Mortgage fraud scheme lands 6 in jail
On Wednesday, US Marshals and attorneys lead suspects in through the back of the federal courthouse to face a ten count indictment for a mortgage fraud scheme that began in 2004.  It is alleged that six people committed $25 million in mortgage fraud across Houston and its suburbs. They would then get a phony appraisal that would almost double the home's actual value. In that case, $400,000.

N. Texas shingle problems turn to blame game
Shingle manufacturer CertainTeed has been working with Lennar Homes to replace or reseal shingles at no cost to homeowners. Also, CertainTeed extended their five-year wind warranty to ten years. But when April's powerful storms wreaked havoc on North Texas, that warranty suddenly ended. Homeowners in The Colony are caught in the middle of a storm between their builder, a shingle manufacturer and their insurance companies. They said no one wants to take responsibility for the damage to their roofs.

Twin Cities builder files for Chapter 11
Twin Cities homebuilder MW Johnson has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, in the latest fallout of the housing market collapse. The Builders Association of the Twin Cities ranked the company as the 11th-largest home builder in 2007, based on gross revenues, which it estimated to be $41.4 million.

How homeowners, speculators and Wall Street rode a wave of easy money
It was the peak. It was the embodiment of business success," Connelly said. "We underestimated the bubble, even though deep down, we knew it couldn't last forever." Indeed, Pinnacle's party would soon end, along with the nation's housing euphoria. The company has all but disappeared, along with dozens of other mortgage firms, tens of thousands of jobs on Wall Street and the dreams of about 1 million proud new homeowners who lost their houses...The aftershocks of the housing market's collapse still rumble through the economy, with unemployment rising, companies struggling to obtain financing and the stock market more than 10 percent below its peak last fall... Seen in the best possible light, the housing bubble that began inflating in the mid-1990s was "a great national experiment," as one prominent economist put it -- a way to harness the inventiveness of the capitalist system to give low-income families, minorities and immigrants a chance to own their homes. But it also is a classic story of boom, excess and bust, of homeowners, speculators and Wall Street dealmakers happy to ride the wave of easy money even though many knew a crash was inevitable.

Builders to pay $4.3 million in settlement over runoff
Four of the biggest U.S. homebuilders will pay a total of $4.3 million to settle federal and state allegations that they violated clean water laws at construction sites across the country. entex Corp, KB Home, Pulte Homes Inc. and Richmond American Homes also agreed to improve their environmental compliance programs and put safeguards in place that will keep 1.2 billion pounds of sediment annually out of U.S. waterways, the U.S. Justice Department said yesterday.

Oregon home builder files for bankruptcy
1 of Oregon's largest home builders has filed for bankruptcy after its parent company made some bad land investments. Legend Homes' chief executive officer, David Oringdulph, says ill-timed purchases made in the once hot areas of Bend, Vancouver, Washington and Southern California prompted the bankruptcy.

The Magazine of the National Association of Home Builders
Parallel Universe
The worldview of Home Builders versus that of the people who post negative web sites about them is so different that some might wonder whether the two groups live on the same planet.
The negative Web postings depict builders as unscrupulous businesspeople who market shoddy, hastily built products and force people into binding arbitration agreements that forfeit the legal rights of home buyers.

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Mandatory Binding Arbitration Still Sucks
BusinessWeek has published a pretty substantial cover story on arbitration, and why it disadvantages consumers. Consumerist readers will be familiar with many of the story's criticisms: one study finds 99.8% of arbitration cases are decided in the corporation's favor, some arbitration firms market themselves to companies as a sympathetic and partial judge, the arbitration process is intentionally structured to handicap consumers, and more. Read more: Business Week: Banks vs. consumers (Guess Who Wins)

81% Of Americans Hate Mandatory Binding Arbitration
According to science, even the President is more popular than mandatory binding arbitration. A recent poll shows that Americans hate everything about the extrajudicial resolution system, from its inescapable omnipresence, to its unappealable decisions that rob consumers of their day in court. The poll provides a refreshing contrast to a different study commissioned by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which found that Americans love mandatory binding arbitration more than pie. Public Citizen Reports: New Poll - Americans say "No Thanks" To Binding Arbitration

Arests expected soon in two other schemes based here
Eleven members of that 16-person ring -- which includes three real estate agents, an attorney, a mortgage broker and a former Wells Fargo bank officer -- are set to be sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Austin after being found guilty of wire fraud, money laundering and falsifying information on loan documents as part of this scam that hit Austin and that San Antonio neighborhood...Texas is among the top 10 states for mortgage abuses, and San Antonio is involved in three such scams so far this year, the Austin case and two San Antonio-based rings under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The San Antonio rings used more than 50 people to inflate prices in Stone Oak, Spring Branch and Dallas. FBI special agents investigating the cases have said that arrests would happen soon this summer.

Building codes aren't big priority in Texas even after Rita
Hurricane and disaster experts say they are stunned that Texas has done nothing to bolster building codes nearly three years after Hurricane Rita blasted its Gulf coast, the Houston Chronicle reported Sunday. "Texas is an aberration," said Leslie Chapman-Henderson, chief executive of the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, a nonprofit organization. "It's eerily quiet in the state. Why are they not having a conversation about codes?"

Homeowners' concerns heard by state
It's not a block party or a home tour, at least not the kind you're used to. It was a tour of Hutto's defective homes. Neighbors said a majority of houses in three different neighborhoods built by Lennar Homes have been plagued with cracks, nail pops and mold, among numerous other problems. Tuesday night, representatives from the state heard homeowners' concerns.

Mortgage turmoil snares Ed McMahon
Ed McMahon, the longtime sidekick to Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show," is fighting to avoid foreclosure on his multimillion-dollar Beverly Hills estate. McMahon defaulted on $4.8 million in mortgage loans with a unit of Countrywide Financial Corp., which filed a notice of default in March, according to ForeclosureRadar, a company that sells default data pulled from public records.McMahon won a $7.2-million insurance settlement after claiming that mold in his house killed his dog Muffin and sickened him and his wife.According to a lawsuit he filed, the trouble began when a pipe broke and water flooded a den. Mold was later discovered throughout the house. McMahon and his wife, Pamela, blamed faulty cleanup. "When your family loses its health and your home is a wasteland, that's a colossal disaster," McMahon said at the time.

Home Front: Humbled home builders now facing reality
This change is not easy for builders. In a bust that has lasted three years, they have gone through phases: denial, blaming the media for messing with the heads of buyers, predicting bottom soon and laying off staff. Now a chastened industry has reached a new stage, openly acknowledging its mistakes..."We've effectively stolen from the future. The demand we should be having now we stole in 2005 and 2006." He said: "We're paying for the sins of our past right now." Are they ever. The builders, banks, sales staffs and land developers clearly see the sins now. They built too many homes, and they built them too big. They "pushed" people who had no business getting mortgages into homes. They bought too much land with too much borrowed money... industry joke went: If you can show your breath on a mirror, you can qualify..."We learned if you give people free money, they'll take it."  Respond to article and reader comments

Editorial: More evidence for judicial reform
The couple, Bob and Jane Cull, sued Perry Homes in an effort to get the home builder to make repairs to their retirement home. The case has been mired in the judicial system since 2000. Before the trial the Culls sought arbitration to avoid an even more expensive and drawn out legal fight.  After the Culls were awarded $800,000 by the arbiter, the home builder took them to court claiming that the arbitration was handled improperly. A district court and an appeals court ruled against the home builder who appealed to the Supreme Court.