Pawlenty ushered check on behalf of Texas home builder
Gov. Pawlenty said this morning that the $100,000 check he delivered to the Alabama GOP on Friday night was from Texas homebuilder Bob Perry. If you think the name sounds familiar, it should. Perry is a big-time GOP donor who contributes to the Republican Governors Association and several conservative 527 groups (including the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth organization in 2004). He also gave $500,000 to A Stronger American Minnesota, an independent 527 that worked to get Pawlenty reelected in 2006...one campaign finance watchdog called Perry "an 800 pound gorilla."

Mansfield couple’s fight with powerful homebuilder back in court
...it was like starting all over again... The Culls are a retirement-age couple who say Perry Homes built a defective house with a broken foundation and cracked walls, but won’t fix it. The Mansfield couple took their case to arbitration and won an $800,000 award — but Perry refused to pay, saying the couple had waived their legal rights to arbitrate. Years of appeals followed. Lower court judges ruled in the Culls’ favor, directing Perry to pay. The builder appealed to the Texas Supreme Court, whose members have all received campaign contributions from Perry, the state’s most prolific political giver. After reviewing the case more than a year, the Supreme Court wiped out the award and sent the case back to district court...Jane Cull said she fears the fight could sap not just their savings but also their energy. “Bob Perry doesn’t have to watch the money clock,” she said. “He has pockets deeper than the ocean.”

Cash and Carry Legislation
Any hope for a resolution to their dispute with United-Bilt Homes is directly linked to another homebuilder, however. Bob Perry, whose Houston-based Bob Perry Homes had gone to great lengths to avoid paying damages to other new home purchasers like the Hardys, willed the TRCC into existence in 2003 through the great influence he exerts over Texas politics by virtue of the fact he is the largest political contributor in state history. This explains, at least in part, why the TRCC - facing a mandatory review this session by the Sunset Commission - is not a likely candidate for elimination despite a litany of consumer complaints and harsh appraisals from elected officials in both parties.  "Bob Perry is the reason for many of the ills that plague homeowners and consumers in this state," said Winslow. "His money has allowed him unprecedented access to the legislature and to our courts and he has used that access to feather his own nest and make life a living hell for a lot of folks in Texas."

Robert & Jane Cull Written Testimony Before The Texas House Subcommittee on TRCC
We followed the rules of the warranty, patiently notifying Perry in writing with each of our issues.  We trusted them.  We actually believed that they would do the right thing because we had been raised with those values...It is time for the legislature to act.  And that action has to be driven by the absolute reality that homeowners with limited knowledge and resources need protection from homebuilders, not the other way around.  Birthing the TRCC did nothing but give homebuilders a “gatekeeper” to control access and flow of complaints and otherwise frustrate Texas citizens into either withdrawing or never even trying to tackle the maze.  You need to come down hard and swiftly in order to minimize the possibility that other homeowners have to suffer the same fate that we have suffered.

Homeowners denounce Bob Perry-created housing agency
A succession of homeowner horror stories today at a House subcommittee considering legislation to abolish the state agency created at the behest of Houston homebuilder Bob Perry. Critics say the agency is designed to frustrate homeowners who have defective houses. They say the Texas Residential Construction Commmission is an expensive, time-consuming hurdle homeowners must jump before taking their disputes to arbitration or the courts.

The Journal of Light Construction (JLCOnline) Forum: Bob Perry Money, TRCC, Cull Case, Texas Supreme Court
Did any of you catch the news clip this morning on NPR radio regarding Bob Perry Homes? Chronicled how BP built a home for the Cull's and after just 6 weeks of living in the house foundation started to heave from the expansive soils.
Read and post comments.

Critics: Texas Agency Favors Builders Over Buyers
Imagine hundreds of executives from BP, Shell and Exxon Mobil rallying on the steps of the Capitol in Washington to save the Environmental Protection Agency. That may be hard to picture, but recently in Texas, 1,000 homebuilders rallied at the state Capitol in an effort to save the agency that theoretically regulates them. Texas homebuilders are big fans of the job the Texas Residential Construction Commission has done since its inception five years ago. But after a backlash from homebuyers, who say the process is stacked in the builders' favor, state lawmakers are now considering whether to abolish it.  Out of 181 legislators, there are only six who don't take money from the Texas Association of Builders. So when the homebuilders come to Austin to lobby, the most powerful politicians in the state pay their respects. .."We're happy, you bet," says Ron Connally, a homebuilder and developer out of Amarillo who is also president of the Texas Association of Builders. "Court actions are way, way down because TRCC has taken care of a lot of those problems."  We heard from one reformer say that Texas is the worst state n the nation when it comes to protecting buyer of new homes.. Most investigators consider these states better than Texas because at least they don't give buyer an Illusion a regulatory agency

Did Builder's Clout Trap Couple In Dream Home?
Bob and Jane Cull bought the home of their dreams in Texas. It was built by one of the most powerful and politically connected homebuilders in the country — and it was defective. Thus began a 13-year odyssey that would teach them some unhappy lessons about money, power and influence....Seventy-six-year-old Bob Perry is one of Texas' most successful homebuilders. For the last two decades, he has used his $600 million fortune to fund the Republican revolution, both in Texas and nationally. He helped put George W. Bush into the White House. He was the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth's largest contributor. In Texas, if you hold a position of legislative, judicial or executive power, a Bob Perry donation is almost certainly in your campaign account. After he lost in arbitration to the Culls, the builder began appealing the award through the state courts. Perry's appeals were rejected at each stop until he got to the Texas Supreme Court. And there, he got satisfaction.

NPR to spotlight political moneyman Bob Perry
The battle has come to symbolize the disadvantage that an average homeowner faces in going up against a builder with deep pockets -- especially one as politically well-connected as Bob Perry. The Houston homebuilder is Gov. Rick Perry's (no relation) biggest campaign donor, and the governor was instrumental in creating the state agency that Perry wanted. The homebuilder has contributed money to much of the Legislature and to every member of the Texas Supreme Court, which ruled in his favor last year -- overturning the arbitration award and a string of court rulings and directing the Culls to start all over. Bob Perry spokesman Anthony Holm says the homebuilder is defending his legal rights.

National Public Radio (NPR) takes a look at Politics and Homebuilding Texas Style
A  Two Part NPR Report - “Weekend Edition” with Scott Simon. A system that for Texas homeowners with defective home has gone awry.  See date and times...