A message from Janet Ahmad - News Coverage abundant and diverse

Message to all:
From the bizarre to the humorous, news coverage has never been so abundant and diverse.  Each week we endeavor to bring you updates on as much of the nationwide news coverage as possible.  Our collective efforts have been far reaching from various local and state levels to Washington DC, where there is talk of congressional hearings on issues like a binding mandatory arbitration (BMA) bill that deals with unfair BMA clauses in homebuilder contracts.  

The news is huge and growing daily.  Now a day, we can hardly pick up a paper or turn on the radio or TV without hearing about the dreadful homebuilding business practices and the related problems of buying new homes.  Like never before, these and many more building industry related issues are reported.  The reason is directly related to latterly tens of thousands of our members letters sent to elected officials and the press that has truly made the difference.

It is because of this overwhelming success that we can and must capitalize NOW on this opportunity that finally gives us a long awaited voice.  At no time has your participation been so timely and so essential for change.   Join me and other with a spirit of hope and commitment to convey our messages with a renewed enthusiasm. Continue like never before to respond to these news articles.  Take this opportunity to do your part:

1. Let reporters know how pleased and excited you are for writing articles on these most important issues.
2. Forward these articles to others and especially to your elected officials, along with your personal comments.
     See: Take Action 101! to find contact information for elected officials.      

3. We would like to hear from you.  Please take a few minutes and post your comments on the H O B B  Forum.  
Together we have and will continue to make a difference!  Help us to help you.
 Enjoy this weeks Outstanding News Update.
Thanks a million,

Janet Ahmad
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WEEKLY NEWS UPDATES:
Good Morning American - Bubble Trouble - NAHB says up to 400,000 homeowners are not happy
New Home Woes: Shoddy Construction - Elizabeth Leamy reporting
Complaints about home builders increased more than 50 percent in five years. Two million brand new homes built a year and 90% of buyers say they are happy; but if you do the math that means that 200,000 new homeowners are not happy. Jerry Howard with the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) said 80 to 90% of homeowners are happy. Doing the math that would mean that  as many as 400,000 new homeowners are not happy.  Consumer complaints about builders have gone up by 50% according to the Better Business Bureau.  Structurally unsound, leaking water, undersized, are examples on problems... Cross out Mandatory Binding Arbitration Clauses in the contract they deny you the right to sue your builder in a court of law. Read more...

Good Morning American - How to Protect Yourself When Buying a New Home
Make Sure Your House Isn't Poorly Built by Following These Tips
There's an old joke in the construction industry that if you want to build a home, you need an architect, a contractor — and a marriage counselor. Many people think building a brand new house is a way to avoid buying somebody else's problems... These days, houses are built so fast, and county inspectors are so scarce that quality can really suffer. Construction crews can be obnoxiously careless. I found old food wrappers and cola cans inside the walls when I did some work at my own house. Video Report: Buying a New Home? Watch This   Read more...

ABC's Good Morning American - Unlicensed Contractors
Watch Hidden Camera Footage: Hack Handymen - Elizabeth Leamy Reporting
States are cracking down on unlicensed contractors that prey on homeowners. Unlicensed contractors illegally performing home improvement repairs.  Home improvement scams are one of the most common complaint consumer agencies ever get.  Hire an unlicensed contractor and you run the risk of getting shoddy or even dangerous work, worse yet they may take your money and never do the work... Caught on camera.  Read more...

The HOA Helicopter Sky-Spy Strikes
Homeowner's Association Uses Chopper To Find Violations
KPRC investigates another aggressive homeowners association in the Houston area. A family is out thousands of dollars as they fight to save their home in court. Their HOA used some surprising methods to gather evidence against them, so tonight our investigative team turns the tables on that HOA, using the same tactics against them.  That's right. The helicopter was working for his HOA. Spiva moved his family outside Magnolia because there's plenty of land for his kids to ride and for him to build sheds for his tools. Now, his HOA is suing him over an outside shed and the horses, using the helicopter to gather its evidence. Read more...

Coral Bay builder accused of fraud
Coral Bay owner's arrest is expected
Prosecutors have issued a warrant to arrest Steve Bartlett, owner of Coral Bay Construction Inc., on charges that he stole more than $100,000 from his customers. The department and the State Attorney's Office have been investigating Bartlett since May, when he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Coral Bay was the largest of several builders whose business practices were questioned as they expanded rapidly during the recent building boom. At one point, Bartlett was building 170 homes and garages in Hernando County. Nearly 140 of his customers filed complaints with the Sheriff's Office, saying Bartlett took their money to build homes but never completed them. Read more...

Bizarre KB Home Story: Wall and grass to divide jail from KB Homes
If You Were in Jail, You'd Be Home by Now
Fly got an anonymous call from an inmate at the Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas warning us that people were "getting ripped off" by a massive new KB Homes development that's sprouting up around the jail...Milpitas City Planner Tom Williams said a 15-foot decorative wall will divide the jail from the closest housing on its north side, and a strip of grass will increase the total buffer zone to just under 200 feet. A wider, busier Abel street separates the new houses on the east side of the jail, and a car dealership is in the works for the west side. In the end, it looks like South Bay home buyers—who let's face it, don't have a lot of options—are more than willing to accept that hundreds of locked-up criminals will be living in their backyard: Williams said... Read more...

Risky Buniness? Investigations, Federal Court Orders, FTC Actions and Stock Irregularities 
Despite Federal Court Orders, FTC Actions, Stock Irregularities the US Government does business with KB Home  KB Home Debuts First of 12 Communities in $630M Military Housing Privatization Project.
The project is part of the U.S. Department of Defense's plan, initiated in 1996, to privatize military housing... The endeavor also includes renovations to over 4,000 existing homes and construction of 1,200 new homes--a deal between the U.S. Navy and Dallas-headquartered Lincoln Property Co...The company was recently given a notice of default regarding senior and subordinated debt with US Bank, the successor trustee of the debt, and KB Home's failure to file a third quarter report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as of yet. Read more...

Allstate, Foundation and Water Damage & Kicked Backs 
Gravely & Pearson, LLP Alleges Widespread Allstate Abuse for Hundreds of San Antonio Area Policyholders
 "We believe that over the course of several years, Allstate's policyholders were systematically underpaid for the foundation and water damage to their homes," said Pearson. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) over four hundred San Antonio households had claims handled by Bruton where fraudulent payments were made to Villarreal's company and the funds were kicked back to Bruton. As part of their sentencing, Bruton and Villarreal were ordered to pay back over one million dollars in restitution. "We believe this money ought to go to the policyholders that were victims of Allstate's systematic underpayment," says Pearson. Read more...

Identifying moisture-sensitive, hydro-collapse or subsidence soils might scare away buyers
Soil disclosures a quagmire for area real estate agents Realtors say they have enough pages of disclosures to give potential home buyers, handing them more pages about soil disclosures would scare them away from investing in Pahrump...The ordinance requires the seller of a parcel to disclose to the buyer about a 2004 study that identified large areas of Pahrump Valley where moisture-sensitive soils are present that may be subject to expansion, hydro-collapse or subsidence. It requires the seller to tell the buyer whether a geo-technical report has been prepared for their property. It also requires informing buyers that the Pahrump Valley is in an "overdraft" situation, causing the water table to drop an average of one foot per year.  Related information: Foundation Problems, a Growing Problem  Read more...

Steel Houses - Steal Money and Run
SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT: Steel House Investigation
Authorities are trying to track down a steel businessman who they say made a business of stealing. He’s suspected of defrauding homeowners and businesses in Georgia and 8 other states and 2 foreign countries. They paid for steel building construction that was either never done or only partially completed...“I have been through hell and back again. I wake up at night and I can’t sleep. All I think about is Andrew Stallman,” ... “It’s heart sickening. You work all your life and pay something off as you go and you end up with something like this,” says Audrey...And Stallman made no exceptions on who he’d take money from. Beaver Ruin Baptist Church in Duluth paid him more than $76,000... Read more...
 
                                             Page 2 of 2 – See: Home Depot Investigative Report and more…

Home Depot - Big questions about how this company does business
Home Depot Investigation
It's America's biggest home improvement store and, now, the country's biggest home remodeling contractor. But after hearing horror stories from consumers about The Home Depot and its remodeling services, Investigator Joel Grover decided to go undercover. NBC4 has done a lot of stories about small, fly-by-night contractors. But this is a story about a company millions of Americans trust and many of them hire The Home Depot to remodel their kitchens, put on new roofs, and do other home repairs. But NBC4's investigation found that behind the big name are some big questions about how this company does business. Read more...

Builder Bob Perry's Money
Addendum on Bob Perry
On Election Day November 7th, The Associated Press reported in “The York Dispatch” that Pennsylvania Republican Gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann received $100 thousand from Houston homebuilder Bob Perry during the final two weeks of the state's Governor's campaign...Governor Ed Rendell, had vetoed legislation this past March, that would have implemented legal procedures similar to those in Texas that now send homebuyer/homebuilder disputes into Arbitration instead of civil courts. Read more...

Beware of Builder's Mortgage
Be wary when a builder offers a home mortgage
Thinking of buying a new home in this softer market? Chances are your builder is going to try to sell you a mortgage. Builders have long encouraged their customers to use their mortgage affiliate for financing, and not just to make a little extra money. It also gives them control of the transaction, making it less likely that a mortgage snafu will create problems at closing. Now, as sales slow and cancellations rise, builders are increasingly rolling out special deals that may be tied to using their affiliated lender. Read more...

NAHB recognizes lack of quality control
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) recognized the lack of quality control in homebuilding
“There is no adequate monitoring mechanism to catch quality deficiencies before they get out of control… inspections alone do not necessarily equate with quality.”...Has the Quality of Homebuilding gotten any better since a January, 2003 Roundtable? Read more...

Construction litigation lawyer defrauds mold victim clients
Flowery Branch lawyer faces up to 22 years for fraud, ID theft
Peebles was a plaintiff's lawyer who specialized in construction litigation and represented many who suffered physical injury and property damage due to mold infestations in their homes. Unbeknownst to his clients, Peebles would settle their cases, forge their signatures on the checks, and eventually convert the money to his own use. When the clients called and asked about the settlement money, Peebles would lie to them, and if necessary, pay the complaining client with settlement proceeds that belonged to his other clients. Read more...

American Homeowners Resource Center
Georgia Justice • Illegal Elections • Legislative Fraud • AARP - CAI Lobby  Millions who have been watching the Rices battle political and judicial corruption in Georgia will now be following with interest their quest for justice before the Georgia Supreme Court. The Rices and the Georgia Attorney General will argue the case on Tuesday November 7, 2006. Read more...

New Book: Give Me Back My Credit
Denise Richardson's New Book
Meet Denise Richardson—an innocent and ordinary American with once perfect credit—who made the unfortunate decision to make additional principal payments on her mortgage. Like millions of other Americans, she wrote a mortgage check out every month and sent it in a timely manner, noting her extra principal payment on the coupon supplied by her bank... One woman's true story of surviving credit errors. Read more...
Plus: Give Me Back My Credit Blog

Homebuilding Industry Promotes Nontraditional Mortgages
As Foreclosures sour the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) continues to broaden and promote more risky loans.
In the face of souring foreclosures and blistering criticism  of risky creative mortgages, NAHB promotes the self-serving method to continue selling houses... In recent years, consumers have been flocking to such non-traditional mortgage products as interest-only loans, where the borrower does not pay down the principal. Other popular home loans include payment-option adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) that allow buyers to decide how much to pay each month, including a low-cost choice that provides the option of paying neither the principal nor the full interest...With the share of the overall ARM market now at a record 40%, Mozilo said lenders need to play a bigger role in educating the consumer on the advantages and risks of non-traditional loan products, while stressing that there is “no evidence to show these are unsound loans.” Read more...