It begins with Beazer -- political backlash hits homebuilders

Beazer Homes USA Inc (NYSE: BZH), following in the footsteps of other home builders, has been reporting awful results. However, to add more fuel to the fire, a report by the Charlotte Observer wrote the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office in Charlotte, N.C., along with the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, launched an investigation of Beazer Homes last week. OUCH!

Everyone is going after this homebuilder. This is as bad as the political backlash following the tech bubble imploding which led to Sarbox.

Look for other district attorneys around the country to start going after other homebuilders and their relationships with mortgage brokers and lenders. Do you think homebuilders reduced lending standards in order to get rid of excess inventory? Why not when you can dump the loan in the secondary market.

The housing industry is getting uglier and uglier, as we have been blogging about for a long time. No need to bottom fish yet. Wait for the political backlash to crescendo before looking at this group again.