Skating between the public's skepticism and an industry increasingly sensitive about its image, the Texas Residential Construction Commission rolled into San Antonio late Wednesday to solicit comments on its draft for housing standards…

The existing draft is essentially a carbon copy of the limited warranties that homeowners have found so troublesome over the past decade, said Janet Ahmad, president of Homeowners for Better Building … Despite Thomas' assurances, Scott Emerson of Scott's Inspection Co. spoke for many in the audience when he noted that the commission had a perception hurdle to overcome — eight of its nine members earn their livelihood within the homebuilding industry.

•The state attorney general's office received about 750 complaints about contractors in the last two years.
•The Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan Houston has received some 4,200 complaints in the past three years.
•The Harris County district attorney office's consumer fraud division reports receiving more complaints about contractors than any other profession since Tropical Storm Allison struck the city in 2001.

""Washington Mutual Savings Bank [of Jacksonville , Fla. ] and Fannie Mae is charging off the mortgage,"" Nancy Davis said. ""It's just wonderful news… on May 28 the Department of Housing and Urban Development released a ""Radon Gas and Mold Notice and Release Agreement"" ( www.aerotechlabs.com) that is now a requirement for all HUD home sales contracts to make certain that purchasers know radon gas and mold may cause health problems.

Joseph Barry, a politically active builder whose luxury homes and shopping complexes have reshaped towns throughout New Jersey , admitted yesterday paying nearly $115,000 in bribes to win government financing for a project on the Hoboken waterfront… Barry told U.S. District Judge Joel Pisano, was a ""reward"" for Janiszewski's help in getting almost $10 million in government grants and loans for the Shipyard, a 45-acre riverfront housing and shopping complex in Hoboken. Unbeknownst to Barry, Janiszewski at the time was cooperating with the FBI after being caught taking bribes from another contractor.

On Sunday, borough police charged the contractor, Roger Louis Hemhauser, 54, with nine counts of theft, saying he has bilked borough residents out of approximately $200,000 since November. He took at least $98,000 more from residents in Edison and Woodbridge , according to police in those townships.

The Tennessean
Buying a house, building up the tension

Attorney Jean Harrison said she's swamped with phone calls from unhappy homeowners and a stack of cases that continues to rise…

Stepping into an issue that has alarmed homeowners and led to hundreds of lawsuits and billions of dollars in insurance payments, a government panel of experts reported yesterday that toxic mold in homes did not appear to pose a serious health threat to most people…

Yesterday's findings drew criticism from homeowners who say they have experienced the phenomenon.

""I get calls from people every day saying they've had water problems, windows that leak, or water plumbing events behind the walls,"" said Janet Ahmad, president of Homeowners for Better Building in San Antonio , an advocacy group for people affected by mold. ""Somebody in the house usually has nosebleeds. They go away for the weekend and the children stop coughing and having nosebleeds.""

Life-threatening construction defects in homes valued at a half-million dollars !!! These are the findings of a Fox 29 Undercover investigation into shoddy home construction. Fox 29 Undercover begins a series of reports over the next few months. We begin our ""Homewrecked"" series in New Jersey . For some it's not a “ Garden State .”