SEATTLE, July 22, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hagens Berman, the law firm representing homeowners in class-action lawsuits in Arizona and California against KB Home (NYSE:KBH), Countrywide Financial and LandSafe Appraisal Services, is claiming the three conspired to illegally rig home appraisals in KB developments, and has begun investigating similar claims in Florida.
The filed lawsuits contend KB Home (NYSE:KBH) conspired with Countrywide and LandSafe to rig the appraisal process in order to drive development prices upward and increase KB Home profits, often using inflated comparisons to justify the high sales prices.
"Since we filed the Arizona and California actions, we have heard from KB customers in other states saying they fell victim to similar practices," said HBSS managing partner Steve Berman. "Many of those calls came from KB home purchasers in Florida."
The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in U.S. District Court in Arizona, claims KB and the other defendants inflated home prices by as much as $280 million in Arizona and Nevada, and another $300 million in California using the same scheme.
As stated by published sources, KB Home has 76 communities in Florida.
According to the filed lawsuits, KB Home directed home purchasers to Countrywide for financing, who in turn funneled all its KB customers' home appraisals to a small group of appraisers at LandSafe, an appraisal subsidiary owned by Countrywide. According to the complaints, the appraisers would then deliver an appraisal value at whatever price point KB and Countrywide ordered.
In two KB Home developments cited in the complaint, sampled appraisals were inflated $82,169 per property on average.
HBSS would like to hear from homeowners in Florida who purchased their house from KB Home and financed through Countrywide. Florida KB homeowners can visit www.hbsslaw.com/kbhomeflorida for more information.
To learn more about the allegations in the Arizona lawsuit, please visit www.hbsslaw.com/kbhomes. Homeowners can also e-mail attorneys at kbhomes@hbsslaw.com or call (206) 623-7292.
About Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro is based in Seattle with offices in Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco. Since the firm's founding in 1993, it has developed a nationally recognized practice in class action and complex litigation. Among recent successes, HBSS has negotiated a pending $300 million settlement as lead counsel in the DRAM memory antitrust litigation; a $340 million recovery on behalf of Enron employees which is awaiting distribution; a $150 million settlement involving charges of illegally inflated charges for the drug Lupron, and served as co-counsel on the Visa/Mastercard litigation which resulted in a $3 billion settlement, the largest anti-trust settlement to date. HBSS also served as counsel in a $850 million settlement in the Washington Public Power Supply litigation and represented Washington and 12 other states in lawsuits against the tobacco industry that resulted in the largest settlement in the history of litigation. For a complete listing of HBSS cases, visit www.hbsslaw.com