How fighting back enabled a family to keep its home
"Because mortgages were sold again and again and then to Wall Street where they were securitized and sold all over the world, I wonder how many homeowners have been foreclosed by a company that couldn't even show proof that they owned the mortgage." - Nancy Seats, president of Homeowners Against Defective Dwellings, speaking about the case of a homeowner who managed to stop a foreclosure on her home four times because the documentation on it was so flimsy and convoluted that lenders couldn’t even prove they owned her home to have the right to foreclose on it.

Banks vs. Consumers (Guess Who Wins)
The National Arbitration Forum (NAF), a for-profit company based in Minneapolis, specializes in resolving claims by banks, credit-card companies, and major retailers that contend consumers owe them money. Often without knowing it, individuals agree in the fine print of their credit-card applications to arbitrate any disputes over bills rather than have the cases go to court. What consumers also don't know is that NAF, which dominates credit-card arbitration, operates a system in which it is exceedingly difficult for individuals to prevail.

Charlotte Observer foreclosure series awarded Loeb
“Sold A Nightmare” wins a top business journalism honor.The series, which ran throughout 2007, detailed the sales practices that contributed to housing foreclosures in the area and led to federal investigations of Beazer Homes USA, one of the nation's largest homebuilders. “Sold A Nightmare” has earned numerous accolades, including from the Pulitzer Prize board, which named the series a finalist for the 2008 Gold Medal For Public Service. It has also received the George Polk Award for Economics Reporting and honors from the N.C. Press Association, the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and the National Association of Real Estate Writers.

Craig's New House

Typical unfinished home; leaks caused by unfinished and loose plumbing, unsecured tube and plumbing not installed properly, dents, unfinished drywall and paint. You Tube Video...

Builder Mortgage Fraud "The Making of Modren Day Ghost Towns"Top ten builders participated in mortgage fraud to sell homes.  Inflating appraisals and paying off packages: new car, paid credit cards, furnishings, and swimming pool. A Realtors got big bonuses and trip to Hawaii . Addendums were destroyed for hidden incentives.
See You Tube...

Builder Mortage Companies Creative Mortgage Fraud Part 1
Las Vegas Real Estate - Buildr Incentives...Fluf or Fraud: New homebuilders participated in massive mortgage fraud to sell new homes.  Insider Dana Ellis talks about builder fraud.  Builder paid off debt, credit cards and new cars for the buyer. See Part I You Tube Video more...  See more related videos... 

FROM THE HILL: It’s so important to protect our right to a day in court
When students learn about our system of justice in civics class, they’re told that every American has a right to his or her day in court. Yet, people from all walks of life often unknowingly sign away their right to a trial when they sign a contract...Sometimes consumers only find out they’ve given up their right to trial when a big company forces them to take a dispute to a private arbitration company instead of going through the court system. Arbitration has some serious downsides for consumers, including high administrative fees. It also lacks discovery proceedings and other due process protections, and meaningful judicial review of arbitrators’ decisions...Arbitration should be a choice, not a mandate...Across every sector of our economy, Americans are being strong-armed into this consumer-unfriendly system.

Home Builders Hire Some Jumbo Lobbying Help
The National Association of Home Builders is bringing out the big guns for its lobbying battle on the housing bill. The association has hired former Republican Rep. Michael Oxley of Ohio and his lobbying firm, Baker and Hostetler, according to recently filed lobbying reports. It also has contracted with two other lobbying firms over the past month. In signing on with three new firms, the association doubled its roster of outside lobbying representatives to six. The association also has a stable of in-house lobbyists representing its agenda on Capitol Hill.

Homebuilders Get Demolished
If you think that homebuilding stocks are bottoming out, you may be overly optimistic: Florida-based homebuilder Lennar's second-quarter results are a good indicator that the industry still has a ways to go before turning around. In this quarter, which ended on May 31st, Lennar lost $120.9 million, or 76 cents per share. While this represents an “improvement” over the $244.2 million or $1.55 a share it lost during the comparable period last year, it’s still substantially more than the 59-cent per-share loss analysts had been expecting.

Mirasol's project manager quits
The project manager overseeing repairs at the San Antonio Housing Authority's troubled Mirasol Homes development abruptly resigned Thursday, leaving behind more questions than answers. In his letter of resignation, Bart Swider gave no reason for quitting but acknowledged that he'd received a subpoena for information related to an ongoing lawsuit between SAHA and Mirasol's builder, KB Home, over allegations of shoddy construction at the West Side subdivision. Swider's work was routinely questioned by Mirasol critics, including some task force members. He was criticized for the number of repairs that hadn't been completed and for decisions on how to make repairs.