Give Texas homeowners better tools to force irresponsible builders to fix construction defects
The mounting numbers of unresolved complaints make increasingly clear that the Texas Residential Construction Commission Act, passed in the 2003 Legislature, has become for buyers of poorly constructed homes the nightmare many feared it would. Adding insult to this injurious legislation is how the law is falsely touted as an aide to homeowners stuck in shoddily built houses...families spent countless hours in futile attempts to get their builder to fix the problems and thousands of dollars out of pocket on repairs.Then the aggrieved owners were further abused by the Texas law that was supposed to help homeowners at the mercy of predatory builders.

To deal with complaints of shoddy construction, the law created a nine-member commission that is dominated 5 to 3 by building trade professionals. According to information provided on the commission's Web site, the law "allows a homeowner or builder to obtain a neutral, professional review of alleged post-construction defects" before a dissatisfied buyer can initiate legal action against a builder. Because the review's findings are admissible in court and at arbitration and mediation proceedings, the commission states, this helps an owner keep down legal costs associated with hiring an expert witness.

The people interviewed by reporter Lise Olsen (Chronicle, April 27) beg to differ. According to the report, neighbors in Montrose's Hyde Park Crescent suffered for years with leaking roofs and windows, mold and rot, and water-logged balconies of homes for which they had paid in the mid-$300,000s.

These families spent countless hours in futile attempts to get their builder to fix the problems and thousands of dollars out of pocket on repairs.

Then the aggrieved owners were further abused by the Texas law that was supposed to help homeowners at the mercy of predatory builders.

Because provisions of the Texas Residential Construction Commission Act require homeowners to jump through a series of hoops that clearly favor builders and remodelers, several of the Hyde Park owners lost their homes to foreclosure after their complaints dragged on for years without resolution. Either they couldn't afford to make repairs, or their resources were depleted by costly arbitration.

In one case, an arbiter in 2006 awarded one of the couples more than $37,000, an amount the builders have yet to pay, the couple and their attorney contend.

Last year, nearly two dozen homeowners frustrated by fruitless efforts to have repairs made to their defective homes sought help from the Harris County district attorney's office. The complaints included photographs of slipshod construction, records showing failure to get required building permits (which trigger city inspections) and documentation of frequent company name changes and warranty claim denials.

However, the attorney in the consumer fraud division refused the case because it would be difficult to meet Texas' burden of proof that the builder "intentionally and knowingly promised performance to the consumer, which they knew would not be performed" — this despite dozens of witnesses willing to testify they had been bilked by the construction company.

Nor can abused homebuyers depend on the courts for justice. The Texas Supreme Court Friday threw out an $800,000 arbitration award against the company owned by wealthy campaign contributor Bob Perry, despite abundant evidence of the company's culpability. The case was returned for trial, delaying and possibly denying relief for the plaintiffs.

The TRCC law is up for sunset review, a process that includes a public comment period through May 16 and hearings Sept. 23 and 24, during which commissioners invite public testimony. Under sunset law provisions, lawmakers are supposed to address any concerns raised when they convene in 2009. To fix this grossly unbalanced legislation will require a willingness among representatives to give the same consideration to the needs of Texas homebuyers as they do to the wishes of the construction industry.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/5753190.html

 See Reader Comments:

	Trains682 wrote: Another huge lie told by the builders is the near exclusive use of illegal aliens for labor keeps prices down. No it doesn't. One, the quality suffers as craftsmanship is replaced by speed and by a low-bid sub-contractor process that means those few trying to pay a living wage with benefits can't compete. Second, The Bob Perrys in this state have those millions and millions of extra dollars to buy favorable legislation because they reduced their costs alright but didn't pass those savings on to buyers instead continuing to sell an increasingly inferior cheaper product for them at market based prices; not for a price having anything to do with the falling cost of the labor and cheaper and cheaper lower quality materials to build the house . . . . . . . 5/5/2008 12:50 AM CDT Recommend (7) Report abuse
	Nativetexan60 wrote: Trains682, I could have not said it better myself. Now this court judgment will really advertise Texas to would be businesses and would be residents won't it? In the long run, scrimping on quality and padding the bottom line, ruins our state, period. But the Bob Perrys and our politicians laugh all the way to the bank. Then, these people around Texas will still march lock step to vote for the same Republicans and the pro development people will just keep lining their and their friends pockets. 5/5/2008 1:42 AM CDT Recommend (5) Report abuse
	Helpful wrote: Train: "One, the quality suffers as craftsmanship is replaced by speed and by a low-bid sub-contractor process that means those few trying to pay a living wage with benefits can't compete." Builders tend to answer the demands of the market and I can assure you that the ones competing on price and speed as primary selling points would be doing so regardless of where their help comes from. The implication that illegals are necessarily less skilled is a fallacy made up to sell an agenda in an unrelated topic. Consumers generally get what they pay for; you want "cheap", they'll sell you "cheap". You want quality, they'll sell you that too but don't expect to get a $400,000 home where the land alone cost half that for $300,000. As far as Perry and other mass quantity builders are concerned, we can all feel sorry for the people that had issues with their town homes or other cases mentioned in the series of articles but perhaps it would be a better assessment of the big picture if you look at how few complaints those builders tend to get. Reforms might be needed in the legislature but I've been in a number of Perry's homes and they were as solid as the structures selling for much more in other parts of the country. If you think all the pro-developer politicians are Republicans, you haven't been paying attention either. PS: There had been a building boom for a very long time so suggesting that any building materials were getting cheaper is reflective of someone not really in tune with the costs of basic materials to build a house (look it up in the Chronicle archives regarding shortages in construction materials such as plywood, concrete, and other basics). The recent market correction will be offset by the price of energy/gas too so don't expect a lot to change. 5/5/2008 2:35 AM CDT Recommend (4) Report abuse
	twobe wrote: Usually when I hear someone say how "solid" a builder's homes are I would suspect a connection to that builder. Many of them use the same sub-contractors. Perry's homes are no different then any other, hence people testifying in Austin about their Perry Homes. There is absolutely no justice in this state (or most other states) when a person is victimized by a builder. There is no amount of homework one can do to protect themselves. I try to direct people to Homeowners for Better Building and Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings to get the full sordid stories on how bad this situation is. As far as TRCC, they just received $7 million more and moved into new offices. I really doubt they are going anywhere. 5/5/2008 4:28 AM CDT Recommend (6) Report abuse
	johncoby wrote: WOW! GREAT editorial! You hit the nail on the head. I couldn't of said it better, although I tried: http://bayareahouston.blogspot.com/2008/05/history-of-failure-in-homebuilders.html 5/5/2008 5:23 AM CDT Recommend (1) Report abuse
	johnabc wrote: This is all pretty needless seems to me. First of all, if one is going to spend several hundred thousand on a home, shouldn't common sense tell you to educate yourself to the point of being able to identify quality vs shoddy construction. If you want to know whats behind the walls, go to some of the homes the builder is building that are in various stages of construction, and see for yourself. Jerry Clower called it being educated beyond ones intelligence level, and it seems to me thats the case with many of these folks. Kinda the same mentallity that says, I'm gona go blindly along and if I get in trouble, its your responsibility to get me out. Much like the mountain climbers in the Rockies, climing where its against the law, getting in a life threatening situation and expecting the emergency response folks to rush in and save em. Let em deal with their own crisis, they made it. 5/5/2008 6:01 AM CDT Recommend Report abuse
	walkdogger wrote: It's Texas. We expect our elected officials to be bought off by powerful interests. Consumers have no protection in Texas, not when powerful and rich interests give major campaign contributions and control who sits on the regulatory bodies. Bob Perry's people wrote the bill and chair the commission - no consumer protection there. Just a nice thanks from the politicians he bought. 5/5/2008 6:01 AM CDT Recommend (5) Report abuse
	Thermonuclear wrote: Helpful - You are wrong and Trains is correct. I have first hand experience with this. Skilled union carpenters, drywallers and electricians have been replaced by unskilled illegal aliens (amny of them teenagers) who can't read or speak English. Can they read the electrical code? Hell no and they don't care. I had to have extensive re-works done on my house as I found shoddy workmanship to be the rule vs the exception. 5/5/2008 6:52 AM CDT Recommend Report abuse
	Thermonuclear wrote: Helpful - "it would be a better assessment of the big picture if you look at how few complaints those builders tend to get." What have you been smoking? There has been all but a homebuyer revolt in the Woodlands against mass builders like DR Horton and others, who have whole teams of repairmen whose sole job is to fix shoddy workmanship done and caught by observant homebuyers. The complaints are in the thousands in this one subdivision alone. 5/5/2008 6:58 AM CDT Recommend Report abuse
	Trains682 wrote: "Helpful" - I will concede your point that there is cheap out there if you want the lowest price and better quality if you are willing to pay extra but too many times folks are paying for the better quality and not getting it. I often times walk through some of the houses going up in what we'll say is the 77005 zipcode where almost every house is supposedly of premium quality being built by custom home builders. (Is what the signs say) In many cases it is only the end price that is premium. I am appalled at atleast one thing I see at every house I walk through. 2x4s in exterior walls holding up 2.5 story houses, lumber with so many knots in it I wouldn't build a dog house with, shingles so thin you can roll them like paper towels, sloppy wiring with improperly made connections, thin piping, cheap fittings, dirt showing around sewer lines at slab penetrations (termites), cheap flexible duct work run too far and in the hottest part of the attics, too little insulation; the list goes on. Most home owners have no clue as to what they are looking at before a house is sheetrocked. Many speculators, to your point, build the cheapest house possible but put in a few fancy decorator touches in the kitchen and bathroom and then sell the whole house as custom and premium quality when in fact all it is is a really big tract home. The owner(s) will face a whole host of problems down the road and shock when the utility bills begin arriving. True, we live in a "buyer-beware" society these days but back in the day, most construction was done at the premium quality level without regard to price and building inspections and codes were some guarantee of quality but that has slipped today to being the barest of the minimum standards. Everyone that watches their house go up cannot be an engineer/architect and now thanks to out right bribes by builders raking in huge profits due to the corners they can now cut with impunity, there isn't even any recourse the rare times it has been proven that contractors obviously ripped off the customers and then changed the names of their business . . . . . 5/5/2008 7:12 AM CDT Recommend (2) Report abuse
	TheModerator wrote: Trains682 wrote: Another huge lie told by the builders is the near exclusive use of illegal aliens for labor keeps prices down. I have rarely seen comments regarding employment of illegals by somebody that knew anything at all about the topic and Trains682 is no exception. Specifically, builders rarely know who will be the actual onsite employees as builders hire subcontractors based on bids and past experience who in turn hire their own employees. In addition, the subcontractors may have multiple crews which may be at different jobsites. Therefore, a builder usually doesn’t know he is indirectly hiring illegals which is why current hiring law pertaining to illegals doesn’t work. Regarding low quality, it is a known axiom that low prices drive out high quality. I know a builder who has repeatedly clarified the exact specifications of a home to be built only to lose the bid to another builder who substituted vastly lower quality features with approval from the homebuyer. Many, if not most, buyers don’t want to admit they want the lowest price possible and don’t want to risk embarrassment by stating that frankly at the beginning of the bid process. Therefore, after wasting hundreds of dollars on prints and thousands of dollars worth of time in a flawed bid procedure, many builders have learned they have to lowball a bid due to buyer dishonesty. Some meet the unrealistic price demanded by the buyer and start milking the job for change orders. However, there are some builders who will only bid quality materials and use only qualified subcontractors. However, as with all companies, a builder may not know in advance of personnel changes of subcontract personnel. Most of the complaints I’ve heard or read about were because the buyer was impressed by image and relied on indicators such as a website or number of houses under construction or office location rather than having performed a simple due diligence of asking previous customers their opinion of the builder. Simply having a little common sense and the guts to contact former customers will avoid most complaints. A builder doesn’t simply fall off the quality control honor roll overnight but is usually consistent throughout his career. Almost all have been consistent from start to finish. Therefore, the buyer is usually to blame from the start for aiding and abetting due to not being forthright about budget and failing to perform the simplest free background check. 5/5/2008 8:17 AM CDT Recommend (1) Report abuse
	45caliber wrote: A friend told me of a job he watched in Houston while eating lunch across the street. The building inspector came to the site to inspect the reinforcing bar meant to keep concrete together. The moment he left, the builder had his crew pick it up and carry it to the next house site. Then they poured the entire floor without any reinforcement at all. There were dozens of house sites there in various states of completion. He guessed that all had the same floor problem. Basically the owners would always have trouble with floor cracks and sooner or later the house would have to be condemned. And the rebar he saved probably cost less than a hundred dollars! 5/5/2008 9:33 AM CDT Recommend Report abuse
	Trains682 wrote: "TheModerator" - By and large I agree with your post except for saying I am un-informed regarding illegals. I'll choose to let that go. You make several accurate points but they are different points from my post, not refudiations. Your tone however hints that you are defending an industry that does not deserve to be defended. It has gone way down hill from the days of quality construction of the 50s, 60s and even then 70s and that fact is obvious. Your own points make the case for this in many ways. I will disagree with you that builders don't know what the wages are and whether employees of sub-contractors are illegals. You would be a fool not to believe they know exactly what is going on. Name me one significant industry where the actual wages now are less than what the job paid 30 years ago. You can't name one other than residential construction. Residential construction jobs that paid $15-$20 an hour in 1975 pay about 30% less than that today. That is not inflation adjusted dollars; that is an actual decrease in the wage for that work. Your very words stated low price drives out quality. Of course it does and nobody that could do the job 30 years ago for $20-an-hour would do it today for $15. The sad fact is the ones doing that work for so much less money now only say they can do the job but very few standards exist to hold them accountible and fewer still are qualified to even carry the tool belts of the guys that did that work many years ago. How much has the pay of fireman/policeman gone up in that time ???? Teachers; they are frequently cited as under paid yet all make way more now than they did 30 years ago. Only the people that build and work around our homes make less actual money and we now see we are getting what the builder paid for, not what we were charged because the market allowed them to just keep uping their mark-up that again allows the Bob Perrys of this state to be able to afford to heap millions of his ill-gotten gaines into sleazy lawmakers pockets. You foolishly say that customers should call the previous clients of contractors. That is nearly impossible and a silly thing for you to have said. The only references you are going to get are of those that don't know that they were ripped off yet. Most custom home customers up until recently built the biggest fanciest looking and to your point cheapest home they could and then sold it 3 or 4 years later so when the phone rings, the original owner is long gone. Even a crappily built house will last a few years so by the time most of the bad defects start to show up, the house has changed hands several times with few exceptions. That 30 year roof you think you paid for; what are the odds the phone still rings at the dudes place that installed it in year 16 ???? 5/5/2008 11:09 AM CDT Recommend (1) Report abuse
	snorbert wrote: You obvious builders who are posting here trying to blame it all on the buyer are being disingenuous at best. I guess you think most the public is stupid and will buy into your "kool-aid". The fact is if we had any builders in Texas who had pride in their work and were not after a quick buck, the buyers would not be in this situation. I will never hire a contractor to do any building on my place. I have proved to myself enough times in the past the old adage "if you want it done right, do it yourself". And by the way, I have watched many "teams of illegals" who are doing the work for supposed "quality builders" and the work is very sub-standard, but not necessarily because they don't have the skills, but more because they could care less as a result of their low pay. The so called quality builders look the other way and charge the customer as if the work was done up to par. This is the reality of construction in Texas and anyone who says otherwise is not being honest. 5/5/2008 11:18 AM CDT Recommend (1) Report abuse
	Helpful wrote: Train: "I will concede your point that there is cheap out there if you want the lowest price and better quality if you are willing to pay extra but too many times folks are paying for the better quality and not getting it. I often times walk through some of the houses going up in what we'll say is the 77005 zipcode where almost every house is supposedly of premium quality being built by custom home builders. (Is what the signs say) In many cases it is only the end price that is premium." Don't believe the advertising of the company. If you're building a house, hire an independent inspector that works FOR YOU and will be contractually allowed to sign off on each stage of the construction. By working out the details ahead of time, he will be able to guide you through the quality of materials, the methods of building that work best, and prevent most unforeseen cuts in quality being discussed here. Train: "Name me one significant industry where the actual wages now are less than what the job paid 30 years ago. You can't name one other than residential construction." Many "heavy" industries from the rust belt would fall into this category, including steel mill workers, auto workers, and assorted labor where the uncompetitive unions forced massive layoffs and plant shutdowns. Lots of them were replaced by industrialized robots that could work 24/7, take few breaks, and not demand outrageous benefit packages. Twobe and Snorbert, accusing anyone that disagrees with you or has a different perspective of being in league with the builder is a pretty lame way of attacking. The marketplace rules common practice in almost all industries and you can get whatever level of craftsmanship you are willing to pay for but again, the price you pay is for the going level of quality, NOT what you think should be the level of quality. I want a 60" plasma TV from Sony for under $300 but guess what, that isn't what they cost. Take the land value out of those 77005 homes and there goes half the cost you would pay for the labor-intensive structure known as a house. Again, I ask any of you what is the major defect rate of any of the major builders for a reason, most people are not jumping up & down saying their new home is falling apart and screwed up. If you didn't paint with such a broad brush, you'd gain more support but even the anecdotal evidence routinely presented in these articles and responses is spotty. The flip side of the belief that ALL or MOST new homes are made poorly is that a nice older home is then worth a premium to the secondary market; even though many of the materials and practices developed in the last twenty years have improved the safety and efficiency of new homes substantially. Still, if you'd prefer to believe pre-1980 houses are necessarily better, many such homeowners won't argue with you (laughing all the way to the bank when they go to sell). 5/5/2008 1:22 PM CDT Recommend (2) Report abuse

	commission wrote: I believe readers of the Houston Chronicle should be aware of these facts relating to the Texas Residential Construction Commission: 1. The properties referenced in the first article and the subsequent editorial were condominiums and therefore legally not eligible for the commission’s inspection process, 2. The commission often refers cases involving alleged violations of law to district attorney offices because they are vested by the state with criminal prosecution authority, 3. The Comptroller’s survey is old — predating significant changes to law — and included responses from people still actively involved in the inspection process, and therefore the fact that their issues were still unresolved would be expected. The commission’s internal tracking shows an increasing number of homes being fixed following the commission’s inspection process, and 4. Following changes in 2007, the law now requires builders and remodelers to make offers to repair or otherwise settle claims through the commission’s inspection process and to report to the commission all offers made to homeowners following those inspections. I urge you or you readers to contact the commission at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or to view our Web site, www.texasrcc.org, to get up-to-date statistics or facts about the work we perform for Texans. 5/5/2008 3:41 PM CDT Recommend Report abuse
	Trains682 wrote: "Helpful" - OK, now I just must say you are dead wrong and you don't know what you are talking about. In 1975 the UAW wage rate averaged about $12 an hour. In 2008 that wage rate was $28. All the rest of your words are worthless/useless because you are 100% completely dead wrong on the most important point of the posts. No other industry/occupation in this country has had a net loss in wages over 30 years compared to residential construction. Lower wages has meant lower quality. That is a fact. Look it up . . . . . 5/5/2008 4:46 PM CDT Recommend Report abuse
	twobe wrote: As far as the commission, after a builder has repeatedly screwed up why should a victim allow this jerk to come back in their house and screw it up again? Victims should be allowed to choose companies they know have good reputations and know what they are doing. And let's not forget it will be the homeowner who has to disclose ALL the defects the builder caused when they are ready to sell. 5/5/2008 6:34 PM CDT Recommend Report abuse

	Helpful wrote: Train, no need to get emotional about it but perhaps you forgot that 30 years ago was JUST BEFORE Iaccoca forced a few billion in wage concessions (not 1975 by the way, nice dodge), laid off a half million employees or so, and got the governmental bailout the hooked taxpayers for far more. Contrast that with more recent wage concessions by such auto workers at Delphi where: "The agreement reflects the dismal context of the auto parts industry in a global world," Shaiken said. "The $18 wage is approximately double what Delphi offered immediately after the bankruptcy. So they managed to salvage a much better agreement." (http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/22/business/NA-FIN-US-Delphi-Union.php) I'm acquainted with a number of people that made "good money" back in the late 1970's for blue collar work, often in the upper 20's to lower 30's per hour, who found getting $0/hr to be quite a shock (factoring in all the positions that were lost seems reasonable in this discussion, even barring the fact that wage concessions are looming at a number of large heavy industry employers beyond Delphi). You can look any of this up if you like too... Besides, if you are unable to cope with a differing point of view, perhaps you should just move along. You are unable to translate a causal relationship between wages and quality because there isn't one. That you feel the need to use actual instead of inflation adjusted wages as part of your argument is as spurious as your lack of any credible cite regarding the decline of construction wages to begin with (hint: talk about actual carpenters, brick layers, etc, not the entry level "helpers"). Here's a starting point for you, unadjusted for layoffs: http://www.bls.gov The bottom line is that buyers should accept their responsibilities BEFORE having a home built, not expect the taxpayer to save them from a complete lack of due diligence. If that offends you, I apologize in advance. 5/5/2008 9:50 PM CDT Recommend (1) Report abuse
	jimmyev wrote: They all use the same subcontractors. They pick them up at the closest day labor site. I'm still waiting for someone to find a non-illegal alien working on a Perry Home. 5/5/2008 9:55 PM CDT Recommend Report abuse
	twobe wrote: A link to some info. on Bob Perry http://www.hobb.org/content/view/1779/302/ 5/6/2008 4:24 AM CDT Recommend Report abuse
	johncoby wrote: TO the member of the Commission who provided a response. I offer the truth: 1. The properties referenced in the first article and the subsequent editorial were condominiums and therefore legally not eligible for the commission’s inspection process, [Good point, but that is not the help they asked for. They wanted the TRCC to investigate the builder's actions not inspect their home] 2. The commission often refers cases involving alleged violations of law to district attorney offices because they are vested by the state with criminal prosecution authority, [Often? Really? And yet it is still happening, over and over and over.] 3. The Comptroller’s survey is old — predating significant changes to law — and included responses from people still actively involved in the inspection process, and therefore the fact that their issues were still unresolved would be expected. The commission’s internal tracking shows an increasing number of homes being fixed following the commission’s inspection process, and [The survey may be old, but it is still valid. The legislature only made 4 out of the 16 proposed changes. the major changes needed are still needed] 4. Following changes in 2007, the law now requires builders and remodelers to make offers to repair or otherwise settle claims through the commission’s inspection process and to report to the commission all offers made to homeowners following those inspections. [This is a deception. This requirement was made in 1989 with the Residential Construction Liability Act. Also, the builders will low ball on the offer, then claim the homeowner is uncooperative. It really doesn't help the consumer, it helps the builders.] p.s. Go get a real job. 5/6/2008 7:28 AM CDT Recommend Report abuse
	twobe wrote: To Helpful or anyone else that buys into the more you spend the better quality you will receive: Here's one on Allen Iverson http://www.hobb.org/content/view/2304/89/ or remember Sandra Bullock's house which won her $8 mil. in court and she personally demolished her multi-million $ dig. How 'bout former basketball player Sean Elliot? A gentleman who was in the military testified in Austin that the construction he has seen here is comparable to third world countries. He is in the military. 5/6/2008 6:15 PM CDT Recommend Report abuse
	Helpful wrote: Twobe, please don't misquote me as I did not equate the two. I merely pointed out that bargain hunters best be prepared to do their due diligence or potentially suffer the consequences as these small numbers of people did. The fact that there are so few stories out of the millions of homes built has been left out of the equation by the writers and commentators too; the numbers telling a completely different tale. That doesn't relieve builders from their responsibilities but it does balance out the bigger picture better than a small percentage of people with an agenda to sell (and the "builders are all evil website" certainly gives that impression). 5/6/2008 9:46 PM CDT Recommend (1) Report abuse
	JanetAhmad wrote: Commission: Your statement is incorrect: you claim the properties referenced in the first article are condominiums. Those homes are not condominiums they are free standing homes. Please don’t insult the intelligence of readers by saying that the comptrollers’ findings are old. That was January 2006, the report confirmed only 6% of homeowners got anything repaired. Facts and numbers don’t lie. The only thing that is getting old is the 5-year builder’s excuse that the TRCC is young and still in its infancy. As I have said before “if this is TRCC’s infancy, I hate to see what it grows up to be.” The truth is the agency’s dismal record continues to worsen as its agenda to limit builder’s responsibility becomes more successful. TRCC is accomplishing exactly what Bob Perry and his immoral friends designed it to do – protect the homebuilding industry from liability. The fact is most homeowners refuse to get suckered into Bob Perry’s TRCC, instead opting to walk away when they weigh the cost and burdens that TRCC imposes. Again Perry’s’ TRCC is doing exactly what he designed it to do – limit responsibility. Since TRCC was created attorneys will no longer take a home defects case on a contingency basis, openly stating they can only represent the wealthy. On average it costs the homeowner $20,000 just to hire an attorney to go through TRCC and one year of wasted time to complete the process before being forced into costly, builder biased Binding Mandatory Arbitration (BMA). The recent deplorable Supreme Court decision in favor of ‘Bob the Builder’ Perry will go down in the history books along side the political scandal of the Lyndon Johnson infamous 1948 “Ballot Box 13” in Alice Texas. When hundreds of thousands of homeowners consistently lost in binding arbitration, the courts upheld that the arbiters’ decision was binding and final. However, for builder Bob Perry the court said the arbiters’ decision is not binding. The very rich Bob Perry has demonstrated in brazen fashion the lengths at which builders will seek relief from all warranty liability. As for Robert and Jane Cull’s 11-year ordeal, no amount of Bob Perry’s money will ever compensate them for the years they were deprived of the full enjoyment of their home they so valiantly fought to preserve Bob Perry’s TRCC and Binding Arbitration clauses were never designed to protect consumers but to limit virtually all liability for Cooperate America to successfully produce defective products without consequences. With the track record of Bob Perry’s TRCC and the outrageous Bob Perry Supreme Court decision who could argue with the facts that Texas new home warranties are worthless. The Houston Chronicle is doing a superb job of diligent reporting of TRCC’s record of deception and uselessness. 5/7/2008 9:03 AM CDT Recommend Report abuse