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Organizing your community to bring public attention to builder’s bad deeds and seeking assistance from local, state and federal elected officials has proven to be more effective and much quicker for thousands of families. You do have choices and alternatives.  Janet Ahmad

Arbitration Latest News
HOBB Press Release - KB Home Settles Unprecedented Arbitration Class Action Case
Thursday, 23 February 2006

KB Home Settles Class Action Binding Arbitration Case
The settlement Wednesday of a class-action lawsuit against KB Home over a binding arbitration clause in homebuyer’s warranties will affect thousands of Texas homeowners...With the settlement of this class-action suit it effectively declares that KB Home and its subsidiaries binding arbitration clauses are invalid, and that homeowners can now sue KB Home in a court of law rather than being forced into binding arbitration over construction defects.

Read more...
 
AP Wire: KB Home settles class-action and drops arbitration
Thursday, 23 February 2006

KB Home agrees to drop arbitration from warranties
KB Home agreed Wednesday to drop binding arbitration from its customer warranties as part of a class-action lawsuit settlement.

Read more...
 
ABC News - Fine Print May Waive Legal Rights
Wednesday, 02 March 2005

Mandatory Arbitration Clauses Reduce Consumer Rights
When American consumers sign contracts — for credit cards, bank loans, mortgages or telephone service — language in the fine print often waives their right to employ the full extent of the law should the company violate the contract...The fine print of many contracts says consumers "waive the right to go to court" to resolve any disputes about a product or service. They are instead committed to binding arbitration... Claybrook says the system is flawed. "The process completely favors the corporation," she said. "The corporation does repeat business with the arbitration company and if the company routinely finds in favor of consumers or gives large awards to consumers, they don't get used again."

Read more...
 
Are You Next by Jordan Fogal
Sunday, 06 February 2005

ARE YOU NEXT?
The Many Levels of Texas Bureaucracy 
By Jordan Fogal
Read more...
 
Outstanding article from Off the Kuff
Friday, 04 February 2005

Off the Kuff
Building influence
Here's an interesting article from the This Week section of the Chron regarding an acrimonious and public battle between a disgruntled homebuyer named Jordan Fogal and the builder who constructed her house, Tremont Homes... Let's start with the baseless attack on civil juries, something that I've noted before. Just once, I'd like to see a reporter ask someone who offers such an opinion if they hold similar feelings about juries in criminal trials... Attacking juries like this is cynical, dishonest, and really quite insulting, since after all everyone reading this is a potential juror. That this now seems to be a standard talking point for the homebuilding industry certainly doesn't give me any faith in their preferred system of arbitration...But what really gets me is the last quoted sentence. The lawyer for the builders is also an arbitrator for the AAA, which is the group used to rule on these builder/buyer disputes.

Read more...
 
Senate Committee: Binding Arbitration Recommendations
Tuesday, 04 January 2005

Texas Senate Committee on Jurisprudence

Specifically, the Committee shall make recommendations to improve and ensure the efficiency, effectiveness, and fairness of arbitrators and arbitrations.

The Legislature should enact legislation requiring any business that includes a mandatory pre-dispute arbitration clause in their contracts to provide their consumers with certain upfront information. The information provided to the consumer shall specify which rights are being waived, who will arbitrate the dispute, who will cover the costs of arbitration, whether rules of discovery will be followed, what laws are applicable, what information will be public...
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No Binding Arbitration Allowed
Thursday, 02 December 2004

FANNIE MAE NO LONGER INVESTING IN MORTGAGES CONTAINING MANDATORY ARBITRATION CLAUSES
FANNIE MAE NO longer invests or accepts delivery of residential mortgage loan products that contain mandatory arbitration clauses.  According to Fannie Mae Announcement 04-06, Fannie Mae issued, among other things, new instructions to lenders outlining the policies for purchasing and accepting residential mortgage loans. Specifically, the instructions included a prohibition against purchasing or accepting delivery of residential mortgage loans containing mandatory arbitration clauses. A limited exception exists, permitting the use of mandatory arbitration provisions in mortgages that contain a waiver provision. The waiver provision shall provide that if the loan is sold or an interest in the mortgage loan is transferred to Fannie Mae, the mandatory arbitration clause becomes null and void.

Read more...
 
No Binding Arbitration Allowed with Freddie Mac Loans
Thursday, 04 December 2003

FREDDIE MAC PROMOTES CONSUMER CHOICE WITH NEW SUBPRIME MORTGAGE ARBITRATION POLICY
Freddie Mac announced today that effective August 1, 2004, it would no longer invest in subprime mortgages originated on or after that date that contain mandatory arbitration clauses. Freddie Mac is the first among secondary mortgage investors to adopt such a stance on subprime mortgages with mandatory arbitration clauses. This policy is aligned with the corporation’s existing prohibition on the use of mandatory arbitration for prime market mortgage investments.

Read more...
 
From Texas Watch:
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.

 
There's no way to arbitrate this issue Critics, firms at odds on policy
Tuesday, 30 July 2002

By Caroline E. Mayer The Washington Post. Arbitrators can limit an aggrieved individual's access to a company's documents, thus possibly reducing support for the complaint. Arbitrations are decided in private. Decisions are kept confidential, so consumers don't necessarily learn what the arbitrator based a decision on. And many consumer agreements call for the arbitration firm to be chosen by the company being complained about.

Link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/printedition/chi-0207300207jul30.story?coll=chi%2Dprintbusiness%2Dhed
 
No Suits Allowed Increasingly, Arbitration Is the Only Recourse
Sunday, 14 July 2002

By Caroline E. Mayer Washington Post Staff Writer.

As an arbitrator, you're going to get work as long as parties choose to use you, and if this is your career or it makes up a good part of your practice, then if you render a decision that is unpopular" with parties that frequently use arbitration, they "may not choose to use you again."…The homeowner is convinced she won't get a fair hearing.

Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64365-2002Jul13.html 

 
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