Groups Launch Nationwide Effort to Stop Use of Binding Mandatory Arbitration Clauses |
Saturday, 26 February 2005 |
Stop Use of Binding Mandatory Arbitration Clauses At a press conference, the groups released a 10-point platform for action, which includes the unveiling of two educational Web sites, a call for state and federal legislation, and a campaign to encourage consumers to avoid doing business with companies that use BMA clauses. Give Me Back My Rights - www.givemebackmyrights.org Call Before You Buy - www.callbeforeyoubuy.com See List of Participating Organizations and Press Release |
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Binding Arbitration Coalition Infiormational Sites |
Saturday, 26 February 2005 |
Give Back My Rights - www.givemebackmyrights.org Call Before You Buy - www.callbeforeyoubuy.com |
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Are Bob Perry Homes an Urban Renaissance or Nightmare? |
Thursday, 24 February 2005 |
The Dead Zone Houston buries its Inner Loop past under bright new shiny Perry Homes town houses The company promises that its homes will be solid, care-free, efficient and economical... But Perry Homes refused to fix most of the problems...The founder of Perry Homes is the largest private political donor to Republican causes in the nation... And he's no less controversial within the camps of his own industry. University of Houston architecture professor Tom Diehl speaks for many in his profession when he describes the 72-year-old former schoolteacher as, simply, "the enemy." ... "The problem with the town houses [in Houston] is not that they're all the same; the issue is that they're the same miserable, low-quality design." |
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ABC News Part 2 - Binding Arbitration |
Thursday, 24 February 2005 |
Fine Print Binds Car Buyers Consumers Forced into Arbitration Process, Out of Courts Lloyd is one of thousands of consumers whose disputes with car dealers or manufacturers will not be settled in a court of law, but instead by a growing number of private arbitration companies, to the dismay of consumer activists and plaintiffs' lawyers...The NAF hires its own judges and advertises to companies, including car dealers, that the arbitration proceedings will be "kept private," will be "predictable" and will "put a stop to million-dollar lawsuits." |
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ABC News Special - Binding Arbitration |
Wednesday, 23 February 2005 |
Fine Print May Waive Legal Rights Mandatory Arbitration Clauses Reduce Consumer Rights "If you did a public survey, you would find that 99 percent of consumers are totally surprised that there's small print in there that doesn't allow them to go to court," said Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization. |
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Take Back You Rights - Frisco |
Tuesday, 22 February 2005 |
Dallas Morning News Financial Responsibility for Builders It is feasible! by Jo Hayman, HomeOwners for Better Building Dallas Representative What's this? Do I see Take Back Your Rights in the Texas Residential Construction Commission's Texas Star Builder program? Would you trust your brain surgery to a surgeon who did not have malpractice insurance? I think not. However, the largest purchase of a lifetime is unsecured in Texas. The loss of your home due to shoddy construction can and does ruin lives, just as the slip of a surgeon's knife can do. The difference is that in the latter case, you have access to the court system. |
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Homebuilder Spend less on Warranty Issues |
Sunday, 20 February 2005 |
Homebuilding Industry Warranty Spending is Extremely Low
New homebuilder warranty claims are low, while homebuyer complaints are at an all-time high?
When buying an airplane, helicopter, a car, a washer or dryer, computer, printer, desk or even an office chair, the percentage of dollars spent by the manufactures on customer warranty issues is greater than that spent by the homebuilding industry on defectively built new home warranty claims. The percentage of earnings spent by a builder on warranty issues of a new home is as little as 0.3% while Gateway reported 6.2% and Lexmark International, a manufacturer of printers spent 9.7%. Read the entire series: Warranty Week Six Part Series |
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Tremont Homes - Construction Defects, Mold - Fogal Lobbies Lawmakers |
Friday, 18 February 2005 |
Disgruntled home owner turns to Better Business Bureau Houston River Oaks Examiner - Jordan Fogal Since she and her husband purchased a $360,000 town home in Montrose's Hyde Park Crescent community at 1515 Hyde Park Drive, Fogal has been battling with Stature Construction, Inc. to fix repairs she contends are due to substandard construction... Fogal has also turned her energies to consumer advocacy, and has been assisting other distraught homebuyers, consulting with anxious Realtors afraid of being sued for selling faulty buildings, and lobbying state legislators to change housing laws. On Monday, Fogal joined a group of unhappy home owners at the state capitol to lobby lawmakers to make builders more accountable by making proof of expertise and financial responsibility mandatory.
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Homeowners ask lawmakers to Mandate Builder Accountability |
Wednesday, 16 February 2005 |
Amend HB730 â The Texas Residential Construction Commission Act |
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Knoweledge & Financial Responsibility Optional for Builders |
Tuesday, 15 February 2005 |
Homeowners storm Capitol
Janet Ahmad, president of HomeOwners for Better Building, said TRCC's Texas Star Builder Program is the main point of contention. The program allows builders to qualify as "star builders," demonstrating knowledge, experience and history of financial responsibility, Ahmad said. She said this must be made mandatory for builders instead of optional, as it is under the current system. |
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Tuesday, 15 February 2005 |
Home dispute panel criticized When Jordan Fogal and her husband purchased a new home in spring 2002, they never expected they'd be living in a tiny apartment two years later, stuck with a 30-year mortgage on a house that's falling apart. "My husband's 69 years old," said Fogal, of Houston, "but we're having to start our lives over like 20 year olds." |
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Texas Observer - Capitol Offenses |
Friday, 11 February 2005 |
The Agency that Bob Perry Built For nearly a decade, homebuilders had steadily eroded consumer rights in Texas: Buyers who moved into brand-new houses and found cracked foundations and leaky roofs had little recourse. Some couldnât file a lawsuit even if they wanted. They had signed housing contracts that forced them to resolve complaints through binding arbitration hearings notorious for favoring builders... Homebuilders are some of the stateâs heftiest contributors to political campaigns. Their interests so dominate the TRCC that the new agency is little more than a tool to help the industry win disputes against consumers...Since 2001, the industry has donated more than $8.9 million to candidates, parties, and political action committees, according to an analysis by the campaign watchdog group Campaigns for People. That includes $744,562 to Gov. Rick Perry...
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'Healthy house' is a lifesaver |
Tuesday, 08 February 2005 |
Washington Post Woman's life is looking up now that her abode isn't making her sick By JEFF TURRENTINE The ordeal, she claimed, had left her with debilitating symptoms known collectively as multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome, or MCS. Currently, the medical community classifies MCS as a "syndrome of unknown origin," like Gulf War syndrome or chronic fatigue syndrome. By now, Lively-Diebold is used to cynicism about her condition. It's one of the reasons she wanted to find "the type of architect who would listen to your input, not just tell you what you need to have."
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Are You Next by Jordan Fogal |
Sunday, 06 February 2005 |
ARE YOU NEXT? The Many Levels of Texas Bureaucracy By Jordan Fogal |
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Homebuilder Money, Binding Arbitration & Using Docotors |
Sunday, 06 February 2005 |
Houston Chronicle Power tale: Mugging Dr. Welby By RICK CASEY A recent study showing that homebuilders have contributed $9 million to state officials in the past four years raised a simple question.What are they getting for their money? The Austin-based reform organization that conducted the study, Campaigns for People, accused legislators of responding by setting up the Texas Residential Construction Commission... Richard Weekley, a Houston real estate developer (and part owner of his brother's David Weekley Homes), wrote a letter to Gov. Perry... |
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