We took the button off becasue there were too many buttons across the top.
Instead I put a feature on the left side    "Visit HOBB Forums"

I just saw the last post by Ray Koenig while responding and will change the color.  You comments and suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks to all who participate.
Janet

I didn’t mean my comment to sound negative.

What I don’t understand is that I have not seen a drop in e-mail, letters, phone call complaints, and community organization to fight back.  To the contrary, I have seen a sharp increase. The traffic on the sight is consistently over $1 million a month.

What is troubling is why more people are not participating on the forum.  It must have something to do with the forum itself.  If HOBB is serving the needs of victims and the traffic is high, then why are people not taking advantage of the opportunity to be heard?

 Any ideas what can be done to make the forum more inviting?

 I'm surprised more people have not commented on the injustice.

Mirasol Homeowner Belonging Held Hostage
http://www.ksat.com/news/16262254/detail.html

This recent display of immoral behavior is common.  This time KB got caught and was exposed.

KB Home has a pattern of this kind of bullying behavior.   As a matter of warranty policy KB requires homeowners sign a full release and has even been known to routinely require homeowners to sign a non-disclosure agreement to get basic warranty repairs completed.

Example, during a walkthrough a buy noted the carpet was defective which KB agreed to replace if they closed on the home that day.  After three months of constant pleading and begging KB finally agreed to replace the carpet if the owner agreed to sign a non-disclosure to not tell anyone, especially their neighbors or the news media, etc.

Of course the owners agreed, their carpet was replaced and the story never made the news.

With KB Home a home warranty is conditioned upon the homeowner signing away their rights. While most industries pride themselves on the quality of their products, the homebuilding industry survives on producing defective homes with conditional warranties. 

Builders, not just KB challenge their customers to hiring an attorney to make warranty issues legal disputes, knowing the average family can not afford litigation as their foundations fail, defective windows and roofs leak and their health declines and mold grows, etc.

It's “Deal or No Deal” not a warranty!

This recent display of immoral behavior is common.  This time KB got caught and was exposed. http://www.ksat.com/news/16262254/detail.html

KB Home has a pattern of this kind of bullying behavior.   As a matter of policy KB requires homeowners sign a full release and has even been known to routinely require homeowners to sign a non-disclosure agreement to get basic warranty repairs completed.

Example, during a walkthrough a buy noted the carpet was defective which KB agreed to replace if they closed on the home that day.  After three months of constant pleading and begging KB finally agreed to replace the carpet if the owner agreed to sign a non-disclosure to not tell anyone, especially their neighbors or the news media, etc.

Of course the owners agreed, their carpet was replaced and the story never made the news. 

Years ago when it was reported that Jacksonville Florida city inspectors failed to perform 40% of all inspections on new houses, and the City of San Antonio failed 75% of the time, few plinked.

I’m hoping this ABC Elizabeth Leamy report was a repeat of a story that aired in November 2006. http://www.hobb.org/content/view/1340/89/  I thought is was an excellent report.  The report claimed the two million brand new homes were built a year and 90% of buyers say they are happy; but if you do the math that means that 200,000 new homeowners are not happy!  That is an enormous number of unhappy customers. What was amazing is that Jerry Howard with the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) confirmed the numbers were even higher and that as many as 400,000 new homeowners are not happy.

Elizabeth Leamy also reported on HOBB NC Rep Lisa Daniel who was so devastated by her builder that she followed and videotaped the building inspector who had done her inspections.  These are the stories that should inspire us all. See http://www.hobb.org/content/view/1924/89/

These stories need repeating; especially now with constant public concerns of home foreclosures due to the builder’s predatory lending practices that dominates the news.  Twenty four hours of the day the news is non-stop, national TV networks, CBS, ABC NBC and CNN, business channels, every news paper in the nation, radio talk shows and the thousands of accounts on the web is constant. 

The vulnerability of the building industry is now as builders whine about the hard times while they beg and even threaten elected officials for federal handouts.  We as consumer groups must take this as an opportunity.  It is our responsibility to give positive encouragement to the many builders’ victims to help organize their communities; to join us in our work for restoration of basic consumer protections.

Consumer complaints about builders have gone way up and it is incumbent on us to work like never before by taking advantage of this opportunity to make a difference.

San Francisco Chronicle Article:
A Court Case That Could Be A Sign of the Times

On Feb. 6, Bolden filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court along with her husband, Lonnie Bolden, and her neighbors David and Dolores Contreras against her builder KB Home, her lender Countrywide Financial Corp., along with affiliated businesses and two appraisers. Alleging that the defendants conspired to inflate the price of their homes through deceptive, fraudulent appraisals, the suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages. Asserting that they are the tip of the iceberg and that many other KB Home owners have been harmed by the same practices, the plaintiffs are requesting class-action status for all California KB Home buyers who obtained financing through Countrywide between Aug. 1, 2005 and July 31, 2006.
Read more... http://www.hobb.org/content/view/2502/1/

Post your comment on the San Francisco Chronicle
My comments
hobborg wrote:
"Shysters" is a great word.  The extent of intricate schemes to sell houses are yet to be fully realized. It was KB Home, its mortgage company and appraisers that began utilizing their marketing schemes to test the predatory leaning waters in the early 90s.  In Texas where builders are unregulated they implemented 30-year debt consolidation of credit cards and cars into the sale of houses to increase sales comps and qualify those who didnt qualify. When that worked, without getting caught they expanded the market.  KB became the benchmark of the industry that created a market of unqualified buyers that didnt exist with inflated appraisals. The full extent of the real truth-in-lending scams is only now starting to emerge. Dont blame the victim when big business gives a whole new meaning to the words loan sharks.
Posted 3/24/2008 11:37:56AM  Comment: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article/comments/view?f=/g/a/2008/03/21/carollloyd.DTL&o=2

That sounds like Mikel is trying think logical. I wish it was as simple as sitting down over a cup of coffee at the breakfest table  Mikel if you are still watching... if your idea worked we at HOBB would have nothing to do, no one would ever visit hobb.org. however, it is a very busy around here trying to handle over a million hits a month.
Welcome to the real world of folks that have been cheated by unethical homebuilders and have no constitutional rights to hold their builder accountable under the law.
 
Mikel we could use your help in communicating with builders. Working things out at the breakfast table would be ideal and we would welcome your help.

Express-News
Henry Cisneros on the hot seat
When Henry Cisneros joined the board of directors of Countrywide Financial Corp. in 2001, the real estate industry was poised for a spectacular ride... Cisneros' financial fortunes would soar, too. He was granted — and sold — more than $5 million in company stock as prices climbed from around $10 per share in 2001 to more than $40 per share in late 2006 and early 2007... Yet Countrywide's business began unraveling during the watch of Cisneros and his fellow directors. While the company's executives are considered primarily responsible, the case of Countrywide illustrates how quickly a director can find himself accused of having divided loyalties and poorly representing shareholders' interests...  He resigned from the board in October,... just days before Countrywide reported a $1.2 billion quarterly loss. Read more... http://www.hobb.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2453&Itemid=197
Please visit the Express-News to "Talk Back" http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA021708.01A.Cisneros-Countrywide.3584118.html
    ***********

My posted comments:
What a great article and comments!
It is not the economy that is to blame for the current housing crisis it is simple greed that caused the current economic mess.

Henry Cisneros can hardly claim innocence in the predatory lending scandal. Predatory Lending was devised in the 90’s and implemented by the homebuilding industry (NAHB) and Cisneros as Secretary of HUD.

In ’93 and ‘94 Cisneros made significant policy changes at HUD to deregulate lenders which became the foundation for the homebuilding industry’s massive predatory lending. The plan gave the Homebuilder owned lenders like KB Mortgage and affiliate lenders like Countrywide independence to approve their own ‘pulse’ loans. If person had a pulse they had a loan and a house was thrown up in a few days.

It was Cisneros that approved the infamous KB Home Mirasol, HOPE VI project that was to become one of the biggest HUD homeownership scandals ever perpetrated on those who could least afford it.

After leaving HUD Cisneros not only became a Countrywide board member but a KB Home board member as well. He created American City Vista, an affordable housing joint venture with KB Home and KB began constructing defective Mirasol houses that cost taxpayers millions, of which $4M is still missing.

Whenever there is a federal program for those in need you can be sure that big business will find ways to make a fortune on the disadvantaged and middle class taxpayers.

Janet Ahmad

Outstanding!!!  Maybe this is the beginning.

Creative fraudulent financing created the booming housing market.  Now that the homebuilders find it almost impossible to sell their defective houses,they are vulnerable and it is time to make our voices heard.  We can make a difference if we are committed and united.

Remember Beazer is being prosecuted and their stock has fallen below $5.00. However, other builders that have done the same thing seem to be free of investigations and go unconcerned.  The question is what can we do as a united effort to bring about exposure and demand more investigations.  The time is now.  This needs careful planning.  Any ideas?

You are right about that!  Stay tuned...

I agree...
The city of Jacksonville Fl inspectors failed to inspect 40% of all homes.  San Antonio failed to perform all inspections on new homes 75% of the time.  Corruption within the law enforcement arm of building code laws has been ramped.

I predict that the lack of laws enforcement, coupled with massive loan fraud devised in the 90’s and implemented by the building industry (NAHB) is about to be exposed as the major cause of what will soon become one of the worst recessions to hit this county, and the entire financial world.

As other municipalities and states recognize the urgency and need to regulate the homebuilding industry one county is allowing a free-for-all for builders of new homes.  I received the following e-mail: 

It's now official with the "Ocean County Freeholders".  Yesterday, they voted to disband the Construction and Inspection Department that has been in business for over 35 years.  This includes ALL Subcodes and support.  This vote will now start the clock ticking to the end the Department.  The County has to notify the Towns, and start the process of the Layoff with the NJ-DOP.  This may happen, as soon as, the end of May +/-.

According to the Freeholders and some bean counters.  The reason is that the Department is NOT making any money to support its operations.  BUT, at the same time the Freeholders will not authorize an increase in the Construction Fees to support the Department operations.  Last fee increase was TEN (10) years ago.

Not sure what the Towns that we serve are going to do.  I understand that one of the larger towns has already sent letters to 2 other towns for a local agreement between the towns for the Construction Department.