BR home builder booked on felony theft, misapplication of payments
Quinn Martin, 7912 Willow Grove Blvd., Baton Rouge, was booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison by state attorney general investigators on 54 counts of misapplication of payments by a contractor and four counts of felony theft. Martin’s Baton Rouge-based company, QMI Custom Homes, entered into homebuilding contracts, worth a total of $1,865,477, with four different parties in 2012, the warrants say.

Four paths toward a better 2013 in business
Herewith is a short wish list about what might make it a happy one for investors, taxpayers, home buyers and consumers...Angelo Mozilo - "This is not caused by any act of Countrywide or by any act of MBIA," he said. '`It was caused by an event that was unforeseen by anyone, because if anybody foresaw it, you would never have insured it, we would never have originated the loan.

How Can You Properly Thank HUD for your New Home Foundation Flaws?
Year after year, the U.S. Taxpayer is forced to subsidize shoddy homebuilding. Homebuilders are able to squeeze more profits from each and every house because they are never held accountable by the federal government for the fraud perpetrated on homeowners.  Year after year, an incredible number of house foundations fail.

CONSUMER ALERT:National Association of Home Builders
NAHB and its lobbyist want to make sure Congress does not empower the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) with regulatory powers over its industry.   Their objective is to assure limitations of builder responsibility for use of defective products.  In a letter drafted with the usual building industry political style to the Speaker of the House over concerns with H.R. 4212, Contaminated Drywall Safety Act of 2012, which seeks to prevent the introduction of unsafe drywall, ...

High Court Finds Arbitration Clauses in CC&Rs Enforceable
An arbitration clause in a declaration of covenants, conditions, and restrictions for a condominium process may be binding on a homeowners’ association, even though such an entity did not exist when the CC&Rs were recorded, the state Supreme Court ruled yesterday.

Developers Earn Major Victory in California Supreme Court Regarding Enforcement of Arbitration Provisions in CC&Rs
...the California Supreme Court issued a significant opinion ...holding that arbitration provisions in recorded Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs) are enforceable by a developer unless proven to be unreasonable. ...This decision represents a major victory for developers who can now expect that most of these provisions will be enforced, eliminating the risk of potentially excessive jury verdicts.

Home builder files for bankruptcy, homeowners left with few options
The dream of buying a Medallion Home is what pushed John Chadwick through college and several odd jobs. After six years of saving, that dream finally became a reality. "We knew there were issues around here,” Chadwick noted. “But, in my mind, I thought it's a Medallion Home, we're not going to have problems." John’s home was built in a new neighborhood off I-35 and FM 1103 in Cibolo. The soil it was built on is known as “black gumbo”. It's a clay make-up that expands and shrinks like a sponge when water is added. After just the first eight months inside the home John noticed doors wouldn't close and cracks started to show up in the walls.

Countrywide Used Loan Discounts To Buy Congress, Fannie Mae Execs, Other Government Officials: Report
Some of the discounts were ordered personally by former Countrywide chief executive Angelo Mozilo. Those recipients were known as "Friends of Angelo." The Justice Department has not prosecuted any Countrywide official, but the House committee's report said documents and testimony show that Mozilo and company lobbyists "may have skirted the federal bribery statute by keeping conversations about discounts and other forms of preferential treatment internal. Rather than making quid pro quo arrangements with lawmakers and staff, Countrywide used the VIP loan program to cast a wide net of influence."...The report said Fannie assigned as many as 70 lobbyists to the Financial Services Committee while it considered legislation to reform the company from 2000 to 2005. Four reform bills were introduced in the House during the period, and none made it out of the committee.

How Countrywide Used its VIP Loan Program - To Influence Washington Policymakers
To Influence Washington PolicymakersAs the Clinton administration’s top housing official, “Cisneros loosened mortgage restrictions so first-time buyers could qualify for loans they could never get before.” Cisneros first met Mozilo when the two negotiated a pledge to use “proactive creative efforts” to extend homeownership to minorities and low-income Americans.207 Cisneros joined Countrywide’s board in 2001.

$3 million building sinks just weeks before completion
The future home of the Cajun Coast Visitor's and Convention Bureau that was built on a swamp, is now sinking. St. Mary Parish invested more than $3 million on the bonded and insured project.

View Report

Consumer agency to review mandatory arbitration in financial services
Finally, a spotlight will be shone on a widespread business practice that forces unhappy customers to settle disputes through binding arbitration — rather than by telling their story in court. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau now is seeking public input about mandatory arbitration clauses in the contracts of financial products and services. More important, the board has the power to limit or even eliminate the clauses if they hurt consumers.

Got a Credit Card or Bank Account? Scrutiny of Forced Arbitration Is Good News
We expect that any fair examination of forced arbitration will conclude that the practice is devastatingly harmful to consumers. The most critical step, then, will be for the CFPB to ban forced arbitration, ensuring that arbitration is always voluntary for consumers – not a kangaroo court or a tool for law-breaking corporations to insulate themselves from accountability.

CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU LAUNCHES PUBLIC INQUIRY INTO ARBITRATION CLAUSES
Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) launched a public inquiry into how consumers and financial services companies are affected by arbitration and arbitration clauses.

Buyer Had Adequate ‘Clickthrough' Notice of Terms
An AT&T customer will have to arbitrate claims individually, rather than pursue class claims in court, after a federal court decided March 26 that an online “clickthrough” process provided adequate notice of an arbitration agreement.  The plaintiff, Richard Sherman, sought to litigate an overcharge claim against AT&T Inc. in federal district court on behalf of a class...The online registration notice to the plaintiff did not explicitly mention the arbitration clause, the court acknowledged. But it did say, “other conditions and restrictions apply,”