The Star-Ledger
N.J. home builders hammered by SCI
Probers call for lemon law, more licensing
In a scathing indictment of new home construction in New Jersey, the State Commission of Investigation yesterday proposed sweeping reforms designed to attack an "astonishing statewide panorama of waste, fraud and abuse." Sparing no facet of the industry, commissioners said their lengthy investigation had documented shoddy workmanship in expensive houses, a breakdown in the state inspection system and a nightmarish maze of trouble for homeowners trying to get problems corrected. The recommendations include everything from a lemon law that would require builders to buy back new houses with major deficiencies, to the licensing of unregulated construction trades like carpentry and masonry...SCI -- while agreeing that not all builders or inspectors are to blame -- stressed that the focus must be on protecting homeowners against whatever smaller percentage of ruthless contractors and inspectors that are out there. They said their investigation turned up roughly 2,000 victims. "When it happens to you, it doesn't really matter how many good houses are out there," Gaal said. 
State of New Jersey Commission of Investigation Report
State of New Jersey commission of Investigation 51 page Report
TITLED: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - New-Home Construction in New Jersey
SCI Latest Reports and Hearings

An Asbury Park Press editorial

Drop the hammer on code violators

The agency responsible for overseeing housing code enforcement in New Jersey presented a list of proposed reforms last week in response to an 18-month investigation by the State Commission of Investigation that found deficient construction practices, inadequacies in home warranty programs and a badly flawed code enforcement system... But the suggested reforms don't absolve Community Affairs, or the Legislature, of responsibility for a system that is badly broken. And they won't help the thousands of consumers who have been victimized over the years by unscrupulous or incompetent builders and code enforcement officers. Five hearings and 40 hours of testimony on the issue confirmed what SCI Chairman Francis F. Schiller said the agency's earlier investigations had found -- "a startling lack of proper and appropriate enforcement and follow through" at both the state and local levels.

FBI raid former Marlboro mayor's home
MARLBORO --- A raid by federal agents on the home of a former mayor is the latest move in an expanding probe into whether developers influenced local politicians to get projects approved, according to a published report. ""We're investigating allegations of bribery, extortion and public corruption in Marlboro and the former Marlboro political climate,"" Edward J. Kahrer, an FBI supervisory special agent, told the Asbury Park Sunday Press.

Ex-Asbury mayor to be sentenced July 8 for bribe plot, tax fraud
ASBURY PARK -- Former city Mayor Kenneth ""Butch"" Saunders is set to be sentenced in federal court in Newark July 8 for conspiring four years ago to bribe a city councilwoman for her votes on redevelopment so that he could get his own corrupt payments if a deal went through.

McCarren is the lead prosecutor of charges against several Monmouth County officials the past two years, including former Ocean Township Mayor Terrance D. Weldon, who pleaded guilty in October 2002 to extorting bribes from land developers in that township.