|
KHOU Ch.11 Houston Special Investigation |
|
Tuesday, 29 November 2005 |
KHOU Ch.11 News, Defenders Investigation
Are problem home builders your problem?
Fly-by-night contractors flock to Texas
Over the last few months, the 11 News Defenders have dug through every complaint ever filed with the state's construction commission about builders and remodelers. State authorities put out the welcome mat…â€This agency has fallen short on consumer complaints across the board.†Duane Wadill is the Executive Director of TRCC… The Defenders have discovered the commission has not fully investigated more than 80% of complaints against builders. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Supreme Court-No Arbitration for Condo Construction Defects |
|
Tuesday, 29 November 2005 |
HOAs claim victory in arbitration case
The Colorado Supreme Court last month quietly let stand a Court of Appeals decision that homeowner associations cannot be forced into arbitration by builders and general contractors. It's a huge victory for homeowner associations in Colorado, said Christopher Rhody, the attorney representing the Eagle Ridge Condominium Association in a lawsuit over construction defects."... The association wanted to tell their story to a jury," Rhody said. "A jury of 12 is often a fairer form to hear their side than in front of a single arbitrator, who is usually chosen by the builder." In addition, he argued it is "inherently unfair for builders to shield themselves from liability for shoddy construction before the houses are even built." He said the Court of Appeals' decision, which the Supreme Court let stand, "holds home builders responsible for their actions." |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Monday, 28 November 2005 |
|
Monday Morning Mycology - November 28, 2005 |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
BBB Looking at Growing Trend of Defective Homes |
|
Saturday, 26 November 2005 |
Protecting consumers, promoting business
...BBB statistic claiming for every one complaint the organization receives, there are twenty problems never reported...From KB Homes to David Weekley to Royce and Perry, Parsons said the growing trend in building new, damaged and defective homes, however, is a problem which the BBB is looking at..."Something very bad is going on and for the first time, I am starting to wonder whether we are going to be able to keep homebuilders as members," Parsons said... In 2003, after homebuilders successfully lobbied the state legislator for a new state agency to protect them against lawsuits, the Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC) was formed. Since the TRCC's inception, Parsons said nothing but problems and issues arose..."Our mandate on the TRCC is that it is the law, but it is not a good law. We don't like laws like this; we want businesses to play fair."... "Half the builders hate that law. They saw some of the zealots start to affect their industry, not because they were bad but because other builders were bad," Parsons said. Furthermore, Parsons said the TRCC hurts the good builders left in the industry. "It is a terrible law. It is interesting that you look at the homebuilders who backed the TRCC law have gone south with us-Weekley, Royce and Perry." |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Building Industry Bullies BBB Over Consumer Complaints |
|
Wednesday, 23 November 2005 |
Builders leave Better Business Bureau
Some builders are dropping their membership in the Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan Houston because they don't want to use the alternative dispute resolution process, a process they agreed to as terms of their membership. Instead, they'd rather disputes go through the American Arbitration Association or the Texas Residential Construction Commission...
(Toy Wood, CEO of the Greater Houston Builders Association) "And although our reasons for creating the TRCC and the various associated processes were very worthy, we were creating another bureaucracy," she wrote. "While we maintain control of the commission, we must be just as vigilant with the TRCC as we are with any other agency or commission." |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
L.A. jury learns how Austin works |
|
Saturday, 19 November 2005 |
L.A. jury learns how Austin works
NOBODY is saying state Rep. Joe Nixon improperly pressured Farmers Insurance Group two years ago to pay him more than he had coming in a settlement over severe mold damage to his home... After a two-week trial, the jury determined that the insurance giant had wrongfully terminated Isabelle Arnold, national mold manager, for objecting to paying Nixon more than he had coming to him...Nixon was a friend to all insurance companies. He was a leader in "tort reform" legislation designed to lower jury awards. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Texas Consumer recovery limited to less than damages |
|
Wednesday, 16 November 2005 |
Mold suit ends in failure
The rules in Texas prevent the type of settlement reached in California from happening here. The Dentlers at the most would have been entitled to $250,000 in pain and suffering costs and actual costs. Their last petition was actually for $750,000, which included $110,000 for contents, $240,000 to rebuild the house, $70,000 to replace losses from paying two mortgages at once because the family moved due to mold damage and $330,000 for attorney fees. Insurance companies eventually paid $70,000 for damages, which was a quarter of what was requested, and $7,000 of that went to a public adjuster, Peggy Dentler said.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Saturday, 12 November 2005 |
|
Monday Morning Mycology November 11, 2005 |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Tremont Homes Associate Norman Chapa to be sentenced |
|
Friday, 11 November 2005 |
Third Guilty Plea Comes in Texas-Based Visa Fraud Scam
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has announced a third guilty plea by a suspect connected to an international scheme to issue fraudulent visas.Norman Chapa, 52, a U.S. citizen, pleaded guilty in June 2004 to charges of visa fraud and to filing frivolous immigration petitions. Chapa admitted taking part in an international visa scam from May 1999 to January 2004. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
ABC NEWS - $22 Milllion Settles for Moldy Lumber in Home |
|
Thursday, 10 November 2005 |
Moldy Wood Said to Have Caused Brain Damage in Child
The number of lawsuits involving mold have exploded in the past few years. But the settlement in a recent California case is the first of its kind. Experts told them that some of the lumber used to construct their house was moldy. That mold grew and seeped through the walls and the floors and exposed the family to an organic toxic mold they believe was responsible for damaging Kellen's brain. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
DR Horton Binding Arbitration Clause |
|
Friday, 04 November 2005 |
|
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Washington Post - Builders suspected of deceit on levees |
|
Thursday, 03 November 2005 |
POSSIBLE NEW REASON FOR SOME NEW ORLEANS FLOODING
WASHINGTON - Investigators yesterday added a possible new explanation for some of the flooding that devastated New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina: deliberate misconduct by contractors who may have skimped on construction materials in building the city's floodwalls and levees. "What we have right now are stories of malfeasance and some field evidence that seems to correlate with those stories," said Raymond B. Seed, leader of one of three independent teams of experts investigating why the levees failed. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Monday, 31 October 2005 |
NBC NEWS - Mortgage Fraud
WASHINGTON - In Detroit this week, the FBI arrested 20 people and charged them with bilking financial institutions out of $10 million. It was a mortgage fraud scheme that the FBI says has become all too common with the country’s explosion in home values — and it’s not just the banks that are getting taken. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Incredible Strange Things Happening to New Home |
|
Thursday, 27 October 2005 |
Homeowners increasingly face builder damages, neglect
"There was defective caulking, large gaps in the bricks, the tub wasn't working properly, cracks in the ceiling and the dining room, water intrusion in the walls...," Kushner said. "Even my garage door wasn't installed properly and every time the wind blew, it would cause the security alarm to go off. I had to have someone come out and fix that problem. It was horrible." A closer inspection would reveal nearly every family heirloom and assorted clothing and shoes stored in her closet had fallen apart, leaving Kushner clueless as to the cause...Kushner has presented her case, from the Harris County Appraisal District to Rep. Corbin Van Arsdale to members of the statehouse all the way to Gov. Rick Perry. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Texas Watch Newsletter - Hurricans,Insurance & Abusive Practices |
|
Thursday, 27 October 2005 |
Housing Issues: Quarterly Update: Holding Wrongdoers Accountable
In the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, thousands of families turned to their insurance companies for help. At least one company -- Allstate -- has turned their backs on their policyholders by engaging in abusive practices. Texas Watch has helped bring to light a number of these abuses, leading to action by state regulators and the Attorney General. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Home 
