Bailed out homebuilders collect fat paychecks
Horton sold just 16,703 homes in 2009. Since the depths of the downturn in 2007, the company has lost more than $3.9 billion and laid off 53 percent of its workers. But Horton has seen robust growth in one area: executive pay. The company's founder and chairman, D.R. Horton, made $17.6 million from 2007 to 2009, as his annual compensation jumped from $2 million to $7.6 million, according to Equilar, a research firm that specializes in pay.  While Wall Street bankers have received far more scrutiny -- and grief -- for their fat paychecks, homebuilder executives have been doing quite well for themselves. In 2007 and 2008, the CEOs of the 10 biggest U.S. homebuilders earned an average of about $6 million a year each in total compensation.

Trapped – Demise of Texas Residential Construction Commission doesn’t end woes of consumers entangled in the ‘builder protection agency’
“In a homeowner survey conducted by my office, I found that 86 percent of homeowners who responded said their builder failed to fix construction defects in their homes,” wrote Strayhorn, who added, “If it were up to me personally, I would blast this TRCC builder-protection agency off the bureaucratic books.” Keep in mind that Strayhorn is a Republican and winner of statewide races where she was supported by Bob Perry. Her view of TRCC was shared by many in Austin , and three years later when the agency was up for Sunset review, the staff of the Sunset Commission echoed her conclusion and recommended that TRCC be abolished... Alex Winslow of the watchdog group Texas Watch. “The clock was ticking on the legislative session and (the builders) said ‘We don’t have time to get this back to where we want, so let’s just do away with it’ – and all parties said ‘Amen’.”...“Without taking anything away from all the other victims, Dorina Corrrente is the poster child for people victimized by these builders,” said Ahmad. “The way that builder has treated her — I witnessed it in a meeting that we had. It was just a part of the overall scheme to intimidate... Their behavior has not changed when you look at other D.R. Horton subdivisions... While TRCC was in existence, (the builders) knew they had a partner in crime.  See D.R. Horton Complaints page 1, page 2

D.R. HORTON SUED BY EEOC FOR DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION
D.R. Horton home builder and land developer which identifies itself as the nation's largest home builder refused to accommodate an employee's pregnancy-related disability and unlawfully fired her because of it, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

New Community Website - Cracked Houses.com - D.R. Horton & Vision Homes
Why have numerous D.R. Horton and Vision Homes foundations failed in so many of our beautifully designed Huffines Signature Community of Savannah Texas? Why have several D.R. Horton and Vision Home owners experienced water intrusion problems? Why have so many of us experienced this in the first, second and third years after moving into our new homes? Why have so many of us have experienced the same problems more than once after being supposedly 'fixed' by our builders? Read more...

BusinessWeek: USDA Home Loans: Subprime Redux?
Builders and lenders are dusting off a familiar pitch: mortgages with $0 down and 100% financing. The deals, which take advantage of a little-known loan program at the U.S. Agriculture Dept., are bolstering sales in some areas. These new mortgages share some characteristics with the old ones now wreaking havoc on the housing market—and critics fear lending standards could slip...  Analysts say federal loans, including those guaranteed by the USDA, accounted for 64% of sales at builder D.R. Horton (DHI) in the latest quarter.

Homeowner: TRCC solves builder's problems, not consumer issues
“The builders never come back to do the work. For five and a half years I've been going through hell,” said Dorina Corrente, homeowner. Corrente says for the last five and a half years, she’s had cracking walls, windows and floors. She also has a problem with mold. “The doctor forbids me to stay in this house because of the mold,” Corrente said. She claims she should have had some recourse through the Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC), but has not got the help she needed.

DR HORTON HOMES BAD FOR TEXAS, BAD FOR  THE COUNTRY
They are ignoring all warranty request from me and my neigbors...In August of 2008 we discovered mold growing above the cabinets in the kitchen. In order for mold to have grown to that extent, the leak had to have existed for some time...We could not get our warranty work started until after almost a year of being in our home...  State of Texas: 79% of DR Horton home complaints were found to have construction defects.  Read more...

DR HORTON HOMES BAD FOR TEXAS, BAD FOR  THE COUNTRY
They are ignoring all warranty request from me and my neigbors...In August of 2008 we discovered mold growing above the cabinets in the kitchen. In order for mold to have grown to that extent, the leak had to have existed for some time...We could not get our warranty work started until after almost a year of being in our home.

Residents irked by developer's requests
Requested changes to a housing development in Vacaville aren't sitting well with residents already living in the neighborhood. As a response to the declining housing market, developer D.R. Horton asked that the Planning Commission allow it to add a less expensive model to the Southtown development next to more expensive houses already built and sold...The commission did not reach a decision before press time, however, numerous homeowners spoke out against the proposal. "There are a lot of differences between the homes," explained Dan Johnson, a homeowner in the Southtown development. "It changes the character and the flavor of the neighborhood." ...D.R. Horton has already built Carrington and Barrington models, larger houses that price at more than half a million dollars. The Chelsea model, smaller and less expensive would sit next to the larger homes.