Builder heads back to federal pen for violating parole
A federal judge sentenced former metro-east home builder Joseph "J.D." Castellano to a year in jail on Monday after he found Castellano violated his parole. Castellano served an 8-year prison sentence on wire-fraud charges in connection with leaving 27 homes unfinished and costing customers, contractor and a local bank more than $1.85 million. Federal probation officers asked to revoke Castellano's parole after they said he worked for Marion Truss. The terms of his release bar him from working in the construction business. "It's just like Yogi Berra said, 'Its deja vu all over again,'" said U.S. District Judge David Herndon. "... It appears that Mr. Castellano has not gotten the message."

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Texas lawmakers flush with building industry contributions vote to extend life of fatally flawed TRCC
In disregarding a recommendation of the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission staff to dismantle the Texas Residential Construction Commission, the elected members of the Sunset Commission's governing board have served their political interests at the expense of constituents...The Sunset Commission staff concluded that the TRCC is too flawed to repair and "without true regulation designed to ensure public protection," Texans are better served without it. We wholeheartedly agree and hope that in the coming legislative session, lawmakers will vote to shutter this sham of a commission.

Heads They Win . . . Tails You Lose
Homeownrs are hung out to dry by a system that virtually asures victory to wealthy homebuilders, regardless of the legal road traveled...So the battle of the billionaire builder vs. the homeowner continues.  It is clear to the Culls that the system is broken.  And it's not likely to get fixed by a panel controlling access that includes one of Bob Perry's staff in its ranks.  The TRCC stands as a perfect example of political power and money run amok in state government.  Nothing short of a major overhaul will even come close, and any solution has to include removing builder advocates from the panel.  Probably the best answer is to throw the baby and the bathwater in the ditch and rethink the entire issue with a lot of input from the public . . . not from Bob Perry or John Krugh.

Construction panel lacks effective power
The Sunset staff in August recommended that the construction commission be abolished because it and the law that created it were so badly designed and built that it was "easy for even problem builders to stay in business."  In essence, the law forced the buyer of a new home who had unresolved complaints about a defect to go through a new government bureaucracy, the construction commission, to resolve disputes before any lawsuit could be filed. ..But as the Sunset staff found, even after the Legislature tried to strengthen the construction commission's powers in 2005, it "still has no real power to require builders to make needed repairs."

Builder, homeowner mediator gets thumbs up
Ten lawmakers who rejected a recommendation to abolish the state agency that helps shield home builders from consumer lawsuits have received a total of at least half a million dollars in campaign contributions from builders since 2000...Most of the money "€” $486,000 "€” came from Houston home builder Bob Perry. Another $22,050 was contributed by the Texas Association of Builders' political action cmmittee...  "We're talking about the largest campaign contributor in the state of Texas in Bob Perry, and certainly the home builders lobby is influential at the Capitol," he said...Hegar, R-Katy, has received $64,500 in campaign contributions from builder Perry, including $45,000 in 2006 during his first Senate race.

Builder Perry gave $486,000 to 10 lawmakers on Sunset panel in past 8 years
Ten lawmakers who rejected a recommendation to abolish the state agency that helps shield home builders from consumer lawsuits have received at least a half million dollars in campaign contributions from builders since 2000. Most of the money "€” $486,000 "€” came from home builder Bob Perry of Houston. Another $22,050 was contributed by the Texas Association of Builders political action committee.Other builders may have donated individually, but none approximated the magnitude of Perry's contributions.

Tx sunset panel urges sparing construction commission
A state agency scheduled for abolition because it has been ineffective in resolving consumers' complaints against homebuilders should continue, a review panel has decided...The Sunset Commission, a panel of 10 lawmakers and two public members, rejected a staff review that said the agency is ''fundamentally flawed'' and should be abolished. The staff report said the agency is doing more harm than good for homeowners, who must go through the agency's dispute resolution process before they can file lawsuits against builders.  The Sunset Commission rejected calls from consumer advocates to allow homeowners to bypass the TRCC and go directly to court

Texas Sunset Commission votes not to abolish homebuilding agency, says it must resolve complaints faster
The Texas Sunset Commission voted Tuesday not to abolish the state's much-maligned homebuilding agency but said it must do a better job settling homeowner complaints...Under current law, a homebuilder cannot be forced to make any repairs and a homeowner cannot take a builder to arbitration or court until a resolution process is complete.The action falls short of a staff recommendation that the housing agency be abolished because it has become a boon to homebuilders. Critics say the agency effectively discourages homeowners from redressing their complaints by mandating they go through a bureaucracy that has no authority to fix their problems before taking their complaints to court.

New for 2009: HUD Bans Incentives for Using Affiliated Lenders
When Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve Preston announced the department's "long-anticipated mortgage reforms" on Nov. 12, he said the changes to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) would help consumers to shop for the lowest cost mortgage, avoid costly and potentially harmful loans, and save hundreds of dollars at the closing table.

PA couple claims stucco siding damaged home's structure
Danny and Joy Williams discovered cracks in the coating applied to the outside walls of their new home which caused water and moisture intrusion, according to the complaint filed Dec. 11 in Jefferson County District Court. All of the Williams' requests for Bill Lindsey Construction, the company that applied the coating, to look into the situation have been to no avail, the suit states. Because of the water and moisture intrusion, the structural integrity of the Williams' new house is in jeopardy, they claim.

Court fight that symbolizes builders' political power drags on for Mansfield couple
Their story is simple: The Culls say Mr. Perry's company built a defective house, with a broken foundation and cracked walls. When the company failed to fix it, the couple took their case to arbitration and won a $800,000 award. But Perry Homes refused to pay it, saying the couple had waived their legal rights to arbitration. The company lost in the lower courts, but eventually won in the Texas Supreme Court, which vacated the award and sent the case back to trial court.To some, the case has become symbolic of the disadvantage that an average homeowner faces in going up against a builder with deep pockets. After the Culls commenced their fight, Mr. Perry spearheaded creation of the Texas Residential Construction Commission, which required that all future homeowners seek relief there first before taking a homebuilder to court or arbitration. But the state Sunset Commission, which evaluates state agencies for effectiveness, may recommend that lawmakers abolish the construction commission "€” a staff report concluded that it is little more than a bureaucratic speed bump protecting homebuilders.

Express-News Capitol Update
The next test for the embattled Texas Residential Construction Commission comes Tuesday, when the Sunset Advisory Commission will decide whether to endorse a staff recommendation that the Legislature abolish the agency....Ten of the 12 members of the Sunset Advisory Commission are legislators, and, as I reported a few months ago, Perry has given those 10 more than $400,000 during their legislative careers. Hegar has received $64,500 from Perry, most of it during his first Senate race in 2006. Hegar said Perry's money won't affect his decision... When asked what he would do if the TRCC's future were up to him alone, Hegar stopped short of abolishing the agency. "I would probably get rid of the board and get rid of everybody and start all over from scratch," he said.

Ex-Housing Official Charged
A former Bexar County Housing Authority board member has been charged in federal court with illegally taking more than $100,000 in contracts from a Dallas company that benefited from his position on the board. Carlos Madrid Jr. was charged Wednesday with deprivation of honest services, a charge that could bring up to 20 years in prison."It is my belief and assertion that Madrid defrauded the public of his honest services as an appointed official and misused his position as a commissioner on the Housing Authority of Bexar County ... to personally enrich himself in a series of transactions," wrote FBI Special Agent Fred Olivares in an affidavit.

Why home values may take decades to recover
As painful as the decline has been, history suggests home values still may have a long way to drop and may take decades to return to the heights of 2½ years ago... An extreme relaxation of lending standards inflated the housing bubble. "Shoddy underwriting on mortgages" is the primary cause of the housing crisis, says York, the Wachovia economist. "People got caught off-guard by how bad it was." Millions of home buyers "€” poor, rich and middle class "€” were approved to buy homes at prices that had been out-of-reach just a few years earlier. Lenders offered low introductory "teaser" rates on adjustable rate mortgages and approved borrowers based on artificially low mortgage payments, not the higher ones that took effect later.