Home Front: Humbled home builders now facing reality
This change is not easy for builders. In a bust that has lasted three years, they have gone through phases: denial, blaming the media for messing with the heads of buyers, predicting bottom soon and laying off staff. Now a chastened industry has reached a new stage, openly acknowledging its mistakes..."We've effectively stolen from the future. The demand we should be having now we stole in 2005 and 2006." He said: "We're paying for the sins of our past right now." Are they ever. The builders, banks, sales staffs and land developers clearly see the sins now. They built too many homes, and they built them too big. They "pushed" people who had no business getting mortgages into homes. They bought too much land with too much borrowed money... industry joke went: If you can show your breath on a mirror, you can qualify..."We learned if you give people free money, they'll take it."  Respond to article and reader comments

Southaven Residents: Struggling Homebuilders leave Overgrown Grass
Many people in DeSoto County are fed up with the way their subdivisions look. They say financially strapped builders are letting the grass grow out of control on their vacant lots... Wallace said residential building has slowed in the once booming city of Southaven. He said builders are left with lots no one is looking to buy. He said builders are more focused on staying in business than mowing the lawns on their properties.

New Poll: Americans Say "No Thanks" To Binding Arbitration
By five to three, Americans said they disapprove rather than approve of consumer contracts with binding arbitration provisions. When consumers who are initially supportive learn that arbitration means that they give up their right to take the case to court and that the company picks the arbitrator, two in three of the initially supportive consumers also disapprove. When the data is combined, a whopping 81percent of Americans express disapproval of mandatory binding arbitration.

ATTENTION! Arbitration Stories
HOBB is in need of Binding Arbitration Stories.  A report on Arbitration is currently being prepared and we need to hear about your experience.  Even if you decided not to go to arbitration for any reason or have sent your arbitration experience before please send it again, with any updates and additional comments.

SpotLight - Live Talk Internet: With Denise Richardson & Jim Malmberg
Denise Richardson & Jim Malmberg have launched a Blog Talk Program every Thursday 1:00 P.M. EDT. Participate: Listen Live and and call in at 718-664-6583 and join in the conversation.  Step into the SpotLight each Thursday or hear a replay of the show at your connivance. Guests will include experts, consumers, attorneys, advocates and you! We want to increase public and corporate awareness by shining a SpotLight on issues that matter to you... Credit Reporting issues, Identity Theft, Privacy Rights, Consumer Protection Laws, Predatory Lending, Mortgage Servicing Fraud, Phishing Scams, Computer Security, Data Theft, Consumer Legislation, Consumer Action. SpotLight LiveTalk Internet

TRCC Sunset Review!  Let the Sun Set on the Texas Residential Construction Commission! 
The Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC) is currently being reviewed by the Texas Sunset Commission to determine whether the agency will continue to operate. TRCC is run exclusively by the homebuilding industry to regulate homeowners. It is by far the most criticized state agencies ever created. Please send your comments to the Sunset Commission and a copy to me at HOBB

Moldy house costs builder $3 million
A tarp covers a hole where the builders tore off part of this Reynoldsburg home's stucco exterior but never repaired it. The judge awarded the Cosners $2.2 million in compensatory damages -- triple the original jury award -- because jurors found that Maronda Homes had violated Ohio's Consumer Sales Practices Act by acting in an "unfair, deceptive or unconscionable" manner. Jurors tacked on an additional $1 million in punitive damages.On Friday, visiting Judge Dale A. Crawford ordered that Maronda pay almost $700,000 more in attorney fees if the judgment stands.

Economic woes provide fertile field for scam artists
Mortgage fraud is on the rise and consumers need to be wary of the many scams that often surface in the wake of this crime. Those are among the findings included in a new report issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The FBI's report also showed the numbers of Suspicious Activity Reports (SAS) regarding mortgage fraud have skyrocketed in the past year. The top 10 mortgage fraud states for 2007 were: Florida, Georgia, Michigan, California, Illinois, Ohio, Texas, New York, Colorado, and Minnesota. Other states affected by mortgage fraud included Arizona, Maryland, Utah, Nevada, Missouri, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, New Jersey, and Connecticut;

Formal complaint against new home builder issued
The Department of Consumer Protection issued an administrative complaint today against Lloyd Bowden and Bowden Development TLI LLC, of Essex, Connecticut, for violations of state laws regarding the New Home Construction Contractors Act and the Unfair Trade Practices Act, Commissioner Jerry Farrell, Jr, announced... “Building materials and some of the modular unit themselves were not protected from the elements and sustained significant damage,” Farrell said. “It is hard to believe, but the modular homes assembled by Bowden were not secured to their foundations, nor were they bolted together per the manufacturer’s installation instructions. As a result, many homeowners were left in the cold, having to secure alternative housing. Some of the necessary repairs remain incomplete and we hope to obtain restitution for these consumers.” ...Upon meeting certain conditions, victims are eligible for up to $30,000 in compensation per contract from the Guaranty Fund.

Meet Big Business' Favorite Granny
US Chamber of Commerce Granny: Her winnings? A whopping $281, plus the arbitrator's fee. Kruse concludes that without arbitration, "The normal person just wouldn't be able to do that. Consumer Avocate's Texas grandmother Jordan Fogal testified before the House Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law about the new house she and her husband purchased in 2002 for $360,000...home needed $150,000 worth of repairs...The arbitrator came from the American Arbitration Association, a private group preselected by the builder. As a private justice system, AAA charged Fogal for every last piece of paper, meeting, and subpoena generated in arbitration, not to mention the arbitrator's time, which ran as much as $475 an hour... In 2006, the arbitrator awarded the Fogals a mere $40,000, even after finding that the builder had engaged in fraud. Adding insult to injury, she then ordered the Fogals to pay the builder $14,000 for some of its legal fees for the trouble they caused the builder.

Half-built homes becoming eyesores
In one Collin County neighborhood the weeds are growing and residents are growing impatient. It’s been 3 months since Buescher Homes, the large builder, went bankrupt. The fallout: half-built homes and now code compliance issues. But Frisco is reacting. They will mow 70 unsightly yards Monday after putting a lien on each property to get it done.

Web Extra: Don't be a sitting duck for costly roofing scams
Well, the Defenders found out that politics and special interests have made Texas a roofing scammers paradise. Texas is the only Gulf Coast state that doesn’t license roofers. Alex Winslow runs Texas Watch, a consumer watchdog group. He says making licensing the law would make roofers behave. “Accountability for roofing, is slim and none as it stands today.” ...every time a roofing licensing law has been introduced in the past five years, Fuentes says, he and his lobbyists went to work. Like in 2005 when the last version of the law came up—meeting with this man—Representative Kino Flores, Chair of the House Committee on Licensing.

A message from Janet Ahmad - Erin Brockovitch Confirms Contamination in Lennar Homes & Texas Supreme Court Grants Double Standard Decision to 'Bob the Builder' Perry