Free Republic

SANTA ROSA COUNTY, Fla. -- A Santa Rosa County property owner is taking matters into his own hands in an ongoing dispute with a big developer. Bill Lewis says D.R. Horton construction company poured a driveway over his right of way. The property sits near the corner of 10 Mile Road and Dewey Jernigan Road. Lewis put up a fence along the property line, blocking the driveway to a new home. Several pigs are now located right inside the fence. Online property records suggest Lewis does own that slice of land, showing that Southern Acres LLC -- ran by Lewis...

After being widely derided for being asleep at the switch while folks like Bernard Madoff gradually stole tens of billions of dollars from unwitting clients, the SEC is now targeting subprime lenders, hedge funds and home builders. Imagine what kind of mixer that group would throw! From a BuilderOnline.com story: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which has been roundly chided for not uncovering several high-profile investment fraud schemes, is getting more aggressive. It now has launched a series of investigations focusing on subprime lenders, hedge funds, and home builders.“The SEC is fully committed to addressing the [economic] crisis,”...

Largest U.S. homebuilder beats analyst estimates in fiscal fourth quarter, despite seeing quarterly profit drop 51 percent. NEW YORK (Reuters) -- D.R. Horton, the largest U.S. homebuilder, said Tuesday that quarterly profit fell 51 percent as orders declined, but results topped forecasts.Net sales orders for new homes fell 25 percent to 10,430 from 13,950, while the dollar amount of these orders fell 33 percent to $2.53 billion from $3.75 billion. Homes closed fell 7 percent to 17,261, while the backlog of homes under contract fell 6 percent to 18,125.Full story here