Broken Homes, Broken System
Some patio homes in the Maple Shade gated community in southeast Wichita are falling apart, their foundations cracking and shifting atop poorly drained soil. Wichita building codes lack provisions to test soil before building and also don't give city stormwater officials the authority to settle drainage disputes. 

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Alleges: "Junk Justice" System And Mortgage Fraud
Queens Homeowner Fights To Hold Onto Home Stolen In Deed Theft Scheme.  Sunny Shue, died Saturday June 26, 2010. In Queens County, New York, The Black Star News reports on the story of Sun-Ming Sheu, a local resident and immigrant from Taiwan who had his home ripped off from out from under by scammers in 2001 in a straw buyer scam which utilized a forged power of attorney to complete a fraudulent trandfer of the title to the house. The scammers then obtained a mortgage against the home, failed to make the mortage payments, and Sheu has been fighting off a foreclosure ever since.

William K. Black talks to Bill Moyers
Bill Moyers interviewed William K. Black, the former Director of the Institute for Fraud Prevention, on Sunday. Black, author of "The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One," now teaches Economics and Law at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. He was a key whistle blower during the savings and loans crisis and has a lot to say about the current economic environment.

View Video Interview or You Tube

Northeast Houston residents protest HOA management
“I'm entitled to know how they spent my money and they have not furnished the records to me,” said Kenneth Sugg, Jr., a former Pine Village North board member.  Robin Klar Lent will be talking about HOA abuses at a Saturday rally. It will be held at Bayland Community Center located at 6400 Bissonnet on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon. “We need open records, open meetings, fair elections,” said Klar Lent, the Texas Homeowners for HOA Reform President. “We need to end unfair foreclosures.”

BEGINING OF THE END - 2002 Home Buyers' Down Payments Are Now Paid by Some Builders
It wasn't Nehemiah's money, though. It was a home builder's. After Nehemiah made a down-payment gift to Ms. English, the builder gave Nehemiah a gift of the same amount. In effect, the builder itself was paying the down payment. That sort of thing didn't used to happen, for a good reason: Buyers who have none of their own money in a house -- nor even any money from a close relative -- were considered default risks. Lenders weren't interested in making such loans. And the Federal Housing Administration, a mortgage guarantor that often deals with first-time buyers, in most cases wasn't interested in guaranteeing the loans.

Houston HOA Reform Rally – Dec 4
If you or your neighbors have suffered HOA harassment, citations, liens, foreclosure threats, or other problems, come to learn your rights.   Join forces with other homeowners to determine an agenda for the coming 2011 Texas Legislature HOA reforms.  Come help develop a plan of action.  Become a part of this history making event!

Minority Homeowners Charge the City of Yonkers and Others With Housing Discrimination and Construction of Defective and Substandard Homes
The lawsuit alleges that the plaintiffs, minority home owners, purchased what they were led to believe were new well constructed, safe and affordable homes. However, after the plaintiffs moved into their homes, they discovered that the weed-filled and barren land that made up their backyards and common grounds were filled with buried waste, including garbage, automobile tires, automobile batteries, pipes, glass and construction and demolition debris. Additionally, the siding on the buildings, the window frames and doors were installed improperly, resulting in severe water damage to the homes. The homes were also poorly insulated and the heating systems were inadequate and inefficient, which led to increased heating costs and poorly heated rooms. Despite their complaints about these and other conditions, little was done to correct the numerous defects.

Florida Appeals Court Reverses Another Rubber Stamped Foreclosure
Banks need to show evidence they own and hold the mortgage on a home when asking judges to foreclose on a property, according to a ruling issued in the 4th District Court of Appeal In West Palm Beach on Wednesday.Foreclosure mill law firm] Shapiro & Fishman, one of four large Florida foreclosure law practices being investigated by the Florida attorney general for alleged inaccurate or false documents, is handling the Servedio case for US Bank. The firm could not be reached for comment Wednesday despite several attempts by phone and e-mail, but in the past has denied any wrongdoing.

HOA Meeting Melee Caught On Tape
All the board members were voted out and told to immediately turn over all records and any other property belonging to the Catalina Square Improvement Committee. "Our president came towards him to try to shut him down and told him he couldn't do that," homeowner Pat Martin said. Suddenly the meeting turns violent...Harris seems glad he's no longer in charge of the HOA, but probably not as glad as all of these homeowners. Both sides can probably agree on one thing, they were part of an HOA meeting no one will ever forget.

Kyle housing rules stand, appeals court rules
A federal appeals court has allowed City of Kyle zoning and subdivision rules to stand, ruling that a civil rights group and two homebuilding associations did not have standing to sue the city.The state and local branches of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People had argued that the rules, passed in 2003 to mandate larger home and lot sizes and all-masonry exteriors, would price many black and Hispanic buyers out of the Kyle market.

Foreclosure Hearings Show Homeowners Who in Washington Cares
I know that even as I write this, no amount of proof or testimony from experts will stop seemingly sanctimonious, self-righteous ignoramuses from making comments about deadbeat homeowners who caused the entire economic meltdown because they simply didn't want to pay their bills.  Aside from being ignorant and baseless, the problem with those comments is that they rely on the rest of us assuming one of two things: 1.) That somehow millions of people woke up one morning and collectively decided to commit fraud using the most complex and intricate financial instruments invented, and 2.) Everyone woke up stupid.

The Arbitration War
Unexpected wireless charges are a chronic affliction of life on the grid. The industry triggers more complaints from consumers than any other. AT&T Mobility, by consumer rankings, is the worst. Its performance in a case the Supreme Court heard recently has done nothing to improve that reputation...The Ninth Circuit said this “artifice” has “the practical effect of rendering” AT&T “immune from individual claims.” AT&T’s arbitration clause is unconscionable. The Supreme Court should say so.

Jury Convicts Tom DeLay for Money Laundering
Former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, once one of the most powerful and feared Republicans in Congress, was convicted Wednesday on charges he illegally funneled corporate money to Texas candidates in 2002. Jurors deliberated for 19 hours before returning guilty verdicts against DeLay on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He faces up to life in prison on the money laundering charge.

Feds used wire to find buried loot from Bill Erpenbeck case
Federal agents began focusing on Skidmore as they searched for the assets of Bill Erpenbeck, who was ordered to forfeit $34 million as part of his 2003 conviction for stealing millions of dollars from banks and home buyers. Skidmore told FBI agents as early as July 2002 and again in March 2003 that he didn't know where any of the money was hidden. Skidmore then appears to have dropped off agents' radar until the summer 2009. See: ERPENBECK ENQUIRER STORY ARCHIVE