The Labor Department has stepped up pressure on PulteGroup in what has become a nasty battle between the Michigan-based homebuilder and the Obama administration over  the housing industry’s pay practices, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The department filed a petition in federal district court in Michigan on Feb. 28 seeking to compel Pulte to produce thousands of records related to its employees and subcontractors, as requested in a subpoena it sent the company last year. The probe has to do with how the big builder pays its subcontractor. Read more here.

— Kerry Curry