Press Releases

Press Release : KB Homes

May 29, 2009

SEATTLE - The law firm representing a group of homeowners in Arizona who filed a class-action lawsuit earlier this month against KB Home (NYSE: KBH), Countrywide Financial and LandSafe Appraisal Services, claiming the three conspired to systematically, artificially and illegally rig home appraisals in KB developments has begun investigating similar claims in California.

The Arizona lawsuit contends KB Home conspired with Countrywide and LandSafe to rig the appraisal process in order to drive development prices upward and increase KB Home profits in Arizona, often used inflated comparisons to justify the high sales prices.

"Since we filed the Arizona action on behalf of homeowners, we have heard from other purchasers in California who believe they were victimized as well," said HBSS managing partner Steve Berman.

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 alone during a three-year period.

"Homeowners who purchased from KB Homes in California are telling us very similar things as we saw in Arizona," said Berman. "KB Home is involved in close to 60 developments throughout California, with thousands of homes."

According to the Arizona lawsuit, Countrywide funneled all its KB customers' home appraisals to one person at LandSafe, an appraisal subsidiary of Countrywide who, in turn, would 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 California who purchased their house from KB Home and financed through Countrywide. 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, San Francisco and New York. 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.

Mark Firmani
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E-mail: Mark Firmani