Grand Homes in Trouble
Law enforcement officials have just confirmed that a HUD/RESPA complaint filed by certain Richardson Residents involving locally-based Grand Texas Homes, Inc. (GRAND) and its captive builder-controlled title company, Grand Title Company, LLC (GTC) involving illegal real estate settlement-related practices was successful. The complaint and ensuing investigation focused on selling, marketing, affiliated business disclosures, required title service provider practices and sales agreement provisions, and related business referral/kick-backs involving federally-related mortgage transactions associated with the Enclave of Breckinridge development in northeast Richardson. As the lead HUD/RESPA investigator in Washington, D.C. remarked when critical additional documents were provided by the two lead complainants, “YOU’VE MADE OUR CASE.”

United Home Owners of Rivermist
Feeling the heat from Rivermist residents, Pulte / Centex agrees to buy back 27 homes.  But is that enough?On Wednesday, March 10th, over 80 Rivermist residents, community leaders, and State Rep. David Leibowitz rallied and spoke with reporters to demand that Centex Homes and its parent company Pulte take full responsibility for the harm inflicted on the Rivermist community. Afraid of the negative publicity, Pulte /Centex released a statement to the press simultaneously announcing that they would offer to buy back the 27 homes that had their certificate of occupancy removed by city inspectors

A message from Janet Ahmad: Nations 7th Largest City and Largest Homebuilder Pulte-Centex Take Lots of Heat as Builder Buys Back Houses

AND THE WALLS CAME TUMBLING DOWN
See the latest on the Rivermist Community  See Photos

Rivermist Fun and Food
Rivermist Families held activities, ate together, and all had fun Saturday.  The community event was held in honor of the all displaced families. Little ones enjoyed the many activities and played with their friends.

Rancher fights city's own wall collapse
In the summer of the epically wet 2007, a city-owned retaining wall that sits between Pearsall Park and Ruiz's South Side ranch collapsed during a rainstorm, sending dirt and debris onto his property and into Leon Creek... While San Antonio rebuilt the damaged portions of the retaining wall and cleaned up its property, Ruiz said the city has done nothing to clean up his property, and he's still trying to recover. He lost between 40 and 50 large, old trees, including pecan, elm, hackberry, black walnut and mulberry. The pileup of dirt and debris also damaged fences, cut off access to 30 acres of grazing pasture and caused water to back up on his property, he said..."Here they have an ordinance about trees," Ruiz said. Former Mayor Phil "Hardberger is out there hugging trees, and they're here kicking me in the butt."

City owned a faulty retaining wall
After a tall retaining wall buckled in a San Antonio neighborhood, threatening dozens of homes, rancher Ernest Ruiz called us with a tip about another faulty retaining wall. Ruiz�s story had an interesting twist: The collapsed wall near his rural property hadn�t been constructed by Centex Homes or other homebuilders. This wall was owned by the city: From a mostly quiet tract of land surrounded by the hubbub of urban life, Ernest Ruiz has waged a nearly three-year fight against the city of San Antonio over the failure of a retaining wall.

Constructora comprara casas afectadas
Veintisiete propietarios recuperarn parte de su inversion en Rivermist   Video Report

Texas Representative David Leibowitz Calls on San Antonio City Members for Transparency and to Stop Issuing Permits
Rep. Leibowitz paid an official visit to City Leaders telling them… It is a slap in the face to the resident who are displaced to see new homes being constructed in the very neighborhood from which they are displaced. Stop the building and the issuing of permits until this matter is thoroughly investigated...As elected officials, we have to establish, and enforce, regulations to the extent necessary to protect the citizenry.  Unfortunately, the city has not been as strict historically, with the regulation of developers as many San Antonio residents would like...This incident, and the indecision which has followed, will irreparably damage their ability to sell their homes.
Read Letter to San Antonio City Council          

Homeowners: Too late to start over 
Homeowners from San Antonio's Northwest Side neighborhood that underwent a landslide had a few minutes apiece before a House committee today. The committee is considering the issue of consumers being required to agree that they'll take any claims to arbitration in deals such as home-purchase contracts. Janet Ahmad of HomeOwners for Better Building said the San Antonio homeowners' contracts had such clauses for all disputes. Cervantes said he used Centex's in-house mortgage and title services when he bought his home. Now, he said he must go to an arbitrator with his concerns and "I'm going to be at their mercy."Cervantes said it's too late for him, but he'd like to see the law changed to protect his children and grandchildren.

State Representative says City should toughen up on developers
State Representative David Leibowitz, D-District 117, is going to bat for dozens of homeowners living in limbo in the Northwest side subdivision. He is asking the Council take action to protect the family’s living near a cracked retaining wall.  “Stop the building and the issuing of permits until this matter is thoroughly investigated,” Leibowitz suggested to the Council. The Representative told Council members the saga in the subdivision could have been avoided had the City fully investigated concerns he and others raised three years ago about the quality of fill material used to develop the area. Leibowitz is also suggesting the city toughen up on the developers.

Rivermist buyback offers are being taken
Two homes have been sold back to the builder and developer of Rivermist and The Hills of Rivermist, while 11 more property owners either have verbally agreed to sell their homes to the company or are in the process of signing paperwork, Centex spokeswoman Valerie Dolenga said Thursday...The ground shifted and a large retaining wall collapsed on a steep slope in the neighborhood Jan. 24. Since then, many of the homeowners have been living in hotels, apartments and rental homes with limited access to their property.

Homebuilders Pulte and Lennar sue AG over hiring of law firm to probe lending
...one of the homebuyers filing complaints, purchased a Pulte home in Las Vegas in 2007 with a 20-percent down payment and a good credit score. The union alleged Pulte inflated the home price, used incentives to steer her to Pulte’s lending affiliate and failed to disclose important mortgage terms, particularly that the interest rate could increase after seven years.

The Rivermist subdivision in San Antonio, Texas is on the move again - and it is a rotational retaining wall failure
David Petley, Wilson Professor, Department of Geography, Durham University.The woes of the families displaced by the slope failure at the Rivermist Subdivision in San Antonio, Texas have been exacerbated by a new phase of movement.

Contractors Help Scammed Woman
Some local contractors are volunteering their services to help a woman who needs a rehabilitation room built for her son who was hit by a car. Salinas said that she paid Estrada nearly $30,000 from money she had saved and raised from a benefit barbecue. But Estrada never finished the job, Salinas said... Roger Delgado of Turdminator Plumbing, who was one of the first contractors to lend a helping hand, said that he found fitting joints unglued that wouldn't have passed inspection.