The Herald Tribune reports from Florida. "Craig Meadow is in financial hot water after contracting with Punta Gorda-based Ideal Homes Inc. for a $305,000 dream home that the builder never completed. He said he has been devastated financially. Meadow is among a growing group of consumers contending with struggling or defunct builders in Southwest Florida."

"The fallout from their problems, mostly the result of the hyperactive housing market of 2004-05, is also filling a lot of the time of planning and building officials from governments around the region."

"The past year has been unprecedented: Sarasota-based Jade Homes closed, leaving 75 unfinished houses; Avalon Homes, also of Sarasota, left 50 houses unfinished; and St. Petersburg-based Construction Compliance Inc. left more than 400 houses unfinished."

"North Port building official Tom Lifsey can no longer keep a count of the panic-stricken homeowners, the liens, the abandoned houses and the lawsuits, he said."

"'I don't know how many times I've said it: 'I would love to help you, but this is a civil matter,' Lifsey said. 'Unfortunately, in Florida, there's usually nothing we can do.'"

The Palm Beach Post. "The pink walls of the 1960s-era Rutledge Inn fell to bulldozers last year. Owned by three generations of the Crouse family, the hotel was razed to make room for Mirasol Beach of Singer Island."

"Mirasol Beach was to be an 18-story condo resplendent with spa, fitness center, library, theater, lounge and billiards. No more. Last week developer Taylor Woodrow Plc pulled the plug on the project."

"'I wish we had never sold it,' Doris Crouse said after being told of the developer's decision. 'It's just dirt now,' she said."

"Mirasol Beach isn't the first project to level a piece of Old Florida only to be canceled. Two years after the beloved Crab Pot restaurant was shuttered, plans for the 17-story condominium that was to be built in its place went belly up. The site, on Riviera Beach's mainland, is up for sale."

"Just 10 months after bulldozers rolled over the Pot, the overheated condo market started cooling. Barbara Fox, a real estate agent and longtime Crab Pot patron, said, 'I understand change.' Her office at Marina Grande overlooks the Pot site. 'But really, replace it with something. Don't leave it bare.'"

The News Press. "The Bonita Bay Group’s decision to cut 30 positions is the latest in a series of terminations and layoffs by developers and builders sparked by the sluggish real estate market. 'The downturn in the real estate market is putting pressure on the company,' spokeswoman Mary Briggs said."

"Briggs said the Bonita Bay Group does not plan to cut any more jobs. 'We have every confidence that things are going to turn around,' she said. 'It’s just taking longer to do so than we had hoped.'"

The Sun Sentinel. "Real estate agents across South Florida kept pointing to this week, hoping state legislators would revive the housing market with a bold plan to fix the property tax crunch."

"But now that legislators have pushed off the tax talk until June, dispirited agents say they have little hope of salvaging the spring selling season as they face at least another month of soft sales."

"'It's just terrible what they did,' said Bob Melzer, an agent in Boca Raton."

"Many residents say they're trapped, unable to buy larger or smaller homes because their tax bills would double or triple."

"'The market is going to come back once we provide some equality and sanity to our tax structure,' said Bob Goldstein, chairman of the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches."

"And there's no guarantee that the changes legislators settle on will help the real estate market in a meaningful way. One proposal to roll back taxes to 2005 levels was criticized for not giving homeowners enough savings."

"Year-over-year sales dropped 22 percent in Palm Beach County in March and 25 percent in Broward. Palm Beach County's median price of $375,100 was down $18,600 from a year ago."

"Agents had hoped a resolution to the tax problem this month would at least give buyers the confidence to make offers before hurricane season begins June 1."

"'This delay is going to mean a further standstill,' said Beverly Rothstein, an agent in northern Broward. 'Buyers are stuck and sellers are extremely unhappy.'"