Comment on Article by Dick Weekley on Tort Reform - Homebuilders worse 
I have never seen a piece of garbage in print as bad as "The cost of crooked lawyers" Outlook article. I used to be a defense attorney and worked at the most prominent homebuilder defense firm in Texas, and homebuilders rip off consumers more than any trial lawyer in history. There were times when builders built a horrible house with a bad foundation and then they'd claim "Texas soils shift," when it was actually a badly poured foundation. As the walls of the house would crack and fall, the homeowners' lives in ruin because their dream home was destroyed, the attorneys I worked with and the builders would laugh, knowing that Texas law allows a homeowner no real recourse. Since 1989, when a plaintiff's attorney went on 60 Minutes and bragged he had the Texas Supreme Court bought and paid for, there has been nearly 20 years of "tort reform" lobbyists in Texas. While the targets are trial attorneys over and over again, when has the Chronicle ever really done serious front-page journalism on the real people harmed, the people who are injured?  Aaron A. Herbert, attorney Dallas

Fannie Mae forgives loan for woman who shot herself
Addie Polk, 90, of Akron, Ohio, became a symbol of the nation's home mortgage crisis when she was hospitalized after shooting herself at least twice in the upper body Wednesday afternoon. On Friday, Fannie Mae spokesman Brian Faith said the mortgage association had decided to halt action against Polk and sign the property "outright" to her.  U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, mentioned Polk on the House floor Friday during debate over the latest economic rescue proposal. "This bill does nothing for the Addie Polks of the world," Kucinich said after telling her story. "This bill fails to address the fact that millions of homeowners are facing foreclosure, are facing the loss of their home. This bill will take care of Wall Street, and the market may go up for a few days, but democracy is going downhill."

The Wall Street Journal: How to Prevent New Home Defects
As the downturn deepens, many would-be homeowners are taking advantage of down payment and closing cost assistance, free finished basements and other incentives offered by builders eager to move their merchandise. But buyers should take care that they're not purchasing an inferior-quality house...Since new home contracts often have binding arbitration clauses, many disgruntled buyers can't sue—although some have taken creative steps to embarrass builders they think have cheated them. Cynthia and John Daugherty posed as orange-jumpsuited "prisoners" on the Web site they made about their Pulte-built Kansas home, listing complaints about bad foundation walls and bouncy floors.

Watchdog: TRCC called 'unfixable’
The Watchdog always keeps one paw on the Texas Residential Construction Commission, which, as we reported this summer, was recommended for extinction by the staff of the state Sunset Advisory Commission. This week, a Texans for Public Justice study said the 10 lawmakers on the sunset panel accepted a total of $223,000 in campaign contributions from home builders in the past three years. Throughout their legislative careers, the same 10 received $446,000 from major builder Bob Perry of Houston. Perry is considered one of the prime backers of the TRCC, and one of his top aides was appointed to the commission’s board by Gov. Rick Perry.

Developer Sells Land Dirt Cheap To Reap Tax Benefits
The fire sales are a silver lining in those clouds. Tax law allows companies to apply losses from land and other asset sales to past profits and reap a tax refund. More sales are expected soon because the companies can apply losses only to profits earned as far back as two years and 2006 was the last profitable full year for most builders. Horton told investors in June that it expects to receive a tax refund of $519 million over the next two years. At the end of last year, Lennar Corp. pocketed a $200 million tax refund after taking a 60% discount on its sale of 11,100 house lots to a joint venture it formed with Morgan Stanley

Shaky ground: Arsenic and old soil
As if unstable foundations and questionable constructions didn’t make owning a home in the Huttoparke neighborhood complicated enough, questions about the soil quality are also concerning residents of the beleaguered area of north Hutto...Before Lennar built the first homes in the Huttoparke neighborhood in 2005, Terracon consulting firm conducted a soil study to determine if the land, formerly used for cotton cultivation, was safe for residential housing. Russell Ford, senior hydrogeologist for Terracon, addressed the council on June 5 and said the levels of arsenic found in the Huttoparke neighborhood were dangerously high.

Group hopes to bring issue to voters next year after registrar officials verify signatures
Nearly 10,000 city residents signed a petition supporting a provision to remove forced contract mediation and binding arbitration from the city's charter, said one member of the group leading the charge. The group, calling itself the Committee to Remove Binding Arbitration from Vallejo Charter, had until early next month to secure about 7,000 valid resident signatures. Committee members say binding arbitration takes decisions out of local lawmakers' hands and, in effect, holds a "hammer over the city." "Binding arbitration has been one of the forces that has cost the city of Vallejo a lot of money over the years," said Libien, a petition author.

MoneyNews: Homebuilders: We Need A Tax Credit Pronto!
U.S. homebuilders will be asking Congress to pass a $15,000 tax credit for all home buyers, double the current assistance offered now to just first-time buyers. The industry has taken $19 billion in losses since 2006. Builders believe the credit will help reignite interest in homes after multiple quarters of declining home values...“Once Congress passes this bailout plan, we will talk to them about a second stimulus package and an enhanced tax credit.''

See Video of Sunset Commission Hearing
Click on 9/23/2008 Hearing on TRCC Staff Report begins at 3 hours and 45 minutes. TRCC Agency & Builders testimony 4:42.  Consumer testimony starts at about 9:40.

Sun Never Sets On Politicians Taking Homebuilder Money
Consumer and homeowner groups support the Sunset staff’s recent recommendation to scrap the agency because it adds insults to the injuries of those who buy lemon homes...It will be difficult for the legislature and the state’s two top officials to view this sunset objectively. Apart from working with the homebuilding industry to create the TRCC five years ago, these officials have taken almost $4 million from the industry in the past three years...The 10 lawmakers on the Sunset Advisory Commission took a total of $223,050 from homebuilders in this period. See full report on Builder Money Flow