Tyranny of the Arbitrators - And the End of Small Claims Court
After a minor banking dispute in 2010 forced me to file a small claim, Citibank removed my small claim to private arbitration against my objections and in violation of my agreements and the arbitrator’s rules.I am sharing my story to help others... Citibank removed my small claim to arbitration to avoid an undesirable but public outcome in small claims court — knowing full well the depth of the hole it was putting me in.

Foreclosure to Home Free, as 5-Year Clock Expires
In September, Susan Rodolfi celebrated an unusual anniversary: five years of missed mortgage payments. She is like a ghost of the housing market’s painful past, one of thousands of Americans who have skipped years of mortgage payments and are still living in their homes.

New Jersey Man Sues Builders Over $1.6 Million 'Uninhabitable'  
When the house in Florham Park, New Jersey, was completed in 2007, Humayun Akhtar, 66, discovered the home’s interior and exterior had cracks and that the house was “sliding down the hill it was built on,” he told ABC News today. The house is “unrepaired and uninhabitable,” according to court findings, which added the soil the home was built on was “of insufficient load-bearing capacity to hold the building.”

Family Fights to Get Crumbling Retaining Wall Fixed
Back in 2010, Pulte offered to buy back 27 of their homes in San Antonio when a similar retaining wall collapsed.“You would think after going through that that they would at least follow their own formula for resolution.,” Kristyn said. “We want for Pulte to buy back our home.”

Cibolo homeowner wants buy-back from Centex Homes
Manny Martinez and his wife Laura thought they were buying their forever home. Now they're afraid they may be stuck in it forever. Just one month....  Pulte Group hired a contractor to do the work and repair the leaking line,...When the contractor began pumping the material in the tunnel, the garage floor exploded and the material flooded into the garage....Martinez now wants Centex Homes, a subsidiary of the Pulte group to buy the home back. The company instead is dead set on making what it calls cosmetic repairs.

Homeowners Fight To Get Falling Retaining Wall Fixed, Before It’s Too Late
 â€œWe caught this in time. It was caught in time. And in San Antonio for a lot of the home builders it wasn’t,” Kristyn added. “Regardless of whether you have a retaining wall, or foundation issues, or whatever, this applies to everyone. If you own a home , you could easily wake up tomorrow and be in this boat. Related:
Photo: Pulte-Centex Rivermist Press Conference Rally   Pulte-Centex Homes wrong about wall threat

San Antonio to Forth Worth Pulte-Centex Wall Failure
Irizarry Family worries as more rain approaches and the crumbling wall looms with danger. Same story different City, same builder. See latest Irizarry wall photos, plus the San Antonio Rivermist Story

Tweets by Public Citizen

Mel Watt and Julian Castro announce housing policy changes
FHFA continues to evaluate ways to refine and improve the loss mitigation and foreclosure prevention policies at the Enterprises, because we understand that many individuals and families are still facing the possibility of foreclosure and are looking for alternatives to stay in their homes." ....Compass Point listed the biggest winners of this kind of credit box expansion as originators, private mortgage insurers and home builders. ...challenging the regulators to ease the incredibly strict underwriting standards now required to originate a mortgage loan.