Bill protects homeowners from shoddy builders 
 If an auto mechanic damages your car or a tree service cuts down the wrong tree, you can sue for negligence. But buy a defective house in Washington state and you might not be able to take the builder to court. But some state lawmakers think that's wrong, and hope to change that. This is the lawmakers' second attempt to give you more protection if you buy a home that's not up to code or has substantial defects. Last year, two democrats almost got a bill passed to require new homes to come with a warranty, but the building industry got it shot down.

State lawmakers wrestle with abusive lending
In the three months since Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller launched a foreclosure hotline, nearly 6,000 Iowans have called for help. The calls come to the Iowa Mediation Service, which Miller hopes will be able to negotiate with lenders to help borrowers keep their homes. "We're trying to do it on a mass basis," Miller says. Foreclosure rates for homes purchased using non-standard, high-interest loans have reached historic highs in Iowa and around the USA.

FBI: Housing scams more than double
Federal mortgage fraud convictions have more than doubled in the past year, and the FBI expects a growth in foreclosure scams as the crisis over substandard, high-interest home loans escalates. Foreclosure rates for these mortgages, known as subprime loans, are at historic highs, according to surveys by the Mortgage Bankers Association and government records.

Foreclosure: There goes the neighborhood
Some of these neighborhoods are becoming foreclosure disaster zones. They’re places where three out of the four houses you find for sale are in foreclosure. That’s causing fear that these neighborhoods are already starting to fall apart.

Lennar BVHP LLC should QUIT while the going is good - we want them out of our community
Lennar Corporation is a ROGUE company that has been selling its homes for cheap - many for 40 cents on a dollar. Lennar Corporation is in deep trouble - it has laid off thousands of its employees - and here in San Francisco too. Lennar's stock and shares have been reduced to Junk Bond Status - the banks will not do business with them - and all over the world in the financial circles - the word is - stay away from the skunk - Lennar Corporation.

Binding Mandatory Arbitration Reform
A series of United States Supreme Court decisions have changed the meaning of the [Federal Arbitration] Act so that it now extends to disputes between parties of greatly disparate economic power, such as consumer disputes and employment disputes. As a result, a large and rapidly growing number of corporations are requiring millions of consumers and employees to give up their right to have disputes resolved by a judge or a jury, and instead submit their claims to binding arbitration.

Homeowners advocate found guilty
Janet Ahmad, founder of the advocacy group HomeOwners for Better Building, will have to pay a $4,000 fine and was given a year of probation for the misdemeanor. The case involved an Arlington neighborhood that was built on the site of a former World War II military practice bombing range. Residents previously had uncovered unexploded but harmless ordnance, and several residents sued the builder, KB Home, for not telling them about the range.  Although Ahmad was found guilty of possessing a hoax bomb, the jury found her not guilty of making a false 911 call to report that bomb to the police... Recently, Ahmad has been involved in efforts to organize residents of Mirasol Homes, where homeowners have complained to the San Antonio Housing Authority about shoddy construction and health concerns.  She said she believes the misdemeanor charges in Tarrant County were filed in retaliation for her advocacy efforts. "KB is not held accountable, and I'm disgraced on trumped-up charges," she said.  20/20 Report

Activist gets probation, $4,000 fine
"I don't understand the jury," Ahmad said. "I guess the jury believed what the people for KB said. But maybe this verdict will expose what KB does to homeowners." Ahmad's attorney, Mark Daniel, filed a notice of appeal Tuesday. Her sentence will be placed on hold until the appeals process is completed, Daniel said. "We're deeply disappointed," Daniel said. "We'll appeal, and we believe we'll have a favorable resolution from that appeal. The only thing that's a hoax is this verdict." Steven Gebhardt, a Tarrant County assistant district attorney, said that he is satisfied with the verdict and that not being able to present some evidence to the jury did not hurt his case. The fake bomb could not be used as evidence because it was checked out of the evidence room and not returned, Gebhardt said. Also, the tape of the 911 call was not preserved because of the age of the case, Gebhardt said. Related WFAA article - Home builder dispute intensifies -  KB Home build on a bombing range? YES!: 20/20 Report

KB Home Complaints
SC - ALL of the homes on my street are out of code! They keep lying to try to get out of this situation. Jeff Meyer, the SC Pres. of KB, says that he doesn't want to replace all of these roofs. It is critical that they be replaced so that we are better protected from storms. We live in a 120-130 mph wind zone. My roof is only warranted up to 60 mph winds...TX - We bought our KB home brand new in May 2006. We recently moved out of the home and back into an apartment, November 1, 2007. We had continuous problems with the home from the day we moved in...Our dream of owning a new home for us is gone. We were first time buyers.

Fake-bomb case from 2002 about to go to trial
Janet Ahmad of San Antonio, national president of HomeOwners for Better Building, is accused of calling 911 to report that a bomb had been found in the 7500 block of Cresswell Drive during a tour of the area in 2002... In a $1 million cleanup in 2004 and 2005, the Army Corps of Engineers removed more than 100 unexploded practice bombs buried near Matlock and Harris roads in south Arlington.The area was once the Five Points Outlying Field, used by Navy pilots for target practice during and after World War II. It is now occupied by more than 800 residents of the Southridge Hills subdivision and Twin Parks Estates mobile home park. Residents have sued KB Home because they said they were not told about the bombing range.  KB Home build on a bombing range? YES!: 20/20 Report

HOBB Press Release
A 65-year-old grandmother and long-time consumer advocate for better home construction practices goes on trial here Monday, January 7, on charges that she falsely called 911 and reported to police that a bomb was located in an Arlington, Texas KB Home residential development, previously used as a military practice bombing range in the 1940s and 1950s.  The charges were leveled against Janet Ahmad, president of HomeOwners for Better Building , a national consumer advocacy group dedicated to helping people with defectively built homes and well known critic of KB Home, and its long history of poor building practices.  KB Home build on a bombing range? YES!: 20/20 Report

More harassment from Texas
I know Janet Ahmad. She is a 66 year old, physician's wife and a real go getter. Very intelligent, articulate, and direct woman who has done much to assist buyers of shoddy new construction. I would find it VERY DIFFICULT to believe that Janet Ahmad would plant a fake bomb anywhere. Read more: TOXLAW.com

The rise and fall of Bruce Karatz
Certainly, he was among the most visible - there were the black-tie fund-raisers, the CNBC interviews, the pro bono favors for mayors and governors. And then, suddenly, it was over. The company's own investigation had implicated him in the backdating of stock options, and that was that. At this point, both the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating his actions at KB. There also are a bunch of shareholder law suits...Why on earth would he risk losing all that fame and fortune for the sake of a few more bucks?...He’s had a rocky personal life. Karatz’s first wife, Janet, filed for divorce in 1999 (KB stock options totaling $23 million helped cover the terms of the settlement), and soon after that he became involved with homemaking doyenne Sandra Lee, the host of Semi-Homemade on the Food Network. More than 20 years his junior, Lee was named KB’s “national lifestyle spokesperson” in 2001...

BIG BUILDER Magazine - Starts: Slip Sliding Values
As if getting houses sold wasn't a big enough challenge, builders in what were some of the fastest appreciating markets in the country are beginning to experience more challenges–falling appraisal values and greater loan scrutiny right before closings.  Appraisals became almost cursory. A computer records search for comparative prices and a drive-by to make sure there was a house on the lot often sufficed... First, the company is starting up mortgage and title businesses in conjunction with First American and Market Street Mortgage. The new services intend to provide customers with a more complete home buying experience while injecting the company with additional revenue streams...the company is pulling up the stakes in San Antonio after an arguably frustrating five-year run that produced roughly 225 homes.