Cincinnati Enquirer
Hammer home-builder fraud
Two pairs of local white-collar criminals are prison-bound for similar fraud schemes that ripped off banks and home buyers. Bankers John Finnan and Marc Menne were sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Covington to 63 and 54 months respectively for their roles in the $30 million Erpenbeck home-building fraud. Eleven days earlier, Fairfield home builder Chester Calkins and his wife, Antonette, pleaded guilty to a similar $5 million scam.

Builder
The Magazine of the National Association of Home Builders
Parallel Universe
The worldview of Home Builders versus that of the people who post negative web sites about them is so different that some might wonder whether the two groups live on the same planet.
The negative Web postings depict builders as unscrupulous businesspeople who market shoddy, hastily built products and force people into binding arbitration agreements that forfeit the legal rights of home buyers.

           Texas Homeowners with defective homes ask for consumer protection and this is what they got

A Homeowner’s Nightmare: No Protection from Money Pits. The Legislature passed in 2003 HB730, which greatly restricts the rights of homeowners to get their builder to fix major construction problems. Under this new law, homeowners no longer have common law rights to an implied warranty of good and workmanlike construction, nor can they sue for Deceptive Trade Practices. These important rights, once taken for granted, have been replaced by a very limited state-mandated warranty that covers few defects. In addition, a homeowner can’t go to court without first going through a lengthy, bureaucratic process and paying for expensive inspection fees. In short, fewer homeowners’ rights, lots more bureaucracy.

Homebuilders are among the state’s biggest donors. They gave over $5.2 million in our 2002 state elections. The biggest donor in Texas, Bob Perry of Perry Homes, alone gave over $3.8 million. Perry Homes’ general counsel was appointed to the board of the new Residential Construction Commission, which will enforce the new home construction law.

HOMEOWNERS FOR BETTER BUILDING
  --MEDIA ADVISORY--

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                              
October 15, 2004                                                  

A victory for Sandra Bullock is a victory for many
HomeOwners for Better Building at trial in support of Bullock
Austin, Texas –
“A victory for Sandra Bullock brings to an end a long grueling trial that sends a loud message to lawmakers, the homebuilding industry and a message of hope for homebuyers of defective homes across the nation.  For the first time in many years, one victim of a bad homebuilder has finally been heard,” said Janet Ahmad, national president of HomeOwners for Better Building.

HOBB Media Advisory - Texas State Rep. Villarreal files HB 2934 Home Lemon Law