•The state attorney general's office received about 750 complaints about contractors in the last two years.
•The Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan Houston has received some 4,200 complaints in the past three years.
•The Harris County district attorney office's consumer fraud division reports receiving more complaints about contractors than any other profession since Tropical Storm Allison struck the city in 2001.

""Washington Mutual Savings Bank [of Jacksonville , Fla. ] and Fannie Mae is charging off the mortgage,"" Nancy Davis said. ""It's just wonderful news… on May 28 the Department of Housing and Urban Development released a ""Radon Gas and Mold Notice and Release Agreement"" ( www.aerotechlabs.com) that is now a requirement for all HUD home sales contracts to make certain that purchasers know radon gas and mold may cause health problems.

FBI raid former Marlboro mayor's home
MARLBORO --- A raid by federal agents on the home of a former mayor is the latest move in an expanding probe into whether developers influenced local politicians to get projects approved, according to a published report. ""We're investigating allegations of bribery, extortion and public corruption in Marlboro and the former Marlboro political climate,"" Edward J. Kahrer, an FBI supervisory special agent, told the Asbury Park Sunday Press.

Ex-Asbury mayor to be sentenced July 8 for bribe plot, tax fraud
ASBURY PARK -- Former city Mayor Kenneth ""Butch"" Saunders is set to be sentenced in federal court in Newark July 8 for conspiring four years ago to bribe a city councilwoman for her votes on redevelopment so that he could get his own corrupt payments if a deal went through.

McCarren is the lead prosecutor of charges against several Monmouth County officials the past two years, including former Ocean Township Mayor Terrance D. Weldon, who pleaded guilty in October 2002 to extorting bribes from land developers in that township.

On Sunday, borough police charged the contractor, Roger Louis Hemhauser, 54, with nine counts of theft, saying he has bilked borough residents out of approximately $200,000 since November. He took at least $98,000 more from residents in Edison and Woodbridge , according to police in those townships.

Joseph Barry, a politically active builder whose luxury homes and shopping complexes have reshaped towns throughout New Jersey , admitted yesterday paying nearly $115,000 in bribes to win government financing for a project on the Hoboken waterfront… Barry told U.S. District Judge Joel Pisano, was a ""reward"" for Janiszewski's help in getting almost $10 million in government grants and loans for the Shipyard, a 45-acre riverfront housing and shopping complex in Hoboken. Unbeknownst to Barry, Janiszewski at the time was cooperating with the FBI after being caught taking bribes from another contractor.

VA looks into Pulte Homes after complaint
The VA has also requested copies of other construction complaints received from homeowners in all Pulte subdivisions in the Houston area in which the foundation design has been used since 1999, according to HomeOwners for Better Building. HomeOwners is encouraging all Pulte homeowners with HUD/FHA and VA loans in the Houston area and throughout Texas with signs of foundation problems to send a certified letter to Pulte Homes and file a complaint with either the FHA or VA.

FREDDIE MAC PROMOTES CONSUMER CHOICE WITH NEW SUBPRIME MORTGAGE ARBITRATION POLICY
Freddie Mac announced today that effective August 1, 2004, it would no longer invest in subprime mortgages originated on or after that date that contain mandatory arbitration clauses. Freddie Mac is the first among secondary mortgage investors to adopt such a stance on subprime mortgages with mandatory arbitration clauses. This policy is aligned with the corporation's existing prohibition on the use of mandatory arbitration for prime market mortgage investments.

Some complain new homeowner-rights bill not enough
News 8 has reported numerous stories of homeowners complaining of shoddy construction, and being left with expensive repairs. Lawmakers promised to find a way to hold homebuilders accountable, but some wonder if a bill passed Monday really does that...Unsafe and leaky construction has forced Dawn Richardson to move out of the new home she's still paying for. Richardson said the problem was mold, and the lack of a statewide code that would require homebuilders to meet specific standards. "The builders know they can't be held accountable, so I don't think that they are working to resolve issues," Richardson said.

Contractor watchdog faulted
The state agency charged with watching over construction in Arizona isn't doing enough to protect consumers, according to a report from the Auditor General's Office.The audit said the agency needs to fix a $5.5 million deficit in the recovery fund, which helps people who lose money to licensed contractors. A residential builder pays $300 initially to the fund and then $150 annually.

David Weekley Homes' Hypocritical Donations Incite Families Hurt by Homebuilder
David Weekley Homes has hurt many families making them homeless, hurting them financially, and sometimes even injuring them physically. In the meantime, they have just given $50,000 to a national charity that provides homes to the temporarily homeless. This is beyond hypocritical - it is cruel and egregious that they would take hardworking families' money and build them houses so full of construction defects and contamination that they are unsafe to live in and then turn the other way refusing to take FULL responsibility for the economic damages, injuries, and pain and suffering they have caused.

Faulty construction, mold-attracting materials, builder shortcuts hazardous to new homes Willard and Cinda Thomas say their dream house almost killed them. Only four years after moving into the 3,000-square-foot model home in Keller, Cinda had joint pain to the point where she could barely walk. Willard became weak, depressed, asthmatic and arthritic...Mold may be the last thing home buyers think of on moving day. But home inspectors and some homeowners have found that new homes are not exempt from sometimes devastating mold infestation. Faulty building techniques, builder shortcuts during the construction boom and some materials that serve as food for mold are being blamed for mold moving into some new homes as fast as the new owners do.

New Weapons In The War On Toxic Mold
In March, the Richardsons sued the builder, David Weekley Homes, claiming that their negligence during the construction process created the optimal environment for the growth of toxic molds and compounds, many of which produce poisonous chemicals that cause chronic and acute health problems, including cancer.