He will cheat without scruples who can cheat without fear.
                                                          Benjamin Franklin
What gives a builder the incentive to build a home that is lasting, when he has no fear of being held accountable for cheating.                Author Unknown   

Texas Homeowners ask Senators for help.

What other state agency charges consumers a fee to file a complaint?

HB730 Texas Residential Construction Commission Act (TRCCA) disproportionately changed the way homeowners must deal with builders who ignore both major and basic home warranty concerns.  Since the passage of TRCCA, homeowners with construction defect issues must pay the Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC) a $350.00 fee for standard warranty issues or $450.00 for major warranty issues. . .  What other state agency charges the consumer a fee to file a complaint?

Frisco Enterprise

Dr. David Becka is on a mission to hold homebuilders accountable, and he's willing to fight City Hall to do it.

By Mike Raye, Staff Writer
Monday, he and members of a Frisco-based consumer advocacy group presented a petition signed by 9,300 like-minded neighbors to Frisco City Secretary Nan Parker, hoping to get two group-penned city charter amendments on a ballot next year. TakeBackYourRights.com

Huntington Homes and its subsidiaries Riddled with Lawsuits.
See Homeowners Website: HuntingTon of Problems
Huntington Homes is also known as, Sanders Custom Homes,
Sanders & Associates, Horizon Homes and Highland Homes 
Huntington Homes and Associates Lawsuits public records

An Asbury Park Press editorial
Drop the hammer on code violators 
The agency responsible for overseeing housing code enforcement in New Jersey  presented a list of proposed reforms last week in response to an 18-month investigation by the State Commission of Investigation that found deficient construction practices, inadequacies in home warranty programs and a badly flawed code enforcement system... But the suggested reforms don't absolve Community Affairs, or the Legislature, of responsibility for a system that is badly broken. And they won't help the thousands of consumers who have been victimized over the years by unscrupulous or incompetent builders and code enforcement officers. Five hearings and 40 hours of testimony on the issue confirmed what SCI Chairman Francis F. Schiller said the agency's earlier investigations had found -- "a startling lack of proper and appropriate enforcement and follow through" at both the state and local levels.

WESH Ch2 & Orlando Sentinel – 650 e-mails prompts Special Reports
Builders refuse to repair defective homes.  Series begins with Ryland Homes Our NewsChannel 2 - Orlando Sentinel investigation found 25 out of 33 Central Florida builders surveyed are not fixing this damage. Among those are Pulte Homes, Lifestyle Builders, America's First Home and Avatar Homes… Don Zeman, a home improvement expert who has a nationally syndicated radio program and hosts television news segments… "It's the construction techniques, the practices. It's not an Act of God," he said. 

Other Builders refusing to fix leaks: Beazer Homes, Bovis Homes, Cambridge Homes, Cosmopolitan Homes, Deluca Homes, D.R. Horton, Landstar Homes, Lennar Homes, Maronda Homes, Mercedes Homes, M/I Homes, Morrison Homes, Transeastern Homes, Engle Homes of Orlando and US Home
• 11/09/04 at 11pm, WESH Ch2 aired part 1 of a 3 part series special report. 13 neighborhood scream – Lawsuit.
• 11/10/04 the Orlando Sentinel reports "Sopping houses get short shrift" 

Another 15 builders did not return at least three phones calls each from the Sentinel/WESH seeking their position on water problems. Numerous owners of homes built by each of those companies complained that the builders have refused to fix their leaks…These builders include: Beazer Homes, Bovis Homes, Cambridge Homes, Cosmopolitan Homes, Deluca Homes, D.R. Horton, Landstar Homes, Lennar Homes, Maronda Homes, Mercedes Homes, M/I Homes, Morrison Homes, Transeastern Homes, Engle Homes of Orlando and US Home.
• 11/10/04 at 11pm, WESH Ch2 aired part 2 of a 3 part series special report - Building Homes: Building Problems. The story is also posted on their website.http://www.rylandwaterdamage.com/wesh_part3.html

 â€¢ 11/11/04 at 11pm, the 3rd part of a 3 night special report will air. There is a video promo on their website. And this pdf letter from WESH Ch2 gives an overview of the series. 
See RylanWaterDamage.com - http://www.rylandwaterdamage.com/

Dissatisfied Home Improvement Customers Have Right to Criticize North Carolina Company on Web, Public Citizen Tells Court
Georgia Residents Launched Web Site After Bad Experience With Siding Installation
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Two dissatisfied customers of a North Carolina siding company have a First Amendment right to criticize the company - and allow others to do so - on a Web site they set up, Public Citizen has told a federal court in North Carolina.

9,300 sign Frisco home-building standards petitions
Drive would allow vote on two changes to city charter
The petitions call for an election to allow a vote on two changes to the city's charter. The grass-roots group Take Back Your Rights says the amendments would hold home builders accountable for faulty construction..."The response to our group's petition drive far exceeded all expectations," said Dr. David Becka, who led the effort. "These Frisco amendments will provide the first steps toward protecting new-home buyers, returning to the consumer their constitutional rights."
TakeBackYourRights.com

The Frisco Story: Why the Becka family decided to help future homebuyers

 After several years and many futile attempts to persuade their builder, Huntington Homes to address construction problems the Becka’s learned that builders are not licensed in Texas and that state laws do not protect homebuyers,.  Finally, upon discovering that their home had been destroyed by toxic mold due to construction defects and non-compliance with city building codes, the Becka’s decided to exercise the legislative process to change the way homebuilders do business in their town. 
**********
Frisco Grassroots Group Exceeds Signatures Needed For Ballot Vote
Volunteers gathered signatures to require Homebuilder Accountability  â€œThe Legislative Process is a remarkable privilege. This is the first time in the history of Frisco that citizens have attempted to gather the required signatures to revise the Frisco City Charter and I am delighted to have been a part of the process. This is the first step toward protecting new homebuyers and holding homebuilders accountable for their mistakes,” said Dr. Becka.

Public Citizen: U.S.Businesses File Four Times More Lawsuits Than Private Citizens And Are Sanctioned Much More Often for Frivolous Suits
But Corporate America and Political Allies Bush and Cheney Campaign to Limit Citizens’ Rights to Sue...American businesses file four times as many lawsuits as do individuals represented by trial attorneys, and they are penalized by judges much more often for pursuing frivolous litigation, according to a report issued today by Public Citizen.

Attention: Frisco Group calls for Homebuyer Protection through Charter Revision 

 See Video: Take Back Your Rights 
For Dr. David and Carol B ecka of Frisco, however, that dream turned into what they described as a nightmare as the new custom home they built in Starwood became a "money pit" of problems. FRISCO ENTERPRISE 

IEQ Review
Jury Awards $8.6 Million to Calif. Condo Owners For Defects,
Personal Injuries A California jury on Sept. 8 awarded $8,571,028 in damages for construction defects and personal injuries claimed by residents of a four-story condominium complex in Santa Ana, Calif.

Nashville   City Paper

Something new, someone blue
By Richard Courtney 
…attorney Jean Harrison – A typical case involves a homeowner who has had the house three years or so and has a number of problems with it, but the alleged 'one year warranty' has expired. In actual practice, the one-year warranty has very little to do with a builder's obligation to make repairs. “…favorite Jean Harrison quote is, "If your house passed codes, it means it got a D -."

Realty Times - HADD Report: Home Warranty Coverage 'Extremely Limited'
10-22-04 by Broderick Perkins
It's not that home warranties or those who issue them are deceptive. It's all right there in the small print -- disclaimers, exclusions, "weasel" clauses. "New Home Warranties: Deception or Protection?A Consumer’s Perspective"...  Read more

Grassroots Groups Claim Bullock Victory As Their Own
by Broderick Perkins - Realty Times
"A victory for Sandra Bullock brings to an end a long grueling trial that sends a loud message to lawmakers, the home building industry and a message of hope for home buyers of defective homes across the nation," said Jane Ahmad, president of San Antonio, TX-based Home Owners For Better Building (HOBB).

Tremont Homes/Stature Commercial Construction, Inc. has a history of extensive mold contamination in new homes and the new police headquarters in Houston. 

Houston Chronicle

Villages grill builder about delays in new police headquarters
Confronting a project six months behind schedule, the Memorial Villages Police Commission is taking steps to terminate its contract with the construction company building a new police headquarters.

Eonline
Sandra Bullock Wins Estate Debate
by Sarah Hall
…Bullock missed her winning verdict Thursday, having returned to Los Angeles the day before to work on a film. But she did issue a statement thanking the judge and jurors and dedicating her victory to the little guy...I felt firmly committed to see this process through to a just conclusion, no matter what the outcome, especially for all those homeowners who could never afford to come this far," Bullock said. "I want you to know I am in awe of, and humbled by, the great service and enormous sacrifice the members of the jury have made over these last eight weeks over something that was far less important than what is going on in the world today." Her father, John Bullock, who was on hand, told the Austin American-Statesman he was happy with the jury's decision. He said he did not know what would become of his daughter's property.  "She loves the land, it's a beautiful lot...it's her decision now," he said…

REUTERS
Sandra Bullock awarded $7m in home dispute
The star of "Miss Congeniality" and "Speed" testified in the two-month long trial that she had paid $7 million for the 10,000-square-foot (930-sq-meter) house on Lake Austin, but had never lived in it because of construction flaws. Witnesses said the house, which was begun in 1998 and still is not completed, had water damage, a bad roof, wiring problems and holes in the masonry.

PEOPLE magazine
PeopleNews
Sandra Bullock Scores $7 Mil Legal Victory
Thursday Oct 14, 2004 4:00pm EST
By Alicia Dennis
A jury has awarded actress Sandra Bullock nearly $7 million in a long-awaited verdict pitting Bullock against the former architect and builder of her lakefront Austin home.

Seven weeks of testimony to consider in case that pits Austin homebuilder against actress
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
After nearly seven weeks of testimony, jurors will begin deliberating today on who is to blame for the construction problems in a house overlooking Lake Austin that actress Sandra Bullock had built but never could occupy… "There was a conscious pattern of behavior established here to get the client in the door and just ratchet up the price mercilessly," Mizell said.   Sandra Bullock paid about $6.5 million for the house, but an insurance company valued it at $3.1 million, he said. Mizell asked the jurors to award the Bullocks $3.3 million for demolition and reconstruction. Part of the roof framing is lying against the chimney, and there are substantial areas within the drywall where it can't be determined whether fireblocking was built, Mizell said. Daneshjou also owes Sandra Bullock $2.7 million for the bills that she paid but that Daneshjou's company could not substantiate, Mizell said.

Sandra Bullock case goes to the Jury
HomeOwners for Better   Building attends trial
"Because of Binding Arbitration in new homebuilder contracts for the past ten years, literally tens of thousands of homeowners with defective homes have been denied their day in court.  For the first time in many years, one victim of a bad homebuilder is finally being heard.  Those who attend soon forget that this story is about Sandra Bullock, the star.  It’s about something much bigger than celebrity, it about basic consumer law and the constitutional right of a trial by jury,” said Janet Ahmad, national president of HomeOwners for Better Building.

When Delores Rollins bought her dream home in the Hart Ranch subdivision off De Zavala Road seven years ago, she had no idea the purchase would draw her into the state and national political fray…   Rollins believes she has wound up on the short end of a long-term effort by Texas homebuilders to protect themselves from paying for their mistakes...  Hoagland said the broad reforms pushed through in Bush's first term — caps on punitive damages, restrictions on venue-shopping and limits on shared liability, among others — may have benefited the homebuilding industry…   ""How many times do they have to win?"" said James of the Consumers Union. ""I think the deal is that it's not about logic, it's not about justice, it's about muscle. And the business community has a ton of muscle, and they don't want to be liable for anything.""