Pulte repairing problems in homes
Repairs are complete or in the works for about a dozen homes in the Schertz neighborhood of Fairhaven, where homeowners have complained about issues such as cracked foundations. Although many homeowners remain at odds with builder Pulte Homes, others have agreed to let the builder repair homes...

U.S. attorney asks FBI to evaluate builder certifications
An assistant U.S. attorney in San Antonio has asked the local office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to evaluate complaints from some residents of two neighborhoods that their builders “defrauded federal agencies,” according to a letter obtained by the Express-News on Monday.

Homeowners claim builders lied about home sites
Homeowners urge city to stop issuing permits. Residents who live in the Stablewood Farms subdivision said their home builders lied on federal housing forms. They claim their homes were built on a former sewage treatment plant that wasn't properly cleaned up and never disclosed to the buyers. Those residents said because of that, their homes are falling apart and some of them have suffered health problems.

$3 million building sinks just weeks before completion
The future home of the Cajun Coast Visitor's and Convention Bureau that was built on a swamp, is now sinking. St. Mary Parish invested more than $3 million on the bonded and insured project.

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FBI asked to "evaluate" neighborhood complaints
The FBI could soon be getting involved by looking at problems in two different neighborhoods. People in the Fairhaven neighborhood in Schertz have complained about alleged faulty foundations and in the Stablewood Farms neighborhood, people have complained about sink holes and cracks in their homes.

Pulte's Laurin Darnell misleads homeowners saying community is safe
The day after a large retaining wall collapsed at The Hills of Rivermist in San Antonio, Centex Homes held a private meeting with residents. Outsiders, including city officials, weren’t invited.  We received a video of the entire meeting, which shows Centex claimed that the neighborhood was safe because city firefighters were leaving.  UNTRUE!  City officials upset.... See Video Report   Feature page - Pulte-Centex Rivermist Wall

Angered homeowners seek retribution, get frustration
Residents of Stablewood Farms on the West Side say no one ever told them that their new homes were built on top of an old sewage treatment plant.Now some homeowners are asking their builder to buy back their homes — and wondering why the city of San Antonio encouraged development there in the first place. ...Neighbors only learned about the former wastewater treatment plant last year after they started comparing problems and decided to do research on the land. “It seems like a cluster, that a lot of the children are having heath issues,”

Built on stench: Stablewood residents say homes on top of sewer reek of contamination  More than 50 homeowners want answers. They say their southwest neighborhood stinks to high heaven because their homes are on top of an old sewer plant. ...  Residents say Stablewood Farms is anything but stable. First they complained about unsteady foundations. Now they say they are falling ill. ... “The house fills up with sewer gas. It gets into the clothes, linens, bedding. I’m breathing that in, where am I to go? This is my home,” he says. "And I feel it’s contaminated.”

Labor Board Backs Workers on Joint Arbitration Cases
The National Labor Relations Board ruled on Friday that employers could not prevent workers from filing work-related group or class actions, essentially banning employment agreements at many companies that require workers to pursue all claims individually through arbitration. In a decision that will no doubt anger many companies, the lavor board concluded that a federal law protecting workers’ right to engage in concerted action trumps any arbitration agreement that bars them from bringing group claims....The ruling examined an agreement used by a nationwide homebuilding company, D. R. Horton, in which workers were required to waive their right to sue in court and instead bring all claims to an arbitrator on an individual basis.

Recent Ruling that Class Action Waivers are Illegal Shows NLRB Remains Active
In D.R. Horton, the respondent company required its employees to execute mandatory arbitration agreements covering employment-related claims. Part of the agreement required the employees to pursue any such claims individually and not as a part of any class or collective action. Company employee Michael Cuda disregarded this portion of the agreement and filed a collective action in arbitration, which was rejected in accordance with the language of the agreement. Cuda then filed an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB, claiming that his collective action claim was protected “concerted activity” under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), and that by disallowing the claim, the company violated the act. 

Fairness for Fairhaven NOW
Pulte Homes is facing homeowner complaints of shifting foundations and retaining wall cracks — again. This time, it's in the Fairhaven neighborhood just northeast of San Antonio. Dozens of homes in the neighborhood have had problems, everything from cracks in the walls to foundations that appear to be splitting horizontally. Some residents say they are noticing cracks starting in a retaining wall that runs along their backyards. Pulte is the parent company of Centex Homes, which in early 2010 saw a rock-clad retaining wall fail in spectacular fashion.See Facebook Photos

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Consumer agency to review mandatory arbitration in financial services
Finally, a spotlight will be shone on a widespread business practice that forces unhappy customers to settle disputes through binding arbitration — rather than by telling their story in court. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau now is seeking public input about mandatory arbitration clauses in the contracts of financial products and services. More important, the board has the power to limit or even eliminate the clauses if they hurt consumers.

Got a Credit Card or Bank Account? Scrutiny of Forced Arbitration Is Good News
We expect that any fair examination of forced arbitration will conclude that the practice is devastatingly harmful to consumers. The most critical step, then, will be for the CFPB to ban forced arbitration, ensuring that arbitration is always voluntary for consumers – not a kangaroo court or a tool for law-breaking corporations to insulate themselves from accountability.

CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU LAUNCHES PUBLIC INQUIRY INTO ARBITRATION CLAUSES
Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) launched a public inquiry into how consumers and financial services companies are affected by arbitration and arbitration clauses.