Lanham man accused of taking tens of thousands of dollars in payment for homes that were never built 
The Maryland Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division has ordered Lanham-based homebuilder, Derek A. McDaniels, and his Lanham-based company, McDaniels Homes, to pay more than $500,000 in restitution to consumers and penalties to the state, Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler said in a press release. McDaniels must pay $448,830 back within 45 days to the 10 families who originally filed complaints with the Attorney General's office, according to the order. The Druitts are not on that list because they filed their complaint at a later date, but McDaniels was also ordered to pay back any family who can prove they paid him or his company for a home that was never built.

How to test your home for Chinese drywall
How to test your home for Chinese drywall starts with identifying whether your home meets certain criteria for being at-risk. According to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), reports have been filed from 38 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa and Puerto Rico from residents who believe their homes have been adversely affected by the presence of drywall imported from China. The majority of these reports came from residents of the state of Florida. Other reporting states include California, Wisconsin, Texas and the New England region.
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Some Houston Habitat for Humanity homeowners face foreclosure
HOUSTON—Skyrocketing escrow fees and escalating mortgage payments have some low-income homeowners pointing a finger of blame at Habitat for Humanity. Residents of the Cherie Cove subdivision in northwest Harris County blame the nonprofit agency for creating conditions that could force some families out of their homes.

FHA: Banks Should Share Fannie, Freddie Bailout Costs
The nation's largest banks have an obligation to pay some of the cost for bailing out mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac because they sold them bad mortgages, a government regulator said Wednesday. Edward DeMarco, the acting director for the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said the banks this summer have refused to take back $11 billion in bad loans sold to the two government-controlled companies, in written testimony submitted for a House subcommittee hearing Wednesday. A third of those requests have been outstanding for at least three months. DeMarco said the banks have a legal obligation to buy back the loans and called the delays "a significant concern." He said the government may take new steps to force those buybacks if "discussions do not yield reasonable outcomes soon."

Blind arbitration: A system that ignores reality in setting public worker contracts must change
Just in time for the new school year: the confounding math of binding arbitration, where two plus two equals … whatever an arbitrator says it equals — and taxpayers must make up the difference.  Why are New Jersey taxpayers suffocating? Binding arbitration is Exhibit A. Arbitrators are supposed to weigh taxpayers’ ability to pay, but often don’t. It’s a rigged game, and should be scrapped.

Executives with criminal records slip through FHA crackdown, documents show
A crackdown on reckless mortgage lenders by the Federal Housing Administration has failed to root out several executives with criminal records whose firms continue to do business with the agency in violation of federal law, according to government documents, court records and interviews. The get-tough campaign has also been hamstrung because, even when the FHA can ban mortgage companies for wrongdoing or an excessive default rate, the agency does not have the legal power to stop their executives from landing jobs at other lenders, or open new firms.

Executives with criminal records slip through FHA crackdown, documents show
A crackdown on reckless mortgage lenders by the Federal Housing Administration has failed to root out several executives with criminal records whose firms continue to do business with the agency in violation of federal law, according to government documents, court records and interviews. The get-tough campaign has also been hamstrung because, even when the FHA can ban mortgage companies for wrongdoing or an excessive default rate, the agency does not have the legal power to stop their executives from landing jobs at other lenders, or open new firms.

Housing Woes Bring a New Cry: Let the Market Fall
Over the last 18 months, the administration has rolled out just about every program it could think of to prop up the ailing housing market, using tax credits, mortgage modification programs, low interest rates, government-backed loans and other assistance intended to keep values up and delinquent borrowers out of foreclosure. The goal was to stabilize the market... As the economy again sputters and potential buyers flee — July housing sales sank 26 percent from July 2009 — there is a growing sense of exhaustion with government intervention. Some economists and analysts are now urging a dose of shock therapy that would greatly shift the benefits to future homeowners: Let the housing market crash. “We have had enough artificial support and need to let the free market do its thing,” said the housing analyst Ivy Zelman...

UPDATE: Outrage Over the Most Outrageous Fee Ever
A 1 percent “transfer fee” split between Freehold and the developer of your house every time it’s sold for the next 99 years. So if you sell your house for $300,000, you’ll owe $3,000. And if 20 years later it’s sold for $600,000, that seller will owe $6,000.

Florida’s High-Speed Answer to a Foreclosure Mess
April Charney, a lawyer who represents imperiled borrowers at Jacksonville Area Legal Aid. “You get a five-minute hearing. It’s a factory.” ...Doctored or dubious records presented in court as proof of a bank’s ownership have become such a problem that Bill McCollum, the Florida attorney general, announced last month that his office was investigating the state’s three largest foreclosure law firms representing lenders. “Thousands of final judgments of foreclosure against Florida homeowners may have been the result of the allegedly improper actions of these law firms,” said Mr. McCollum in an interview. “We’ve had so many complaints that I am confident there is a great deal of fraud here.” ...Chip Parker,...“The threshold issue in any foreclosure case is who has the right to foreclose. We presented evidence to the judge that Fannie Mae owns the note and mortgage, and yet the judge ignored this crucial evidence.” Mr. Parker is concerned that some homeowners are victimized by the system. “What we are talking about is railroading homeowners through the rocket docket,” he added.

KB Home Sucks Live Radio - KB Home Toxic Black Mold Cover-up? KB Home Sucks Live Radio Date / Time: 8/26/2010 9:00 PM PDT Category: Current Events Call-in Number: (347) 637-3050 Mold, is it growing in your KB Home right now? 

Lowe's Drywall Settlement Called Unfair
It's a common argument against class action lawsuits: aggrieved consumers get little more than token compensation, while the lawyers walk off with all the money. That concern is being raised anew with a recently-proposed settlement involving drywall sold at Lowe's. The suit, filed in Georgia state court, concerns some of the defective Chinese drywall sold by the home improvement chain.The settlement totals $6.5 million, $2.1 million of which would go to the plaintiffs' attorneys. Meanwhile, class members are set to receive gift cards in varying amounts -- $50, $250, or $2,000 -- depending on how much money they can prove that they lost, according to ProPublica. Those who can prove damages greater than $2,000 are also eligible to receive as much as $2,500 in cash.

Government zeroes in on home developer fees
The Federal Housing Finance Agency said Thursday it's zeroing in on the practice after meeting with a coalition of real estate agents, title companies and consumer advocates that opposes it. Developers are able to collect the fees because they include “private transfer fee covenants” in their sales contracts. Under the covenant, the buyer agrees to pay the developer or an outside investor up to 3 percent of the future sales price when they end up selling the home. And for 99 years, any subsequent buyer is subject to pay the fee when they sell. Private transfer fee covenants are illegal in 18 states, but not in Texas. Related article: Home sellers beware: Fee might be hidden

Arbitration Strikes Again: Used Cars
Perz signed the dealer's arbitration agreement, meaning that despite hiring a lawyer his case would never reach a judge. Despite being advertised as faster than litigation, after three years his case is still in arbitration. Now he's up against an arbitrator whose record against consumers is abysmal.  Related articles: Support The Arbitrattion Fairness Act HR 1020