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Tuesday, 07 February 2006 |
S&P 500 Drops as D.R. Horton, Homebuilders Fall; Disney Gains
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index declined as homebuilders such as D.R. Horton Inc. dropped following a lower sales forecast from Toll Brothers Inc., the largest U.S. builder of luxury homes.Toll Brothers tumbled $1.05 to $30.15. The company expects to sell 9,200 to 9,900 homes in fiscal 2006, down from a previous forecast of 9,500 to 10,200. Last year, it delivered 8,769 homes. Orders for new homes plunged 29 percent in the first quarter ended Jan. 31. D.R. Horton, the largest U.S. homebuilder, slid 94 cents to $34.01 and Pulte Homes Inc., the No. 2 U.S. homebuilder, fell 64 cents to $37.30. An S&P index of homebuilders lost 2.1 percent. |
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Sandra Bullock to Demolish House |
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Sunday, 05 February 2006 |
Sandra Bullock to flatten her £4m house of horrors
Bullock spent years designing the lakeside mansion in Austin, complete with towers and spires, a spa, library and cinema. But two nights after moving in she moved out again, claiming that the house was a potential deathtrap with a leaking roof, toxic mould, unsafe fireplaces, faulty wiring and crumbling walls...“She’s going to blow it up, demolish it,†said a spokesman for the actress. “She will be pressing the button, or whatever you do to make the wrecking ball go — probably this coming week.†|
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Big Builder Getting Bigger |
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Sunday, 05 February 2006 |
Small housing firms are being bought up by giant builders
While America's automakers struggle against a sliding market share, major U.S. homebuilders are getting bigger...The leader in the purchases has been Florida-based Lennar, which has bought about 23 firms, according to a study released this month at the industry's annual conference. Close behind Lennar is Fort Worth, Texas-based D.R. Horton, with 17 mergers and acquisitions...The string of purchases appears to be profitable for big builders. Their overall profits have more than doubled in the past 10 years. |
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Two Articles: Important Massachusetts Mold Case set for court |
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Sunday, 05 February 2006 |
Nashoba Publishing
Mold house survivors to get their day in court on April 5
Nearly three years to the day one couple purchased a duplex at 20A and B Shawnee Rd. only to lose it, their health and all their possessions, they said, to toxic mold. Now, Nancy and Rick Davis will have their day in court on April 5.
The Lowell Sun
Couple's lawsuit over mold in Pepperell home gets April trial
Nancy and Rick Davis have a trial date for their lawsuit against two real-estate agencies and their agents who the couple accuse of selling them a house contaminated with mold. |
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Star-Telegram Watchdog Reporter - TRCC |
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Friday, 03 February 2006 |
Homeowners get ally in the House
State Rep. Todd Smith, R-Euless, says he had heard enough complaints about a new state agency that is supposed to help homeowners who have problems with builders. So, he wrote a letter in August to Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, asking her to look into the operations of the Texas Residential Construction Commission...Last week, Strayhorn issued a blistering report. She disclosed that most of the initial 102 homeowners surveyed by her office say their builders did not make required repairs even after their complaints about defects were confirmed as part of a new required state inspection and resolution process. In a news conference, Strayhorn blasted the TRCC as a “builder protection agency.†|
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Illinois Launches Offensive Against Foreclosure "Rescuers" |
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Thursday, 02 February 2006 |
"Rescuers" Steal Equity, Sell Homes, Leaving Victims Homeless
Calling mortgage rescue fraud "a cancer that is eating away at our neighborhoods," Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, lawmakers and community advocates today announced legislation to prevent two types of the fraud. |
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Bankrate.com - Home Warranties |
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Thursday, 02 February 2006 |
Home warranties: Good or good-for-nothing?
With a new home, "The warranty is only as good as the builder," says Janet Ahmad, president of HomeOwners for Better Building, an organization that promotes good home building and consumer-friendly legislation. "There are some good builders who stand behind what they build."... If you see stipulations in the warranty that bother you, like mandatory binding arbitration or a liability limitation clause, alter the contract, says Ahmad. "Strike them out. Say, 'Do you have a problem with that? Why do we need a limiting warranty that limits the builder liability?'" The bottom line, says Ahmad, if a warranty seems restrictive or unfair, don't sign it. "I think consumers need to say, 'No, I'm not accepting your warranty.'" |
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Texas Review:the laws of Texas are against you |
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Wednesday, 01 February 2006 |
TRCC . . the laws of Texas are against you
I was in the TRCC process. I now have no home and live in an apartment. Googlel Jordan Fogal for more information on my new $360.000 uninhabitable house...I have filed a complaint against my builder Tremont/Stature/University Development or, whomever they are calling themselves this week, with the TRCC. My builder circumvented state law and the TRCC did nothing. They can’t talk about this file because it is under investigation. How many years will they use that as an excuse, refusing to take action against the practices of this poster child for bad building...It is one thing to be made homeless by an act of God, like Katrina but it is totally different when it is by an act of greed. |
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Atlanta Journal-Constitutions -Shortcuts short homeowners |
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Tuesday, 31 January 2006 |
Housing shortcuts short homeowners
When some contractors work at breakneck speed to meet demand while juggling several projects, mistakes happen. Shortcuts get taken. Quality plummets...many companies use these guys they pick up on the corner. They’re amateurs, and it’s detrimental to the industry... |
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Monday, 30 January 2006 |
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Stachybotrys, Fusarium & Trichothecene Mycotoxins - Monday Morning Mold (Mycology) - January 30, 2006 |
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Monday, 30 January 2006 |
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CDC Finds Katrina Mold Protection Inadequate - Monday Morning Mold (Mycology) - January 23, 2005 |
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Monday, 30 January 2006 |
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Frogs Killed by Fungus -- Monday Morning Mold (Mycology) - January 16, 2005 |
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Predatory Lending Settlement - Victims may get little |
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Monday, 30 January 2006 |
Mortgage settlement could fall short for borrowers
State leaders say a settlement with Ameriquest Mortgage is an efficient solution that guarantees thousands of Washington homeowners will get some restitution money. But several local attorneys and a former senior assistant attorney general say the terms of the settlement in the predatory-lending case mean consumers may get much less than they deserve. |
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Houston Chronicle Editorial - Bureaucratic Deadwood |
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Monday, 30 January 2006 |
Editorial
Bureaucratic deadwood
A state commission to curb homebuilder abuses proves to be a deck stacked in favor of the industry it is supposed to regulate.
When Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn issued a report last week criticizing the Texas Residential Construction Commission as a shield for politically-connected homebuilders, she could have been reading from a column the Chronicle's Clay Robison wrote last March. Headlined "No place like home for this cuddly Austin lapdog," Robison's piece characterized the creation of the TRCC as a boon for homebuilders who had contributed millions of dollars to state lawmakers. In return, the law creating the commission required aggrieved homeowners to go through a costly, time-consuming arbitration before they could take legal action against contractors. It also limited damages that plaintiffs could receive. |
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Saturday, 28 January 2006 |
Fox News employees sue over alleged mold
Two Fox News employees have filed a lawsuit alleging they were sickened by toxic molds and pesticides in a building where some of the network's top shows are produced. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Supreme Court in Manhattan, alleges the employees fell ill in the building where "The O'Reilly Factor" and "At Large with Geraldo Rivera" are produced, as well as "Hannity and Colmes" and "Dayside." It seeks unspecified damages from Fox News and the building's management company. |
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