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ABC Special Report
Investigation: New Home Heartbreak
Trump - NAHB Homebuilders Shoddy Construction and Forced Arbitration

Property Rights Denied!
Protecting HOA Members' Rights is NOT The #1 Priority
of Managed Communities
The High Price of Managed Living, Books and Records Hidden
gives appearances of impropriety
Editorial Feature: Part One - Are Homeowners' Rights a Myth? 

Part Two: HOA Bureaucrats Overstep Their Authority

LATEST NEWS
Schertz Defective Pulte Home Demolished
Thursday, 20 September 2012

FOX 29 Builder Demolishes Schertz Homes  See video report...
Pulte Homes is demolishing homes that it built in Schertz. Homeowners in the Fairhaven subdivision say they've had foundation problems which have led to numerous issues. Today, Pulte started the demolition process on two homes. Neighbor Melinda Ruiz says, "Well, it just kind of proves everything we've been saying. There's stuff wrong with this neighborhood."  Pulte released a statement which says it will demolish and rebuild several homes in the community. It says the work should be done by the end of the year.Builder Demolishes Schertz Homes See video report...   Schertz Homes.  See video report...

 
EDITORIAL OPINION: Home Builder Profits will be Greater
Sunday, 19 August 2012

EDITORIAL OPINION: Home Builder Profits will be Greater
The history of homebuilding is littered with controversy. The industry has successfully perfected the art of marketing illusions of not so well-built new homes with emboldened promotions that overstate values of worthless warranties. Dishonesty proved to be highly profitable on the way to becoming giants of the home construction industry, but proved to be mere pocket change compared to its major roll played in the world market of big time mortgage fraud; proving that crime does indeed pay...As Investment Bankers and Wall Street Tycoons are called to answer before Congress, their homebuilding counterparts are conspicuously absent to explain their massive lending fraud that played significantly in the collapse of the nation’s economy.
Read more...

 
WARNING: Big Business of HOA Binding Arbitration
Sunday, 19 August 2012

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.

Read more...
 
ANOTHER TERRIBLE BINDING ARBITRATION DECISION FOR CONSUMER
Sunday, 19 August 2012

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.

Read more...
 
Blackstone: Pulte's First Lemon Buy Back
Thursday, 16 August 2012

Pulte House #1 Buy Back
The home owners, Jim & Martha Blackstone, closed on their Pulte home on June 20, 1997 and immediately began to have lots of problems with their Pulte home.

Read more...
 
Pulte Homes Under FBI Investigation
Wednesday, 01 August 2012

FBI looking into Fairhaven
An FBI official said it has begun a probe into whether Pulte Homes intentionally concealed information about unstable soil conditions in the Fairhaven subdivision on Builder's Certification forms. The forms must be filled out by the home builder when a home buyer applies for a Federal Housing Administration-insured mortgage. “This is a preliminary inquiry to gather facts to see if it warrants a full-blown investigation,” said Special Agent Erik Vasys, spokesman for the San Antonio FBI office. The inquiry is being conducted by both the FBI and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees the Federal Housing Administration.

Read more...
 
Pulte Builds on Cemetery Land in Nashville
Friday, 27 July 2012

1800s family laid to rest once more
Twenty-year-old Sheila Carter was first buried beside her family members in 1889. Dirt and vegetation hid her tombstone until Brentwood homeowner Steve Jones ran over it with his lawn mower two years ago. A team of seven archaeologists is now moving Carter's body and eight others from the Jones' back yard into a small cemetery nearby.
Nashville developer Pulte Homes, formerly Radnor Homes, is paying for the removal of the bodies, an arrangement reached in Chancery Court last month. According to state law, landowners cannot sell land with graves on it without informing the buyer the bodies are there.

Read more...
 
Pulte-Centex: After Five Years, 4,317 Sun City Homeowners Struggle with Defective Homes
Friday, 20 July 2012

Hundreds of Sun City homeowners seek answers on class-action lawsuit
Hundreds of Sun City Hilton Head homeowners crowded the Bluffton High School auditorium Thursday for an update on a class-action lawsuit claiming rampant defective stucco work in the retirement community. Lawyers who hope to represent them said they expect the five-year-old case to move forward in the courts soon.  Sun City residents may see people taking pictures of their homes soon if they haven't already noticed them, Seekings said.  That's because lawyers are already preparing to send 4,317 "Right to Cure" notices to Pulte, he said.

Read more...
 
Pulte Homes Foreseeable Hazards
Thursday, 12 July 2012

FBI, HUD investigating Fairhaven homebuilder
The FBI and the U.S. Department of Hoursing and Urban Development  are investigating whether a builder lied on HUD forms for the Fairhaven neighborhood. The agencies are looking into complaints that Pulte Homes improperly filled out builder's certification forms. There's a separate form for every house, and they're required so homebuyers can receive government-backed mortgage loans. One section of the form asks about foreseeable hazards or adverse conditions. Among the questions it asks: Does the site have inadequate surface drainage, unstable soils, excessive slopes or earth fill, and will the foundation sit on fill?
What Pulte does not want the public to see

Read more...
 
Pulte Homes Hiding, Patching and Ignoring Home Problems
Thursday, 12 July 2012
Shifting and shuffling: Fairhaven residents say foundations are slipping

Obviously it’s not just the soil. It’s that something has seriously gone wrong here,” said Janet Ahmad with Homeowners for Better Building, a non-profit group that is seeking tougher state and local laws for home-builders.  Ahmad said the foundation problems mask a deeper problem: that Pulte built the Fairhaven subdivision on land unsuitable for homes. She is critical of Schertz city leaders for not addressing the dozens of homeowners who crowd city council meetings to complain. What Pulte does not want the public to see

Read more...
 
Homeowner just wants house bought back
Thursday, 12 July 2012
Fairhaven homeowners upset with conditions of houses
There was a crack in the floor that runs the width of the house. The crack is a quarter-inch wide or more in some places. Two tiles buckled up an inch in the living room.
Ruiz said Pulte was out at the house to fix the tile four previous times before they finally replaced it all -- that was before the latest crack. The walls have cracks, all marked with blue painters tape and notes marking the day of the crack. What Pulte does not want the public to see
Read more...
 
Pulte's Damaged Fairhaven Homes
Thursday, 12 July 2012

Fairhaven residents ask County Commissioners for help with damaged homes
A group of homeowners from the Cibolo area is asking the Guadalupe County Commissioners Court for help. Donna Fitzgerald, a resident of the Fairhaven subdivision on the west end of the county, told county commissioners Tuesday morning that she and her neighbors are asking for help because they are frustrated with the Schertz City Council and Pulte Homes for failing to solve, or helping to solve, the issue with the foundations cracking on so many homes in their neighborhood. She says they've been dealing with damaged homes for months.

Read more...
 
Press Release: What Pulte Homes did not want anyone to see
Thursday, 12 July 2012

Fairhaven Homeowners Expose Severity of Foundation Failures
It is not uncommon that homes 2 years old and less in the Fairhaven subdivision are experiencing failure on 4 to 5 or even 6 foundations in a row, on just one side of the street. Then across the street the same thing is happening.

Read more...
 
Homeowners left with defective homes
Thursday, 12 July 2012

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.

Read more...
 
Shertz Texas: Pulte Homes Cracked and Broken
Monday, 09 July 2012

Pulte Home Foundation Failure Epidemic
According to Money Magazine, Shertz is listed as one of the Top 100 Cities to live but things are not as advertised or cracked up to be. Homeowners in the Fairhaven are wondering why foundations in their community are failing so quickly and at such an alarming rate. It is not uncommon for houses 8 months old experiencing failure on 4 to 5 or even 6 foundations in in a row on one side of the street are failing.  Then across the street the same thing is happening.  The next street and the next street homeowners are comparing notes about the crack throughout their homes.  "We are tired of Pulte giving us one excuse after another and doing nothing," said one homeowner.  Others say Pulte has made repairs for the same thing as many as 5 times for the same problems only to return again.  My tile has been replaced 3 times and the foundation is splitting in half.
Pulte Clear Cut, Pulte Foundations split in two;Pulte Walls That Fall, Pulte's Tall Walls with No Foundations at all

See alarming photos  

 
Countrywide Lobbyist and Buying Congress
Sunday, 08 July 2012

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.

Read more...
 
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