Levitt and Sons Home
Try to imagine the horror and disappointment I felt just after successfully completing my first round of Chemotherapy, when a nurse stepped into my room at MD Anderson Cancer Center and asked, "I bet you are glad to be going home"! Yet, just one month after being diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia, I was not able to return home due to an ongoing problem with mold growth in our newly constructed home  See homeowner's website

Housing market troubles stress Latinos
Construction permits across the region were down as much as 66 percent in recent months, and with 50 percent of Southwest Florida's construction industry staffed by Latinos, the shift is likely to have a big impact on that industry and perhaps the region's general economy...They learned the construction trade on the job in Indiana, and moved to Southwest Florida three years ago.Together, they formed The Brothers Ramirez Construction Co. of South Florida. They built up a base of 60 full-time independent contractors and began working with Lennar...The majority of us here are illegal," said Benjamin Ramirez, a 34-year-old framing subcontractor from Bradenton, who has worked in the United States illegally for about eight years. "For us, when the work is gone, it's just no more

Call For Action: Pulte Home Sales
Kansas City - Mayors and Pulte homeowners are call Pulte Homes with questions about its sale of 10% of its empty lots in two different developments...  We thought it would be  completely Pulte when we moved in.  I didn't even know it was possible to sell to other builders...  See video report

Texas' chief justice calls for overhaul of state courts
It should also examine the growing use of private dispute resolution to settle legal disputes outside the public courts, Jefferson insisted.  "The outcomes in a private system need not be consistent," he said, warning that injustice can result because "appellate review is virtually nonexistent." In addition, he cautioned, "a privately litigated matter may well affect public rights. Its resolution may ultimately harm the public good or, because those decisions are secret, impede an innovation to a recurring problem, much to the detriment of Texas citizens."

St Pete Times - Pine Ridge residents up in arms over builder
In the evocatively named community of Pine Ridge at Sugar Creek, recent events have not been so sweet for residents. Built at the height of Pasco's residential market boom nearly two years ago, homes at the development on State Road 52 used to sell for $300,000. But when residents found out the developer sold some neighboring houses for $199,000 last month, they saw a telling signal - and it wasn't about sagging markets or buyer's remorse.

$700 might be a bargain next to a legal hassle
If you decide to go after the builder, you first need to request a state-sponsored inspection and a dispute resolution with the Texas Residential Construction Commission. You can find more information at www.trcc.state.tx.us. Don't expect great results, though. Builders come out ahead most of the time.

Madison mayor, builder end dispute
Ten homes in upscale Woods Crossing subdivision are on the market again after repairs were made to bring them up to city code. Madison code enforcement issued stop-work notices to father-and-son builders John and Gregory Gussio on Oct. 6 for the homes in the subdivision on Rice Road. A judge granted an injunction in December allowing Gussio Realty to fix what the city cited as deficiencies.

Mortgage fraud: the new white-collar crime
Blizzard is the division chief over major fraud in the DA's. Four months ago he led an investigation that landed Houstonian Doris Chen and seven others in jail. But now his division is taking a new huge step to combat this prevalent crime: They are going undercover.

Wheaton jumps into GOP race
Wheaton, after all, has been the champion of Village Grande homeowners fighting builder D.R. Horton over allegations of construction defects and inspection problems...homes constructed by Dallas-based D.R. Horton. While not all homeowners there are upset, in the wake of questions raised about East Hempfield code inspections, one employee resigned and a new inspector was retained. Wheaton said that when Village Grande residents began reporting construction problems, "I called for an independent investigation into the township building code inspection department.

Call Kurtis: Flooded Homes
Roseville family's plumbing burst and their home was flooded, leaving them with a sinking feeling. When they say the builder wouldn't help, they called Kurtis Ming. They were warned about possible faulty plumbing but the warning came too late, and that's when their world burst. Both families got Kurtis involved. DR Horton never returned our numerous calls over the span of 3-weeks. Beazer did.

Homebuyers cede rights
After nearly five years of trying to get the homebuilder to fix the problem, Fonseca is finally going to arbitration. But the language in his purchasing contract makes it sound as if he doesn't even have a chance. "I waived a lot of my rights," he said. "I didn't realize what I was signing with all the papers at the closing." Fonseca isn't alone. At least 20 of the state's biggest homebuilders have similar contracts in which home owners waive many legal remedies to construction defects, according to the Colorado Home Alliance, a homeowner advocacy group that has spent weeks collecting the contracts.

Lifting houses safely
The disastrous collapse of a house at 4920 Dewdney Ave. in May exposed the problem of shoddy standards and unqualified contractors. Regina contractor Monty Wensel was inspired to do something about it. The disastrous collapse of a house at 4920 Dewdney Ave. in May exposed the problem of shoddy standards and unqualified contractors. Regina contractor Monty Wensel was inspired to do something about it.

Spotlight on poor development in the South Loop
Discontent is building with the quality of some residential construction in the hyperactive South Loop housing market. Aldermanic candidates are making shoddy construction an issue, and The Prairie District Neighborhood Alliance, speaking out about allegedly shoddy construction work and developers shirking responsibility, in a couple of Chicago Sun-Times stories today.

5 Rockland contractors lose licenses since start of year
The licenses of five Rockland contractors have been revoked since the beginning of the year, part of a trend of increased vigilance by both the county and consumers against noncompliance. Terry Grosselfinger, director of the county's Office of Consumer Protection, said there has been a push to keep tabs on Rockland's contractors since the 2005 rape and murder of New City mother Mary Nagle by a contractor's employee who was working illegally for New Jersey-based Coloron Painting.