""Over the last 10 to 12 years, underwriting guidelines have gotten much more lax,"" said David Motley, an executive vice president at Colonial National Mortgage in Fort Worth . "Today you can get a 100 percent loan on a purchase or a 106 percent loan on your purchase to cover the closing costs."

Critics say the looser standards contribute to high foreclosure rates nationwide because owners with no equity in their homes find it easier to walk away from mortgages if they get into financial difficulty – and can get approved for another mortgage later.

Even with low mortgage rates, first-time buyers have strapped on so much mortgage debt that ""roughly one-third now pay at least 30 percent of their after-tax income on shelter, and half of the lowest-income households spend at least 50 percent of their incomes on housing,"" according to a report published this month by Merrill Lynch.

The state Department of Community Affairs launched an investigation this month into River Valley Heights Corp., a construction company believed to be headed by the embattled builder.

PEPPERELL -- Mold victim Nancy Davis will carry her story to Washington , D.C. , and tell it to legislators during Mold Awareness Week, Sept. 19-24, as part of a national consortium that is drumming up support for a bill filed by Michigan Congressman John Conyers Jr. that would establish federal mold regulations.

Skating between the public's skepticism and an industry increasingly sensitive about its image, the Texas Residential Construction Commission rolled into San Antonio late Wednesday to solicit comments on its draft for housing standards…

The existing draft is essentially a carbon copy of the limited warranties that homeowners have found so troublesome over the past decade, said Janet Ahmad, president of Homeowners for Better Building … Despite Thomas' assurances, Scott Emerson of Scott's Inspection Co. spoke for many in the audience when he noted that the commission had a perception hurdle to overcome — eight of its nine members earn their livelihood within the homebuilding industry.

Residential housing standards are in the works
Skating between the public's skepticism and an industry increasingly sensitive about its image, the Texas Residential Construction Commission rolled into San Antonio late Wednesday to solicit comments on its draft for housing standards… The existing draft is essentially a carbon copy of the limited warranties that homeowners have found so troublesome over the past decade, said Janet Ahmad, president of Homeowners for Better Building… Despite Thomas' assurances, Scott Emerson of Scott's Inspection Co. spoke for many in the audience when he noted that the commission had a perception hurdle to overcome — eight of its nine members earn their livelihood within the homebuilding industry.

•The state attorney general's office received about 750 complaints about contractors in the last two years.
•The Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan Houston has received some 4,200 complaints in the past three years.
•The Harris County district attorney office's consumer fraud division reports receiving more complaints about contractors than any other profession since Tropical Storm Allison struck the city in 2001.