Here's an article from my Home town paper that shows the result of homes being built on unstable fill. The builder is one of the most reputable in the area so for now I tend to side with him in that the primary fault lies with the company that developed and sold him the property, although I am surprised that he is refusing to at least help in the repairs seeing as he seems to be repairing another home in the area.

There are several in the same area with settlement problems, I read the article this morning and checked my records, I'd inspected a home there two years ago and wrote up settlement problems in the foundation, cracks, and other damage in the interior, my report killed the deal, the Realtor is still mad, maybe I'll ask her what she thinks now.

Coeur d'Alene Press Newspaper - Local and National News - Kootenai County, Idaho : Sinking hopes

There was a similar case around the Portland area a few years ago. I can't remember what ever happened but I think a group of townhomes were a total loss.

I have a theory that as builders and cities try to build on every sq ft of land this type of thing will become more common. There's a reason a lot of land was left vacant 50 years ago while houses were built all around it.

I see this a lot with water in crawl spaces. I rarely see a wet crawl space in an old house. I see them constantly in new subdivisions.