BusinessWeek: Built to Disappoint |
Sunday, 05 August 2007 |
![](http://www.hobb.org/images/stories/bw_255x65.jpg)
Built to Disappoint
The down-and-dirty tactics of some homebuilders are now coming to light in the fallout from the end of the housing boom
By Mara DerHovanesian
![](http://www.hobb.org/images/stories/introa.jpg)
So far, mortgage brokers and subprime lenders have taken the fall for the excesses of the housing boom. But now homebuilders are coming under scrutiny. Large publicly traded builders- are facing questions about deceptive sales practices, shoddy construction, false incentives that inflate home prices, and predatory lending. The FBI, the IRS, and a growing cast of lawyers, are already on their case, looking for consumer protection violations. Here are some of the more common shady practices used to deceive buyers:
Some homebuilders used a variety of tactics such as touting fancy public amenities that never come to fruitionâor threats of confiscating deposits if contracts arenât signed within a certain date
Builders sometimes crafted purchase contracts that limit the right to sue, or disclose faulty construction to the next buyer.
See slide show
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/08/0803_buildingdefect/index_01.htm
|