Dust in the Wind - Courting Favor
The lesson in the tale of Bob and Jane Cull—the North Texas homeowners who recently lost their politically charged case before the Texas Supreme Court—is don’t buy a home from the biggest campaign donor in the state. The Culls bought a $233,000 home in 1996. The house had severe structural and foundation problems, and the Culls have spent the past 11 years trying to recoup their losses from builder Perry Homes... The Culls initially filed suit against Perry Homes in state court. Just before trial, they changed their minds and opted for binding arbitration instead. The building industry usually prefers arbitration because builders usually win. In fact, the builder-dominated Texas Residential Construction Commission—the state regulatory agency that Perry helped create and on which Perry’s corporate attorney serves—implemented a set of rules designed to funnel housing disputes into arbitration. Arbitration hearings have become the place homeowner complaints go to die.  Read more...