The arbitration agreement in the GoodwinÃs homeowners insurance policy left them homeless and financ |
Wednesday, 14 August 2002 |
On April 26, 2001 an 18-wheeler ran off of I-30 and crashed into our home when its driver had a heart attack. We had lived in our new home for only one day when the accident occurred, which rendered it uninhabitable. The truck driver's insurance refused to pay for the repairs to our home claiming that the driver's heart attack was an act of God, and therefore, not covered. Link: http://www.texaswatch.org/hallofshame_share_consumerlaw_story.asp?insurid=135 |
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The arbitration agreement in the GoodwinÃs homeowners insurance policy left them homeless and financ |
Wednesday, 14 August 2002 |
On April 26, 2001 an 18-wheeler ran off of I-30 and crashed into our home when its driver had a heart attack. We had lived in our new home for only one day when the accident occurred, which rendered it uninhabitable. The truck driver's insurance refused to pay for the repairs to our home claiming that the driver's heart attack was an act of God, and therefore, not covered. Link: http://www.texaswatch.org/hallofshame_share_consumerlaw_story.asp?insurid=135 |
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Dawn Richardson on the hight cost of builder defects |
Tuesday, 13 August 2002 |
Deficient building practices cited in high home insurance rates
In May, Richardson, who has filed a lawsuit against the builder, testified in front of the Texas House of Representatives Committee on Business and Industry and has also testified for the Civil Services Committee. "I've talked to so many home owners and it's simply a really pervasive problem," she said. "We had pieces of wood in the homes that were put in moldy during the construction process." An uneducated work force, a premium placed on affordability, and a lack of statewide regulation are some of the factors officials cite in home problems that lead to increased insurance claims. "We need to build affordable housing, but the ramifications of affordability are costing us tons of money as a society in terms of insurance premiums, maintenance costs, water penetration costs, and lawsuits," said the national program manager of a Collin County building supplies company who spoke under the condition of anonymity. "Water penetration is caused by a dysfunctional process that uses poor quality materials and often has design flaws." |
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Richardson's defective home in the news |
Tuesday, 13 August 2002 |
Deficient building practices cited in high home insurance rates
Dawn and Scott Richardson received an unwanted glimpse into the homebuilding and insurance industries after being forced out of their $300,000 Austin-area home last year. Just five weeks after construction in 2001, Richardson said the home had become so contaminated with toxic mold and chemicals that she and her baby daughter began suffering health problems that included nausea, neurological problems, and allergic reactions... And as a pitched political battle continues over how to remedy soaring statewide home owner's insurance rates, some building officials and consumer activists have begun to echo Richardson's sentiment, pointing to deficient construction practices as a significant factor in insurance rates that have doubled and in some cases tripled in the past year.
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Monday, 12 August 2002 |
You may have unknowingly waived your constitutional right to a trial by jury when you purchased you new home, used your credit card or made a long-distance phone call. Today, mandatory arbitration agreements are found in almost all consumer contracts, and they are successfully being used by big corporations to block access to courts by consumers who have been treated unfairly. Go to www.texaswatch.org to learn more about arbitration and its pitfalls for consumers. |
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Thanks to Texas Watch at www.texaswatch.org for providing this information |
Monday, 12 August 2002 |
Two Texas Legislative Committees are currently studying the effects of arbitration. Go to http://capwiz.com/txwatch/issues/alert/?alertid=392556&type=CU to send an email to the Committee chairmen asking them to prevent companies from limiting consumers rights through arbitration agreements. |
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Monday, 12 August 2002 |
You may have unknowingly waived your constitutional right to a trial by jury when you purchased you new home, used your credit card or made a long-distance phone call. Today, mandatory arbitration agreements are found in almost all consumer contracts, and they are successfully being used by big corporations to block access to courts by consumers who have been treated unfairly. Go to www.texaswatch.org to learn more about arbitration and its pitfalls for consumers. |
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Thanks to Texas Watch at www.texaswatch.org for providing this information |
Monday, 12 August 2002 |
Two Texas Legislative Committees are currently studying the effects of arbitration. Go to http://capwiz.com/txwatch/issues/alert/?alertid=392556&type=CU to send an email to the Committee chairmen asking them to prevent companies from limiting consumers rights through arbitration agreements. |
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Michigan - Arbitration forced on consumers |
Friday, 02 August 2002 |
Critics say new rule favors contractors; builders contend it will make complaint process more efficient
A new law, signed by Gov. John Engler on July 31, makes it mandatory for consumers to go to arbitration if the builder seeks negotiations and provides a third party to conduct them. Previously, the Michigan Department of Consumer and Industry Services handled all consumer complaints by holding formal hearings. |
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Richardson Family Weekly Home Featured in Washington Post |
Sunday, 14 July 2002 |
Washington Post: No Suits Allowed - Increasingly, Arbitration Is the Only Recourse
Five weeks after Dawn and Scott Richardson and their family moved into their new $300,000 house in Austin, they moved out. Dawn Richardson says the house had become so contaminated with toxic mold and volatile chemicals -- benzene and formaldehyde and more -- that she and her then-16-month-old daughter suffered bloody noses, rashes, dizziness, shortness of breath and neurological disorders... Richardson is convinced she won't get a fair hearing. "We have not found a single example of a single homeowner who's ever won against a builder in binding arbitration," she said. "Why would an AAA [American Arbitration Association] arbitrator find in favor of the consumer when AAA is Weekley's exclusive arbitration firm? If the arbitrator finds against Weekley Homes, AAA will no longer be on the contract, and the arbitrator may be blackballed from future work." |
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Texas Lawyer on Binding Arbitration |
Sunday, 02 June 2002 |
Mandatory Arbitration Hits Home
Texas and federal courts provide little protection to consumers trapped in arbitration agreements. The recent housing surge in the Lone Star State gave rise to a number of disputes between homeowners and homebuilders. Many homeowners learned, to their chagrin, that during the excitement of signing the contracts for their dream homes, they may have inadvertently signed away the constitutional right to have juries settle complaints against the homebuilders...In April 2002, Texas Lawyer reported an ongoing case of Dawn Richardson, an Austin homeowner, who filed a suit against David Weekley Homes after she learned that her family's new home allegedly was contaminated with dangerous levels of toxic mold and volatile organic compounds such as benzene, benzaldehyde, decane, heptane,formaldehyde, methylbenzene, octane, styrene and xylene. |
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Home Buyers Object to Clause in Sales Contracts |
Thursday, 16 May 2002 |
Texas House panel hears complaints about binding arbitration requirement
Home buyers with horrifying tales of creeping mold, collapsing walls and heaving foundations converged on a Texas House subcommittee Wednesday to complain about how they unwittingly signed sales contracts preventing them from suing the builders they claim are responsible for their woes. "We're stuck with a house on our land that we don't want," Dawn Richardson of Austin told the House Subcommittee on Binding Arbitration. "We did not know that signing a construction contract . . . meant that we forever gave up our constitutional right to a trial by jury for any and all future disputes with our builder." |
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Leaky Weekleys: Privatize the 'Justice' System |
Wednesday, 15 May 2002 |
Moldy 'Lemon' Homes Denied Day In Court
A Texas House panel today will explore if consumers are being hurt by businesses? increasing reliance on ?binding arbitration.? Consumers will decry the privatized ?justice? system that binding arbitration has created, while business interests that give millions of dollars to Texas politicians will rush to the defense of this plaintiff-hostile system. |
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Public Citizen: Arbitration too Expensive |
Wednesday, 15 May 2002 |
Private arbitration criticized Report says court often cheaper; supporters say study is misleading
Private arbitration is not as cost effective and time efficient as its proponents have stated, according to a new report conducted by Public Citizen, a consumer organization.The study will be introduced this week to a Texas legislative panel starting a review of the role of arbitration in resolving legal and contractual disputes, according to officials at Public Citizen, which is based in Washington, D.C.The report found that for most low-income individuals, going to court remains cheaper and faster than private arbitration. It also found that many companies use the high cost of filing and pursuing arbitration to keep people from filing claims against them. |
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David Weekley Forces Arbitration |
Friday, 26 April 2002 |
Builder Attempts to Compel All Claims to Arbitration
Travis Count Court conducted a hearing to rule on David Weekley Homes' motion to compel arbitration for all claims against them from Richardson. The Richardson's attorney, Mark Smith of Williams Bailey Law Firm responded that the costs to the Richardsons would be unreasonably excessive - well over $24,000 - while court costs in Travis County were only $150. The judge agreed that these excessive fees for arbitration would effectively deny the Richardsons a forum to seek justice. |
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