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.

Tom Hanks loses $2 million battle over Sun Valley home
Superstar Tom Hanks may not be accustomed to being told "no," but that's exactly what a Blaine County judge told him and his actress wife, Rita Wilson. The Hollywood couple's been fighting with a local contractor over construction of their Ketchum home and guest cottages in 2002. Hanks claims the work was defective, but four years ago a judge ruled against him and ordered that the builder be paid $2 million.

Twin Cities builder files for Chapter 11
Twin Cities homebuilder MW Johnson has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, in the latest fallout of the housing market collapse. The Builders Association of the Twin Cities ranked the company as the 11th-largest home builder in 2007, based on gross revenues, which it estimated to be $41.4 million.

Builders to pay $4.3 million in settlement over runoff
Four of the biggest U.S. homebuilders will pay a total of $4.3 million to settle federal and state allegations that they violated clean water laws at construction sites across the country. entex Corp, KB Home, Pulte Homes Inc. and Richmond American Homes also agreed to improve their environmental compliance programs and put safeguards in place that will keep 1.2 billion pounds of sediment annually out of U.S. waterways, the U.S. Justice Department said yesterday.

Building codes aren't big priority in Texas even after Rita
Hurricane and disaster experts say they are stunned that Texas has done nothing to bolster building codes nearly three years after Hurricane Rita blasted its Gulf coast, the Houston Chronicle reported Sunday. "Texas is an aberration," said Leslie Chapman-Henderson, chief executive of the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, a nonprofit organization. "It's eerily quiet in the state. Why are they not having a conversation about codes?"

Mortgage turmoil snares Ed McMahon
Ed McMahon, the longtime sidekick to Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show," is fighting to avoid foreclosure on his multimillion-dollar Beverly Hills estate. McMahon defaulted on $4.8 million in mortgage loans with a unit of Countrywide Financial Corp., which filed a notice of default in March, according to ForeclosureRadar, a company that sells default data pulled from public records.McMahon won a $7.2-million insurance settlement after claiming that mold in his house killed his dog Muffin and sickened him and his wife.According to a lawsuit he filed, the trouble began when a pipe broke and water flooded a den. Mold was later discovered throughout the house. McMahon and his wife, Pamela, blamed faulty cleanup. "When your family loses its health and your home is a wasteland, that's a colossal disaster," McMahon said at the time.

Home Front: Humbled home builders now facing reality
This change is not easy for builders. In a bust that has lasted three years, they have gone through phases: denial, blaming the media for messing with the heads of buyers, predicting bottom soon and laying off staff. Now a chastened industry has reached a new stage, openly acknowledging its mistakes..."We've effectively stolen from the future. The demand we should be having now we stole in 2005 and 2006." He said: "We're paying for the sins of our past right now." Are they ever. The builders, banks, sales staffs and land developers clearly see the sins now. They built too many homes, and they built them too big. They "pushed" people who had no business getting mortgages into homes. They bought too much land with too much borrowed money... industry joke went: If you can show your breath on a mirror, you can qualify..."We learned if you give people free money, they'll take it."  Respond to article and reader comments

Southaven Residents: Struggling Homebuilders leave Overgrown Grass
Many people in DeSoto County are fed up with the way their subdivisions look. They say financially strapped builders are letting the grass grow out of control on their vacant lots... Wallace said residential building has slowed in the once booming city of Southaven. He said builders are left with lots no one is looking to buy. He said builders are more focused on staying in business than mowing the lawns on their properties.

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