Sides in $300 million land deal head to arbitration
Palm Beach Aggregates' $300 million deal to sell 1,210 acres west of the village to Lennar Homes could be in trouble. And one of the key individuals who made the deal possible - convicted former County Commissioner Tony Masilotti - might have to testify in the dispute. Neither mega-home builder Lennar Homes nor rock mining operator Palm Beach Aggregates would comment about the matter. But both have a pending case set to go before an arbitration board, a process that is more expedient and secretive than a civil court proceeding.

Lennar Homes - Hutto Parke Defects
This is our documentary regarding a Lennar / NuHome we bought in HuttoParke in May of 2006. The reason for this website is to tell our story of the issues we had starting with the walk through and closing, progressing to the post purchase, and also Lennars approach to remedy the situation. See Hutto Parke Defects Website

Lennar Profits Fall 73 Percent As Demand for Homes Softens
One by one, some of the nation's largest home-builders have seen quarterly earnings get crushed by the slump in the housing market. Lennar Corp. became the latest victim Tuesday, with a 73 percent plunge in first-quarter earnings and predictions that it is going to fall short of 2007 earnings goals. Since the start of February, home-builders KB Homes, Hovanian Enterprises Inc. and Toll Brothers Inc. all reported falling profits. Stuart Miller, Lennar's president and chief executive, said a lack of demand for the winter-spring buying season, new problems with subprime lenders and higher-than-desired land costs hurt profits.  Related article

Company scraps outlook as profit falls
Lennar's performance was a key factor for stocks on Tuesday, given the market's high sensitivity to housing and the troubles in the subprime mortgage arena. Futures on the S&P 500 index weakened immediately after the results were announced. U.S. home sales fell unexpectedly in February, data released on Monday showed, hitting their lowest level in nearly seven years and raising concerns the troubled housing sector had not yet hit bottom.

Homebuyers May Get Lemon Law Protection
Imagine getting your dream home built just to find months down the line that it was coming apart. That's what happened to the Crump family, but without a law in place to protect homeowners, they said they're stuck with a faulty house. State lawmakers are pushing a bill similar to the automobile lemon law that would protect homeowners. Houston Democrat Senfronia Thompson filed House Bill 2721, which would require builders to fix problems in a new home or buy it back.

Lennar sued over toxic levels
A development firm building 1,600 new homes at the old Hunters Point Naval Shipyard has allowed clouds of toxic construction dust to escape from the site, exposing neighbors and schoolchildren to potentially harmful, airborne asbestos, two company executives say. Lennar Corp., which is Mayor Gavin Newsom's choice to take over the environmental cleanup of the entire former San Francisco naval base as part of a plan to build a new 49ers football stadium, imposed a "code of silence" last year to prevent workers from reporting violations of state and city clean-air rules, contended Gary McIntyre, Lennar's project manager, and Clementine Clarke, the company's community liaison.

SHALALA ON BOARD OF BUILDER SUED FOR POOR CONSTRUCTION
Donna Shalala is co-chair of the presidential group looking into shoddy care and maintenance at Walter Reed medical center  ...The owners of 29 houses in the Las Flores area near Rancho Santa Margarita are suing developer Lennar Corp. for $2.9 million, claiming the residences have defects because of faulty design and construction...

Several homes in Williamson County have defects. Builder is making repairs, but homeowners say that's not enough
Residents of the Legends of Hutto subdivision say some of their homes have cracks in the walls and other issues. Some of the families have had the problems fixed, but others are still waiting.Residents of the Legends of Hutto subdivision say some of their homes have cracks in the walls and other issues. Some of the families have had the problems fixed, but others are still waiting..."First they said it was the foundation, second defective trusses, and now it's only cosmetic," said Bourke's girlfriend, Conny Thibodeaux. Bourke's neighbor Eva Marie Cole and her sons stayed in a hotel for a week while repairs were made to their home. She said she had to hound the company to pay for the hotel upfront...Homeowners are "entitled to a home that's going to last," Ahmad said. "Believe me, this happens every day. The homeowners have to fight for everything they can get."

Is 'gripe site' protected free speech?
A consumer watchdog group founded by Ralph Nader has come to the defense of a Stuart real estate broker who is being sued by Lennar Corp. The suit stems from the use of the home builder's name in a Web site that criticizes the quality of several of Lennar's houses. Public Citizen, based in Washington, is filing a friend of the court brief asking Judge Larry Shack to throw out Lennar's trademark infringement claims against Mike Morgan because his "gripe site" is protected by the Constitutional right to free speech.

Housing market troubles stress Latinos
Construction permits across the region were down as much as 66 percent in recent months, and with 50 percent of Southwest Florida's construction industry staffed by Latinos, the shift is likely to have a big impact on that industry and perhaps the region's general economy...They learned the construction trade on the job in Indiana, and moved to Southwest Florida three years ago.Together, they formed The Brothers Ramirez Construction Co. of South Florida. They built up a base of 60 full-time independent contractors and began working with Lennar...The majority of us here are illegal," said Benjamin Ramirez, a 34-year-old framing subcontractor from Bradenton, who has worked in the United States illegally for about eight years. "For us, when the work is gone, it's just no more