HomeOwners for Better Building

Latest News
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Building inspectors in bribery investigation revealed We've now uncovered the names of two City of San Antonio building inspectors who are the target of an on-going bribery investigation. One of the inspectors in trouble is Ernest A. Martinez, a building inspection supervisor and a ten year veteran of the city's planning and development department. The other is George Moreno, a senior electrical inspector. Both resigned last November after the city took steps to fire them after investigating a complaint they accepted bribes from contractors in exchange for approving work they did not inspect.
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Good Samaritans Help Why Not The City Code Enforcement or DA

Latest News
Friday, 12 March 2010
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.
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WOAI News 4: Another illegal retaining wall

Latest News
Friday, 12 March 2010
City concerned about retaining wall near sports stadium, Wurzbach Parkway A retaining wall that sits just feet away from a Northeast Side sports stadium is the cause for some big concerns. Heroes Stadium is near Wurzbach Parkway and Thousand Oaks. City officials say a nearby retaining wall was illegally and incorrectly built...The retaining wall is not causing any problems right now. However, city inspectors told News 4 WOAI if the wall were to fail, it could cause some major damage to Wurzbach Parkway.
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Express-News Editorial Board - City Inspector Bribes

Latest News
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
City inspector probe merits Council scrutiny Misconduct by rank-and-file city employees is far less conspicuous than misconduct by city leaders. But it can be every bit as destructive to public confidence. When it involves the enforcement of city codes, it can pose even greater dangers to public safety...City Council should monitor the investigation's progress closely. The taint of impropriety can't be allowed to mar city government. Enforcement of the city's building code shouldn't be up for sale.
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New York Times: Creaking Sounds of Foundations from Shifting Soil

Latest News
Sunday, 07 March 2010
Shifting Soil Threatens Homes’ Foundations STEVEN DERSE, the owner of a corporate travel business in Nashville, cannot feel his house move, but he can hear it. “It’s an eerie creaking sound,” he said, and it echoes throughout his two-story Georgian-style house.It started two years ago when a severe drought contracted the soil beneath the foundation, which caused it to crack and sink, pulling the house down with it. The noise has continued intermittently, becoming more insistent last year when flooding pushed the already compromised foundation and house back upward.
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San Antonio Building Inspectors Under Investigation for Bribes

Latest News
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
City code inspectors accused of taking bribes When the retaining wall in the Rivermist subdivision collapsed last month, city inspectors admitted they didn't know the wall was even there. Now, the news four WOAI trouble shooters uncovered new concerns that city inspectors aren’t doing enough to keep you safe inside your home. When your house is under construction, city inspectors are supposed to inspect things like the plumbing and electrical wiring to make sure it's done right. But we've uncovered some inspectors are the target of a criminal investigation for allegedly taking bribes from contractors in exchange for approving work they never checked.
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Another San Antonio shoddy home built

Latest News
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Couple sues home builder for shoddy home Mold, cracked walls, unlevel ground, leaking floors. Not exactly something you want to deal with after moving into your remodeled home. It's a situation Robert Overby and his family faced. That was three years ago. "To buy the home, to make repairs, to make engineers come out... we've spent over $300,000 dollars," says Robert. Robert wants the builder to fix these problems soon. A state commission came out in 2007 and found there were significant defects to the home...The builder has offered to buy the Overby home, but the couple refused because it's less than the contract price. They are now suing the city, SAWS, CPS, and the builder for 1.2 million dollars.
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FBI Raids Developer

Latest News
Friday, 19 February 2010
AP Wire: Feds raid headquarters of Concord development firm CONCORD, Calif.—Federal agents are reviewing documents seized in a raid of the headquarters of a Northern California-based development company. A spokesman with the Federal Bureau of Investigation says about 30 federal agents served search warrants at the offices of Discovery Builders and the Albert D. Seeno Construction Co. in Concord Thursday. Spokesman Joseph Schadler said agents were looking for evidence of possible financial crimes. No arrests were made. The two companies are part of a giant development and home-building operation founded by the late Albert Seeno. The Seeno family also holds major stakes in companies that own Peppermill Resort Casino in Reno and a casino resort in Wendover, Nev. An attorney who represents Discovery Builders and other Seeno family enterprises said the companies are cooperating with the FBI.

More on Outrageous Wealthy Builder Federal Welfare Program

Latest News
Thursday, 17 December 2009
Over $800 million in taxpayers' money goes straight into the home builders' pockets No matter if they don't need the money? According to the reporter, Gretchen Morgenson of the NY Times:Among the biggest beneficiaries are home builders, analysts say. Once again, at the front of the government assistance line, stand some of the very companies that contributed mightily to the credit crisis by building and financing too many homes.
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Bankrupt? Royce Homes Wealthy Owner Opens New Homebuilder Company Under New Name

Latest News
Saturday, 05 December 2009
Bankrupt Home Builder Resurfaces Local 2 Investigates has learned the owner of Royce Homes is seeing a lot of green. Fifteen miles away in the Lakes of Cypress Forest, we found new home builder, Vestalia Homes, building houses. John Speer, listed with the Secretary of State as the only board manager of Vestalia, opened the company Sept. 29, 2008, just three weeks after we reported Speer closed the doors of Royce because of financial problems. The Web site for Vestalia Homes touts "decades of experience," with no mention of Royce. "If they're gonna rely on those decades of home building experience, they might as well disclose where they came from and what they're basing that claim on," said Monica Russo with the Houston Better Business Bureau.
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Royce Homes: Misappropriated $400,000 Charity Funds and Homeowners left hanging

Latest News
Saturday, 05 December 2009
Royce Homes under fire from local homeowners, charity There are thousands of people in the Greater Houston area living in houses built by Royce Homes. For new homebuyers, those houses represented the culmination of a dream. But that dream has become a nightmare for homeowners like Nicholas Howard. He says he’s been forced to contend with what he calls faulty construction by a homebuilder that filed for bankruptcy last year. Attorneys have filed a lawsuit against Royce Homes, claiming the builder misappropriated $400,000 raised from an annual golf tournament and skeet-shooting event – money that should have been paid to charity.
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