home Builders Association, in a letter asking Crist to issue an emergency order delaying the new building requirements.

REP. MCCLENDON HOUSE BILL 1686 PROTECTS HOMEOWNERS FROM FRAUD
Her proposal, House Bill 1686, would protect homeowners, in particular senior citizens, by requiring most home remodeling and building contractors to register with the Texas Residential Construction Commission and be under its supervision. Under this proposal, homeowners who have a complaint could ask the Residential Construction Commission to take disciplinary action. The Commission would maintain a "recovery fund" that would provide some relief for certain types of damages, and could pursue criminal penalties against non-complying contractors.

Texas State Representative Ruth Jones McClendon files outstanding bill – HB1686
The bill would effectively ban the use of mandatory arbitration agreements in contracts for homes or home repairs, require all builders to be registered with TRCC and to carry insurance.  The bill would also regulate home improvement contractors for any repairs costing more than $2,500 and much more...  Read responses to bill and add your comments

Editorial: To fix SAHA, hold leaders accountable
The tenants forced to do business with the housing authority because they cannot afford fair market rents deserve a more responsive and less cavalier attitude from housing management. The latest SAHA program to come under scrutiny is the lease-to-purchase program. Many of the problems are not new; they have been around for years. Calling for yet another investigation of SAHA practices is not going to solve the long, festering problems within this agency. The finger-pointing and blame game need to stop, and the top management team must be held accountable.

Builders often key players in high-risk game
Carmen Pedrego said the builder assured her she could own a brand-new home for no more than her monthly rent. But when she came to the loan closing, a surprise awaited her. No one was in the room except a stranger from the title company. And after Pedrego signed a first mortgage loan, the agent produced a second mortgage. They totaled 64 percent of the single mother's take-home pay. Because she had already signed one contract, "I felt trapped, like I couldn't get out of it any more," Pedrego said. She signed the second and made two mortgage payments, she said, then filed for bankruptcy. This year, she became one of 11 homeowners in a small Greeley neighborhood who have lost new houses in foreclosure sales.

ABC 13 Houston Reports - One bill would remove binding arbitration clauses from new home contracts
When Cohn learned about the problems she says she called her builder, but the builder would not fix the house. Cohn then learned she could take her case before the Texas Residential Construction Commission, but discovered the TRCC had little power to force the builder to make repairs. "TRCC from what I experienced and have heard so far is their hands are really tied," Cohn lamented. But that may change soon. The state legislature is considering several bills that would strengthen the TRCC. One bill would remove binding arbitration clauses from new home contracts and create a fund to pay homeowners for claims when builders can't. The TRCC would recoup the money from a builder's insurer.

A service to homebuyers
The lead article in the Denver & the West section of last week's Sunday Denver Post took on a very important topic: the rights of homeowners to sue homebuilders over defective construction. Unfortunately, the article was missing some important information. The article, by Karen Crummy, looked at the current debate in the state legislature about a bill to prohibit new home sales contracts in which the buyer waives some of his rights to sue the homebuilder. The article performed a very important public service by informing readers that some of these waivers may be unenforceable in court, according to a University of Denver professor. Related article: Homebuyers cede rights

Did Iraq contractor fleece American taxpayers?
New revelations have emerged about how tens of millions of taxpayer dollars have been wasted in Iraq. A new report by government watchdogs singles out a big American contractor "€” Parsons "€” for shoddy work. Investigators charge that Parsons managed to turn a flagship project to help train Iraqi police into a hall of horrors using taxpayer money...the American construction company turned it into a disaster from the start: incomplete and substandard designs, shoddy construction and no real quality control. "This is the worst project that my inspectors have visited," says Stuart Bowen, inspector general for Iraq.

Builders show was chock-full of new 'green' products
A "green" product is one that is significantly more environmentally benign than its competitors... It can have lower contaminating ingredients, such as low or no-VOC paint. It can be more energy efficient...It can reduce risk, such as a mold-killer or mold-resistant product..."Mold is gold" is a term from the legal industry. While good for lawyers. It was bad for the members of the building industry being sued."There is an answer to every building problem right here on this floor. The problem is that most of the builders and tradespeople don't know about it." Many builders and tradespeople don't go to trade shows because they are too busy and figure they can get by with what they already know.  That's unfortunate because the products they didn't see and the classes they didn't attend could solve many building and home improvement problems.

Fort Worth is suing over broken streets
The city is suing a subdivision developer and a paving contractor, saying they're responsible for broken streets that have cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars. The suit accuses Arcadia Park Limited Partners and Site Concrete of shoddy street construction in the Arcadia Park subdivision in far north Fort Worth. Less than two years after the streets were finished, two blocks of Rainy Lake Drive "were discovered to have been so badly constructed that they must be completely rebuilt," the suit says. Today, Rainy Lake Drive is webbed with cracks and pocked with breaks, dips and patches of asphalt. City officials say it will have to be rebuilt.

DOJ Launches KB Home Stock Options Probe
The Department of Justice has launched a probe into the handling of stock options at KB Home, one of the nation's largest homebuilders, although it is not targeting the company directly, KB Home said Friday. As part of its inquiry, the Justice Department is interviewing current and former executives of KB Home, a company spokesman said. The company last month acknowledged that the Securities and Exchange Commission had launched a formal investigation into its options practices.

McGavin Ranch proof buying home is hard
Monday's Tribune, the 179-lot, 55-plus modular house community near Southern and Ellsworth roads is home to a lot of unhappy campers. Along with the putting green, heated pool and other standard amenities of a retirement community, dozens of homeowners have had to contend with cracked bathtubs, demonic doorbells and dented vents. ... Palm Harbor also bears some responsibility for allowing its factories and contractors to put out so many defective homes, and for the delays in repairs ...

Texas State Representative Ruth Jones McClendon files outstanding bill – HB1686
The bill would effectively ban the use of mandatory arbitration agreements in contracts for homes or home repairs, require all builders to be registered with TRCC and to carry insurance.  The bill would also regulate home improvement contractors for any repairs costing more than $2,500 and much more...  Read responses to bill and add your comments

Press Release - Bills Would Protect Homeowners from Shoddy Construction
AUSTIN – Representatives Jessica Farrar and David Liebowitz have filed the first two bills intended to amend the Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC) in the upcoming 2007 Legislative Session.  Since its creation in 2003, the TRCC has repeatedly come under fire for its inability to successfully assist homeowners in resolving home construction defects, and for the lack of enforcement powers to make builders comply with the conclusions of the commission. 
Read more...

Is 'gripe site' protected free speech?
A consumer watchdog group founded by Ralph Nader has come to the defense of a Stuart real estate broker who is being sued by Lennar Corp. The suit stems from the use of the home builder's name in a Web site that criticizes the quality of several of Lennar's houses. Public Citizen, based in Washington, is filing a friend of the court brief asking Judge Larry Shack to throw out Lennar's trademark infringement claims against Mike Morgan because his "gripe site" is protected by the Constitutional right to free speech.