Arizona Attorney General settles with Pulte on consumer protection violations
Attorney General Terry Goddard has announced a $1,181,400 settlement with Pulte Home Corporation and Pulte Mortgage LLC, resolving the State’s investigation into allegations that Pulte’s pre-qualification practices, earnest money deposit policies and Spanish-language marketing efforts violated Arizona’s consumer protection law. The settlement, in which no admission of fault or finding of liability is made, will be submitted to the Maricopa County Superior Court for final approval...homebuilders and lenders have a legal obligation to provide their customers with complete and accurate information. I commend Pulte’s commitment to amend its practices and bring more transparency into buying and financing a Pulte home.”

Couple's home, built on former pond, plagued with water problems
Trying to find answers, the couple went to the city's Watershed Protection Department. They got a series of surprises, and now the builder is in trouble with the city over a missing occupancy permit for the home. "Watershed Protection told us, 'Did you know your house was built on a pond?' " Girija Shanmugam said. On the department's website, she found an aerial photograph from 2003 of their home site and realized that the house is smack in the middle of what was a human-made stock pond...the couple then were told by Watershed Protection that their house had failed final inspection and did not have a certificate of occupancy.

The Rivermist Story - AND THE WALLS CAME TUMBLING DOWN
See the Newest Feature - Pulte-Centex Big Secret - Sell a Unsafe Manmade Hill Without Telling 
See the Rivermist Community - See More Photos

Uphill battle: Homeowners sour about construction
On Wednesday, homeowners will be in Detroit dressed as lemons, because they are still sour about the way the company and the city has handled the wall collapse. Meantime the city is reviewing Centex's plans to repair the wall.  Protesters will be showing up at the company's annual shareholder meeting to accuse them of turning a blind eye and cutting corners on construction.

Builder to resell Rivermist homes
Homes in the Rivermist neighborhoods that builder Centex Homes has offered to buy back will eventually be repaired and resold. Sherwin Tolentino, who is among the 27 evacuated homeowners who have had their certificates of occupancy revoked by the city, was told he had until Monday to accept the builder's buyback offer. The offer covers the purchase price, closing costs, moving expenses, home improvements, utilities for the last few months and some attorney fees. But Tolentino is unhappy that the offer does not include damages. He said he would have been in better financial shape if he had rented an apartment for the past few years, which would cost about half the price of his $2,000-a-month mortgage payment, and pocketed the rest in savings. “They're pressuring me to sign their proposal or they're going to kick me out,” Tolentino said. “It's just tough for me to swallow. I need to start my life all over again.”Dolenga said Tolentino is the only resident who was given a deadline for the buyback offer.

LIUNA Calls on Pulte-Centex to Take Responsibility for Rivermist Wall Collapse
WASHINGTON - (Business Wire) LIUNA – the Laborers’ International Union of North America – made the following statement in response to Pulte-Centex’s decision to not attend a meeting with San Antonio city government officials and Rivermist homeowners regarding the Jan. 24 collapse of a retaining wall in the Rivermist subdivision that forced the evacuation of 91 homeowners.

TAKE THE POLL: Rivermist resident claims buy-back offer unfair; dream collapsed
The hotel stay is running out for people who were forced out of their homes in the Hills of Rivermist subdivision.  Some say they are about to be homeless on Easter, held hostage by Pulte-Centex.  Several homeowners feel the building company offered them an unfair price for their homes. In 2008 Sherwin Tolentino bought his dream house in the Rivermist subdivision. But just a year-and-a-half later, a major retaining wall collapsed and the property was deemed unsafe by the city. See KENS For Latest Poll Results

Shifting ground destroying neighborhood fences
Most Houses in the Enclave of Willow Pointe are 3 to 5 years old. But some of the fences look a lot older because the ground is shifting and washing away, pulling some of the fences apart. She says they tried to work it out with the builder centex, but she says the company told her the fence was not under warranty.  When we talked to CenTex the company spokesperson said they were not familiar with the case, but confirmed that the fence did not have a warranty and that it did not actually build the fence. It was subcontracted out.

Rivermist crack may be causing widespread foundation issues
The massive crack in the ground that's damaged more than a dozen homes in the Rivermist neighborhood is threatening to rip open an even-deeper financial rift for the home builder...Homeowners say they have seen problems for months, and those problems -- such as cracks in ceilings and the foundation -- have only gotten worse since the crack in the retaining wall opened up. Using equipment to check for rises and drops in the foundation, engineers mapped out the homes.

New details in city's bribery investigation
We're told De Leon was not directly taking bribes from developers, but instead allegedly found a way to scam the system for personal profit. According to the source, investigators discovered that De Leon is secretly a partner in a company that helps builders expedite their city permits. According to the source, investigators discovered that De Leon is secretly a partner in a company that helps builders expedite their city permits.