Pulte Homes pulling out of Kansas City
Pulte Homes, the metro's largest developer, confirmed they are withdrawing from Kansas City. Company spokesman John Conley says sluggish home sales are to blame. "Ultimately we were unable to achieve a consistent sales volume that would allow us to operate as profitably and efficiently as we would like to. So we are going to start redeploying capital to other markets," he explained. The phased withdrawal will being in about three weeks. It is expected to be complete in September of 2010.

The Quest for a Car, Sans Arbitration Clause
The car salesman warned us that we wouldn’t be able to buy a car anywhere without signing a contract containing this arbitration clause, as it’s known. Even so, we were indignant and vowed to shop on Craigslist... I contacted a half-dozen car dealerships in the Washington, D.C. area and asked them in advance if their contracts included an arbitration clause, and if so, if they'd take it out. All the dealers used the clause, and none would remove it...The bank agreement was worse than the sales contract we'd walked away from a month earlier at the dealership.

Senate Democrats propose new restrictions on mortgage lenders
Senate Democrats have rolled out a bill that, like legislation passed by the House last month, is aimed at preventing mortgage brokers from steering borrowers into higher-cost loans in order to collect bigger fees, and bars prepayment penalties on subprime and high-cost loans.The Homeownership Preservation and Protection Act of 2007, introduced Wednesday by Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., would require loan servicers to implement loss mitigation strategies before initiating foreclosure proceedings against borrowers.

PIABA Supports Feingold Johnson Proposal to Ban Mandatory Arbitration
Laurence S. Schultz, President of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association, presented PIABA's statement yesterday to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on the Constitution, in support of The Arbitration Fairness Act of 2007...Schultz said that PIABA strongly supports a ban on mandatory arbitration and challenged American industry's efforts to enforce mandatory arbitration and deny the public access to the court system. "Under our Constitution there are three branches of government -- legislative, executive and judicial-- and corporate America is in the process of effectively eliminating the judicial branch of our government for American consumers by denying them their Constitutional right to use the court system. Entire industries in this country are forcing consumers out of court and into mandatory arbitration as a condition of buying basic goods and services."

Tremont Homes Complaints Mount 
See Video: Lemon Tree Tower - Tremont/Juliet Homes, profitable deceptive homebuilding, empty promises, complaints and failure to build or return deposits. See: Juliet Homes complaints 1 - Complaints 2

Foreclosures lead to vacancies and crime
A band of new suburban neighborhoods that held promise for thousands of Charlotte families is now struggling with crime, blight and falling home values.These neighborhoods were hit hard by the wave of foreclosures rattling the nation. Damage is most visible in starter-home subdivisions across northern Charlotte, and in pockets in the east and southwest.

Charotte Observer Update Reports
Foreclosures lead to vacancies and crime - Loan defaults a growing burden for lower-income neighborhoods - Easy home buy turns risky - Foreclosure filings reach record high in N.C. - Real estate agency took bonuses from builders it vowed to fight - Concord subdivision proves lucrative for builder and costly for 1st-time owners - Easy-credit loans can be hard on us all - Observer series shows destabilizing threat to entire communities

Kick 'em when they're down
Unions representing hotel and textile workers have created a Web site advocating a boycott of Countrywide Financial Corp.'s banks and financial institutions. Countrywide's not doing enough to help out troubled borrowers, the unions claim, so consumers shouldn't let the lender use their savings to make more loans...If Countrywide can be accused of kicking borrowers while they're down, the same might be said of the boycott, depending on your point of view.

N.Y. State To Form Mold Task Force
It is a common site yet often dangerous to your health. Mold is suddenly the focus of medical experts.  And now New York state is investigating what can be done to protect the public from its effects...  People are hoping they escaped the plague before it had the opportunity to inflict life-threatening damage. The panel has invited members of the public to speak at each of its meetings.

Five-Year Mortgage Rate Freeze Looms
The Bush administration has hammered out an agreement to freeze interest rates for certain subprime mortgages for five years to combat a soaring tide of foreclosures, congressional aides said Wednesday. The aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the details have not yet been released, said the five-year moratorium represented a compromise between desires by banking regulators for a longer time frame of up to seven years and mortgage industry arguments that the freeze should last only one or two years.

Report: lenders agree to five-year freeze on ARM loans
A coalition of lenders, loan servicers and investors have reportedly agreed to a plan that would freeze interest rates on some subprime mortgage loans for five years. Borrowers with loans made between Jan. 1,  2005, through July 30 of this year who face interest rate resets between Jan. 1, 2008, and July 31, 2010, would be eligible for interest rate freeze...

Mandatory Arbitration Stacks Deck Against Credit Cardholders, Data Show
In the report, Public Citizen pulls back the curtain to reveal the cozy and dangerous relationship between credit card companies and the private arbitration firms that decide their binding mandatory arbitration cases. The result of an eight-month investigation, the report provides, for the first time, a comprehensive analysis of data on nearly 34,000 arbitration cases...The report focuses on the National Arbitration Forum (NAF), the go-to arbitration forum for the credit card industry and a major player in the California arbitration business. Between Jan. 1, 2003, and March 31, 2007, arbitrators working for the Minneapolis-based NAF ruled for businesses in 94 percent of the California cases examined. In fact, 90 percent of the NAF cases were handled by just 28 arbitrators, who awarded businesses $185 million.

New York Launches Investigation of Toxic Mold
In a name that sounds more like something from a super heroes comic than anything spawned by government, a newly formed 14-member panel will taken on the threat from toxic molds in New York. The Toxic Mold Task Force will soon meet with the  goal of studying the problem and preparing a report for the governor, reports Newsday. New York State legislators had urged the panel be formed back in 1995, after hearing complaints of debilitating exposure to potentially lethal indoor air.

Officials try to discover source of mold in Westbury
The architects and engineers who helped design and construct the Archstone Westbury rentals -- where water damage and mold are driving hundreds from their homes.  Deery said most construction is completed when inspectors aren't watching. Architects and engineers certify their own work, swearing in affidavits that their projects comply with codes.

U.S. bill offers homeowners financial hope against mold
A bad mold infestation can cost tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix and can turn a home into a den of wheezing, coughing or worse. However, homeowners insurance companies in Arizona exclude mold from coverage. As a result, some Valley homeowners say they have had to abandon houses and belongings they believe were making their families sick. Sponsored by Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., the "Melina Bill" would create a national insurance program to protect homeowners against major losses as a result of mold. The program would be similar to the national flood-insurance program already in place. It also would mandate mold inspections in public housing and certification for mold inspectors. Mold experts say it could help protect Americans from a threat to their health and homes.