Homestore Com Inc

Thousand Oaks-based Homestore.com Inc., which controls more than 90% of home-sale listings on the Internet, said it formed a joint-venture Web site, called IMove.com, with five moving companies to allow consumers to arrange moving services online. Its partners are Allied Van Lines, Bekins Van Lines, Mayflower Transit, North American Van Lines and United Van Lines. Homestore.com shares rose $1.19 to close at $50.19 on Nasdaq.

A former Homestore Inc. executive will pay $2.6 million to settle charges of shareholder fraud in connection with a scheme to inflate advertising revenue at the online real estate listings company, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday. Peter B. Tafeen of Parkland, Fla., was executive vice president for business development at the Westlake Village-based company. Homestore has since changed its name to Move Inc.

Homestore.com Inc., the No. 1 Internet real estate listing company, agreed to buy IPlace Inc. for $150 million in cash and stock from Stamford, Conn.-based MemberWorks Inc. Langhorne, Pa.-based IPlace offers free online credit checks and a $79.95-a-year credit monitoring service that notifies consumers if derogatory information is added to their credit reports. Shares of Westlake Village-based Homestore.com fell $2.45 to close at $21.60, while MemberWorks gained $2.06 to $24.10, both on Nasdaq.

Peter Tafeen, a former vice president of business development at Homestore.com Inc., was sentenced Monday to two years in prison for his role in a fraud at the provider of Internet home listings. Tafeen, 37, pleaded guilty in March to securities fraud. He was sentenced in Los Angeles federal court, said his lawyer, Brian Hennigan. At his plea hearing, the former executive admitted orchestrating so-called round-trip advertisement sales at the company to artificially boost revenue.

Homestore.com Inc. said it reached a five-year expanded agreement valued at more than $200 million with America Online Inc. to be the exclusive provider of real estate listings and home services on the world's largest online service. Thousand Oaks-based Homestore.com controls more than 90% of homes listed for sale on the Internet, which has prompted an investigation by the Justice Department. AOL will receive shares amounting to a 5.6% stake in Homestore.com. Homestore.com's shares rose $4.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said it should be easier for private citizens to sue accountants, lawyers, vendors and others for securities fraud. In a legal brief supporting a fraud claim against Homestore.com Inc., SEC lawyers argued that the legal threshold for deciding whom can be sued in such cases was too high. Plaintiffs should be allowed to sue those indirectly involved in a fraud as well as those directly responsible, the brief said. The 9th U.S.

Thousand Oaks-based Homestore.com Inc. on Wednesday launched a Web site dedicated to remodeling and home improvement in conjunction with the industry's two main trade associations. The company hopes its Remodel.com will build on traffic from the firm's other sites, which include Realtor.com, the leading real estate Web site, and sites focused on apartments and home building. Remodel.com is sponsored by the National Assn. of Home Builders, which holds a minority stake in Homestore.

Homestore.com Inc., which lists homes for sale on the Internet, has agreed to buy closely held Top Producer Systems Inc. for $24.2 million in stock and cash. Top Producer, founded in 1982, gives Thousand Oaks-based Homestore.com content management software that helps more than 100,000 real estate agents manage leads, contacts and referrals, match buyers and sellers and track listings. Century 21, Coldwell Banker, General Motors Acceptance Corp.

Homestore.com Inc., two weeks after its chief financial officer resigned, said Friday that its board is conducting an inquiry into accounting practices. Homestore.com, the biggest online home-listing company, also said it will restate certain financial statements. The board's audit committee notified the Securities and Exchange Commission of the inquiry and has hired an independent counsel and accountants to assist it, the company said.

Peter Tafeen, a former vice president of business development at Homestore.com Inc., was sentenced Monday to two years in prison for his role in a fraud at the provider of Internet home listings. Tafeen, 37, pleaded guilty in March to securities fraud. He was sentenced in Los Angeles federal court, said his lawyer, Brian Hennigan. At his plea hearing, the former executive admitted orchestrating so-called round-trip advertisement sales at the company to artificially boost revenue.

Stuart Wolff, former chief executive of Homestore Inc., inflated sales at the online home sale and rental listing company by $67 million in 2001 using so-called round-trip deals that generated no money, prosecutors said Thursday. Wolff is accused of falsifying Homestore's books and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and lying to company auditors, artificially inflating advertising sales to meet Wall Street's expectations. His trial began Thursday in U.S.

A former chairman and chief executive of Homestore Inc. has sued the company, demanding about $6.3 million to cover legal fees stemming from investigations and lawsuits that accuse him of helping to inflate revenue. Stuart Wolff filed the suit July 1 in Delaware Chancery Court, the Westlake Village company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Friday. Homestore, which has the most home listings online, operates Realtor.com, HouseBuilder .com and Homestore.com.

PricewaterhouseCoopers agreed to pay $17.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by investors over the accounting firm's audits of Homestore.com Inc. in 2000 and 2001. PricewaterhouseCoopers didn't admit wrongdoing as part of the preliminary settlement, the California State Teachers' Retirement System, the lead plaintiff, said Thursday. The teachers' group, the third-largest U.S. pension fund, sued PricewaterhouseCoopers, Homestore.

The former chief executive and a senior executive of once-highflying Internet company Homestore.com pleaded not guilty to charges of defrauding investors by inflating advertising revenue at the real estate firm. Investigators claim former Chief Executive Stuart Wolff misrepresented the company's financial condition to Wall Street analysts and investors.

Two former top executives of Homestore.com Inc., the Westlake Village-based online real estate firm that rode the Internet stock craze to dizzying heights, were accused Thursday of defrauding investors by inflating advertising revenue in 2001. Stuart Wolff, the company's former chief executive and chairman, and Peter Tafeen, who was executive vice president of business development, were named in a 19-count criminal indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said it should be easier for private citizens to sue accountants, lawyers, vendors and others for securities fraud. In a legal brief supporting a fraud claim against Homestore.com Inc., SEC lawyers argued that the legal threshold for deciding whom can be sued in such cases was too high. Plaintiffs should be allowed to sue those indirectly involved in a fraud as well as those directly responsible, the brief said. The 9th U.S.

PricewaterhouseCoopers agreed to pay $17.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by investors over the accounting firm's audits of Homestore.com Inc. in 2000 and 2001. PricewaterhouseCoopers didn't admit wrongdoing as part of the preliminary settlement, the California State Teachers' Retirement System, the lead plaintiff, said Thursday. The teachers' group, the third-largest U.S. pension fund, sued PricewaterhouseCoopers, Homestore.

Homestore.com Inc., the biggest online home listing company, must provide more information on its internal accounting inquiry before trading of its stock can resume, the Nasdaq Stock Market said. Trading was halted Friday when Homestore.com said that it would restate certain financial results, has hired an independent counsel and accountants to assist it and that its board had notified the Securities and Exchange Commission of the inquiry.

Homestore Inc. said Tuesday that its second-quarter loss narrowed and revenue rose, but the Internet's largest provider of real estate listings warned that ongoing legal issues would continue to be a drag on the bottom line for at least the rest of the year. The Westlake Village company reported a net loss of $4.3 million, or 3 cents a share, for the three months ended June 30. That compares with a loss of $91.7 million, or 78 cents, in the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose 5% to $56.

Homestore Inc., the largest provider of homes-for-sale listings on the Internet, said Thursday that it lost $5.1 million in the first quarter and posted a slight gain in revenue. The Westlake Village company said the loss amounted to 4 cents a share, 1 cent short of analysts' expectations for the three months ended March 31. In the same period a year earlier, the company posted a profit of $87.2 million, or 72 cents a share, thanks to a one-time gain of $104.1 million.