From PalmBeachPost.com (FL):

Drywall Panic in South Florida

Home buyers in South Florida are petrified of tainted Chinese drywall.

Some rule out entire neighborhoods or houses and condos built within the past seven years. Others don’t want anything to do with builders known to have used Chinese drywall. And buyers who do sign contracts seek assurances that might not prove reliable….

Feel free to review the news posting.  But then take a look further downward.  We (at BLMYC) went so far as to post the contractor’s license information.  Apparently his license expired a few times, and he’s be doing business as  Fawcett Homes Inc.

From Newspress.com (FL):

Naples Contractor (Scott Fawcett) faces federal charges of loan and credit application fraud

A Naples general contractor is being charged by federal prosecutors with loan and credit application fraud after he allegedly got a loan for $388,000 by lying about how much money he had in a bank account….

Holmes County Contractor Arrested for Defrauding Medicaid

Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a Holmes County man has been arrested for defrauding the Florida Medicaid program out of more than $33,000. Robert Greenlee, owner of Greenlee and Sons Construction in Bonifay, was arrested today by officers with the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office on a warrant from the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

Investigators with the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit discovered the fraud after receiving complaints from the Council on Aging of West Florida about home modifications for Medicaid recipients – modifications that had been contracted out to Greenlee’s company. Greenlee, 68, was not a licensed contractor for the counties in which he was working, and building inspectors often found his modifications did not meet industry standards or code. Greenlee also employed unlicensed workers, a violation of industry regulations.

According to investigators, Greenlee consistently billed for work before projects were completed, a practice unauthorized by the Medicaid program. The Council on Aging reported it had received numerous complaints about completed projects, of which the majority were completed with extremely poor quality work. Investigators also believe that, on two occasions, Greenlee billed Medicaid in advance for projects on which he never worked.

From Heraldtribune.com (FL):

Kraft Construction Co. hired to rebuild complex

Sarasota-The Kraft Construction Co. was hired Monday as construction manager/general contractor to rebuild the city’s Robert L. Taylor recreation complex.

The project is expected to cost about $11 million and will reshape a key community center in the Newtown community.

From Tampa Bay Online (FL)

Economic hammer pounds real estate developers

Long vilified as greedy power brokers, many of the people in the business of turning open spaces into malls and subdivisions are reeling from liens, foreclosure lawsuits and bankruptcies….

…Prominent names with troubles:

Grady Pridgen. Known for his interstate billboard touting “Not Just Another Pretty Place,” Pridgen has faced multiple foreclosure lawsuits on office and industrial properties in Pinellas and Pasco counties.

In one case, Capmark Bank foreclosed on $25 million in loans to Pridgen-controlled entities. Pinellas County businessman Hardy Huntley, owner of the Wagon Wheel Flea Market, bought out Capmark’s claim to the loans and took control of 190 acres of undeveloped land in the Gateway Business Centre securing the loans.

Pridgen has also faced a $6.9 million foreclosure suit brought by Mercantile Bank involving the Largo Intercoastal Marina and other properties, according to Pinellas County court records.

Paradise Development Group. A developer of shopping centers, this firm headed by Michael Connor — which touts 47 completed Publix centers — recently handed back seven projects in Florida to creditors.

Kearney Construction Co. This 53-year-old firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August after it was hit with a trifecta of pain. One lender threatened to seize its work trucks, a bank pulled a line of credit and Kearney’s surety bond provider severed its relationship with the company.

Headed by Bing Kearney, a Republican fundraiser, Kearney Construction did early site work on International Plaza, Westfield Citrus Park and the future Cypress Creek Town Center near Wesley Chapel…..

From newspress.com(FL):

CCCIA hears about bad drywall

Approximately 170 people representing various groups in the construction business, heard from several experts updating them on the latest in defective drywall from China at the Cape Coral Construction Industry Association dinner tonight at La Venzia.

Scott Bills of Lutgert Insurance said one major problem now do not cover bad drywell because the sulfur causing the problem is considered a pollutant and that is not eligible for a claim.

Jeff Gentile of Boyle & Gentile, P.A., said courts are working to get bad drywall changed from a pollutant so policy holders can file claims.

From Orlando Business journal (FL):

Schmid Construction to build new VA clinic

Schmid Construction has been selected by CSL Medical LLC as general contractor for a new Clermont community-based VA outpatient clinic scheduled to open in November….

From Tallahassee.com:

Builders alarmed as FSU’s state funds for construction dry up

…FSU’s state money for building projects has all but dried up, and a construction official predicts it will have a “catastrophic” effect locally….

It’s only going to get worse — much worse.

FSU’s estimated PECO budget for 2010-11 has been revised from $14 million to $5 million….

New buildings sit unoccupied in Volusia (Fl.)

A new oceanfront condo stands empty, construction crews were shut out of a nearly complete interstate hotel and the owner of a new retail center is offering free rent to attract tenants….

From Bankforclosuresale.com (FL):

Another Florida Bank Foreclosures Crisis Looming

The languishing economy, rising unemployment and crippling credit crunch are starting to strangle many commercial property owners that it would not be long and bank foreclosures in Florida would start to flood the real estate market again.

Already, the increasing number of commercial property owners who default on their mortgage payments are overburdening banks that have not yet fully recovered from the residential real estate market crisis.

Industry experts said that the current commercial foreclosures in the state are just on its infancy and they are expecting it to grow rapidly in the coming months. Commercial property owners are struggling to survive over declining rents, the credit crisis and empty warehouses and storefronts.

…..For the first six months of this year, 11.2 percent of all commercial property loans issued by state banks were delinquent.