HP calls for an immediate US Justice Department investigation of Ara Hovnanian for attempted price fixing and Sherman Antitrust violations

Folks, it is illegal in America to talk to your competitors in an industry about prices. Yet that is EXACTLY what Ara Hovnanian stupidly did in public the other day, as he addressed his fellow desperate homebuilders at the Southeast Builder Conference in Florida.

I've seen some really dumb things during the housing crash, and this may be the dumbest. "Arrest me" he seems to be shouting. "I'm above the law, I control the universe" perhaps. Mostly though, it's "I'm desperate, and my company is about to go under unless we can illegally conspire together to stop this bleeding"

Yes, I understand the rule of law no longer applies in America, but come on, this is so blatant, so public. Is anyone minding the store?

Here's what Hovnanian had to say to his fellow builders - in public no less!

"Raise prices," he said. "Buyers aren't buying because they think you're going to lower prices again. There's interest but there's fear. Raise prices 3-4 percent. And quit giving discounts.''

For the uninitiated, here's a bit about price fixing:

Price fixing is an agreement between business competitors to sell the same product or service at the same price. In general, it is an agreement intended to ultimately push the price of a product as high as possible, leading to profits for all the sellers. Price-fixing can also involve any agreement to fix, peg, discount or stabilize prices. The principal feature is any agreement on price, whether express or implied

Here's elements of Price Fixing from the DOJ:

Price fixing is an agreement among competitors to raise, fix, or otherwise maintain the price at which their goods or services are sold. It is not necessary that the competitors agree to charge exactly the same price, or that every competitor in a given industry join the conspiracy. Price fixing can take many forms, and any agreement that restricts price competition violates the law. Other examples of price-fixing agreements include those to:

Establish or adhere to price discounts.
Hold prices firm.
Eliminate or reduce discounts.
Adopt a standard formula for computing prices.
Maintain certain price differentials between different types, sizes, or quantities of products.
Adhere to a minimum fee or price schedule.
Fix credit terms.
Not advertise prices.

In the United States, price fixing can be prosecuted as a criminal felony offense under section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Now, if you'd like your say, forward this on to media contacts, and to the Justice Department's antitrust division here or at antitrust.complaints@usdoj.gov. However, the one problem with this is that as you know our Justice Department is run by corrupt monkeys too.

Unbelievable.

Absolutely unbelievable.