Year after year, the U.S. Taxpayer is forced to subsidize shoddy homebuilding. Homebuilders are able to squeeze more profits from each and every house because they are never held accountable by the federal government for the fraud perpetrated on homeowners.
Year after year, an incredible number of house foundations fail.
Year after year, legislators are duped into believing that requiring a builder to construct a home that doesn’t develop cracks, gaps & separations in the walls and ceilings, sticking doors, swinging doors, sinking and tilting slabs, etc. is just too expensive and will price the home out of the buyer’s price range.
In reality, what happens is that the builder’s profits would shrink.
Economics 101. The price of goods and services is set by what the market will bear. Disclaimer: Unless, of course, lobbying our elected and appointed officials is successful.
It is interesting how many business models include lobbying our legislators for more laws to protect their business and to increase business profits. If you think this is a Republican or Democratic Party driven business model, think again. It is both parties that allow, condone, and encourage this nonsense.
That is exactly what has continued to happen in the homebuilding industry.
It is really quite simple. Careless and improper contouring of the land in subdivisions, lack of proper soil compaction, lack of site-specific soils analysis, engineering design based on builder profits, and false information supplied on forms required for federally insured loans all contribute to the failed foundation phenomenon known a the ‘CRACKED SLAB’.
As you drive out of your subdivision, as you drive down the road, rural highway or interstate highway and you cross a simple bridge or extended highway overpass, ask yourself this… What is supporting that bridge/overpass? It is a foundation. Actually, it is at least a couple of foundations. Two or more foundations support every bridge overpass in the world. Next, ask yourself this… How many bridge/overpass foundations have you ever seen that have failed? Heard of any?
The federal form known as the ‘92541’ requires that the builder attest to, among other things, the fact that the house is not constructed on expansive clay soils. Yet, the moment a homeowner begins to experience foundation problems, the first thing the builder often does is claim that the homeowner is not ‘watering the foundation’ properly. For those of you who haven’t experienced this yet, it means that you have not properly hydrated the expansive clay soils that are supporting your improperly designed slab foundation.
If the homeowner states that they have been ‘watering the foundation’, the builder will state that the homeowner has ‘watered too much’. This is interesting because I have yet to see a homeowner that could water as much as the water that a 2 or 3 inch rainfall provides. In addition, I’m still looking for that builder or his engineer that can tell a homeowner how much water is needed.
If the U. S. Department of Justice would take a serious look at the fraud that is perpetrated on the taxpayer and individual homeowner, homebuilders across the country could be prosecuted for the false information that is provided on the form known as the ‘92541’.
This probably won’t happen with the way our current lobbying and back-scratching system works.
The Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is way too cozy with the homebuilding industry.
The Assistant United States Attorney’s offices (AUSA) are dependent on HUD and other entities to provide information regarding fraud.
Where does the information concerning homebuilder fraud, that has been supplied to HUD over the last few years, go?
If officials at HUD are helping to ensure that builders aren’t prosecuted for supplying false information on the federal form ‘92541’, can those officials be prosecuted? Some suggestions for prosecution might be…
Misprision of a Felony, Obstruction of Justice, Conspiracy to Defraud, etc.
