Eieio
November 9th, 2009, 07:29 PM
Hagens Berman: Class-Action Lawsuits Against KB Home Expand to Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina
Lawsuit cites similar claims to California and Arizona complaints, alleging price inflation scheme.
ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- A Central Florida homeowner forced into foreclosure filed a class-action lawsuit last week against KB Home KBH, Countrywide Financial and LandSafe Appraisal Services, claiming the three conspired to rig housing prices in Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina, costing home purchasers millions of dollars, and fueling the collapse of the region's housing market.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Orlando, Fla. on Friday, October 30, claims the three companies employed a well-planned scheme to control the typically independent appraisal process, jacking up home values, which, in turn, were used to determine the value of other homes sold by KB, affecting thousands of homeowners.
This is the third lawsuit Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro's (HBSS) filed against KB Home, Countrywide and LandSafe alleging a widespread and complicated inflation scheme. The other lawsuits represent homeowners in California, Arizona and Nevada.
"Since we filed the first lawsuit in May, we've heard from homeowners and industry insiders who have validated our conclusions that Countrywide and LandSafe were gaming the system, causing thousands of homeowners to overpay for their home purchases by tens of thousands of dollars," said Steve Berman, managing partner of HBSS.
Berman noted that since the first suit was filed, he has heard from hundreds of homeowners, many desperate to dig out of the financial hole the suit contends KB and Countrywide put them in through the alleged scheme.
"No one wants to learn they overpaid for a home, and certainly not because the builder and the appraiser rigged the game," Berman noted.
Link to Full story:http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article.aspx?Feed=PR&Date=20091103&ID=10630334&Symbol=KBH
Lawsuit cites similar claims to California and Arizona complaints, alleging price inflation scheme.
ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- A Central Florida homeowner forced into foreclosure filed a class-action lawsuit last week against KB Home KBH, Countrywide Financial and LandSafe Appraisal Services, claiming the three conspired to rig housing prices in Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina, costing home purchasers millions of dollars, and fueling the collapse of the region's housing market.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Orlando, Fla. on Friday, October 30, claims the three companies employed a well-planned scheme to control the typically independent appraisal process, jacking up home values, which, in turn, were used to determine the value of other homes sold by KB, affecting thousands of homeowners.
This is the third lawsuit Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro's (HBSS) filed against KB Home, Countrywide and LandSafe alleging a widespread and complicated inflation scheme. The other lawsuits represent homeowners in California, Arizona and Nevada.
"Since we filed the first lawsuit in May, we've heard from homeowners and industry insiders who have validated our conclusions that Countrywide and LandSafe were gaming the system, causing thousands of homeowners to overpay for their home purchases by tens of thousands of dollars," said Steve Berman, managing partner of HBSS.
Berman noted that since the first suit was filed, he has heard from hundreds of homeowners, many desperate to dig out of the financial hole the suit contends KB and Countrywide put them in through the alleged scheme.
"No one wants to learn they overpaid for a home, and certainly not because the builder and the appraiser rigged the game," Berman noted.
Link to Full story:http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article.aspx?Feed=PR&Date=20091103&ID=10630334&Symbol=KBH