Borrowers Angry as Former Countrywide Execs Back in Business
When he learned Wednesday that some of the same Countrywide executives who oversaw the writing of the bad loans were buying up delinquent mortgages from the government at low prices and then making millions off potential mortgage payments, he was outraged. "The upper echelon guys perpetrated a fraud because they allowed loans to be written with no oversight. The same way they ban guys from trading on Wall Street, these guys should be banned from the banking and mortgage industry for life," he said. "It's preposterous that these guys are still allowed be in the mortgage business." Like AIG and Bear Stearns, the name Countrywide -- once the nation's largest mortgage lender -- has become shorthand for a notorious moment in the recession and its logo a veritable symbol of the burst housing bubble.

KB Home ex-CEO Bruce Karatz accused of stock option fraud
A federal grand jury indictment alleges that Karatz, who resigned under fire in 2006, orchestrated the backdating of options to his own benefit. Bruce Karatz, who rode the housing boom to become one of the highest-paid executives in the country, was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday on charges of manipulating stock options -- becoming one of the few executives to face criminal charges in the nation's options backdating scandal...Over a three-year period ending in 2005, Karatz garnered more than $232 million in compensation. "This investigation painted a picture of avarice and dishonesty at its core," said Salvador Hernandez, who heads the FBI office in Los Angeles.

Benifits of Home Inspections
A home inspection is a visual review and testing of the major components of a home. Home inspectors must be licensed by the Texas Real Estate Commission. They review more than 200 components, usually during a two- to three-hour period. The basic inspection includes the exterior, roof, crawl spaces, attic, foundations, structure, plumbing, electrical outlets and breakers, heating elements, air conditioning and interior surfaces. They also can inspect swimming pools, yard sprinklers, hot tubs, private water wells and septic systems.  Read more...

Proposed TRCC raise insults
...the TRCC seems to have empowered bad builders to continue victimizing customers. If the TRCC is to continue, it should be revamped from a builder-protection agency to a consumer-protection one. Those on the commission should be making sure homes are fixed correctly when needed. If houses are so badly built, builders should have no choice but to buy them back.

Is it really the time to grant a pay raise?
Last week, two commissioners appearing before the Senate Finance Committee, proposed a pay raise for their executive director, Duane Waddill, which would boost his annual salary from the current $98,000 to as much as $125,880. Some people don’t get it.  Remember, this is the agency, now under sunset review, that some legislators and many consumer advocates want to abolish because of complaints that it has been little more than a lap dog for home builders...“This agency is really a trap for homeowners. The reality of it is it’s a failure,” said Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen.

Lawmaker Blasts Push for Pay Hike for Residential Construction Official
"Quite frankly, I was both surprised and disturbed that the board members of the Texas Residential Construction Commission would ask to increase Mr. Waddill’s salary at a time when the public and the legislature have lost confidence in the Commission to adequately protect those you are entrusted to serve Texas homeowners," Hegar wrote. As you are well aware, the Sunset Advisory Commission's staff recommended abolishment of the Commission.

Franchise Fraud: Wake Up and Smell the Fine Print
By 2004, Welshans had invested $90,000 from his nest egg, plus a Small Business Administration loan of nearly $300,000, to lease and renovate a promising space in an Annapolis office park. But the couple soon began to sense they'd made a huge mistake. On opening day, Welshans had to secure an additional $40,000 home equity loan to keep the business afloat... (Arbitrator) ordered the couple to pay $187,452 in legal fees and arbitration expenses—not including their own legal tab or the cost of travel to and from Michigan. Among the charges: $16,800 for Barron's services, $35,571 for a court reporter and transcription, even $504 for the Beanery lawyers' lunches. For Coffee Beanery, the victory served as the proverbial head on a stake: Its lawyers sent a copy of the award to Garner, the aggrieved Chicago franchisee, who abandoned his own arbitration claim soon after. (Congress is considering a ban on arbitration clauses in franchise contracts, but the franchisors are fighting back. The International Franchise Association, of which Coffee Beanery is a member, has spent more than $2 million lobbying in DC since 2005.)

First community in the nation to offer this promotion
Tarrant County,Texas - Good Housekeeping Seal-backed products... Products that pass through the Good Housekeeping Institute and are accepted for advertising in Good Housekeeping are thereby eligible to display the famous Good Housekeeping Seal. Every product that bears the Good Housekeeping Seal is backed by a two-year limited warranty from Good Housekeeping for replacement or refund of the purchase price if found to be defective.

Ambush-style towing hits Southwest neighborhood
"KB didn't tell us the same thing happened on street after street, in multiple neighborhoods within the Huntington development. Kelly Hammer in the Villas and was luckily awakened at 2 a.m. by her neighbor's car alarm. "And we came downstairs and the tow truck operator was saying, 'if that's yours, you need to move it or you're next.'  So we were fortunate.  Had it not been for our neighbor's car alarm we would have had two cars towed." Anonymous writes, "it seems as if they use strong-arm tactics with residents in communities they manage. Their actions are neither ethical nor conducive to building the kind of community spirit hoped for by residents.

Viewers Valleywide seeing red over ambush-style towing 
Few things make people more angry than finding their car's been towed--especially from right in front of their own house. "Forcing us to choke up $297 dollars to get it out," says homeowner Dara Jackson.  KB homeowner Grant wrote us to say, "The cost of my tow was $350. The towing company added on a premium for 'after hours.' quite a coincidence considering the whole neighborhood started getting towed 'after hours.'"

Chinese drywall? Call your insurance company
There is an urgent message for people who may have Chinese Drywall in their homes: Contact your insurance company right away. Wednesday night, builders from across Southwest Florida tried to get a grasp on the Chinese drywall epidemic that's spread throughout the state and beyond. Dr. David Krause is the Florida Health Department Toxicologist who has been heading up the investigation into potential health risks. 

Choice Homes suspends operations
Choice Homes on Tuesday informed its employees and vendors of the company’s decision. Couture said in a prepared statement that his firm is “faced with the escalating downturn in the housing market, the likelihood of a deep prolonged recession and very difficult credit markets.” “This was not an easy decision, but faced with the unprecedented market conditions we have decided on this course of action,” he said. “It is our intent to satisfy our obligations to our subcontractors and suppliers and to work closely with our secured creditors to maximize the proceeds from the sale of the assets of Choice Homes."

Woman finally finds closure with home builders
Jeryl Bennett ended her 4-year battle with Lennar Homes, Inc. Jan. 21 with an agreement Bennett said she “could live with.” Bennett was dissatisfied with the home she bought brand-new from Lennar in 2004, citing structural defects and poor repairs as the main reasons. According to Bennett, having to go through Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC), the company she was required to contact about her complaints initially, was no picnic either.  Bennett said she would like to buy another home, but would have trouble trusting another builder after the issues she had with Lennar.

Low-Quality Mexican Brick Showing Up in North Texas; Brick Failures Spur Builders to Repair Homes; Hundreds at Risk
With the onset of winter and the multiple freeze/thaw cycles in North Texas, some homeowners may get an unwelcome surprise: their houses - built with defective Mexican brick -- might literally fall apart around them. Hundreds of homes in the North Texas area - estimates range from 400 to 600 -- have already, or may experience brick failure this year as a result of poor-quality imported Mexican brick in some tract developments and on some custom homes over the past few years, according to the Brick Industry Association - Southwest.

Homeowners allege construction defects in lawsuits
The lawsuit says Lewis Homes/KB Home have maintained there are no defects, but nevertheless have performed some repairs that the defendants say have not been adequate to solve the problems. The homeowners claim to have problems with roofs, water and dirt entering through windows, bugs and water entering through their foundations and cracked stucco and drywall.