Pulte's Practices In Las Vegas Revisited
The Housing Bubble 2
July 14, 2005
thehousingbubble2.blogspot.com
One Las Vegas TV station takes a look at the ongoing problems of homebuyers. "The real estate boom that sent Las Vegas home prices skyrocketing may be over, but the hangover is only getting worse. The party for many people ended on October 2, 2004 when Pulte slashed prices at its four Las Vegas Del-Webb communities by 20%."
"Dyan Harmell, a Pulte home buyer, is drowning in a sea of debt. 'There are bills everywhere. House payments and debt,' Harmell told FOX5. She's a long way from those heady days of Las Vegas' real estate boom, when she says Pulte's sales staff pushed and pushed her to buy. As for Harmell, she's trying to figure out how to make December's payment of $30,000."
"Harmell bought 19 homes with 4-million dollars in mortgage debt. Pulte's in-house lender continued to sell her homes even as she showed a loss on her rental income, her sole income. 'They had me close Monday, Wed, Friday on two houses each so it wouldn't show up on my credit report,' said Harmell."
"Walk around Pulte's Solera neighborhood and it's a ghost town. It seems as if 'For Sale' signs are everywhere. Signs that many people who thought they'd make a killing in Las Vegas' real estate market are now trying to unload homes at deep discounts."
"A group of these homeowners claim Pulte Del Webb created artificial demand for it's properties by a sales staff that created a sense of urgency partly through questionable lotteries. 'We were told there were 80 people in the lottery for 15 homes. And lo and behold, every single person we knew got a home in that lottery,',said Pulte home buyer Cathy Wodka. Some of those 'lucky' enough to get a house were then directed into questionable mortgages."
"Buyers like Howard Jos-Berger were left with a home that dropped $100,000 dollars in value a few days after he bought it. 'The sales manager admitted to us that he knew the prices were going to be lowered on the 27th, the day we closed,' said Jos-Berger."
"Allegations that are the basis of at least one lawsuit with more expected. They claim Pulte set up a system which seemingly approved anyone and everyone for a mortgage." |
