Commentary: No end in sight to credit starvation
The big news right now is the Fannie-Freddie deathwatch. First thing: Borrowers should relax; the consequences of demise for you will be either good news or no news. The pending takeover is in many ways a non-story, just confirmation that Fannie and Freddie were, indeed, too big to fail. Hopes will be dashed at the Fed and Congress that takeover will benefit our decapitalized financial system and the economy. Maybe, just maybe, the authorities will absorb that lesson, and begin useful action.

Sunset review report calls for abolishing Texas Residential Construction Commission
In a scathing report released Tuesday, the Sunset commission, which regularly reviews state agencies, argued that the TRCC is ineffective and does not have the public's trust when it comes to protecting Texans from unscrupulous or unqualified builders. The report goes on to say the TRCC, which was created in 2003 to help regulate the homebuilding industry, should be abolished. "Current regulation of the residential construction industry is fundamentally flawed and does more harm than good," the report says.

HomeOwners for Better Building crowing about TRCC recommendation
HomeOwners for Better Building, the San Antonio-based group that has been in the news for fighting builders and its president's tactics, is celebrating because the state's Sunset Advisory Commission recommended that the Texas legislature abolish the Texas Residential Construction Commission...Janet Ahmad praised the recommendation in a press release. "The report is a consumer victory and goes a long way in restoring confidence in our state elected officials to do the right thing for genuine consumer protection this next session," Ahmad said in the release.

Abolish Texas home dispute agency, state group urges
An agency created to resolve disputes between homeowners and builders is "fundamentally flawed" and should be abolished, the Sunset Advisory Commission staff said Tuesday..."It's really doing more harm to homeowners than good," said Joey Longley, executive director of the sunset commission... But the staff report said that only 12 percent of cases where the state has sent in inspectors to review alleged defects have resulted in a "satisfactory offer or repair or compensation over the life of the program."...88 percent of reported cases are pursued by one party or the other using the legal system "€” the very outcome the process was enacted to prevent," the report said.

Report says Texas homebuilder agency should go
The Texas Residential Construction Commission should be abolished because it is ineffective and frustrates homeowners trying to get builders to address defects in their homes, according to a state agency review released Tuesday... "We need to scrap it," said Alex Winslow of Texas Watch. "Consumers need real protections against unscrupulous builders who build shoddy homes, and the TRCC has never provided homeowners with that kind of protection."... The sunset report called it a lengthy and difficult process that frustrates homeowners. Despite recent attempts to strengthen the process with new penalties, the TRCC "still has no real power to require builders to make needed repairs," the report said.

Abolition of state home-builder agency recommended
The controversial state agency that registers home builders is too broken to fix and should be abolished, according to a report from the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission... The report said the TRCC is not a true regulatory agency and is not effective in keeping problem builders from working. The report also said that the process for homeowners to resolve disputes can be difficult and frustrating and that homeowners do not trust the inspection process.The sunset commission concluded "that anything short of a true regulatory program does more harm than good, and should be abolished."

Agency recommends ending construction commission
Dallas Morning News: Duane Waddill, TRCC executive director, upon learning the Sunset Commission Report recommends to abolish TRCC, calls it: "…a basic misunderstanding of what we were created to do. He said his agency's mission is to help resolve disputes between home-owners and builders…and not necessarily to regulate an industry."...The original legislation was backed by Houston homebuilder Bob Perry, who is also the largest political donor in the state. His spokesman, Anthony Holm, said it was a rare case where the industry came to the Legislature and asked to be regulated.

Texas Sunset Advisory Commission Says Texas Residential Construction Commission Should Go
If you have a problem with your new house and the builder won't fix it you go to the Texas Residential Construction Commission with a complaint. The Commission has been under fire almost since it started and now the Sunset Advisory Commission is recommending the TRCC be abolished.Texas Watch Director Alex Winslow agrees with that recommendation. "The TRCC is not serving the needs of homeowners and the legislature needs to go back to the drawing board and start over again." The Commission is fighting back. It says it has shut down hundreds of bad homebuilders and without it consumers would have not protection and homebuilders could do whatever they want without someone looking over their shoulder.

Spring residents learn subdivision is in tollway's path "€” and wonder why they weren't told
Nobody told her that their brand-new neighborhood was in the footprint of the Grand Parkway, a planned highway encircling Houston. Or that most of the nearby houses would likely be bulldozed when construction began on the four-lane tollway that would be her future next-door neighbor."Lennar or the developer should have disclosed this to us, and we would have went to another neighborhood and tried to start our new life," Martin said. "I planned on leaving this house to my grandchildren. But who wants to raise children next to a freeway?" Robert A. Hudson, a Spring developer who partnered with Lennar on the project, said builders knew the highway might come through the subdivision.

Court: Homeowners Can Sue Builders
Arizona homeowners don't have to buy directly from builders to sue them for defective work, the state Supreme Court ruled unanimously Tuesday in a case with implications for consumers and businesses alike. "Innocent buyers of defectively constructed homes should not be denied redress on the implied warranty simply because of the form of the business deal chosen by the builder and vendor," Justice Andrew Hurwitz wrote in the unanimous ruling.

TEXAS WATCH PRESS RELEASE: SUNSET STAFF: TRCC SHOULD BE SCRAPPED
Alex Winslow, Executive Director of Texas Watch issued the following statement: "Like many of the homes built by bad builders in our state, the TRCC is beyond repair.  We need to scrap it, go back to the drawing board, and implement a process that truly protects homeowners. "We endorse the Sunset staff's recommendation to bring an end to the TRCC as we currently know it.  Lawmakers should replace the feckless TRCC with real reforms that ensure builder accountability, quality building standards, and true oversight and regulation of the homebuilding industry.  Instead of a builder protection agency like the TRCC, homeowners need an agency designed to serve their needs. "Consumers need real protections against unscrupulous builders who build shoddy homes, and the TRCC has never provided homeowners with that kind of protection.  Indeed, homeowners – not builders – are the ones regulated by the TRCC.

Housing starts plunge 11%, payback for temporary NYC surge in June
Housing starts fell 11% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 965,000 in July, close to the 960,000 expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch.  It's the lowest level in 17 years. June's starts were revised higher to a 1.084 million annual pace. Housing starts are down 29.6% in the past year.For single-family homes only, permits fell 5.2% to a 584,000 pace, the lowest since August 1982. Single-family permits have plunged 41.4% in the past year. The number of permits for single-family homes in the West region fell 10.8% to the lowest level in at least 20 years.

Legend Homes New Home falling down in 5 yrs due to poor workmanship and foundation Houston Texas
Our home has shifted almost 4', the brick is cracked, water is coming in all the windows, our attic has shifted, walls are cracked, windows are cracked, shingles are coming off our roof, roof is buckled, electrical has been pulled loose from the wall with loss of electric and shifting, toilet drainage is going up instead of down and numerous other issues. Our house is suppose to have a warranty of which is no value. Warranty company does not want to work with us or fix the problems. The state of Texas TRCC has given us a favorable ruling with the builder Legend Homes.  Legend Homes says they are not at fault and it is strictly a warranty issues and they are not responsible.

FBI Probes Unusual Incentives for Home Buyers
When home sales began to slow at the start of the downturn, home builders offered buyers incentives -- instead of reducing prices -- to stimulate demand. The incentives included cars, tuition and credit-card payments, and even cash. Now, federal investigators are questioning whether some of those incentives misled lenders and caused them to write mortgages that were artificially inflated, contributing to today's home-price crash...the Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into allegations that home builders, brokers and appraisers defrauded lenders by not disclosing unusually large incentives to buyers, which could have added as much as $100,000 to the price of a home.