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Dallas Morning News Endorses Frisco Proposition 2 |
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Friday, 15 April 2005 |
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The Dallas Morning News strongly endorses Becka family proposed Frisco Charter Revision to require builder disclosure before any money changes hands. A Split Decision: Frisco voters should be leery of bonds for home builders in Prop 1, but they can still send a message with Prop 2 Prop 2 deserves support
But make no mistake, the Beckas and TBYR are right about the need for Texas to come to the defense of home buyers. That is why we strongly recommend that voters in Frisco approve Proposition 2. Dallas Morning News |
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ATTENTION:TEXAS COMMITTEE HEARING TO REGULATE HOMEBUILDERS |
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Thursday, 14 April 2005 |
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TEXAS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
HB 3404 Representative Jessica Farrar
Relating to the regulation of and claims against residential home builders.
CONTACT: If you can attend or wish to testify -
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
COMMITTEE: State Affairs
TIME & DATE: 8:00AM, Monday, April 18, 2005
PLACE: Texas Capitol Committee Room: E2.010 |
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New Jersey/Georgia Contractor turns FBI Informant |
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Thursday, 14 April 2005 |
A productive informant is spared jail Crooked contractor's effusive apology and his history as FBI ally move judge to leniency
Jerry Free, the Tennessee contractor who bribed officials statewide, then helped the FBI build cases against targets in New Jersey and Georgia, was sentenced yesterday to six months of house arrest and three years' probation... It was Free's cooperation after he left New Jersey that particularly impressed the judge. Free met with antitrust prosecutors in Philadelphia and Atlanta. And, working with the FBI in Georgia, Free posed as a corrupt contractor there willing to pay bribes for contracts. The ensuing chain of cases culminated last fall with the indictment of former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell on corruption charges...Free argued that the virus of graft that plagued New Jersey was active long before he arrived. "I was solicited all the time by e-mails, faxes, requests, things charged to me," he said. "These individuals, I did not have to give them the virus." |
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New Jersey - ExMayor, Bribes, Housing and Developers |
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Thursday, 14 April 2005 |
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New Jersey
EX-MARLBORO MAYOR: I TOOK $245K IN BRIBES
Former Marlboro Mayor Matthew V. Scannapieco pleaded guilty Tuesday to accepting $245,000 in bribes from a developer in exchange for his support for housing and commercial developments opposed by many residents. |
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Homebuilder in federal prison plots to kill |
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Sunday, 10 April 2005 |
Man charged in plot to kill federal judge, prosecutor
The indictment of Anthony "Tony" Erpenbeck Sr., 71, is just the latest twist in the legal troubles of the Erpenbeck clan and its failed building firm, Erpenbeck Co. The large Northern Kentucky home building company folded in 2002 in a $34 million fraud that victimized home buyers, subcontractors and almost three dozen banks. |
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Warning! New Home Buyers Avoid Builder Contracts that Harm New Home Buyers |
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Sunday, 10 April 2005 |
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How to minimize the risk
By Janet Ahmad
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New Homeowner Website - Turnerry Homes |
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Sunday, 10 April 2005 |
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Turnberry Homes Lemons.com Diary of a Lemon Owner “. . . virtually a stack of
disparate building materials and components, few of which work in concert with others. |
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Friday, 08 April 2005 |
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Jordan Fogal, commenting on what her builder, Tremont Homes has done to her family
I always wondered what we would do in our sixties... I never invisioned that we would have restraining orders against us
... be homeless, going to court, sued in AAA. and have to share a closet. Welcome to the great state of Texas! The laws of Texas are against you... |
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River Oaks - Tremont Homes |
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Friday, 08 April 2005 |
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Frustrated home owners protest builder
Fogal and Mickelson contend they both have suffered the frustration of trying to get the builder of their homes, Stature Construction Inc. and Turner Construction Inc., to repair defects they say are due to substandard construction, including water leaks, possible mold growth and cracks in the exterior. Further, they say their choices for compromise are now limited... Fogal questions the ethics of allowing a group of individuals who may practice “defective†construction building to participate in further home development. Moreover, she says there is a complicated web of business entities that share managing officers — a group that includes the builders and developers of her home and Michelson’s — and that it’s extremely difficult to get straight answers from them. |
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New Jersey Judiciary Committee to hold public hearing |
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Thursday, 07 April 2005 |
Senator calls corruption hearings in response to Monmouth scandal
A state Senate committee will hold hearings next month to examine how to deter corruption by public officials.Sen. John Adler (D-Camden), who chairs the Judiciary Committee, said he decided to hold public hearings in the wake of the recent federal probe in Monmouth County that has so far nabbed 14 elected officials, public employees and contractors on corruption charges. "When you have that many people in one county indicted, it suggests the problem is pervasive in every level of government and we have to find ways on a statewide basis to deter it," Adler said. "One way to deter this crime is to more effectively punish the corrupt officials that commit the crime. Another way is to catch them more often." |
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Some builders whine about results of State Investigation |
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Thursday, 07 April 2005 |
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New Jersey Home Builder Investigation
New Jersey's CSI damning report leaves builders spinning, while State's largest builder, K Havnanian Homes acknowledges problems and supports a Home Lemon Law.
Star-Ledger
Builders defend work after SCI's negative report
Joseph Riggs, group president of K. Hovnanian Homes, the state's largest residential builder, said he did not believe the SCI report was accurate but conceded there have been some problems..."Problems have arisen," Riggs said. "Most builders, us particularly, stand behind their houses. There have been times when we have responded (to complaints) more slowly than we should have." Riggs said his company could support a lemon law -- that it had, in fact, bought back houses from some owners they could not satisfy -- but he said extending the Consumer Fraud Act to new housing as the SCI also recommended could be nettlesome.
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Pulte Homes Sacrificies Trees for Development |
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Wednesday, 06 April 2005 |
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Pulte Clear Cut 52 acres
See Photos |
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Pulte Homes Clear Cut 52 acres |
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Wednesday, 06 April 2005 |
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San Antonio Express-News
Fans of trees bark about city ordinance
Sitting at the foot of the scenic Hill Country, the rolling hills of North San Antonio are covered with acres of Ash Juniper, Live Oak and Texas Red Oak trees. However, one hill — in plain view of U.S. 281 and Stone Oak Parkway — looks more like a desert void of any vegetation. |
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Wednesday, 06 April 2005 |
Township acts to save trees from sprawl
Brighton officials draft a plan to guide cutting in a way that protects woodlands
Fran Barr was saddened when nearly 50 acres of woods near her house on the south side of McClements Road near Old U.S. 23 were clear-cut last year...A little less than a year after township officials' phones rang off the hook with residents complaining about the clear-cutting by Pulte Homes and Dominion Building & Development Co., township planners have drafted an ordinance that sets guidelines for developers land owners who want to clear large swaths of trees. |
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HOBB Board Member Jo Hayman - “Cheetum Custom Homes” |
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Monday, 04 April 2005 |
Home-building law has more than a few cracks
...Jo Hayman... She formed her company, Cheetum Custom Homes, to prove a point. She won't build a single house. Instead, the physical therapist wants to show how easy it is to get into the home-building business in Texas. All anyone has to do to build a home is pay a $125 fee and register with a new state agency, the Texas Residential Construction Commission, or TRCC. "It's absurd," says the Plano woman, now the Dallas-Fort Worth representative for HomeOwners for Better Building. "Almost anybody in this state can be a builder today, and there's no way to stop you unless you are a convicted felon." ... And under regulations set by TRCC's nine commissioners, most of whom have ties to the home-building industry, items that aren't covered after the first year include roofs, siding, windows, bricks, tile, carpet, flooring, doors, trim, drywall, plaster and stucco. |
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