If you plan on visiting a model home in the near future this book is an absolute must. Learn before you buy.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BY HADD.
Monday, December 25, 2006. PA; National interest: Monroe foreclosures jump; first rise in 3 years Some have pointed to predatory lending practices and deceptive sales practices, including the use of inflated appraisals to sell homes for more than they are worth, as part of a pattern of home sale abuse. The state Attorney General's Office filed several civil suits seeking restitution and damages, and launched a criminal case that resulted in guilty pleas by the owners of a building company with an in-house brokerage firm. (Similar situation to the Denver Post article posted a day ago, on builders and foreclosure. Private civil suits against builders, lenders and appraisers are still pending in federal district court. --Ed.)
Monday, December 25, 2006. TX: TRCC now to offer data on builders www.texasrcc.com to offer info on registration, inspection, and action taken against the builder
Monday, December 25, 2006. AZ: Turner-Dunn Bankruptcy update: Calif. firm may buy half-done houses Scottsdale-based Charlevoix Homes LLC backed out the day before Thursday's scheduled courtroom auction of Turner-Dunn properties in Maricopa and Casa Grande, where unfinished homes and lots have sat withering in the sun and storms since early spring after about 150 buyers paid at least $650,000 in earnest money. Charlevoix did not finish due-diligence reports or document its financial ability to pull off the deal. But Ontario, Calif.-based Frontier Homes has offered to buy the properties for the same amount, said Dan Collins, an attorney in the bankruptcy trustee's office.
Sunday, December 24, 2006. MN; Nat'l interest: State can't keep up with mortgage fraud Homebuyers' complaints often languish with Commerce Department
Sunday, December 24, 2006. CO; Nat'l interest: Builders often key players in high-risk game foreclosing on the american dream | part of an occasional series: A computer-assisted geographic analysis of Weld and metro-area foreclosures by The Denver Post found many concentrated in new neighborhoods developed by local builders. Others clustered in new neighborhoods where national builders doubled as lenders. In one, more than 90 percent of foreclosures on the original buyers involved loans from the builder.
Sunday, December 24, 2006. US: Disclose campaign giving promptly The secrecy that shrouded Houston homebuilder Bob Perry's gift until last week was made possible by a defect in state campaign laws. The flaw needs correction by the 2007 Legislature.
Sunday, December 24, 2006. PA: Hearing set for Highland Village master plan Bushkill--Lehman Township will hold a public meeting Jan. 4 at 6:30 p.m. for comment on the 5,000-plus unit mixed-use development on the site of the former Tamiment Resort and Conference Center.
Sunday, December 24, 2006. US: Building paychecks: Ex-CEO of KB Home tops industry rivals Karatz, 61, retired under pressure last month after an internal investigation found that he picked stock option grant dates that inflated the value to himself and other executives.
Saturday, December 23, 2006. FL: Palm Coast homebuilder convicted (Jose Gutierrez, owner of Novas Homes) scammed a title company out of more than $4 million will face up to 30 years in prison when he is sentenced next month.
Saturday, December 23, 2006. OK: How to tell a housing tattletale from a fine, upstanding citizen Call the Oklahoma Real Estate Commission: 521-3387 in the Oklahoma City area; toll-free elsewhere, (866) 521-3389. Suspicious of a mortgage broker? Call the Oklahoma Department of Consumer Credit, which licenses them: 521-3653. In-state consumer hotline: (800) 448-4904. Smell a rat dressed like an appraiser? Call the Oklahoma Insurance Department, which includes the state Real Estate Appraiser Board: (800) 522-0071 anywhere in the state.
Friday, December 22, 2006. WA: Development rules overdue, direly needed Fire officials say the neighborhoods aren't safe for residents or firefighters.
Friday, December 22, 2006. MA; Nat'l interest: The Difference Between Mechanic's Liens and Real Estate Attachments A mechanic's lien is an automatic right that a contractor has that is afforded by statute. As long as a contractor who has worked at a property complies with the procedure, the lien can be filed on the property for the amount owed. A real estate attachment is not automatic.
Friday, December 22, 2006. TX: Pair sought for defrauding Northeast woman Joseph Arroyos, and Claudia Gisela Ramirez, doing business as Dreams Come True Construction: court records show Arroyos has five other pending charges of deceptive business practices connected to the business name CJ Construction and "C and J Construction."
Friday, December 22, 2006. NJ: Developer admits Ocean Twp. graft Moshe "Michael" Gohar acknowledged in federal district court in Trenton that he gave Weldon $50,000 in cash after Weldon helped influence the 2001 vote on the zon ing change.
Friday, December 22, 2006. MA: Board pulls builder's permits Orchard Hill resident Carolyn Salvatore reported on hazards in the complex and difficulties in communicating with Venincasa. Salvatore said she fell when walking on sidewalks in her neighborhood, bruising her chin and hands. When her husband left a message for Venincasa on his answering machine, Venincasa came to their house and berated them, she said. ... “As long as you have public hearings, you’re going to have complaints,” Venincasa said.
Friday, December 22, 2006. NM: Lawsuit: Developer ruined our neighborhood In a lawsuit, the Brookses and a neighbor say the developer (RayLee Homes) promised to sell no more than 10 percent of their neighborhood's homes to investors. The company broke its promise by selling upward of 50 percent of the homes to investors, primarily from out of state, the lawsuit states. So far, the Brookses say, that broken promise has translated into empty houses, lots of rentals, sinking property values and a generally transient and crime-ridden community in their neighborhood near the intersection of 98th Street and Ladera Drive Northwest.
Friday, December 22, 2006. NJ: Kara seeks $40M to complete deals Kara Homes Inc. is seeking a $40 million loan from Bear Stearns to help it build or finish building at least some of the 300 homes that were not constructed or left unfinished when the home builder filed for bankruptcy more than two months ago.
Friday, December 22, 2006. US: Home builder profit Realty Q & A column on MarketWatch: I really have to disagree with you on your 5% figure [on home-builder profit]. As an architect here in Illinois, I don't know of any builder that I deal with that is making that small of a profit
Friday, December 22, 2006. US: Give me back my rights You are stripped of your rights every time you sign any type of contract that contains a Binding Mandatory Arbitration (BMA) clause.
Thursday, December 21, 2006. La Crescent, MN: City being sued for Stoney Point denial (More on article below, from Houston County News, about Developer Ted Thompson suing town for denial of his plan. This website contains older articles on previous denials to the developer. --Ed.)
Thursday, December 21, 2006. MN: Stoney Point developer files lawsuit against city of La Crescent LA CRESCENT, Minn. — After having its plans for the controversial Stoney Point Housing Development denied by the La Crescent City Council three times, La Crescent T-1 LLC has filed suit against the five members of the city council. (Earlier articles were posted on the HADD news page about this matter, from the Houston County News, LaCrescent's paper. --Ed.)
Thursday, December 21, 2006. CO; Nat'l interest: PDF: (The report referenced in the article below concerning the title insurance industry.) "Problems and Concerns Regarding the Marketing and Sales of Title Insurance and LandAmerica Financial Group Inc.'s Conduct Regarding Federal and State Examinations of Title Insurance"
Thursday, December 21, 2006. CO; Nat'l interest: LandAmerica accused of campaign to discredit Colorado regulator A report by members of a congressional committee that held hearings on the title insurance industry earlier this year accuses LandAmerica Financial Group of attempting to impede its investigation and discredit the Colorado official credited with sparking enforcement actions against the industry nationwide.
Thursday, December 21, 2006. US: Talk about pocket change Don A. White, Jr., of Sacramento, arrested at Kansas City airport after $70,000 is found in his cargo pants. The cash may be linked to mortgage fraud.
Thursday, December 21, 2006. NC: Ex-mayoral candidate wanted on fraud count Durham police are looking for a building contractor and one-time mayoral candidate accused of bilking a local man out of $29,800. The wanted man, Vincent Cortez Brown, 46, of 3102 Hornbuckle Place in Durham, has eluded authorities since a magistrate issued a warrant for his arrest in late September. ... Brown is from Pennsylvania and is also known to have lived in Virginia.
Thursday, December 21, 2006. Firehouse.com; Nat'l interest: Noisy Opposition Won't Win there are groups that spend a lot of money to oppose local ordinances requiring the installation of fire sprinklers in new construction of single-family homes.
Thursday, December 21, 2006. FL: Sierra: Resident's letter off base Builder Sierra Properties sends "veiled threat" letter to 72 yr old woman who wrote to the paper to oppose a development.
Thursday, December 21, 2006. AZ: Firefighting's growth pains Builders oppose fee
Thursday, December 21, 2006. WI; Nat'l interest: State report releases details about fatal fire Phillips said that over the course of the last 20 years, new building materials in homes have created a different set of realities for firefighters. "The lightweight construction … shortens the amount of time the building is able to support itself when under fire conditions," he said Wednesday.
Thursday, December 21, 2006. US: Residential Auctions More Popular (ARCHIVED ARTICLE FROM 1990, historically interesting and relevant today. Hope this archive link works for our readers. Thank you to our NC HADD representative for the article. --Ed.) NY Times, Oct 7, 1990: "Residential real-estate auctions, traditionally perceived as the last resort of desperate developers, are fast becoming an acceptable, sometimes preferable sales strategy, real-estate experts say."
Thursday, December 21, 2006. VA: Development a hot topic in Bedford County Homebuilders commissioned a study to combat the negative image that these developments are bringing to their profession and help prove their worth....The study does not take into account the shortfalls the county has in certain areas of its infrastructure, like fire and rescue services funding and the number of road projects that have been put on hold because of declining funding, he said. “Who will pay for all that infrastructure?” Modzelewski said. “The bottom line is whatever the cost is, what do the citizens of Bedford County want? There were three surveys done and none of the surveys have ever said, ‘We want more growth.’ Regardless of money, that should be the overriding issue.”
Thursday, December 21, 2006. Kansas City: Developer Phobia repairmen found "a crumbling mess" when they peeled back the siding on her 11-year-old house...The subdivision is named Willowbrook. It's in Overland Park. The builder is Thomas French.
Thursday, December 21, 2006. US: Rewards not worth risks of today's market The risk-reward is out of whack in housing
Thursday, December 21, 2006. WA: Lawsuit over orcas dismissed Builders, farmers have no legal right to challenge whale protections, ruling says
Thursday, December 21, 2006. US: Carpet in new home always inexplicably dirty along baseboards? Q & A column addresses the cause and fix for this problem which has to do with the HVAC system and air being pulled in from outside.
Thursday, December 21, 2006. FL: Temporary deal spares assets of accused homebuilder A North Naples home builder accused of stealing more than $300,000 of his customers’ money reached an agreement Wednesday with five sets of home buyers suing him that temporarily spares him from having his assets frozen and his company seized. But the lawsuits by the customers remain active, as the agreement doesn’t prove the money they paid Carlos Pio and his company, Deco Homes of Southwest Florida, for construction hasn’t been stolen or otherwise misspent.
Thursday, December 21, 2006. NC; Nat'l interest: PDF file: NC Public Interest Research Group Report: Who Pays for Faulty Construction? This report examines five case studies in shoddy construction and makes recommendations for homeowners and policy makers to protect home investments. (Report is from August of this year but is worth repeating for those who may have missed it. --Ed.)
Thursday, December 21, 2006. MI: Mortgage fraud gets Dearborn man up to 11 years "Providing abjectly false documents to get a mortgage loan is a serious federal crime that can cost lenders millions and undermine the credibility of the market to the detriment of all," said U.S. Attorney Stephen Murphy.
Thursday, December 21, 2006. Jack Mc Cabe of McCabe Research & Consulting: CORRECTION to posting below! CORRECTED EXCERPT: I'm of the opinion that much of the artificial real estate boom was due to hype, spin and phony positive propaganda spread by self-serving quasi analysts of vested-interest trade associations and many members, as well as ridiculous overdevelopment, suicidal lending, pumped up appraisals and minimal investigative title closing practices.
Thursday, December 21, 2006. US; Inman.com real estate news may require subscription to read online: Jack McCabe of McCabe Research & Consulting writes to the Editor of Inman I used to work for one of the oldest and largest financial services companies in the world. But you wouldn't have known it from looking at the sign on the outside of the building. You see, the firm kept its name out of public view when it came to this business: the sub prime mortgage lending racket.
Thursday, December 21, 2006. US: Inside a Wall Street Mortgage Chop Shop I used to work for one of the oldest and largest financial services companies in the world. But you wouldn't have known it from looking at the sign on the outside of the building. You see, the firm kept its name out of public view when it came to this business: the sub prime mortgage lending racket.
Thursday, December 21, 2006. International: British builder Wimpey Scales Back in U.S. as Land Prices, Sales Fall George Wimpey Plc, Britain's second- biggest homebuilder by revenue, plans to scale back its U.S. division to counter a drop in demand and tumbling land values.
Thursday, December 21, 2006. US: Liars' Loans Could Make Many Moan Article predicts explosive rise in foreclosures that could wreak havoc on the economy
Thursday, December 21, 2006. US: The Mortgage Bust Goes On The nonpartisan Center for Responsible Lending predicts 2.2 million households in this mortgage segment, known as subprime borrowers, either have lost their homes or hold mortgages doomed for foreclosure in the next few years. ... The growing chorus of concern over mortgage costs and foreclosures could ensnare more than just the lenders like Countrywide Financial (nyse: CFC - news - people ), Wells Fargo (nyse: WFC - news - people ) and H&R Block (nyse: HRB - news - people ) who peddle adjustable-rate mortgages with low teaser rates and interest-only features. On Wall Street, risky mortgages get bundled into large pools of mortgage-backed securities, which now account for 23% of all bond market debt outstanding, making it the largest single segment of the U.S bond market.
Thursday, December 21, 2006. US: The "Foreclosure Factories" Vise These loans already are defaulting at unprecedented rates. Lenders are in large part responsible because they sold risky and unsuitable mortgages to unsophisticated borrowers. In some cases, of course, careless borrowers shoulder some of the blame. But some say there's another force at work: aggressive servicing tactics. "Predatory servicing has attracted little attention, yet in many respects it is more vicious and the adverse consequences are more far-ranging," says Jack M. Guttentag, professor of finance emeritus at the the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006. AR: Women guilty of mortgage fraud Debby L. Cossitt, Debra Jean Price and Shannon Marie Hill dba various mobile home co's: Arkansas Housing Specialists, Inc; American Made Homes; Better Built Homes
Wednesday, December 20, 2006. US: Is KB Home heading to bankruptcy court? With the ouster of chief executive, Bruce Karatz, following a stock-option scandal, KB Home has created two problems for itself. (Blog Commentary)
Wednesday, December 20, 2006. WA: CS Inc Homeowners Homeowners post their experiences with Craig Shepard homes in WA state.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006. US; Business Week: Housing: Curb Your Enthusiasm About A Recovery Housing booms are short and exciting. Housing busts, on the other hand, are long and painful. So don't put much faith in those oft-heard assertions that the worst is already over. Prices are likely to fall further in many markets in 2007. In some others, prices may rise, but at less than the rate of inflation. A BusinessWeek analysis of the past three decades shows that if history repeats itself, it's likely to take 15 years or more for many parts of the country to get back to their inflation-adjusted peaks.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006. FL; Nat'l interest: Related to the article below about the JPG Enterprises, Inc. v. Evans case: PDF file We find the legal analysis set forth in Grosseibl v. J. Chris Howard Builders, Inc., 739 So. 2d 1255 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999), to be applicable to this case. In Grosseibl, the Fifth District held that a home purchaser’s claims against the builder were not covered by an arbitration provision in the warranty agreement where the provision addressed only claims “arising out of or relating to” the warranty and where the warranty expressly excluded coverage for the issues addressed by the plaintiff’s complaint. In this case, the warranty would not cover all of the failures in construction alleged in the plaintiff’s complaint.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006. FL; Nat'l interest: Homebuyer's Warranty May Not Require Arbitration of Home Construction Dispute In JPG Enterprises, Inc. v. Evans, a homebuyer sued a builder for breach of the building contract and violation of FDUTPA. JPG moved to compel arbitration based upon an arbitration clause in the separate warrany agreement ("arising from or relating to" the warranty). The Court held that "the warranty would not cover all of the failures in construction alleged in the plaintiff's complaint." The court held that the building contract and warranty were "independent" and that the arbitration provision only applies to disputes arising from or relating to the warranty.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006. NJ: Company accused by state of fraud AZ Renovations LLC and its owner, Paul A. Miller, were sued for violating the Contractors Registration Act, which requires home-improvement contractors to register with the state and obtain a license.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006. US: Corporate America: Get Behind Your Product! Businesses need to be held accountable for the goods and services they sell instead of blaming their customers, or forcing them to surrender access to the courts. (Homeowner's editorial starts with a Centex Homes problem. Builders, cell phone contracts, car dealers, credit cards, etc, commonly have an arbitration clause now. --Ed.)
Wednesday, December 20, 2006. VA: Flooded basements escalate to 'David and Goliath' situation (Homeowners) pump between 1 and 18 inches of water out of their home each time it rains heavily. (Builders are Toll Brothers, and Beazer. --Ed.)
Wednesday, December 20, 2006. FL: DiVosta layoffs put housing rebound in doubt DiVosta, owned by Michigan-based Pulte Homes Inc., is the fourth largest builder on the Treasure Coast.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006. US: Toll Bros. chief takes pay cut Current fiscal year bonus for home builder CEO Robert Toll trimmed by almost 19 percent to $17.5 million.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006. MI: Men Accused Of Being Phony Contractors In Custody Michael Gaber and Garrett Bayllog....The men use four separate businesses that are listed in the Yellow Pages. The businesses include, best Value Heating and Cooling, Detroit's Best Heating and Cooling, Budget Plumbing Heating and Cooling, and B-Comfort Heating and Cooling.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006. Kansas City Star: Man sentenced to 2 years in prison for mortgage scam Prosecutors said Thomas provided inflated property appraisals, which co-conspirators in a number of different schemes used to defraud lending institutions and home buyers. The largest involved Brent Barber, 42, of Belton, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced in October to 12 years and seven months in prison and ordered to pay more than $11 million in restitution. Authorities accused him of orchestrating a scheme involving nearly 300 loans worth almost $20 million.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006. Kansas City: Mortgage fraud brings appraiser two-year sentence Thomas was a real estate appraiser doing business as Thomas Appraisal Service in Kansas City and Lee's Summit, Schlozman said. Thomas performed appraisals for Ameriquest Mortgage in Gladstone and Countrywide Home Loans, which also did business as America's Wholesale Lender, as well as other mortgage companies, lenders and brokers.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006. OR: Ex-bank investigator admits to fraud David Shelofsky, a former U.S. Bank fraud investigator and Bend-area real estate developer, pleaded guilty Monday to defrauding the bank of $1.3 million over three years.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006. US: Huge charges hit Hovnanian The Red Bank, N.J.-based homebuilder posted a loss of $115.3 million, or $1.88 a share, reversing a year-earlier profit of $168.1 million, or $2.53 a share. The results included charges of $141 million from walking away from land deposits and $174 million related to impairments.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006. US: Builder/Developer fraud Mortgage fraud news site has special category for these fraud cases.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006. CO: Subpoena targets records on mortgage advertisers A year ago, Attorney General John Suthers said that as part of his crackdown on mortgage fraud, he would investigate companies that advertised super-low mortgage rates in the newspapers, saying the ads could be bait-and-switch ploys.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006. US: Numerous articles pertaining to housing Bubble blog with links to articles, new ones posted today.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006. FL and other states: Tampa Tribune Mortgage Fraud series This and other series and news articles on mortgage fraud news site.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006. FL: Lee rejects builder's bid for extras "The board is having a great amount of concern with the issue of allowing developers to buy their way out of proposed affordable housing," Janes said.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006. NJ: Kara asks OK to auction 4 developments Kara's bankruptcy left uncertain the fate of about 300 homes that the company had contracts to build but didn't finish....buyers who have contracts to buy homes in those developments could lose their down payments. "When these types of scenarios occur, homeowners are in a precarious position because they are often a class of unsecured creditors in the bankruptcy," Bogart said.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006. FL: R-G Crown's chief will lead parent company Locally, R-G Crown is embroiled in a controversy involving its handling of home loans for several subdivisions planned by a builder who has been arrested on fraud charges. Barrington Homes of Orlando, a now-defunct home-building company, used R-G Crown Bank as one of its lenders. John Barrington, a convicted felon formerly known as John Jakows, was an R-G customer who brought prospective home buyers to the bank for loans. R-G Bank loaned millions for land and for homes that were never built.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006. FL: Avalon leaves homes unbuilt Another Southwest Florida home builder has exited, leaving dozens of customers with unfinished homes... (Joseph) Pufta (owner of Avalon Homes) also is a principal in The Signature Group of Sarasota LLC, the corporate owner of Avalon Homes. Signature's registered agent is Sarasota attorney John A. Moran of Dunlap & Moran P.A.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006. FL: Home builder to cut jobs DiVosta to lay off 218
Tuesday, December 19, 2006. NJ: Kara Homes Seeks Court OK To Sell 4 NJ Housing Developments Kara Homes Inc. is seeking bankruptcy court approval to sell four housing developments in New Jersey to Magyar Bank, subject to higher offers at auction.
Monday, December 18, 2006. US: Doubt cast on stock options of directors A study suggests that hundreds of board members may have gained from backdating. (While this legal site article doesn't mention names of the companies recently investigated, see earlier articles about KB Home's CEO Bruce Karatz in relation to this. --Ed.)
Monday, December 18, 2006. OR: Construction Claims Task Force Meetings schedule and agendas. This has been an opportunity for the public to be involved in potential reform of the builder licensing agency in OR. HADD has two volunteers who've worked closely with this task force. Next meeting is Dec. 20. If you are in OR or if you're involved in similar efforts in your state check this out!
Monday, December 18, 2006. OR: Construction Claims Task Force Recently updated information/submissions.
Monday, December 18, 2006. US: Fannie Mae Regulator Sues Raines, Former Executives Fannie Mae's regulator today sued ousted Chief Executive Officer Franklin Raines and two other former senior officers for more than $215 million because of their roles in overstating profits by $6.3 billion.
Monday, December 18, 2006. US: Build on This Real estate law news blog on foreclosures, arbitration, and more. New entries posted recently.
Monday, December 18, 2006. US: The foreclosure capital of the U.S. Worsening matters, in some cases, is a wave of adjustable-rate mortgages resetting
Monday, December 18, 2006. US: No more bubbles to bail out the housing bubble The fact that the economic strength of the past few years was powered by a housing mania -- an unstable, unsustainable engine of growth -- is what one needs to understand to realize that the ramifications of the housing bubble's unwinding will be brutal.
Monday, December 18, 2006. TX: Real estate agent offering free gun with house purchase (Just when you think you've heard it all!)
Monday, December 18, 2006. FL: Builder misspent $3.2 million House of Lies/Audit Findings: While the building project stalled, developer Raul Masvidal used the county's money
Monday, December 18, 2006. PA: Nazareth Contractor Is Accused Of Defrauding Customers Robert Paul Westwood, 37, formerly of 716 Seipe Ave. in the borough, was arrested Thursday and charged with theft by deception and deceptive or fraudulent business practices. According to state police at Bethlehem, Westwood did business as Quality Construction or R&C Contracting, and is accused of defrauding customers from 2001 to 2006 of more than $175,000 in goods or payment for work never performed.
Monday, December 18, 2006. International: South Africa: Bill Aims to Control House Builders A new bill aims to close loopholes and ambiguities in an act that governs the work of home builders.
Monday, December 18, 2006. AL: Buyers, be aware of potential problems The homeowners, city officials and a professional engineer later attributed the problems to low-quality grinder pumps and poor installations by the homebuilder, Adams Homes.
Monday, December 18, 2006. National: The hidden cost of your hardwood floor The demand for Chinese goods is driving destructive logging around the globe. Part two of a Tribune special report.
Monday, December 18, 2006. MI: Developers may face fight in Oceola Twp. The owners of Chemung Hills are planning to turn the 152-arce site into a 286-home development. (Against public opposition, and despite a depressed housing market in MI. --Ed.)
Monday, December 18, 2006. MI: Considering giving your house back to the bank? The Detroit News would like to hear from readers who have faced this tough decision. To tell your story, e-mail Ron French at rfrench@detnews.com
Monday, December 18, 2006. TX, Bexar County: Court record search site This is just one county in one state. Find your local court site to do research on builders before you buy. Keep in mind that arbitration clauses prevent suing a builder so only a fraction of complaints will be public record, but this is still helpful. Use the Business Name search and type in a buiding company's name.
Sunday, December 17, 2006. FL: Family, friends in on real estate plot (Todd) Kolbe, a mortgage broker by trade, drew family and friends into the effort. He created a series of home building companies that collapsed, one after another, destroying the reputations of those closest to him, distorting the local real estate market and frustrating dozens of home buyers who had trusted Kolbe and his associates.
Sunday, December 17, 2006. PA: State details inspector's charges After its investigation, the state concluded that Lee was incompetent and exhibited gross negligence in the performance of his duties as a building code official....The Daackes hired a private engineering firm to check the house. The Daackes contacted the builder, who said he was willing to repair some issues, such as clamping a seal plate to an I-beam, but refused to address larger concerns, Michael Daacke said. A seal plate should be bolted, rather than clamped, to a I-beam, he said.
Sunday, December 17, 2006. NJ: Holiday blues: Kara Homes bankruptcy turns lives of prospective buyers upside down To make matters worse, their prospective house has no shingles on the roof and no windows. Now, it is damaged by the elements
Sunday, December 17, 2006. KS; Nat'l interest: Lawmakers, developers should step up efforts to stop wood rot Area inspector Dan Bowers says that once it’s wet, chipboard sheathing can become spongy and “crumble like a wet Saltine cracker.”
Sunday, December 17, 2006. US: How KB Home CEO's pay went through the roof With other corporate chiefs on his board, Bruce Karatz made $232.6 million in 3 years
Sunday, December 17, 2006. US: Check out houses, contractors, etc, before you buy Choice Trust, CLUE report, etc
Sunday, December 17, 2006. CA; Nat'l interest: Builders and homeowners offering a bevy of incentives New-home builders around the state and in other parts of the country have also fallen on hard times.
Sunday, December 17, 2006. MI: Condo developers scale back Luxury housing developers are feeling the pinch of the real estate slump.
Sunday, December 17, 2006. US: HALT pushes for small claims reform IL and other states have raised the small claims court limit. Pg. 7 of this PDF shows other states' actions.
Sunday, December 17, 2006. SC: Officer of the law a victim of builder fraud Homeowner's website: bad experience with builder, the builder's lender, and with arbitration service "CAS."
Saturday, December 16, 2006. MI: Judge says SonRise houses can be sold The financial troubles of Grand Blanc Township-based SonRise Homes are now in the courts, and the lawsuit took a small step forward Thursday.
Saturday, December 16, 2006. NJ: Local man accused of fraud Robert Paul Westwood, doing business as an individual and under the business names Quality Construction or R& C Contracting, used various schemes to bilk his victims of money, goods and services between 2001 and 2006, police said.
Saturday, December 16, 2006. CA: Real estate fraud trial under way in N. County Testimony began this week in a trial in which operators of a North County real estate venture are accused of defrauding investors out of more than $1 million and promising homes that were never built. Prosecutors told a jury that First Latino Group promised low-cost homes and services to more than 100 investors, many of whom are members of Hispanic churches in the North County. The group is no longer in business.
Saturday, December 16, 2006. OK: However complex, mortgage fraud boils down to bald-face lying Last year, real estate agents, home builders and title and escrow executives settled with federal investigators in an alleged kickback and referral fee scheme in Tulsa. Last week, one Realtor pleaded guilty and at least one more is under federal indictment — other players in the housing business, too — in a mortgage fraud scheme in Edmond. Similar shenanigans surface sometimes in our smaller towns. The Sooner State, often noticeably late to embrace some trends in business and culture, is right on time with this one: Fraud, mortgage and otherwise, in housing.
Saturday, December 16, 2006. MI; National interest: Mortgage Trap Info on new construction loans, scams, etc
Friday, December 15, 2006. US: Home Buyer, Beware Desperate sellers are paying brokers supersized commissions, which get incorporated into the price ultimately paid by buyers: Homebuilder Pulte Homes (PHM) has recently run ads offering a three-day, two-night vacation for two at the Ritz Carlton in Naples, Fla., including airfare and rental car, to any real estate office that sells three Pulte Homes by the end of 2006. This, of course, is instead of simply cutting the price of the home, which would benefit the consumer, instead of his agent.
Friday, December 15, 2006. Nat'l interest: Home inspectors' forum discussing Pulte website below "They have built a house that will be deemed untenable less than a year after a CO was issued."
Friday, December 15, 2006. KS; National interest: My Pulte Experience A Kansas homeowner's bad experience with Pulte. Pictures show defects.
Friday, December 15, 2006. US: Mortgage Gangsters You Tube video
Friday, December 15, 2006. US: KB Home amends loan pact for more time to file late 10Q KB Home (KBH) said Friday it amended its revolving- and term-loan pacts to give it more time to file its late third-quarter report with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Friday, December 15, 2006. US: Moody's to Review KB Home for Downgrade Moody's Investors Service on Friday placed its ratings on homebuilder KB Home under review for possible downgrade
Friday, December 15, 2006. NJ: Homebuilder's bankruptcy affects many The company owes banks, subcontractors and home buyers about $227 million, according to its filing. And nearly 300 homebuyers have signed contracts and made deposits for homes that haven't been built.
Friday, December 15, 2006. TX; Yahoo News, probably will expire shortly: Real estate agent gives guns to homebuyers Julie Upton, a Houston-area real estate agent, spurned traditional buyer incentives like free gasoline cards or home improvement store gift certificates. Instead, she placed an advertisement offering a pistol with the purchase of any home worth at least $150,000 (Just plain weird! --Ed.)
Friday, December 15, 2006. CA: State Fund to Receive Over $3 Million in Restitution Court Judge William H. McAdam ordered Paul Frederick Mayer and David Gordon Archer, owners of Mayer Roofing, to pay full restitution to State Fund plus $81,649 in investigation costs after pleading no contest to felony charges of conspiracy and workers' compensation insurance fraud.
Friday, December 15, 2006. US: Homebuilders taking big charges to revalue land, other assets In accounting circles, it is known as the "big bath" when companies try to wash away as much bad news as possible with the hope that charges taken all at once will make their finances look better in the quarters to come.
Friday, December 15, 2006. US: Mortgage Ledger News about the mortgage industry, including quite a few articles about fraud, lenders closing their doors, etc.
Friday, December 15, 2006. MO: Florissant man sentenced to four years in prison for home repair scam on charges brought by Nixon Jason M. Leavy, dba Midwest Roofing & Contracting, CRS, CRSI and Merit Construction
Friday, December 15, 2006. US: Housing still far from hitting bottom The entire mortgage industry ignored the guidance. Totally. Our firm has not received a single e-mail from any wholesaler even considering compliance with the interest-only and negative-am requirements.
Friday, December 15, 2006. US: Look out for prepayment fines People with ARMs might want to refinance to 30-year fixed rates, he said, but a prepayment penalty will cost thousands of dollars. They'll be trapped.
Thursday, December 14, 2006. CO: For Colorado readers: Posted from the NAACD message board "I am working to run new construction defects legislation during the 2007 session of Colorado's General Assembly. Would love to hear from any Colorado members of this forum who are interested in helping! home@cohomealliance.com "
Thursday, December 14, 2006. LA; MS: Contractors from Mandeville, Mississippi booked with fraud Two contractors, one from Mandeville and another from Mississippi, have been arrested in separate cases of scamming Hurricane Katrina victims, according to Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti Jr. (Ronald M. Rooney & Michael Bruce Perry) Anyone who suspects he or she is the victim of contractor fraud is asked to call the (LA) attorney general’s office at (800)351-4889.
Thursday, December 14, 2006. CT: Homeowner moves house, explores legal options [T]he problems began in 2003 when he first noticed a hairline crack in the foundation wall. Over time, the crack expanded to be 3 inches wide
Thursday, December 14, 2006. OH: Lawmakers tweak consumer protections With heavy lobbying from business groups, Republicans turned a noncontroversial civil-court bill into a businessprotection measure, critics lamented.
Thursday, December 14, 2006. OK: Prominent Realtor pleads guilty in real estate fraud (Realtor Ann) Campbell, representing the seller of the house, conspired with a Realtor representing the buyer to falsify a document that said the seller would pay certain closing costs that then were "kicked back” to the buyer through a title company account belonging to Campbell.
Thursday, December 14, 2006. NY: St. George-based group helps residents snagged by 'predatory' lenders On behalf of the Riveras, Ms. Becker prepared a lawsuit against Ameriquest Mortgage Co., which shut down its Staten Island office in 2005 and is at the center of a multi-state fraud investigation into alleged predatory lending practices.
Thursday, December 14, 2006. FL: Mortgage fraud is rampant in Florida A culture of indifference, a low risk of being caught, lots of foreign investment and old-fashioned greed have created a thriving market for fraud in Florida, experts said.
Thursday, December 14, 2006. CO: Metrolist balks at letting state see home-sale data Colorado Division of Real Estate Director Erin Toll wants Metrolist data on Denver-area home sales as part of her effort to tackle appraisal fraud, but Metrolist doesn't plan to just hand it over.
Thursday, December 14, 2006. US: Five reasons why the US property bubble hasn’t burst yet US property economist, Gary Shilling is convinced that the housing bubble is “gigantic” and will burst before long with massive implications in the US and the rest of the world.
Thursday, December 14, 2006. US: Higher Hurdles Set in Corporate Crime Cases The Justice Department announced new rules yesterday that will make it harder for prosecutors to bring criminal charges against companies, bending to intense pressure from business groups that claim the government has overreached in its pursuit of financial malfeasance.
Thursday, December 14, 2006. Kansas City Star; National interest: Insurance companies Service or shenanigans?
Thursday, December 14, 2006. US: Settlements Including Fines Are Reached in Election Finance Cases of Three Groups Swift Boat Veterans group became the best known, with Bob Perry, a Texas developer and Republican heavyweight, its biggest backer. “Going forward to 2008, 527 groups are on clear notice: organizations whose sole purpose is to influence the presidential election will have to register with the F.E.C. and follow hard-dollar limits,” said Michael E. Toner, the agency’s chairman.
Thursday, December 14, 2006. FL: Project manager accused of thefts As a project manager for Turner Construction, Dollar, 45, cashed checks that clients wrote to Turner and then told his boss the clients never paid, said company owner Scott Turner....It turned out that Dollar had done the work under the name of his failed former company, American Construction Experts.
Thursday, December 14, 2006. NC: Unlicensed Builder Jailed For Bad Checks Unlicensed builder, Branden Toth, is now in more trouble with the law. He's in jail on two counts of worthless checks.
Thursday, December 14, 2006. CA; National interest: Real estate returns to the real world Some O.C. homeowners who assumed prices would rise forever are learning otherwise
Thursday, December 14, 2006. AZ: Homeowner sues builder over cavernous fissures (Also being sued are the realty companies and former owner for failure to disclose. --Ed.)
Thursday, December 14, 2006. VA: Toll Brothers Files Lawsuit On CPAM Denial Toll Brothers, one of the county's most active homebuilders, has filed a lawsuit in Loudoun Circuit Court seeking to overturn the Loudoun Board of Supervisors' vote to reject the development policy changes it sought in the Transition Area. (Reader Comments can be posted at the end of the article. --Ed.)
Thursday, December 14, 2006. US: 6 strategies to survive the real estate bust Two of them are: Consider renting, and Step away from exotic mortgages
Thursday, December 14, 2006. MI: PDF: Case to watch in MI courts (See under "Dec 12th" approx. pg 2 in this document) Does the MCPA (MI Consumer Protection Act) apply to residential builders or their corporate officers?
Thursday, December 14, 2006. US: Flipping Frenzy Flipping Frenzy's commentary on the Christian Science Monitor article on Real Estate Fraud posted earlier
Thursday, December 14, 2006. US: Political groups to pay campaign fines The FEC concluded that the three 527 organizations violated campaign finance laws because they expressly stated their desire to influence the presidential election in their fundraising, their public statements or their advertisements. Such activity, the FEC said, could only be conducted by political committee registered with the FEC that abide by contribution limits and public disclosure requirements. (One of the groups that had to pay fines was TX homebuilder Bob Perry, who was behind the Swift Boat group as well as various 527's that funded smear campaigns this year. This article came up in a search for a term that is no longer in the published article, re: Perry --Ed.)
Thursday, December 14, 2006. FL; Nat'l interest: Class action targets TOUSA The suit alleges the company violated the Securities Exchange Act (TOUSA=Technical Olympic USA, a homebuilder. --Ed.)
Thursday, December 14, 2006. US: Mortgage and real estate fraud Attorney Rachel Dollar's Mortgage Fraud Blog has posted several news articles today.
Thursday, December 14, 2006. US: Building is Risky Business From: Fine Homebuilding magazine (Watch for clauses, such as those discussed in this article, that only protect builders. --Ed.)
Wednesday, December 13, 2006. OR: Construction Claims Task Force Next public meeting Dec 20, 2006
Wednesday, December 13, 2006. KS; National interest: Today's Top Story: CONSUMER WATCHDOG REPORT: Newer Houses at risk for rot, mold Water damage repairs drain homeowners: Modern materials, a less-skilled work force and lax code enforcement are blamed. (See PDF below showing diagram, from front pg. of paper. --Ed.)
Wednesday, December 13, 2006. KS; National interest: Newer houses at risk for wood rot, mold Diagram: Keeping your house dry, and more. Front page of Kansas City Star, re: above WATCHDOG REPORT
Wednesday, December 13, 2006. AR: Owner of manufactured housing company convicted in mortgage fraud Cossitt, owner/manager-operator, of several manufactured home sales companies in Searcy, Batesville, Jonesboro, and Harrison, Arkansas, admitted to fraudulently submitting falsified mortgage loan applications and supporting documents to lenders in order to increase sales.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006. US: Real estate fraud rises in US A cooling market exposes scams that cost the industry at least $606 million last year. (Apparently that figure doesn't count what it cost consumers. --Ed.) Real estate fraud has now firmly emerged on the FBI's radar as the country's fastest-growing white collar crime - all, in essence, polite forms of bank robbery.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006. TN: Hixson Family With $225,000 Investment Cut Off From Big Ridge Home Complaint Filed Against Contractor David Sanders
Wednesday, December 13, 2006. NJ: Lawsuits pile up on Robert's Home Designs Randolph builder teeters on verge of bankruptcy
Wednesday, December 13, 2006. US: US Markets We know that builders have to plan a project 3 to 5 years ahead of construction; so many projects cannot be stopped in spite of the glut. Thus, you can expect overbuilding for another six months to a year....Many builders will again go bankrupt and just because they are listed on the NYSE doesn’t mean anything.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006. IL: Developer sues over cost of wells Village officials have sued Neumann Homes for refusing to pay for installation of a filtration system for two new deep wells that serve their developments on the east side of the village.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006. KS: CONSUMER WATCHDOG REPORT: Newer houses at risk for wood rot, mold Modern materials, a less-skilled work force and lax code enforcement are blamed. Kansas City Star article by Paul Wenske: "These houses built since the early 1990s are having more problems than ever before,” said private inspector Bob Babich.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006. US: Coinciding buybacks, selling raises eyebrows When it comes to stock buybacks, corporate leaders have mastered the game of doublespeak....NVR Inc. was among 16 companies cited in the study as being at particular risk given that share repurchases and insider sales were well ahead of industry averages.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006. CA: Falling prices trap new homebuyers Neighbors in a new Garden Grove tract say a developer's plan to slash prices by about $140,000 has left them owing more for their homes than they're now worth.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006. OK: Edmond realtor pleads guilty to fraud Ann Campbell entered the plea today in connection with mortgage fraud in connection with the sale of a home in the upscale Oak Tree addition in Edmond. Prosecutors say the scheme involved artificially inflating the sales price of homes and falsifying loan documents.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006. OK: Task Force Considering Regulation of Contractors As the director of building services for the city of Edmond, you'd think Ed Steiner wouldn't have any trouble hiring a capable contractor for his home remodeling project. "I came in and tried to turn the light on and the fan in the kitchen came on - I'm not joking," Steiner told members of the Oklahoma Contractors Licensing Task Force. (Oklahomans should be aware that the program proposed may contain a requirement for arbitration, and may be a "Fox Guarding the Henhouse" agency, like so many have become. More oversight is needed and consumers should not assume licensing is a cure-all. --Ed.)
Tuesday, December 12, 2006. GA; of National interest: "My Consumer Rights" Info on arbitration, predatory lending, and more.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006. KS: Retraining order sought in F. Jeffrey Miller case Federal prosecutors have asked for a restraining order after being “put on notice” that indicted homebuilder F. Jeffrey Miller has been “liquidating substantial property interests.” (See articles posted earlier this year on this page about the MILLER case, aka Miller Enterprises, Star Land Development, etc. --Ed.)
Tuesday, December 12, 2006. NJ: Judge ok's closings on 12 Kara Homes Kara's bankruptcy left uncertain the fate of about 300 homes that the company had contracts to build but didn't finish
Tuesday, December 12, 2006. CO; Nat'l interest: Rocky Mountain Mortgage Fraud Fever Many of the frauds perpetrated by the Jefferson County ring were powered by an FHA lending assistance arrangement under the HUD category Downpayment Assistance through Secondary Financing Providers.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006. NJ: Class action status sought in NJ Affordable Homes case Investigators labeled the business a Ponzi scheme and fraud, with evidence of inflated appraisals, insider transactions and millions of dollars flowing to Puff and his associates. Two NJ Affordable employees have pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006. US: U.S. Stocks Fall After Fed Decision Fifteen of 16 members in the S&P benchmark homebuilder index dropped after the Fed cited a ``substantial cooling of the housing market.''
Tuesday, December 12, 2006. AK: Assembly to vote on ethics code revision at meeting Rep. Tom Anderson was arrested and charged with seven counts related to bribery and money laundering. ... "Mr. Anderson went before the Assembly and testified on behalf of the (Anchorage) Home Builders Association in direct opposition to what we as a committee and as a neighborhood had wanted," Pedlow said.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006. NJ: Developers’ arrests leave local projects up in the air Federal indictment is latest blow against corruption in Marlboro: Brothers Steven Meiterman, 44, of Marlboro, and Bernard Meiterman, 42, of Manalapan, and their business partner Edward Kay, 38, of Marlboro, were arrested at their homes on the morning of Dec. 6 by special agents of the FBI.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006. FL: Judge orders Deco to produce account records 4 couples lose bid to freeze assets of home builder (Carlos Pio, Deco Homes) who is accused of using customers’ money for his own interests, including 2 Harley-Davidsons, trips and a pool, for himself
Tuesday, December 12, 2006. US: Housing market's reality check 'Short sales' called an emerging trend: Critics say lenders helped set the stage for short sales and a recent rise in foreclosures....“There are two potential downsides to a short sale,” he said. “One is it will probably be a mark on their credit. The other is, in some cases the portion of the loan that the bank forgives is treated as taxable income” by the government.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006. US: The Jungle: Subprime Credit Crunch, the Cult of Greed, and “Liquidity” If Upton Sinclair were alive today, this would be the 2006 version of his 1906 book, “The Jungle”. The method of these toxic loan purveyors was to hide under the guise of “helping with the American get rich quick homeowner dream”, and to exploit these markets to the max, to the bitter end, and mostly for upfront fees, and then completely pull the plug. It is my strong sense that we have finally reached the plug pull stage, and that the bogus dream has become a cult of greed nightmare.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006. CA; National interest: A loan that'll get ugly fast "I made choices, and they happened to be the wrong choices," (3 pg. article from the Los Angeles Times)
Tuesday, December 12, 2006. US: Fallout from the End of the Housing Bubble Questionable lending practices during the boom hurts low income and minority families, says Senator.
Monday, December 11, 2006. US: U.S. home lenders brace for bad news, legislation "One way or another, the industry is going to get a black eye," said John Taylor, president of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, which promotes equal access to credit. "There will be questions about tricks, fraud and whether these loans should have been made in the first place."
Monday, December 11, 2006. US: Title Companies, Affinity Fraud, Human Decency, and the Pursuit of Everything Else at All Costs Real estate fraud requires a great deal of planning and coordination among numerous insiders; it takes a team.
Monday, December 11, 2006. US: Masked mortgages With the housing boom over, its dark side is coming to light, including fraud. Government data show more criminals – and more consumers – lied to sell or buy expensive homes.
Monday, December 11, 2006. GA: Bankruptcy hearing ends after outburst A U.S. Bankruptcy court creditors hearing for In-Line Construction Owner Teresa Lynn Lewis was concluded abruptly Thursday afternoon after Lewis' sudden outburst toward an Avery Park creditor.
Monday, December 11, 2006. NJ: Work is halted on project in Marlboro The issue that must be determined, Lawson said, is whether the relationship between Grande developers Bernard and Steven Meiterman, their business partner Edward Kay, and Frank Abate, the former executive director of the Western Mon-mouth Utilities Authority, tainted the process through which the Grande won sewer extension approval from the WMUA.
Monday, December 11, 2006. NC: Development on the mountain's edge [U]nder pressure from home builders, county commissioners last month softened their new slope standards.
Monday, December 11, 2006. AK: Former opponent discusses Anderson arraignment Alaskans are still reeling after the news of state Rep. Tom Anderson's arrest and new details that continue to emerge....He had introduced himself, though, as a lobbyist for the Homebuilders Association
Monday, December 11, 2006. MS: Builder files suit to lift Madison's stop order Butler said the city will stand behind the stop-work order until the Gussio's correct the problems. "Mr. Gussio will not write his own rules and he will not violate our ordinance. And he will not cut corners and this city stand by and ignore it," Butler said. "We've worked too hard to build this community and we will not allow him and others like him to dismantle it."
Monday, December 11, 2006. TX: Lobbyists lean toward funds limits (Homebuilder) Bob Perry and James Leininger aren't the only poster children for campaign finance reform in Texas, but they and other mega-donors are inspiring more talk about the need for contribution limits.
Monday, December 11, 2006. US: House Appreciation Slows Further From the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight; Long PDF file.
Monday, December 11, 2006. US: Housing bubble cartoon "I didn't mean to end up with two houses..."
Monday, December 11, 2006. IL; NATIONAL INTEREST: Homeowner's loss (Predatory lending and buyer's mistakes lead to foreclosure) Their first mortgage was with a company offered by the builder of their townhome.
Monday, December 11, 2006. US: US housing market is different this time - it's worse What’s sometimes overlooked is the other end of the equation: the huge amount of risky loans that have been issued to fuel this bubble and the question of who will be left holding the baby when it all blows up...
Monday, December 11, 2006. US: Home buyer closing costs could drop with fed's help Every consumer taking a home mortgage today pays a tax in unnecessary charges for the various third-party services required to deliver the mortgage. These include services provided by title insurance companies, mortgage insurance companies, appraisers, credit reporting agencies, flood insurance companies, and escrow companies. The taxes don't go to government, and in most cases the service providers don't keep them. Rather, they are paid to those who are positioned to direct which service provider will receive the business; these referral agents are mainly lenders, Realtors and builders. The payments include referral fees, which are sometimes legal and sometimes illegal.
Monday, December 11, 2006. MI: Troy luxury condo plan falls apart A developer has pulled the plug on the city's first high-rise residential development after failing to line up enough tenants for the luxury condominiums.
Friday, December 08, 2006. NJ: Beazer Homes may face New Jersey fines Beazer may be fined more than $1.3 million by the State of New Jersey, which accused the company of violating wetland permits
Friday, December 08, 2006. MS: Three On Your Side Investigates: WLBT 3 The City of Madison is dealing with mortgage fraud, foreclosures, and homes abandoned by builders in upscale neighborhoods. Now code inspectors are scrutinizing details on new home construction. One city inspector preferred not to go on camera. He pointed out inconsistencies on the approved blueprints from the current stage of construction on one Woods Crossing home....The inspector says some builders often change plans...cutting corners putting in less expensive doors and windows than original blueprints specified....WLBT News made repeated attempts to contact builders Greg and John Gussio for their side of the story. They did not return our calls.
Friday, December 08, 2006. PA: Twp. official steps down Residents of Overpond Court have been complaining to the supervisors for 15 months that Lee ignored construction defects in their new homes.
Friday, December 08, 2006. NJ; National interest: Court: It's OK to stop developers The ruling Thursday affirms Mount Laurel Township's right to seize land from a developer for open space preservation.
Friday, December 08, 2006. FL: Sebastian homebuilder's license suspended 2nd time Eligha Lewis Pryor Jr., owner of Pryor Homes
Friday, December 08, 2006. US: Consumer Organization Will Announce Online Database Complaint File Concerning Pulte Homes, DiVosta Homes, Del Webb Homes, Says Executive Director Andy Martin: FightPulte.com to go online Monday Dec 11, 2006
Friday, December 08, 2006. US: The Dangers of Frankenstein Financing A tsunami of bad loans is sweeping across the country....My guess is you’re going to see weaker lenders and home builders fold. Heck, it’s already happening
Friday, December 08, 2006. FL; National interest: Sheriff's economic crimes unit is needed now more than ever Judges don't treat white-collar criminals tough enough. Take the Beacon Homes case in Pasco. After Beacon Homes builder Clyde B. Hoeldtke Jr. was convicted in 1996 of misusing construction funds, he was sentenced to two years' house arrest at his $1-million mansion in Colorado. As victims of Sky Development Corp. and Coral Bay Construction can attest, that kind of punishment is more of an invitation than a deterrent for shady builders to steal home ownership dreams and empty retiree bank accounts. But solving white-collar crimes isn't merely about catching and punishing crooks; it's about having empathy for the victims, the elderly men and women whose life savings and assets disappear in paper and ink.
Friday, December 08, 2006. Washington Post: Locked In, No Exit in Sight Many Rueful Buyers Try to Escape Builders' Ironclad Contracts (Never sign what you don't understand. --Ed.)
Friday, December 08, 2006. MI; National interest: Lawmaker seeks to shut door on mortgage fraud Marleau is sponsoring House Bill 6434 which would make several types of mortgage fraud a felony...Marleau estimates about 80 percent of all fraud losses involve some collaboration by industry insiders, the reason behind his legislation.
Friday, December 08, 2006. US: The Big Bad House McMansion fad will fade with time
Thursday, December 07, 2006. US: Hovnanian, other home builders see share prices decline after downgrade U.S. home-builder shares fell, led by Ryland Group Inc. and Red Bank-based Hovnanian Enterprises Inc., after Credit Suisse cut its rating on the industry on concern the stocks have risen too far based on their business prospects.
Thursday, December 07, 2006. US: Journal of Light Construction Current issue on building techniques and more
Thursday, December 07, 2006. CA; Nat'l interest: Ownit a victim of sub-prime shakeout The mortgage lender closes suddenly amid a cooling housing market and funding troubles.
Thursday, December 07, 2006. MA: The Mystery of the Mechanic's Lien The Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education book describes a mechanic's lien
Thursday, December 07, 2006. CA: Couple sue over real estate nightmare She said someone had signed the couple's names on the forms without their knowledge. They also discovered that their new home was the subject of a lawsuit over construction flaws.
Thursday, December 07, 2006. PA: Flaws found in E. Hempfield department Third-party evaluation finds problems with building inspections; legal action possible....field inspections indicated serious building-code violations at several residences in the Village Grande at Millers Run development.
Thursday, December 07, 2006. NJ: 3 builders charged with bribing 2 in Marlboro Early Wednesday morning, federal agents arrested Steven Meiterman, 44, of Marlboro, his brother Bernard, 42, an attorney who lives in Manalapan, and their business partner, Edward Kay, 38, of Marlboro. They are charged with bribing two public officials in exchange for swift approvals on multimillion-dollar housing developments and commercial projects — including the Grande.
Thursday, December 07, 2006. MD: Builders/developers could be criminally prosecuted for violations "The current sanctions are viewed as the cost of doing business," Leopold said. "We want sanctions that bite."
Thursday, December 07, 2006. MI: Dream Home Nightmare (New Home Nightmare from back in Oct '06, thanks to the anonymous reader who provided this link. --Ed.)
Thursday, December 07, 2006. CA; National interest: Local home builders battle the big boys National firms with deep pockets now lead in region
Thursday, December 07, 2006. NJ: UPDATE on Kara Homes Bankruptcy Insurance company sues Kara for $4 million.
Thursday, December 07, 2006. US: A Dirty Little Secret of the Home Mortgage Industry Walnut Creek, CA (FV Newswire) - Did you know that any time you have your credit ran by a financial institution, such as a bank, savings and loan, finance company or mortgage broker, the big three credit bureaus sell your name and address for $25 over and over to the entire mortgage industry?
Thursday, December 07, 2006. US: Kool-Aid at Toll Brothers Ignoring the current cancellation rate, ignoring the spec homes, and assuming the optimistic projection of 7,300 home sales comes in, Toll is still sitting on a 10 year's supply of land with 74,000 lots. That makes his comment to Ivy about buying more land seem more than a bit disingenuous.
Thursday, December 07, 2006. US: An Economic Pillar on the Verge of Collapse delinquency rates are suddenly soaring on all those loosey-goosey subprime mortgages.
Thursday, December 07, 2006. MD; National interest: Housing prices outpacing income statewide [T]he true price of a home isn’t necessarily seen in its selling price. The quiet secret in real estate, he said, is the incentive market — offering thousands of dollars in add-ons for new construction or bonuses for existing houses such as closing-cost assistance or upgrades in appliances and floor covering.
Thursday, December 07, 2006. US: "Shoe" comic "Affordable Housing"
Thursday, December 07, 2006. US: Flipping Frenzy News, blog, and information, about mortgage fraud.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006. Canada: Low-energy homes: Evaluating the economic need to build better now In addition to comfort considerations and the environmental imperatives, there are persuasive economic reasons why better-built homes should be built now.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006. US: FEMA squandering Katrina aid $1 Billion dollars of wasted money an understatement
Wednesday, December 06, 2006. US: The housing crash recession of 2007 it no longer appears credible to present the rosy pictures that they had been trying to sell. The trouble began early in the year, when the housing boom that was supposed to continue forever turned into a housing bust."
Wednesday, December 06, 2006. US: The Great Real Estate Bust One of a growing number of amusing videos on the real estate bubble on You Tube.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006. OR: Construction Claims Task Force Recent updates.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006. National interest: Makeover madness The adage "they don't build 'em like they used to" is so true. New houses, unless they are custom built, are constructed of far inferior materials than those found in older homes.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006. US: Fannie Mae restates earnings by $6.3 billion, below earlier estimate The scandal erupted in the fall of that year when federal regulators accused Washington-based Fannie Mae - with its long-standing prestige, vaunted political clout and reputation for financial excellence - of serious accounting problems and earnings manipulation to meet Wall Street targets.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006. US: Mortgage Professor Information on getting a home loan.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006. US: Stop Mortgage Fraud Information on preventing mortgage fraud
Wednesday, December 06, 2006. US: Mortgage Fraud Blog News articles posted almost daily. This is the blog of Rachel Dollar, see article below. --Ed.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006. US: Rachel Dollar to Chair Lanahan & Reilley Mortgage Banking Group Ms. Dollar is a Certified Mortgage Banker and a recognized expert in mortgage banking. Her rapid rise to prominence in the mortgage industry is a result of her tireless advocacy for heightened fraud awareness.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006. TX; National interest: Builder gave $16 million to candidates in 2005-06 Houston home builder Bob Perry poured $16 million into state and federal races during the recent election cycle, apparently making him the biggest individual political contributor in the country for 2005-06, a money-tracking group reported Tuesday.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006. FL: Pruitt testifies in Kreegel defamation suit The homebuilder association's organization, Floridians for Integrity, hired Public Concepts to produce the negative advertising against Kreegel.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006. AR: Suddenly, the NW Ark. real estate market isn't so hot. Some developers didn’t get the message early enough, however. Betty’s Homes, based in Bella Vista, became the most prominent casualty of the recent market slowdown when it filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 20. The homebuilding company got deep into upper-end real estate, putting up houses priced near $300,000. Now it owes almost $1 million dollars to a wide range of material suppliers and around $9 million to banks. Then, in late November, First Federal Bank of Arkansas foreclosed on another home builder, Calloway Investments, which defaulted on $4.93 million worth of construction and mortgage loans. Nearly everyone involved in the industry believes the banks deserve some of the blame.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006. MO; Nat'l interest: Missouri insurance regulators say title insurance agents have two price lists — one for sophisticated buyers and a second for everyone else.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006. AZ: Auction hearing for homes, lots unfinished by bankrupt builder Scottsdale-based Charlevoix (CHARLA-voy) Homes L-L-C has offered 29 (m) million dollars in a bankruptcy court settlement to buy the properties in Casa Grande and Maricopa. The builder also proposes finishing homes by bankrupt home builder Turner-Dunn at the original contract price for buyers who still want them. However, buyers will still be locked into higher prices from two years ago.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006. US; Forbes: Worst may not be over for Toll Brothers Luxury home builder Toll Brothers reported today that its fourth-quarter profit nose-dived more than 40%, due in part to cancellations and some analysts say the worse is yet to come...
Tuesday, December 05, 2006. CA; National interest: Opponents of plastic pipes win battle in a long war Home builders favor plastic pipes because it is cheaper by a few thousand dollars per house, and it's easier to install than copper. Opponents say the chemicals in plastic pipes pose health and environmental risks.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006. FL: Developer's deal draws federal scrutiny Britons say Osceola builder (Michael "Mick" Leggett, dba Royal Development LLC) guaranteed visas for investments.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006. AZ: Auction aims to restart idled homes project UPDATE ON TURNER-DUNN HOMEBUILDER BANKRUPTCY, From articles posted earlier in 2006: Hundreds of homes and lots left unfinished in Pinal County by bankrupt home builder Turner-Dunn may be auctioned to clear tens of millions of dollars in debt and finally complete some homes two years after buyers signed sales contracts.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006. KS; National: Home builder pleads not guilty in fraud case UPDATE TODAY ON MILLER CASE: See latest indictment below as reminder of what this case is about. --Ed.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006. KS; National interest due to various states Miller does business in: NEW INDICTMENT CHARGES KANSAS CITY HOME BUILDER WITH TRYING TO DERAIL FEDERAL INVESTIGATION Grand jury returns indictments against F. Jeffrey Miller and others for conspiracy, bank fraud, unlawful monetary transactions, destroying records, criminal contempt and interfering with a witness
Tuesday, December 05, 2006. US: Do new homes really need a home inspection? Reliance on the builder's warranty is the most common reason why buyers of new homes forego home inspections. In many cases, this has proved to be a costly error. (HADD ALWAYS RECOMMENDS NEW HOMES BE INSPECTED, PREFERABLY PERIODICALLY DURING CONSTRUCTION BEFORE SERIOUS MISTAKES CAN BE COVERED UP! --Ed.)
Tuesday, December 05, 2006. MN; National interest: Foreclosure threat reaches the burbs To get the Weisels into a $278,000 house, their mortgage broker steered them to a zero-down-payment, interest-only adjustable-rate home loan — a type of loan heavily marketed during the housing boom as a way to make expensive homes affordable. The Weisels avoided the extra cost of private mortgage insurance by getting a so-called 80/20 loan — two different loans that equal 100 percent financing.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006. US: "DOMM" and "DOMMER?" Wikipedia explanation of DOMM and DOMP, real estate terms having to do with "days on market" that the real estate industry tweaks to make it appear homes are not taking as long to sell as they really are.
Monday, December 04, 2006. MT; Nat'l interest: Letter: Don't take Realtors' word for housing market House prices are up 50 percent in five years, while wages are up about 15 percent. Irrational prices can be sustained only temporarily through risky loans and speculation.
Monday, December 04, 2006. FL: Condo-Hotel Developers brace for lawsuits Selling condominiums as investments violate federal security laws, which bar developers from promising financial returns from a piece of property.
Monday, December 04, 2006. MA: AG Fights Back Against Shoddy Roof Contractors The attorney general's office claims there are now 31 homeowners who've been defrauded by Myers, and its office is seeking restitution for those who've lost money.
Monday, December 04, 2006. MO: Man agrees to stop selling raffle tickets for 'dream home' Judge Larry Kendrick of the St. Louis County Circuit Court signed a preliminary consent order that bars Ballard from advertising or selling any more tickets or conducting the raffle. He also must provide an accounting of how much money he collected and the names of those he who bought tickets.
Monday, December 04, 2006. US: The 3 worst money moves you can make Borrowing on your home's equity, and stretching to buy more house than you can afford are two of them.
Monday, December 04, 2006. US: More mortgage fraud news Articles posted today
Monday, December 04, 2006. AZ: 25,000 Spec Homes For Sale In Phoenix As many as 40 percent of the contracts on all the new homes in the Valley during 2005 and early this year have fallen through.
Monday, December 04, 2006. US: Bait-and-switch loan charges gain industry attention One of the many unsavory features of the home loan market is that borrowers, when they close on their loans, sometimes find their settlement costs substantially higher than the earlier estimates given to them in the Good Faith Estimate of Settlement (GFE). Lenders are required by law to provide the GFE to borrowers within three days of receipt of a loan application, but the GFE is sometimes used in bad faith.
Monday, December 04, 2006. US: Mortgage Fraud News stories posted today
Monday, December 04, 2006. FL; Nat'l interest: Living the Good Life Selling Fake Ones Police investigating Natalia and Victor Wolf and their company, Sky Development Group, for unfinished homes and other real estate fraud.
Monday, December 04, 2006. Nat'l interest: Builder caught on tape hiring illegal immigrants Local media refuses to air it.
Monday, December 04, 2006. AZ: Maricopa to auction off slivers of property to recover taxes Some homeowners are shocked to learn they don't own all their property...It turns out that an 8- to 10-foot strip along their side yard still is titled to the home's previous owner, the builder and developer of the neighborhood. The couple will bid in the auction just to protect themselves from predatory buyers
Monday, December 04, 2006. NY; Nat'l interest: CONDO LAW DEEMED UNFAIR Prospective association homeowners: beware! Builders and their realtors like to sell the idea of 339-y tax reductions as a marketing tool. By getting a property tax reduction, sometimes as high as 35 percent, they tell us that we can now afford a higher mortgage and therefore buy more house for the difference. The day of reckoning is coming! That’s not as slick as their new game.
Monday, December 04, 2006. NJ: Bankruptcy judge lets Kara receive $2.6 million loan The money will be used to fund administrative costs such as wages, rent, insurance premiums and security for Kara's uncompleted home developments. None of the money will be used to pay for construction of homes.
Monday, December 04, 2006. TX: Renovating home agency a tough job What the Legislature does or doesn't do about the agency, however, may be largely driven by wealthy Houston home builder Bob Perry, a major force behind its creation in 2003.
Monday, December 04, 2006. TX: Cash may stand in way of changing 'builder protection agency' They may be butting their heads against a mountain of cash, but consumer advocates will urge the Legislature next year to strengthen a state agency that has been widely criticized as a paper tiger designed primarily to protect home builders from unhappy customers.
Monday, December 04, 2006. US: Don't hand your house to a thief Mortgage scams are like Baskin-Robbins offerings -- they come in 31 flavors. Here are three top choices of con artists and how to avoid them.
Monday, December 04, 2006. National interest: Antitrust Suit Against Realtors Moves Forward [A] federal court in Chicago on Nov. 27 allowed the Department of Justice's antitrust suit against the Realtors to proceed. The DOJ argues that the Realtors' rules illegally limit competition from brokers who use the Internet.
Sunday, December 03, 2006. AZ: County may sell a slice of your home at auction Part of your backyard, your driveway or even your home could be going on the foreclosure auction block this week, and you might not even know it.
Sunday, December 03, 2006. US: CEOs' job security dips The numbers reflect stock options scandals, a ramped-up mergers and acquisitions environment and closer scrutiny of executives by their corporate boards, according to John Challenger, chief executive of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, which did the report. Among the high-profile casualties this year was Bruce Karatz, fired last month as chief executive of Los Angeles-based KB Home amid a probe of inflated stock option grants.
Sunday, December 03, 2006. FL: Did sellers' smiles mask misdeeds? Sky Development Group, is at the center of a huge real estate fraud investigation that started in Citrus County - and could span the globe. Detectives say they think Natalia and Victor Wolf slipped out of the country in October, leaving behind more than 100 victims and taking more than $20-million from fraudulent transactions.
Sunday, December 03, 2006. TX: "One wheel barrow, cash" The Texas Ethics Commission has just pronounced this state the most ethically challenged in the land.
Sunday, December 03, 2006. US: Robe Probe Now you can rate a judge, too.
Sunday, December 03, 2006. SC: South Carolina Board of Building Codes Council Prior to the Code Enforcement Officer Registration Program, employees of city and county Building Inspection Departments were not recognized as professionals in the construction industry. The program establishes certification in various disciplines as the base criteria for a person to be registered and a minimum of 12 hours of annual continuing education to maintain registration. The program also holds code enforcement officers accountable to the Building Codes Council for their professional actions.
Sunday, December 03, 2006. WA: The party's over at Kirkland mortgage company Former Washington Huskies football player Scott Greenlaw led the mortgage company he founded to dizzying heights — 400 employees, a sprawling new headquarters and kegs of beer at staff meetings. Now he's selling his house to avoid bankruptcy as creditors line up with lawsuits. Merit Financial was barely shut this spring before founder Scott Greenlaw and his top executives opened new mortgage businesses.
Sunday, December 03, 2006. FL; National interest: Florida’s Approach to White Collar Crime: Coordinated or Chaotic? Bribery, Administrative violations, Environmental violations, Labor violations, Fraud, Unfair trade practices... (People in the housing industries have been prosecuted for these types of crimes but it's rare in the grand scheme of things for any kind of law enforcement to occur when it's merely consumers who get hurt. --Ed.)
Sunday, December 03, 2006. National Interest: Renovation Trap (A homeowner's informative and well put together website.) "We are Mark and Carol DeCoursey, and we live in Redmond, Washington. We are making our renovation disaster known throughout the country because we've discovered grave public policy issues are at stake, not just for the people of Washington, but for homeowners everywhere."
Saturday, December 02, 2006. NJ: Judge approves Kara Homes loan Kara Homes, whose meteoric rise came to a stunning halt when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Oct. 5, got a reprieve yesterday when a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in Trenton approved a $2.6 million loan that will keep it afloat for another three months.
Saturday, December 02, 2006. MA: Zoning Board and Regency's developer reach agreement on engineer There were "some serious allegations," replied ZBA member Brad Reed. He cited code violations such as missing roof trusses and inadequate attachment between a brick facade and a house, causing the brick wall to topple. He asked for documentation from Toll Brothers that either all the allegations were false or that Toll Brothers had rectified the situation in a responsive manner.
Friday, December 01, 2006. OH: Man sentenced to 30 years in plot to kill judge, con people Dudas, 50, of Mentor, pleaded guilty in October to scamming about 30 people out of their homes or life savings. He pleaded guilty to 12 counts of racketeering, theft and intimidation for threatening to hire a hit man to kill Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge David Matia.
Friday, December 01, 2006. US: Condo Market Slows Down Angry condo buyers from Boca Raton, Fla., to San Diego are taking them to court, alleging everything from breach of contract to fraud. ... Several states, including California, Colorado and Nevada, have tightened construction-defect laws to help stem the tide. The laws, a result of intense lobbying by th