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Monday, December 01, 2008. National Interest: Subprime Suspects: Just about everyone, it seems, is being held to blame for the financial meltdown. But what role auditors played, if any, is far from clear: In past financial blowups, auditors have paid a heavy price. After the savings-and-loan crisis of the late 1980s, for example, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. collected more than $1 billion in settlements from four of the then–Big Six for their alleged complicity.
Monday, December 01, 2008. Alabama: US mayor is arrested on bribery charges: BIRMINGHAM, Alabama: The mayor of Alabama's largest city, Larry Langford, was arrested Monday on federal bribery and fraud charges connected to a multibillion-dollar sewer bond deal that has driven the surrounding county to the brink of bankruptcy.
Monday, December 01, 2008. Missouri: Feds charge six with alleged mortgage fraud: A federal grand jury has indicted six area people, including four mortgage brokers, for their alleged roles in a mortgage fraud scheme, and eight Springfield properties linked to the scheme were sold by David Poppenga - a Springfield home builder and concrete contractor who has denied any involvement.
Monday, December 01, 2008. Georgia: More strapped homeowners get break: Mortgage holders seek to avert foreclosures: Tim Collins finds himself living a national crisis. First he lost his job when his company moved. Then he fell behind in his mortgage and faced foreclosure. Now, he’s rebuilding his finances thanks to a last-minute deal with his mortgage company to rework his debt and lower his interest and monthly payments. “You hear all these tales about homeownership being the American dream,” Collins said. “Honestly, it will shorten your life span.” In December, 6,996 foreclosures are pending in the 13 core metro Atlanta counties.
Monday, December 01, 2008. National Interest: Let bankruptcy help fix bad mortgages- It's a powerful step back to financial stability: I watched a middle-aged widow lose her home recently. Her story was familiar. She owned her simple brick residence outright until four years ago, when a mortgage broker stopped by and offered her a loan too good to be true. In exchange for taking on a modest monthly payment, she could make some needed repairs and consolidate other debts.
Sunday, November 30, 2008. National Interest: Nowadays, the bank says what a house is worth: Mortgage lenders determined to stave off additional losses are demanding more thorough home appraisals and carefully reviewing valuation figures. If an appraisal is deemed too thin on supporting data, lenders may reduce the loan amount for the property, or not make the loan at all. And there is little room for arguing with banks about a valuation.
Sunday, November 30, 2008. New Mexico: 80 Year Old Couple Won't Lose Home Over $2: Order Dismisses Foreclosure Action: Dixie and Paul Williams have much to be thankful for -- to wit, not being thrown out of their South Valley home for $2 in late mortgage payments.
Sunday, November 30, 2008. Arizona: Loose Shingles Cause Concern: Centex Homeowner's in one Rio Rancho neighborhood say that numerous shingles are flying off of their roofs. The neighborhood plans on filing a class action lawsuit against Centex Home to recoup damages.
Saturday, November 29, 2008. Texas: EDITORIAL: Signs of Public Housing Neglect- Builder defects, shoddy workmanship: It might be a new face, but old problems are resurfacing. The second phase of the project, dubbed Frazier Wahoo, is not even a year old, and already there are signs of defects, shoddy workmanship and neglect by the Dallas Housing Authority and its on-site contractor, Alpha-Barnes Real Estate Management.
Saturday, November 29, 2008. California: Plea deal in Construction Fraud, dog abuse case: A Lockeford man accused of construction fraud and animal cruelty will serve three years in state prison after reaching a plea deal with the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office.
Saturday, November 29, 2008. National Interest: Inside air quality is vital to homeowners’ health: There are some great publications available from the Environmental Protection Agency and many state environmental agencies, and I urge you to check into these and become more familiar with potential problems and ways to minimize or even totally avoid them. People spend a tremendous amount of time inside their homes, and factors ranging from limited fresh air entering the home to a growing use of synthetic building materials have made us more aware of problems with the quality of indoor air.
Saturday, November 29, 2008. National Interest: Identities stolen to tap into home equity: WASHINGTON - Federal authorities this week announced a series of arrests and convictions in connection with a global identity theft ring that stole millions of dollars by hijacking home-equity lines of credit issued to thousands of consumers.
Saturday, November 29, 2008. Nevada: Their dreams shattered, investors left to wonder :Development company founder owes millions, some to retirees : Luis Rojas says monthly interest checks from developer Hans Seibt stopped arriving at least two months before Seibt wrote to his investors in August, saying he thought the real estate market would stabilize and they’d profit from property sales. Seibt filed for bankruptcy protection the next day.
Saturday, November 29, 2008. Florida: A case study in housing collapse : Thousands of miles from the trading floors of global stock markets, an abandoned house in one of Tampa's poorest neighborhoods is an improbable place to learn about why the world's financial system is collapsing.
Saturday, November 29, 2008. Washington: Investigators: Alleged foreclosure rescue scam goes to court: BELLEVUE, Wash.(Video) – Karen Handlin has been narrowly saved from eviction – for now.
Friday, November 28, 2008. Ohio: Mortgage officer guilty of fraud: A loan officer was convicted yesterday for his role in a scheme that defrauded more than 200 people and 20 banks, but an appraiser who worked with him was acquitted of all charges in the case. After about eight hours of deliberations, a federal jury convicted Jonathan L. Boyd for a mortgage-fraud scam that was fueled by greed and aided by a hot real-estate market, prosecutors said.
Friday, November 28, 2008. Texas: Law-enforcement officials say North Texas criminal's career is at an end after conviction : Authorities say Mr. Ross led a gang that carried out at least 70 home-invasion robberies and about 10 burglaries in North Texas since 2005. Their exploits, performed with SWAT-like precision, paid handsomely – at least $1 million, authorities estimate. Officials say the gang plowed some of the money back into other ventures, some of them criminal, including mortgage fraud.
Friday, November 28, 2008. Wisconsin: Alpharetta lawyer gets prison time for mortgage fraud: From mid-2004 through June 2006, Reagan was an attorney, doing business as The Reagan Law Group, closing millions of dollars of fraudulently inflated mortgage loans being provided to unqualified straw buyers. Reagan was the attorney responsible for representing the mortgage lenders at the closing table. When the loans closed, Reagan instead transferred millions of dollars of the inflated loan proceeds to her co-conspirators by falsifying closing documents, such as the HUD-1 settlement statements, and concealing from the lenders the true recipients and purposes of payments made in connection with the closing.
Friday, November 28, 2008. Maryland: Mortgage fraud unit targets lawyers, loan officers: UPPER MARLBORO — The Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office hopes to send a message to potential perpetrators of mortgage fraud: “Not in this county.” Operating since September, the office’s new Mortgage and Foreclosure Division is hoping to bring 20 cases to indictment soon, said Assistant State’s Attorney April Richardson. Richardson said the division is moving forward against loan officers, title companies, lawyers and brokerages thought to have participated in mortgage scams.
Friday, November 28, 2008. Pennsylvania: Pa. builder accused of fraud: Phila. man charged in alleged home construction scheme: A Philadelphia builder was arrested Tuesday on 42 charges related to an alleged home construction fraud scheme that took place between 2003 and 2007, the Delaware Attorney General's Office said Wednesday. Prosecutors said Bavari and Jones stole more than $470,000 from customers and various sub-contractors who worked for them.
Friday, November 28, 2008. Florida: Mold Forces Family To Seal Off Part Of Home: ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- A plastic sheet is all that protects one family from life-altering mold. Ryland Homes settled a class action lawsuit dealing with water intrusion after the 2004 hurricanes but the home of Amy and Michael Sica on Pheonix Drive in Avalon Park was built after the settlement. (Video)
Wednesday, November 26, 2008. Illinois: Legal armies at war over Tuscany funds: Road contractor resorts to suing the homeowners to recoup cash for streets:: HAMPSHIRE -- As the future of financially troubled Tuscany Woods subdivision remains in doubt, at least one contractor who has not been paid by developer Pasquinelli Homes is increasing its pressure to get its money from somewhere, by suing the development's individual homeowners.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008. National Interest: Homeowners need a silver bullet in the war against home repair fraud: What we hoped to find on one of the 41 pages of "Avoiding Home Repair Fraud: Lessons From Hurricane Katrina" was a solution or a remedy. But as Rick Jurgens, the author of the report, states on page 35: "There is no silver bullet." Yes, more can be done by the Legislature, which has only "tweaked" regulations and requirements aimed at protecting consumers. And yes, more can be done by law enforcement, which has charged nearly 100 individuals with fraud but which has managed to "induce" only one contractor to pay restitution. (YES, more has to be done to hold contractors accountable and make homeowners whole-ed)
Wednesday, November 26, 2008. National Interest: Loans are more difficult if you don’t speak language: Webster’s gives the definition of “predatory” as “relating to, or practicing plunder, pillage or rapine ... showing a disposition to injure or exploit others for one’s own gain ...” In the home mortgage business, predators historically have jockeyed to the most vulnerable rung of the housing ladder, seeking to “dine and dash,” with the least suspecting group of borrowers having to pay the bill.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008. National Interest: FTC- Facts for Consumers- Foreclosure Rescue Scams: Another Potential Stress for Homeowners in Distress : If you think you may be facing foreclosure, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, wants you to know how to recognize a foreclosure rescue scam. And even if the foreclosure process has already begun, the FTC and its law enforcement partners want you to know that legitimate options are available to help you save your home. How the Scams Work....read more.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008. Florida: Man Pleads Guilty In $5M Mortgage Fraud: JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A 51-year-old man will spend 30 years in federal prison and pay a $1 million fine after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud. Juan Carlos Gonzalez pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Jacksonville, according to United States Attorney A. Brian Albritton. According to the plea agreement, Gonzalez, a licensed real estate appraiser, fraudulently inflated values on properties in 2004 and 2005.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008. Connecticut: Mortgage broker pleads guilty to bank fraud: BRIDGEPORT -- An Easton man faces 30 years in federal prison and a $2 million fine for scheming to defraud a mortgage lender and other federally insured financial institutions in connection with a loan application for a Westport home. (straw buyer)
Tuesday, November 25, 2008. VA; Nat'l interest: Hilarious letter to the editor by builder: "Others aren't crying like the auto industry" "I have not heard any home-builders whining to Congress for money." (Where has this guy been while the builders lobbyists call for a $250 billion bailout just for their industry? --Ed.)
Tuesday, November 25, 2008. US: Regulatory authority issues reverse mortgage warning Older homeowners were urged to weigh all options carefully before tapping home equity values.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008. TX: UPDATE: 6 Sentenced in Mortgage Scheme Exposed by FOX 4 Don Jones and Affordable Home Builders duped investors who thought they were investing in rental properties. But, the company hugely inflated the prices. Then, fraudulent loan applications were approved and Don Jones and Affordable Home Builders made hefty profits. Also sentenced: Jones son Matt Jones, and others including loan officer Bob Patterson, who laughed at investigative reporters when this began in 2005. Amazingly the scam involved using foster children to fill rental houses, then the loans went into default and the children were 'returned.'
Tuesday, November 25, 2008. National: ARBITRATION: America's access to justice at risk: This is an extraordinary moment in our nation's history. All eyes are focused on President-Elect Obama, who will bring change to America, and the economic crisis, where huge corporations let avarice overwhelm them. But few people are noticing that President Bush and some companies, trying to maximize profits, are implementing changes that, if not stopped, will put most Americans last -- and out of court.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008. US: Builders: Bailout [the one congress already passed] backfires on us Home builders complained Monday that they have been labeled "toxic" by lenders, while funds the federal government intended to pump into banks to unfreeze credit markets aren't being passed along to the slumping construction industry.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008. US: Homebuilder bailout: You can’t be serious Author says it's unethical and despicable for home builders to ask for free (tax payers') money in an economy builders helped destroy
Tuesday, November 25, 2008. KS: UPDATE on trial of F. Jeffrey Miller Mortgage Fraud Blog, a lawyer's blog: daily coverage of teh trial is in the right side bar.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008. US: MORE on the unsustainable housing bubble and bailout: Homebuilders Next In Line To Beg For Bailout Funds The homebuilders are trying to convince Congress that the rest of the financial system will continue to deteriorate until home prices stabilize. ... Housing simply became too expensive, and it will become too expensive again if we inflate it, and the next time it will cost us even more to fix the fallout. ... (Author hopes) that Congress and the next administration know better than to rely on biased research when looking to spend hundreds of billions in taxpayer money.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008. Michigan: CareTech, Pulte invest millions in Oakland County, state projects: LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Tax incentives from the state of Michigan will assist 11 more economic development projects, the biggest of which are in Oakland County. (see comments posted under story)
Tuesday, November 25, 2008. Michigan: Feds investigate ex-union head: Former Detroit leader of carpenters union alleged to have received kickbacks in pension fund casino deal. Walter Ralph Mabry, the former Detroit-area head of the carpenters union convicted of corruption charges in 2006, is under federal investigation in connection with an alleged kickback scheme involving investment of union pension funds in a Biloxi, Miss., casino, a lawyer said in a court filing.
Monday, November 24, 2008. Wall Street Journal: Reader comments to builders plea for $250 billion bailout for themselves Interesting comments on one of the many articles that has run on this topic this week.
Monday, November 24, 2008. Ft. Worth Business Press: Contractual jury waiver is an alternative to arbitration A business article touting benefits to corporations of getting people to waive their right to a jury trial. HADD does not recommend waiving ANY rights. You may need them later!
Monday, November 24, 2008. Motley Fool Caps, an investing site: 2nd Biggest Bunch of Crooks So, the homebuilders, the second biggest bunch of crooks in this nation (following the bankers who sliced, diced, traded, sold, and misrepresented all those mortgages and the frankensteins that followed), want a $250 billion taxpayer-funded bailout. Of course, the shameless, serial liars of the National Association of Realtors want taxpayers to subsidize a new wave of housing porn as well, with taxpayers footing the bill on cheap loans so that more people can be conned into overpaying for overprices houses.
Monday, November 24, 2008. Blogging Stocks: Shameless homebuilders push for a bailout Rather than take responsibility for their own bad business decisions, the homebuilders are lobbying for a massive taxpayer-funded bailout to stimulate home sales. ... Lawmakers need to stop kidding themselves and make a decision: Either they believe in free markets and the idea that the market is the best mechanism for sorting out problems, or they don't. But a massive bailout aimed at stimulating home buying is completely incompatible with the notion of not propping up home prices.
Monday, November 24, 2008. Business Week: Housing industry wants a big government bailout National Association of Home Builders and the National Association of Realtors are pushing their own multi-billion-dollar stimulus proposals. ... What would be your advice to Obama? Are these stimulus proposals worth it? (Can post comments without registering.)
Monday, November 24, 2008. Money News: Homebuilders: Bail Us Out First Total cost: $250 billion. Builder lobbyists are hitting the newspapers with full-page ads asking for voters to support the deal.
Monday, November 24, 2008. Charlotte Observer: Before you sign Buying a house from a builder? Insist on a deal that protects you. Problems with Scenic Homes, homeowner hampered by builder's arbitration clause. "Weiss says she and her husband, a lawyer, were dumbfounded when they learned a one-day arbitration session would cost $5,000 – more than the damages she was seeking."
Monday, November 24, 2008. Michigan: Felony charge issued in alleged fencing operation: Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy today issued a felony charge against a Detroit plumbing and heating owner company owner, accused of buying stolen water heaters, furnaces and other fixtures from thieves.
Monday, November 24, 2008. Iowa: Trusting woman buys home, now faces foreclosure: After living in homes owned by others for 50 years, Marlely Davis finally realized the American dream. She lived in her parents' home into her late 20s in Indonesia, tending to them while sewing curtains for money. She lived in rental homes in the United States, where she followed her new American husband in 1983. She lived in an apartment in Pella after her husband died of cancer, raising her three teenage daughters alone. But Davis sought a brighter future. She graduated from beauty school, landed a hair stylist job in Ankeny, raised her children to adulthood and saved $3,000, enough to finally close on her own home.
Monday, November 24, 2008. California: Antelope Valley homeowners left hanging by developer- K. Hovnanian Homes: (More intense story with photos) LANCASTER - The families who moved into Westview Estates were expecting to live in a lovely gated neighborhood of new homes, built on former farmland in this desert city. But shortly after the first families - some paying up to $400,000 for a new home - moved in around spring 2007, they started noticing problems with the water systems.
Monday, November 24, 2008. New Hampshire: Nashua homeowner files what may be state's first suit against solar-panel installer: For better or worse, rooftop solar panels are now real in New Hampshire. "I'm an early adapter. I like new technology," said Stephen Hagerman, of Nashua. "But this has been a disaster." The Hagermans recently filed what appears to be the first lawsuit in New Hampshire that involves the installation of solar panels on a house.
Monday, November 24, 2008. National Interest: Boston Globe-Nightmare Renovations: You just want to improve your house. But sometimes forces conspire to dash your dreams.
Monday, November 24, 2008. California: Public-works contractors building grudges: Public-works contractors are accusing each other of foul language, dirty tricks and illegal bid rigging in a bitter battle for multi-million-dollar Riverside County projects. The accusations have raised questions about the ethics of two established contractors that have built schools, clinics, government buildings and recreation facilities across the Inland region. Each builder says the other one forged documents and sought to undermine the public bid system.
Monday, November 24, 2008. California: SoCal homeowners sue K. Hovnanian Homes over chronic water woes: Homeowners who thought they bought the homes of their dreams in a new gated community in northern Los Angeles County say they are now living out a nightmare. The residents have filed suit against the developer K. Hovnanian Homes for fraud and breach of contract, saying the New Jersey-based builder knew of the water problems but did not disclose them to buyers.
Monday, November 24, 2008. Massachusetts-National Interest: Homeowners fall victim to mortgage scams: Mary Everleigh nearly lost the house she’s owned since 1986 to a fast-talking financier - until Stephen Dibert combed through her mortgage papers and realized the woman had fallen for a scam. “Steve laid out all of the documents and said, ‘You know, what? Something isn’t kosher here,’ ” said Everleigh, a Michigan homeowner. “It was a big eye-opener for me.”
Monday, November 24, 2008. Florida: Attorney files notice of appeal in Coast Bank case: Tannenbaum is appealing to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta the decision by a Tampa federal judge not to allow his clients who had home loans through Coast Bank to be considered victims of fraud perpetrated by Philip Coon, a former executive at the bank. In notifying the court of his intent to appeal, Tannenbaum also added eight additional borrowers to the case — bringing the total number of clients to 108.
Monday, November 24, 2008. Texas: When Perry money talks. Clay Robinson of the Houston Chronicle wrote some interesting comments about Bob Perry's money and State Representative Alan Ritter. Ritter owns a lumber company, sells lumber to the home building industry, is a member of the Texas Association of Builders, and filed the bill that created Bob Perry's Texas Residential Construction Commission.
Monday, November 24, 2008. KS: COVERAGE UPDATE on trial of F. Jeffrey Miller and others: Mortgage Fraud Blog coverage So far includes synopsis of the jury selection. Miller, a homebuilder, and others in his group were indicted for mortgage fraud and other charges.
Monday, November 24, 2008. Patrick.net: Housing Crash Current news of the housing market, bailout, etc.
Sunday, November 23, 2008. Pennsylvania: Law to protect homeowners from shoddy contractors: A recently enacted Pennsylvania law will focus on helping consumers ensure that they do not fall victim to home-improvement scams or shoddy construction work by implementing a set of regulations on many contractors. The Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act, sponsored by Sen. Robert “Tommy” Tomlinson, of Bucks County, will require most contractors to register with the Bureau of Consumer Protection through the Office of the Attorney General.
Sunday, November 23, 2008. Florida: Contractor rip-offs have a history: The state has made it clear: Consumers are on their own: "Anyone who doubts the need to give home buyers in Florida more legal protections should talk to more than 150 customers in 14 counties -- including Sarasota and Charlotte -- who lost millions of dollars to convicted swindler Clyde Hoeldtke Jr. "Hoeldtke was convicted ... of bilking 23 customers by taking their money but not building their houses. Despite the conviction and a measly restitution order, the victims haven't gotten even a small share of their investments returned."
Sunday, November 23, 2008. Texas: Worthless Arbitrators at the Texas Residential Construction Commission When the Texas Residential Construction Commission was created in 2003 they were to register and certify arbitrators. Unfortunately, only 5 arbitrators are listed on the TRCC site after they have been registering arbitrators for over 5 years.
Saturday, November 22, 2008. Indiana- National Interest: Foreclosed and forgotten: It's a massive problem affecting thousands of Indiana homes and, no matter where you live, it's happening in your neighborhood, too. 13 Investigates takes you inside the area's dangerous - and even deadly - foreclosure crisis.
Saturday, November 22, 2008. National Interest: Court says COAH plans due this year : The state appeals court has denied a motion filed by the New Jersey League of Municipalities (NJLM) to postpone a deadline for municipalities to prepare their affordable housing plans. The ruling, made in the Appellate Division of the state's Superior Court, enforces a deadline set by the state's Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) that calls for municipalities to submit their Round III affordable housing plans before Dec. 31.
Saturday, November 22, 2008. California: Five Enter Guilty Pleas Related to Mortgage Lending: Five San Diego mortgage loan employees, who were netted in a national mortgage fraud sting in June, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and face a maximum of 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines, U.S. Attorney Karen Hewitt said Nov. 20.
Saturday, November 22, 2008. Illinois: Springfield: Mortgage Rescue Fraud: SPRINGFIELD- A family falls victim to a scam sweeping across the nation. So-called mortgage "rescue” companies are preying on homeowners that are facing foreclosure. Instead of giving them help, the companies are taking people's money, and then disappearing.
Friday, November 21, 2008. National: The Ticking Time Bomb: LIUNA: Adjustable Rate Mortgages-and Depreciating Home Values {LIUNA PDF Report}-This report examines the mortgages made in 2005 and 2006 in Maricopa County, Arizona by the lending subsidiaries of three of the nation’s largest home builders: Richmond American, Lennar, and KB Home. We found that more than one third of all the mortgages were Adjustable Rate. Mortgages (ARMs) that will reset in 2010 and 2011.
Friday, November 21, 2008. Massachusetts: Lawyer to lenders: Prove you own mortgages: A class action lawsuit has been filed that could stop hundreds of foreclosures and reverse thousands of others. “The rush to foreclose has turned the process into a circus,” said Gary Klein, an attorney representing two Boston homeowners facing foreclosure. “We’re asking these lenders to prove they hold the mortgage.”
Friday, November 21, 2008. Las Vegas, Nevada: I-Team: HOA Investigation Widens: UPDATE:It's a time honored truism -- whenever the FBI gets real quiet, that's when you'd better start worrying. A law enforcement task force made up of federal agents and Metro detectives is pounding away at the HOA corruption case.
Friday, November 21, 2008. Missouri: Six Charged in Mortgage Fraud Scheme: (Springfield, MO) -- Six people from the Springfield area were indicted by a federal grand jury on Thursday for their role in several mortgage fraud schemes in Christian and Greene Counties. Many of the people are former mortgage brokers. Charles Davis, Cheryl Kassebaum, Scott Kassebaum, Randall Hall, Shanda Moore and Steven Spencer were all charged in a 55-count indictment.
Friday, November 21, 2008. Virginia: Someone Elses Dream House- Washington Post: At the same time that Taneja was building his dream home, federal prosecutors say, he was also executing an elaborate mortgage fraud scheme -- defrauding four U.S. banks of millions -- while continuing his global investments. Investigators are still trying to untangle the financial web. He pleaded guilty last week to bilking banks of at least $33 million and victimizing associates from the Indian community with phony home loans.
Friday, November 21, 2008. Tennessee: Homeowners Hurt By Mortgage Companies Ripping Them Off: [VIDEO]It's the main reason we're in the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. Hard-working Tennesseans were lied to and tricked into signing home loans they couldn't afford. Abusive lending practices are now costing all of us.
Thursday, November 20, 2008. South Carolina: Flooded homes leads to North Augusta lawsuits-Homeowners sue builder: "We hired a forensic engineer who found 45 code violations," said Hardy, who pointed out his engineer said the house is 16 inches below grade, resulting in water running toward the house rather than toward the street. The issue has caused the Hardys and Perdues to join together in a lawsuit against the builder, the developer, the engineer who handled the site work, the company that installed the heating and air, the masons, the brick company, the landscape engineers and even the City of North Augusta.
Thursday, November 20, 2008. National: HUD Aide: Jail Time for Meltdown: The top cop in the Department of Housing and Urban Development says he thinks those responsible for the mortgage market meltdown should serve time in a federal penitentiary.
Thursday, November 20, 2008. National: BusinessWeek- by Mara Der Hovanesian --Sex, Lies, and Subprime Mortgages-The sexual favors, whistleblower intimidation, and routine fraud behind the fiasco that has triggered the global financial crisis : It may seem like ancient history now, but not long ago the mortgage industry was turning ordinary people into millionaires. One of them was Sharmen Lane, a high school dropout who, like many other young women during the boom, found her way into an obscure banking job with the clunky title "mortgage wholesaler." Her experience—and the experiences of other wholesalers like her—offers a glimpse into the recklessness and indulgence that drove the industry to ruin.
Thursday, November 20, 2008. California: Home buyers organize in face of crisis: The Alliance is planning a more concerted push, with goals that include a moratorium on builders issuing loans and a ban on binding arbitration. "We want to make builders accountable for their role in the housing crisis,” Young said.
Thursday, November 20, 2008. Texas: Mold and Shoddy Work Keeps Mirasol Homeowner Away: A mother of three says she had to leave her home because of mold and shoddy work. Then she was forced to move her family from the hotel the San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA) put them up in. Now, she finds out her home she's still paying for is still not fixed. And some furniture in a storage unit is ruined. {News Video}
Thursday, November 20, 2008. Oregon: House Of Gain-Aleksey Kalenichenko’s real-estate schemes cost banks hundreds of thousands of dollars. It’s still a mystery how he pulled it off.: Mortgage fraud runs the gamut from outright crooks buying dozens of homes through straw buyers, down to homeowners who commit seemingly innocuous indiscretions like fudging their income to qualify for a bigger loan.
Thursday, November 20, 2008. National: Wachovia, Golden West Investigated by Prosecutors, Regulators : Prosecutors are examining whether Golden West Financial, the lender Wachovia bought for $24 billion in 2006, fraudulently pushed borrowers into expensive loans or altered paperwork to get them approved, Russoniello said in an interview yesterday. His office and the SEC are scrutinizing statements the banks made to investors about Golden West's loans, he said.
Thursday, November 20, 2008. New York: NYC authorities charge 16 in mortgage fraud scheme: In one scheme, the ring leaders recruited straw buyers to sign contracts on 19 homes in towns on Long Island, an indictment said. Using inflated values set by two crooked appraisers, the buyers applied for fraudulent loans that cheated lenders out of $8.8 million, it said.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008. Pennsylvania: Shoddy Construction play significant role in APCP foreclosures:Housing crisis hits APCP hard: Ira Goldstein of the Reinvestment Fund, the Philadelphia consultant retained by the state Banking Department to conduct a comprehensive Monroe County foreclosure study, agrees shoddy initial construction plays a significant role in APCP foreclosures.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008. National: Thinking of Springing for a Foreclosed Home? Check for these 5 Problems First: MOLD-These organisms love water—so they love humid places like Florida, says Lee County property inspector and field services supervisor John Heaphy. Lee Country, home to Ft. Myers, has been one of the three counties in the U.S. hardest hit by foreclosures after the housing market collapse. When he goes in to inspect those homes, Heaphy said, mold is the number one enemy he finds. "We see walls black from ceiling to floor with mold."
Wednesday, November 19, 2008. Tennessee: Mold Forces Home Foreclosure : Knoxville, TENN. (WVLT) Last Updated: 12:53 AM Nov 15, 2008-- A West Knoxville family says mold has ruined their health, home, and finances. So much so, the House family says it's forced them into foreclosure. "The toxicology report found we had four of the most dangerous molds," House said.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008. New Jersey: Fighting foreclosure: {Has advice on how to avoid Foreclosure Scams-ED}Late last month, state attorney general Anne Milgram announced the state was filing suit against 37 mortgage loan providers and employees for bogus "foreclosure rescue" schemes, ones similar to the way the Petterson deal was transacted. French maintains that he is not part of any investigation to his knowledge.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008. California: California activist touts foreclosure relief in D.C. Gnaizda, along with San Diego City Attorney Mike Aguirre, have argued that the settlement did not contain an admission of fraud by Countrywide. The pair believes that only an admission of fraud would force hedge funds to allow Bank of America to revise loans. He believes that only 20 percent of Countrywide homeowners facing foreclosure will be helped by the settlement.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008. New York: Court clerk indicted in mortgage scam: An accused sex tour operator and a high-ranking Brooklyn court official were among nine people indicted Tuesday in a $1.4 million mortgage fraud scheme that featured stolen identities and an elaborate series of masquerades.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008. Florida: Web of mortgage fraud expands : In all, prosecutors say, Clavizzao fraudulently obtained nearly $6-million in mortgages on 13 homes and condos throughout Pinellas County. Among them is a house on 62nd Street N in St. Petersburg where he helped Lepzinski obtain a $189,000 mortgage from BNC Bank, a subprime subsidiary of Lehman Bros., which collapsed in September in the biggest bankruptcy in history.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008. National: HUD: Consumers will shop for loans: Consumers will be less likely to accept overpriced loans, title insurance and other services -- including those offered by businesses affiliated with real estate brokerages and builders -- once new loan disclosure forms and settlement procedures are fully in place at the end of next year.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008. National: Housing Stinks, But... "Please No Bailout There Too": These guys do not need a bailout. The nature of construction is construction to destruction. Builders will overbuild until the point that the banks won't loan anymore money. I see it every day in my neighborhood and it is sickening. The builders are going to have to make a living doing remodels and repairs again. They will also just have to pray for more hurricanes and earthquakes.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008. AZ: Personal data of Gilbert residents found in model home Boxes containing loan applications, Social Security numbers and bank account information for residents of a Gilbert neighborhood were discovered in a ransacked model home abandoned by a bankrupt developer. Several Higley Park model homes have been broken into since builder Randall Martin ceased operations. (A similar situation happened in TX this yr w/another builder. --Ed.)
Tuesday, November 18, 2008. US: HUD: Consumers will shop for loans; Rule changes could cut into industry profits More problems w/use of builders' lenders: "incentives" for using builder's affiliated lender may amount to penalty for using another lender...buyers steered into high-cost loans.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008. CA; Nat'l interest: Homeowners speak against builders Problems with predatory lending and use of builders' affiliated lenders.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008. National-Wisconsin: Crumbling And Curling Roofs: When Searles climbed up to see what was going on with his roof he not only found the shingles curling, he found a lot of junk in his gutter. His shingles were literally disintegrating after only 11 years on the roof. They were made by a Pennsylvania company called CertainTeed. Searles feels ripped off.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008. Louisiana: Lawsuit: Road Home unfair to black homeowners: The Road Home is not a fair or equal one according to a federal class-action lawsuit filed Wednesday against the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development and the Louisiana Recovery Authority on behalf of more than 20,000 black homeowners in New Orleans. The suit alleges the formula that takes into account the pre-storm value of a home to determine the amount of rebuilding grants favors homeowners in majority white neighborhoods where property values are higher.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008. Hawaii: FBI probes foreclosure scam targeting Hawaiians: HONOLULU (AP) - The FBI is investigating several companies that allegedly offered bogus foreclosure rescue bonds to Native Hawaiian homeowners, bilking them out of more than $300,000.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008. National: Nominee for overseer of bailout faces senators: Neil Barofsky, a 38-year-old assistant U.S. attorney, told the Senate Finance Committee that his eight years prosecuting primarily a white-collar federal crimes in the Southern District of New York gave him a "vital education in understanding some of the root causes of the current financial crisis."
Monday, November 17, 2008. National: Aribtration NEWS: U.S. Supreme Court Vacates Court of Appeals' Decision Applying Manifest Disregard of the Law Standard to Arbitration Award, Remands for Consideration in Light of Hall Street:: U.S. Supreme Court Vacates Court of Appeals' Decision Applying Manifest Disregard of the Law Standard to Arbitration Award, Remands for Consideration in Light of Hall Street--Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Hall Street, www.insurereinsure.com has tracked how courts have interpreted that decision with regard to the doctrine of manifest disregard of the law and, specifically, whether courts have held that Hall Street eliminated that doctrine as a basis for challenging arbitration awards arising under the Federal Arbitration Act. You can find several blog posts on this topic on the “Arbitration” and “Reinsurance” pages of www.insurereinsure.com. Stay tuned to see how the Ninth Circuit in Improv West Associates interprets the Hall Street decision.
Monday, November 17, 2008. GA: North Augusta Water Woes 15 month old house; owners hired engineer. According to engineer's report, house was built without metal flashing that would keep the water out, and was built below grade. House is also molding.
Monday, November 17, 2008. OR: Who Got Burned in Mansion Fire? Lawsuits have been filed against builder-developer Mewbourn and the mansion's 29-year- old owner, Denver Haslam, saying the project involved fraud, a "sham sale" and that Mewbourn diverted an investor's money for his personal use.
Monday, November 17, 2008. National: Democratic Party control could ban mandatory arbitration, expert says: Michael LeRoy, a professor of law and of labor and employment relations says his research also revealed other areas where arbitration favors companies, such as contracts that ban punitive damages or lawyers’ fees when employees or consumers prevail. “Attorney fees can be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars,” LeRoy said. “I can point to a case from my research where a woman won $90,000 and had to pay more than that for an attorney. So what did she get by challenging the action?”
Monday, November 17, 2008. Kansas: Jury selection to start Monday in case against area homebuilder-Jeffrey Miller: Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in the second criminal case involving Kansas City area homebuilder F. Jeffrey Miller. Miller had been the focus of a May 2006 federal indictment that described a $25 million bank fraud scheme prosecutors likened to a “fraudulent real estate machine.” That case is still pending. Included among the 12 counts, the government seeks forfeiture of property that it claims the defendants gained through their offenses, including $5 million, two boats known as “Bling Bling” and “Pipe Dream,” and a Piper Seneca V airplane.
Monday, November 17, 2008. National: Tell us: Is your neighborhood seeing a glut of foreclosures?: Editor's note: Where I live, Central California, home prices have been practically slashed in half- foreclosures left and right. How about your city?} MSN Message Board: Readers comments on how their cities are fairing. Other story links included.
Monday, November 17, 2008. National: Solve mortgage mess at its source, experts say -Many think that federal money should be channeled to strapped homeowners: Investment News: "If we don't do something about housing, nothing else we do is going to matter," said Chris Mayer, senior vice dean of the Columbia University Business School in New York. "We could give $50 billion to General Motors [Corp. of Detroit], but it's not going to stop the markets from continuing to spiral downwards."
Monday, November 17, 2008. Texas National : More residents worry about mortgage fraud : Special Agent Matthew Gravelle is an experienced fraud investigator in the Austin office of the FBI's San Antonio Division. During the last five years, mortgage fraud cases have piled up because of the collapsing mortgage market.
Monday, November 17, 2008. National: Efforts to save home intensified: Targeted will be homeowners at least three months behind on mortgages and who owe 90 percent or more than the home is now worth. Investors and borrowers who filed for bankruptcy do not qualify. Lowering interest rates can make mortgage payments more affordable. Every 2 percent rate cut, for instance, reduces a payment about 30 percent, industry officials said.
Monday, November 17, 2008. New Jersey: N.J. homeowner protection measures pick up steam: TRENTON -- While some components of Gov. Jon S. Corzine's economic recovery plan have moved through the Legislature quickly in the last month, measures to address the state's growing number of mortgage foreclosures has gotten off to a slower start.
Sunday, November 16, 2008. TX: Texas Star Builders a dying trade Unfortunately out of a total of 28,000+ home builders registered with the State, only 31 are Texas Star Builders. Missing from the list is every major builder in the State, including Bob Perry Homes (his VP wrote the bill that created the Commission and was appointed to the Commissioners of the TRCC), KB Home, Lennar, David Weekley, Ryland Homes, etc etc.
Sunday, November 16, 2008. National: New York Times: The Debt Trap: A series about the surge in consumer debt and the lenders who made it possible: Tony and Carrie Forsyth, both 30, chose not to walk away from their house in Florida. The couple said they thought their financial situation would improve in 2006, when Mr. Forsyth accepted a promotion from his employer, a Michigan food distributor, that required them to move to Florida. But they could not sell their home in Ypsilanti, Mich., so they decided to rent it out. In June 2006, the couple headed south and bought a house for $220,000 in Tamarac, Fla., with no money down. Five months later, their tenants in Michigan stopped paying, and the family had to carry two mortgage payments, just as the adjustable-rate mortgage on their Michigan home reset to a higher interest rate. They lost the Michigan home to foreclosure in February 2007.
Sunday, November 16, 2008. National: Housing industry seeks U.S. mortgage subsidies: The National Association of Home Builders wants President-elect Barack Obama and the new Congress to use a combination of deep mortgage interest rate "buy-downs" - rate reductions to 2.99 or 3.99 percent - plus federal income tax credits to jolt housing sales and new construction back to life.
Sunday, November 16, 2008. National: Are you an idiot to keep paying your mortgage?: Should you keep paying your mortgage? If you have significant equity in your home, absolutely. If you don't, it's getting harder to answer that question, especially when our government keeps giving people who owe more than their homes are worth so many reasons not to pay.
Sunday, November 16, 2008. Georgia Nat'l: When house problems arise, water is often the culprit- Ask the Inspector: The American Society of Home Inspectors has polled its membership to ascertain the most common problems found with houses nationwide. Although some of the issues we find in Georgia are consistent with the rest of the nation, North Georgia has its own set of unique problems. The following is a list of five of the most common problems based upon both the ASHI research and my personal experience, accompanied by suggestions for avoiding them. I’ll detail additional problems and solutions in next week’s column.
Friday, November 14, 2008. FL: Estate home project in Boca faces foreclosure Azura, a development of multimillion dollar estate homes in Boca Raton, has become the most recent victim of a foreclosure lawsuit filed by Regions Bank. The Birmingham, Ala.-based bank filed the action on Nov. 10 in Palm Beach County Circuit Court against the developer, Polo Field Estates, parent company Gordon Homes and managing members Robert and Gary Gordon.
Friday, November 14, 2008. US: Rental Housing Leaders Slam Homebuyer Tax Credits “Why would the government want to use taxpayer dollars to encourage people to buy an asset that is expected to lose up to 25 percent of its value in the next 12 to 24 months?” Bibby asked. He argued that such incentives do little to create jobs, and merely put borrowers in the situation of being upside down on their new home; instead, he argued that builders need to take their medicine and absorb those losses directly.
Friday, November 14, 2008. Wall Street Journal: Teardown Diary: Window Installation Creates Problems 'It cost $750,000 to build the house and $700,000 to fix the windows.' Our Teardown Diarist hears cautionary tales and discovers a few problems of her own. ... if windows leak around the edges because of improper installation, the window manufacturer won't pay for repairs. ... Sean Gores Construction has been in the construction defect repair business for 11 years. He says that about 40% of his business involves leaking windows because of improper installation. (Improperly installed, leaky windows, are a common complaint reported to HADD. Usually the missing material is "flashing." --Ed.)
Friday, November 14, 2008. NY: UPDATE: Marchand back in court Scott Marchand, the contractor who pled guilty to grand larceny after his bankrupt company left some customers out money and completed homes, is accused of not paying the restitution that was part of his sentence.
Friday, November 14, 2008. US: REMINDER: Give Me Back My Rights An anti-mandatory arbitation site with useful info for our readers. Arbitration clauses in house/warranty contracts can strip home buyers of important rights.
Thursday, November 13, 2008. FL: Contractor ripoffs a major complaint for many homeowners Abandoned jobs, shoddy workmanship, most common complaints at County Consumer Protection office.
Thursday, November 13, 2008. Common Dreams: Will new president "Drive The Lobbyists Out of Washington?" The restrictions are viewed as pious hopes by many in Washington. Former president Bill Clinton tried to restrict lobbyists and failed. President Bush did little to stop their growth and they are now a multibillion-dollar business of influence. Even if Mr Obama succeeds in limiting their access to his administration, Congressmen and women are particularly soft targets. For many politicians, getting elected and serving a term or two is merely a rite of passage on the road to a lucrative Pennsylvania Avenue career.
Thursday, November 13, 2008. NV: Bank forecloses on Kyle Canyon development Wachovia, which has been taken over by Wells Fargo, filed a lawsuit naming Focus and eight builder partners for defaulting on payments for the northwest Las Vegas development...Focus owned 23 percent of Kyle Canyon. The other partners were Toll Brothers, Lennar, Pulte, KB Home, Kimball Hill Homes, Wooside Homes, Meritage Homes and Ryland Homes.
Thursday, November 13, 2008. ADR Forum, an arbitration industry site: Vermont Supreme Court Reemphasizes Narrow Judicial Review of Arbitration Awards in Construction Case Summary/Editorial opinion: Vermont Built, Inc. v. Krolick: appeals court reversed trial court's decison; said trial court could not review arbitrator's decision. Another one where the builder lost and fought it, putting the homeowner through more expense and delay to attempt to recover their damages. Though the article didn't say if the arbitration was 'binding' or not, usually it is in builder and warranty contracts. Regardless, if a homeowner loses they're usually "done for," and when a builder loses, they often still fight even a binding decision, making the occasional homeowner-win a hollow victory. These cases never say if the homeowner who won ever collected, either.
Thursday, November 13, 2008. ADR Forum, an arbitration industry site: I Need More Time" Not Enough for Second Postponement of Arbitration Proceedings Summary: A BBB arbitration. Homeowner had dispute w/contractor over hurricane repairs. Contractor stalled on arbitration date not once but twice. Arbitrtion was held anyway. The homeowner actually won, but had to fight in court to enforce the award, lost, then had to appeal in court before finally winning again. Now to collect...!
Thursday, November 13, 2008. Motley Fool, investing news site: Throw This Stock Away Toll Brothers' plea this week for bailout help is self-serving and similar Lennar's plea from two months ago. Author believes builder has a long way to fall, and that by continuing to build, builders adding to the "recovery" time.
Thursday, November 13, 2008. Change.Gov: REMINDER: Tell Obama what you want Whether it's passage of the Arbitration Fairness Act, your views on the bailouts, or something else, here's your chance to tell the next pres. what you want.
Thursday, November 13, 2008. US: Stop the Bailout Conga Line No Business is 'Too Big to Fail'
Thursday, November 13, 2008. Market Watch: Homeownership Incentives Won't Stimulate Economy, But May Lay Seeds for Another Housing Crisis Builders should lower prices instead of ask for tax payer funded home buying incentives; attempts to artificially boost house prices misguided.
Thursday, November 13, 2008. US: Wachovia sues Tampa developer for $175-million Metro Development Group went on a Florida lot buying binge: "They're like a lot of homeowners. These properties are upside down," Heagney said of Metro. "What they're doing is going in and saying, 'We need to restructure. Work with us.'"
Thursday, November 13, 2008. Mortgage Fraud Blog: 11 States Reach Settlement Agreement With Countrywide UPDATE on predatory loan settlements.
Thursday, November 13, 2008. AZ--BUYER BEWARE: Indebted builders start new company As debt-ridden Scottsdale home builder Hacienda Builders faces one creditor lawsuit after another, the company's top executives continue to do business under a new name, Encanta Construction. ... The license had been suspended in July, when the company lost its bonding amid subcontractor claims of non-payment and foreclosure actions on several vacant properties that Hacienda had borrowed money to purchase.... However, public records show Hacienda principals David Cohen and Todd Stevens also founded a new company, Encanta Construction, and obtained a contractor's license in July to operate under that name.
Thursday, November 13, 2008. IL: UPDATE: What's happening one year after Neumann Homes bankruptcy Dirt mounds and partially built houses in Antioch's NeuHaven and Clublands subdivisions are among the reminders of a dubious anniversary. (Reader comments mention shoddy construction as part of the problem, too. --Ed.)
Thursday, November 13, 2008. MO; Nat'l interest: UPDATE: "Unwanted surprise" Greenleaf complaint More on the "contract deed" scheme that is often legal, but risky; buyers can make payments and still lose house due to risky financial arrangement in which their payments may not be applied to the loan.
Thursday, November 13, 2008. MO: Home builders say project not dead and they're trying to pay debts Home builder John Cavanagh, one of the founders of Highland Homes, says he and business partner Robert Shallenberger have lost their own homes as a result of their company's financial woes and are doing everything possible to repay debts that include down payments received for condominiums never built. ... John Fougere, spokesman for Attorney General Jay Nixon, said Wednesday the office has received 27 complaints about Highland Homes and is investigating them. He said it was policy not to disclose details.
Thursday, November 13, 2008. Nat'l interest: Would-be homebuyers find themselves in ownership limbo A new scam emerging: 'religious' org's claiming soveriegn immunity use blank deed forms to take 'ownership' of vacant (e.g. foreclosed) houses and rent them out. Real buyers waiting in limbo to be able to take posession of house they legally purchased.
Thursday, November 13, 2008. MO: Newly formed mortgage fraud task force meets for first time Readers' comments show they get it: foxes guarding the hen house never works. But task force pannel made up of industry insiders, BBB, and govt agencies that turned a blind eye to fraud when consumer complaints were rolling in. Doesn't appear even one consumer is on the panel.
Thursday, November 13, 2008. Nat'l interest: Homewreckers Cisneros & Martinez Anatomy of a real-estate debacle: • Mel Martinez, secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2001-2003, rewrites federal regulations to allow mortgage brokers to gouge unsuspecting applicants, rake in kickbacks and inflate the housing bubble. ... For all his pandering, Cisneros wasn’t rewarded with a Senate seat, however, because he got caught up in a sex scandal involving payments to a former mistress. But he landed on his feet anyway: Upon exiting HUD, he was given seats on the boards of KB Homes and Countrywide, two of the biggest players in the decade-long housing boom.
Thursday, November 13, 2008. Seeking Alpha, investment site: Misguided Policies I think the biggest potential for policy error lies in maintaining the delusion that preventing housing, and by extension, consumer spending, from adjusting is central to fixing the nation’s economy. Policy would be best focused on supporting the inevitable transition away from debt-supported consumer dependent growth dynamic.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008. CBS: Where Is The Bailout Money Really Going? BAIT & SWITCH: This one's about the $700 billion bailout. Money isn't being tracked. In other words a blank check courtesy of U.S. taxpayers.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008. World: Bloomberg suing Federal Reserve to find out who’s getting the bailout cash Fed chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson refused to disclose which co's received some of the trillion dollars so far dispersed in "The Other Bailout." Financial News source Bloomberg made Freedom of Information Act request, and is suing Federal Reserve to force disclosure.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008. US: The Other Bailout Federal Reserve — the privately operated quasi-governmental central bank of the United States — has issued $2 trillion in emergency loans financed with taxpayer money and backed by “troubled assets the central bank is accepting as collateral” and has refused to identify who is receiving it.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008. US: Lobbyists Swarm Treasury for Piece of $700 billion Bailout Pie The shrinking pie — and the growing uncertainty over who qualifies — has thrown Washington’s legal and lobbying establishment into a mad scramble.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008. NY Times: MORE reader comments building on Toll Brothers' plea for bailout Up to 3 pages now, some who are customers of Toll and say they have defective, shoddy houses. Overwhelmingly, readers are against bailing out Toll or builders, etc, in general.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008. CO: UPDATE: Mortgage scheming refuted by Realtors According to a Rocky Mountain News report, Broker One was the architect in a scheme involving about 100 home sales from Castle Rock to Greeley totaling about $45 million. Homes would be sold with overinflated appraisals, the report noted. At closing, a large sum of money would be paid to a third-party management company, in this case, Broker One.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008. NY: Rockland luxury-home developer files bankruptcy John Lynn, president of Pomona-based JWL Construction Co
Wednesday, November 12, 2008. IL: Lake in the Hills home lawsuit headed for trial Five families alleging consumer fraud; say Classic Homes Construction failed to diclose homes were built on high water table.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008. CA: Downey Financial Corp bank faces seizure Founded in 1957 by mortgage banker Gerald McQuarrie and home builder Maurice McAlister, Downey offered quick loans to people and businesses with good credit. The lender began offering adjustable-rate mortgages to borrowers with less-than-perfect credit in the late 1990s. Downey Savings and Loan offered low introductory payments to the borrowers. Many of those mortgages are now in default.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008. US: Talk Back Author invites feedback from readers, on Toll Brothers CEO who asked for govt bailout.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008. MO; possibly other states: Ozarks Homeowners Lose Homes They Never Really Owned Home buyers bought from builder, made payments on time in "contract for deed" deal with The Real Estate Company, and Greenleaf, its affliliated lender. But their payments were never applied, and the real owners are "investors" living sometimes in other states. Bank foreclosing, and the home buyers' money is gone.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008. US: Government launches new mortgage aid effort But ForeclosureRadar's founder, Sean O'Toole, said the modification plans will do little to repair the region's housing market. "You haven't solved the underlying problem, which is housing prices were overinflated compared to income,"
Wednesday, November 12, 2008. OR: Pollock's troubles; Paulson and a new plan Public records show Roger Pollock and affiliated Buena Vista Custom Homes face growing list of mortgage defaults, past-due construction bills and unpaid homeowners dues.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008. CA: Bank sues over Monterra loans An Upland bank has sued Monterey County Bank and its president, Charles Chrietzberg Jr., for alleged fraud for failing to foreclose on a number of loans to Roger and Basil Mills and Monterra Ranch Properties LLC. Golden State Bank, which bought portions of the multimillion-dollar loans, also alleges that Chrietzberg, as president of Northern California Bancorp Inc. and subsidiary Monterey County Bank, withheld information about the financial failings of the Mills brothers and Monterra, their exclusive subdivision in hills overlooking Monterey-Salinas Highway.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008. US: Syracuse native Christine Varney named to Obama transition team See related article on arbitration below.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008. US: If Arbitration is so Great, People Will Choose it Willingly We are reposting this article from July because it talks about opposition to the Arbitration Fairness Act from former FTC commissioner Christine Varney. Varney has been named to president elect Obama's 'transition team.' This is of great concern to consumers; the Arbitration Fairness Act would help consumers, and Varney and her opposition to the bill will now have a position close to the president when this bill comes up in Congress again. See related article above.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008. Kiplinger, Book Review: Books for a Bear Market Economist Mark Zandi, "Financial Shock: A 360 Look at the Subprime Mortgage Implosion and How to Avoid the Next Financial Crisis," delves deeply into history of mortgage market, bad loans, globalization of trashy subprime paper and how homebuilders ran amok.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008. Common Dreams: Government Rescue Spending: Clear or Cloudy? Critics Question Transparency of the Treasury Dept., Federal Reserve on Rescue Effort Spending
Tuesday, November 11, 2008. US: Center for Responsible Lending News and information about mortgage fraud, the bailout, pending legislation, etc.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008. Patrick.net: Housing Crash News Rising cost of the bailout, and more.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008. Rocky Mountain News; Nat'l inerest: Federal government can't bail out every homeowner, too It's not the role of the federal government to insulate the housing industry from marketplace realities.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008. NY Times: Toll’s Plea: Subsidize House Prices "This sounds like little more than a plea to bail out the homebuilders." Be sure to read the readers' comments, too, including short but sweet gems like these: "so toll wants the rest of us to keep overpaying for houses, just so he and his piratical outfit can survive? let them go pound sand." "Mr. Toll is a cry baby. He contributed to the mess but, now, he doesn’t want to clean up his share. He should know better." "Toll is urging Congress to stimulate demand so that … he can build more McMansions. NO thanks. No help for him, please. And while his request sounds benign enough, what is he lobbying for behind the scenes?" "Ask not for whom the Toll bawls…" "Does anybody think that returning some of the excessive compensation Mr. Toll paid himself during boom times has EVEN CROSSED HIS MIND???" (Priceless! --Ed)
Tuesday, November 11, 2008. MI: Michigan's new energy code concerns home builders Builders accept that they lost building codes lawsuit but trot out old excuses anyway.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008. US: UPDATE: Countrywide settlement may favor Wall Street over Main Street Investors increasing pressure on Bank of America NOT to modify loans in Countrywide settlement that resulted from accusations of mortgage fraud.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008. NV: Two Mortgage Company Employees Arrested, Third Still on the Run Arrested: Roxanne Lynette McCoy and Shanease Renee Bauman, employees of Proserve Mortgage. The arrests were made in connection with an alleged scheme involving the submission of forged loan application documents to a bank for a mortgage loan, after being informed by the victim, Jeri Cooper, age 69, that she could not afford the loan and did not want to complete the loan application process. A third suspect, Laticia Renee Carter, also a Proserve Mortgage employee, remains at large.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008. US: Beazer Stuns Market With Tax Code Red Flag IRS section 382 - described as painful and complex - says that if shareholders who are determined to own 5% or more of a company's stock increase their collective ownership by more than 50% over a specified period, that could "constitute an ownership change," explained Michael Rehaut, a JPMorgan analyst. That could mean losing the tax benefit of future net operating loss carry-forwards and "present a material risk to future tax refunds," Rehaut added, pointing out that Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. (HOV) adopted a shareholder rights plan to thwart such an event.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008. NAHB; Nation's Building News: MORE on building industry lobbying and donations from industry website: Housing Posts Key Wins on Election Day BUILD-PAC, the political action committee of NAHB, contributed to 27 Senate contests. Twenty-two of the BUILD-PAC-supported candidates won ― a success rate of 81%.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008. Seattle Times; Nat'l interest: WaMu's loyal shareholders left holding the empty bag Washington Mutual suffered an ugly death, leaving thousands without jobs, homeowners facing foreclosure, a civic crater in Seattle and a 100-year-old institution flushed away by miscalculation and greed.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008. NY Times: Where Homes are Worth Less than the Mortgage Map tells how much in percentage houses have lost in "value" after years of artificial inflation of bubble years. Ranges from a few percent to nearly 50%.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008. MI: Worker gets 5-20 years, boss 6 months for $300,000 home vandalism More than $300,000 damage to Parade of Homes display house: Nicholas Dykhuis had lengthy criminal background, sentenced to 5-20 years prison for role in vandalism. His former boss, Ronald Dykstra, owner of Dykstra Custom Homes, was given 6 months.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008. CA; Nat'l interest: MORE of why Arbitration is suspect: Using the arbitration process to game the news media, investors and the public. The consumers are missing a point they would be wise to appreciate. Not all that is legal is fair. These arbitration courts are predictably unfair. In the Court’s mind they may be legal but fairness within them is a foreign concept. (Contributor of this article accurately noted that this is "better than Desperate Housewives." Thanks L.E.! --Ed.)
Tuesday, November 11, 2008. National Law Journal: Small construction firm, slammed by economy, lays off nearly a third of its associates As construction projects across the country have run into financing troubles amid the credit crunch some developers, contractors and architects have turned on each other to recoup losses. Partner Jeff Winick said clients have approached litigation more tentatively than the firm expected because of uncertainty in the markets. "They're assessing the situation carefully before they commit to litigation," he said.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008. MSN: The housing mess: 5 'dumb' questions You can't be any dumber than a guy who makes $30,000 a year but bought a $500,000 house. Or the banker who signed the guy's mortgage. Or an investment bank that thought bundling such deals together made buyers with bad credit less risky. Or regulators who thought investment bankers were smart.
Monday, November 10, 2008. TX: Beaumont couple claims shoddy repairs after Rita, sues construction company Couple agreed to $90,000 worth of work; complaint says Elton's Construction, owned by Elton Senegal, violated building codes, demanded more money, and falsely claimed the work had been completed. Builder also filed lien on the homeowner's property.
Monday, November 10, 2008. Common Dreams: A Quiet Windfall For US Banks Administration officials had just given American banks a windfall of as much as $140 billion. The sweeping change to two decades of tax policy escaped the notice of lawmakers for several days, as they remained consumed with the controversial bailout bill.
Monday, November 10, 2008. National interest: Real Estate Marketing Agreements Often 'Troubling' to Colorado Regulator, HUD Speaking to more than 100 members of the Real Estate Services Providers Council, Inc. (RESPRO) Fall Seminar in New Orleans, Colorado Real Estate Division Director Erin Toll said "Real estate marketing agreements look a lot like captive reinsurance agreements which looked a lot like sham affiliated business arrangements." ... Toll said she first became aware of these agreements, most of which are closely guarded confidential arrangements, when a disagreement between two parties led to a suit in Colorado court. Seeing the previously secret agreement in the court documents led Toll to begin investigating the increasingly popular arrangements. What she saw, the former litigator says, appears to her and appears to HUD as an illegal arrangement. (Toll goes on to say exclusivity and secrecy are red flags. Toll went after some builders a few years ago for illegal title insurance kickbacks. Included large national builders. --Ed.)
Monday, November 10, 2008. US: Change Coming in Key Areas of Law Bills to eliminate predispute binding arbitration have been gaining momentum, said David Arkush, director of Public Citizen's Congress Watch, adding, "Binding arbitration in consumer contracts affects such a broad swath of people. Those bills were doing quite well, but we'll see better prospects in an administration that isn't going to veto them, and one of the bills was introduced by Senator Obama." His opponent in that battle agrees that eliminating mandatory arbitration will be a Democratic priority. "The trial lawyers can't really pass anything unless they get consumer groups to help," said Victor Schwartz, a partner at Shook, Hardy & Bacon. "Consumer groups don't like arbitration. Putting their muscle behind that, they get more muscle from consumer groups." (HADD supports the Arbitration Fairness Act in congress now. Arbitration claues in builder and warranty contracts have stripped homeowners of rights, and have hidden complaints from public view. --Ed.)
Monday, November 10, 2008. US: Housing industry said it should be Obama's top priority; Home builders want bailout "National organizations representing realtors and homebuilders have already started pushing their recommendations." (Consumers, please speak up, these are YOUR elected officials the industry is courting for bailouts, favors, law changes, etc, at YOUR expense. Easy to contact them at this site, http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml Please don't think your voice won't count! It does, but only if you use it! --ED.)
Monday, November 10, 2008. AZ: UPDATE: Bank won't let builder finish Casa Grande project; Los Portales homeowners left 'stunned' Worries, questions and concerns are plaguing some Casa Grande residents after home builder Brown Family Communities announced last week that it had closed, leaving partially built houses and empty lots in parts of Arizona.
Monday, November 10, 2008. MI: Charges not yet filed against heating/plumbing contractor who had vacant homes stripped of fixtures, materials. Bill Heaney of Heaney Plumbing & Heating on Gratiot was taken into custody by Detroit police in April after an undercover sting recovered more than $200,000 in stolen fixtures and materials.
Monday, November 10, 2008. MD: Md. reaches settlement with Rockville home builder The attorney general's office said Friday it had reached a settlement with Smart Development/Premiere Homes L.C. and owner Edward Kevin Smart. Consumer protection officials filed charges against the company in August, saying it used illegal clauses to terminate contracts when housing prices went up.
Monday, November 10, 2008. FL: Congressman's brother loses home Real estate developer Edward Buchanan has defaulted on loans
Monday, November 10, 2008. IL: Trustees question silence over violation Village allowed work to continue in Arbor subdivision while officials likely knew the builder (American Classic Homes) had been found in violation of environmental laws.
Monday, November 10, 2008. ID: DBSI, (owner of Kastera homes), declares bankruptcy The investors say the company collected $500 million in illegally gained profits as a result of fraud.
Monday, November 10, 2008. Pocono Record: UPDATE on Poconos Real Estate Fraud cases: Housing crisis hits A Pocono Country Place hard, by David Pierce More on builder-mortgage fraud case, this one about a case that began in 1994; many of the cases are ongoing: "Silverstein bought his home from a company controlled by developers Gene Percudani and Gerald Powell for $143,000. But following a series of stories in the Pocono Record linking the use of inflated appraisals to sell area homes for more than they are worth, the Silversteins commissioned a new appraisal in 2002 that placed the value at just $85,000."
Monday, November 10, 2008. Bloomberg: Bear Stearns Risk Manager to Guard New Henhouse: Caroline Baum Michael Alix, chief risk officer at Bear Stearns from 2006 until its demise in March, was named senior vice president in the Bank Supervision Group of the New York Federal Reserve
Monday, November 10, 2008. Common Dreams: The New Trough The Wall Street bailout looks a lot like Iraq — a "free-fraud zone" where private contractors cash in on the mess they helped create
Monday, November 10, 2008. US: Countrywide and Pardee Homes still doing toxic loans An entry from Patrick.net, a housing crash blog. Home buyer approved for way more than they could afford thru use of builder's affiliated lender, a common problem during the bubble that led to the current economic mess. Still happening.
Sunday, November 09, 2008. NV: Builder agrees to help pay to replace Kitec fittings Pulte wasn’t the only developer valleywide to use Kitec. It was installed in an estimated 34,000 valley homes in the past decade. Some of the other homebuilders, including Richmond American Homes, have settled with the owners of those properties. Those who have yet to reach an accord with the homeowners face a May trial
Sunday, November 09, 2008. US: FIRM SAYS BEAR BUILT 'HOUSE OF CARDS' A company that insured groups of mortgage loans for a subsidiary of Bear Stearns has filed a lawsuit accusing the investment bank of building a “house of cards” through fraud and misrepresentations. Ambac Assurance has sued EMC Mortgage in federal court in Manhattan. EMC was a mortgage unit of Bear Stearns, which JPMorgan Chase & Co. acquired in March.
Sunday, November 09, 2008. Nat'l interest: Anyone can be a victim of home mortgage fraud Tips from the FBI
Sunday, November 09, 2008. SF Gate: Empire of Sand Businessman Ricardo Ramirez of Pacific Cement allegedly poured inferior concrete into key projects
Saturday, November 08, 2008. CA: Homebuilder accused of misusing funds, falsifying papers Ultimate Development Inc. owned by Kevin Javaheri, and its owners, accused of fraud, forgery. (From Oct, but I believe we missed it when it was fresh. --Ed.)
Saturday, November 08, 2008. US: Builder Implode-O-Meter Latest on builder bankruptcies.
Saturday, November 08, 2008. US/World: Housing Crash Current headlines of the crash from Patrick.net
Saturday, November 08, 2008. CA: Bickford Ranch crashes in bankruptcy court Bickford Ranch, however, was the development firm's fourth related bankruptcy filing in California. All involved partnerships with Lehman Brothers, which armed SunCal with $2.2 billion to develop properties throughout California and Nevada.
Saturday, November 08, 2008. Bloomberg: Another bank failure: Ranieri Becomes Victim of Crisis as Franklin Seized Houston-based bank Franklin Bank seized by FDIC. "While Franklin avoided the subprime mortgage market, his firm was burned by loans to builders in California, Arizona, Florida and Michigan, where foreclosures are among the highest in the U.S."
Saturday, November 08, 2008. FL: UPDATE: Third builder accused of taking clients' money Another North Port home builder faces charges he embezzled money while the city's housing market declined, leaving his customers with large liens on their property. Ruel A. Grover, 36, the owner of Grover Brothers Construction, also known as Webster Homes, was arrested Thursday on 34 counts of misappropriating construction funds.
Friday, November 07, 2008. ID: PDF on Mortgage Fraud from Idaho Attorney General's office BUILDER-BAILOUT SCHEMES Due to rising inventory and decreasing demand, builders sometimes offer financial incentives to buyers but do not include these incentives in the loan documents. In a common scenario, a builder lists a $200,000 home for an inflated price of $230,000 and offers you a “no downpayment” incentive. Believing the builder paid the $30,000, the lender approves a $200,000 loan. Both you and the lender believe the home is being sold with $30,000 in equity. However, the lender actually funded the entire value ($200,000) of the home that has no equity. How Can You Avoid Builder-Bailout Schemes? You can avoid builder-bailout schemes by requiring builders to disclose all incentives in writing and by obtaining an appraisal from a reputable appraiser.
Friday, November 07, 2008. Nat'l interest: Seattle Real Estate News Developers and builders have not yet come to grips with the extraordinary amount of inventory that will be coming on the market in the next 12 to 24 months and they're holding their prices too high.
Friday, November 07, 2008. US: Chaos now the norm for housing economy, bailout Wealthy investors will benefit from the bailout, while the impact on homeowners remains less clear
Friday, November 07, 2008. PA: Murrysville condo builder files for bankruptcy Filing ch. 7 (liquidation).
Friday, November 07, 2008. MN: Broker is sought in alleged fraud The Minnesota Department of Commerce alleges that Michael Prieskorn, of Ellendale, participated in a fraudulent scheme in which numerous investors were induced to purchase some 220 investment homes from January 2006 through March 2007 at prices well beyond the homes' true market value. ... Commerce Department said most sellers involved in the transactions were builders with excess inventories of unsold homes.
Friday, November 07, 2008. OK: Ideal Homes drops 18 positions in Oklahoma Employees who kept customers informed as their homes were being built were let go and now salespeople follow through as construction goes on, and employees in the development area of the company were let go with production employees taking on their responsibilities
Friday, November 07, 2008. CO: Village Homes files for bankruptcy Filing triggered by “inappropriate actions” by lenders, builder says.
Friday, November 07, 2008. TX: MORE on the bad bricks: Defects hit homes like a ton of bricks Bricks "crumbled like crackers, some builders suing company that sold the brick. Sparking debate over proper building codes and reliance on imported goods, or those not made for the climate regardless of origin.
Friday, November 07, 2008. UT; Nat'l interest: Contractors, landscapers, the handyman -- find out who's really competing for your business You might think that the licensing division would weed out all the bad seeds for you, but what you might not know is there is no state law requiring contractors to go through background checks.
Friday, November 07, 2008. US: Wachovia seeks $18 million in suit against homebuilder Four of the 40 defendants are Poinsett Homes and Poinsett Development and their principals, Ted D. Smith and Ronald D. Taylor Sr., while the rest are lienholders, said Wachovia attorney Beverly Carroll.
Friday, November 07, 2008. US: Reading, writing and financial ed Wall street MBA's ignorant of lesson of past crashes. Politicians blaming each other; unwilling to blame builders, buyers, Realtors, mortgage brokers, bankers, investors.
Friday, November 07, 2008. MI: Dearborn worker linked to bribes Federal prosecutors say a Dearborn city worker admitted accepting $40,000 in bribes to help people clear hurdles in acquiring foreclosed homes.
Friday, November 07, 2008. US: Housing industry said it should be Obama's top priority National organizations representing realtors and homebuilders have already started pushing their recommendations. (Perhaps if past govt officials had listened less to industry lobbyists, and more to voices of reason, we would not be in this mess now! --Ed.)
Friday, November 07, 2008. NC: Financing snag halts work at Legacy Lofts Mechanics’ liens pile up against Legacy Lofts condominiums; was recently named 2008 Multifamily Green Building Project of the Year by the National Association of Home Builders.
Friday, November 07, 2008. TX: Bad bricks troubling Texas homeowners Homeowners throughout North Texas are facing an uncertain future due to low-quality bricks used in the construction of their homes, industry insiders say. Sources in the brick industry say bricks manufactured three years ago...traced to Mexican manufacturer Camargo and Landmark Brick, a distribution company that operated out of Collin County.
Friday, November 07, 2008. AZ: Pinal County resale housing market sees third-quarter foreclosures rise The 3,355 recorded resale transactions in third quarter 2008 included 1,515 foreclosures or 45 percent of the resale activity.
Friday, November 07, 2008. MD: Home builder settles with Gansler Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler says Development/Premiere Homes contracts contained termination clauses that were illegal.
Friday, November 07, 2008. Australia: Brickbats abound against bad builders in Queensland COMPLAINTS against shoddy builders soared to record high; problems similar to the United States and Canada.
Friday, November 07, 2008. Canada: Nova Scotia introduces bill to protect home buyers deposits Jamie Muir, minister for Service Nova Scotia, tabled a bill, the Homeowner Protection Act, Friday that would put all deposits for new residential constructions into a trust to protect the buyers from a potential financial loss.
Friday, November 07, 2008. FL: Where have the builders gone? Luxury condos abandoned and facing demolition; during construction some had code violations and other problems.
Friday, November 07, 2008. Barry Stone Column: Home inspector should have found mold problems Two questions addressed by home inspector Barry Stone, a syndicated columnist: 1. Inspector dismissed signs of mold, didn't investigate. 2. Leaking basement in new house.
Friday, November 07, 2008. FL: UPDATE: Developer Steve Walsh's bills: $255M More on developer who shot himself earlier this year. Charges of embezzling. Creditors looking for assets.
Thursday, November 06, 2008. US: Wall Streetwalkers: The Sleazy Lehman Brothers Subsidiary Lehman Brothers maintained its squeaky-clean image by relying on its seamier subsidiary. Just call her Aurora. ... Company was underwriting loans issued by questionable lenders
Thursday, November 06, 2008. US: UPDATE: Countrywide customers receive warning letters... notifying them that their personal information may have been sold to a third party. ... Countrywide customers, or those who have recently applied for a loan, are urged to call a special services hotline at (866) 451-5895 to check the status of their personal information. The Law Offices of Finkelstein Thompson have filed a class action lawsuit against Countrywide Financial Corporation.
Thursday, November 06, 2008. Business Week: NY lawsuit: Bear Stearns built a 'house of cards' Lawsuit claims Bear Stearns leveraged its reputation and dominance in mortgage finance to entice companies such as Ambac to insure loans plagued by rampant fraud.
Thursday, November 06, 2008. St. Louis Today: Crestwood developer faces mortgage fraud charges Joseph A. Baumeister, owner of Prophet Development
Thursday, November 06, 2008. Common Dreams: Real Change Depends on Stopping the Bailout Profiteers All day on the business networks, we hear that, in light of the economic crisis, corporations need lower taxes, and fewer regulations - in other words, more of the same. The new president's only hope of resisting this campaign being waged by the elites is if the remarkable grassroots movement that carried him to victory can somehow stay energized, networked, mobilized - and most of all, critical. Now that the election has been won, this movement's new mission should be clear: loudly holding Obama to his campaign promises, and letting the Democrats know that there will be consequences for betrayal. The first order of business - and one that cannot wait until inauguration - must be halting the robbery-in-progress known as the "economic bailout."
Thursday, November 06, 2008. TX: Clarence Lewis, Houston Mortgage Broker, Indicted in $12 Mortgage Fraud Scam Proceeds from Clarence Lewis’ loans were deposited into bank accounts in business names associated with Lewis, including Motown Mortgage Group and Astro Construction Company. Some of the funds were also used to pay individuals who provided services necessary to promote and perpetuate the scheme.
Thursday, November 06, 2008. Tort Deform: Yes We Must… Keep Fighting For Civil Justice No longer should corporate interests get the benefit of the doubt in our legal system while ordinary people get blocked out of not only the courtroom, but the entire courthouse and political process that establishes rules governing lawsuits. Such harmful policies don’t just hurt individuals, they are an assault on American values.
Thursday, November 06, 2008. US: It's Your Money: Reading the fine print Of all the things hidden in the fine print, mandatory binding arbitration can be the most damaging..."you give away your rights to sue the company if you have a problem with them." (Same arbitration clauses and drawbacks exist in real estate and warranty contracts. --Ed.)
Thursday, November 06, 2008. MD: Attorney General Gansler Files Charges Against Maryland Home Builder Westwood Design Build, Inc. failed to construct consumers' homes The Attorney General's Of