Re:Lumber crash leads to 'blowout' sales as prices crater
by ClumsyPilot on Thursday September 16, 2021 @09:19AM
(#28551386)
Systematically getting people to hand over money when you have no intention to deliver on and have no intention to return is probably fraud.
Re:Lumber crash leads to 'blowout' sales as prices crater
by op00to on Friday September 17, 2021 @03:49PM
(#28570171)
Probably. The attorney general is working on actual fraud. This is just probably fraud. No time for that! I think there’s a healthy dose of buyer beware to be had, though that almost seems victim blaming.
Re:Lumber crash leads to 'blowout' sales as prices crater
by TeMPOraL on Thursday September 16, 2021 @07:37AM
(#28550427)
Right. But to the extent the developers are doing this on purpose, as part of their business model, this very much feels like a racket.
Re:Lumber crash leads to 'blowout' sales as prices crater
by pixl97 on Thursday September 16, 2021 @11:33AM
(#28553117)
The only reason they developers can do this is there is a lack of people that can build houses creating a non competitive market. A huge portion of US home building is built on migrant labor which has been in short supply since 2016 and even further pressure from covid. Moreso housing is a boom bust style market that squeezes out competition during busts and increases prices during booms. This is how supply and demand curves work in this market.
The developers aren't held to a timeline in the contract. They just stall forever, working on the ones willing to pay the most. If they ever ran out of better customers, they would eventually get around to the cheaper customers.
They've done something unethical, but they haven't broken the contract.