HomeLatest NewsFeatured HomebuildersHome Buyer ResourcesBinding ArbitrationResource LinksSubmit ComplaintsView ComplaintsTake Action 101!Report Mortgage FraudMortgage Fraud NewsForeclosure NewsConstruction DefectsHome DefectsPhoto GalleryFoundation ProblemsHomeowner Website LinksHOA Reform
Main Menu
Home
Latest News
Featured Homebuilders
Home Buyer Resources
Binding Arbitration
Resource Links
Submit Complaints
View Complaints
Take Action 101!
Report Mortgage Fraud
Mortgage Fraud News
Foreclosure News
Construction Defects
Home Defects
Photo Gallery
Foundation Problems
Homeowner Website Links
HOA Reform
Featured Topics
Builder Death Spiral
Report Mortgage Fraud
Foreclosure Special Report
Mold & New Home Guide
Special News Reports
Centex & Habitability
How Fast Can They Build Them?
TRCC Editorial
Texas TRCC Scandal
Texas Watch - Tell Lawmakers
TRCC Recommendations
Sandra Bullock
People's Lawyer
Prevent Nightmare Homes
Choice Homes
Smart Money
Weekly Update Message
HOBB Archives
About HOBB
Contact Us
Fair Use Notice
Legislative Work
Your House

 HOBB News Alerts
and Updates

Click Here to Subscribe

Support HOBB - Become a Sustaining Member
Who's Online
ABC Special Report
Investigation: New Home Heartbreak
Trump - NAHB Homebuilders Shoddy Construction and Forced Arbitration
Mandatory Binding Arbitration
Saturday, 19 November 2005

Binding Arbitration is a Lethal Weapon!
Sick of Bad Builders (SOBB) - Home Owners for Better Building (HOBB)



Home Court Advantage
How the Building Industry Uses Forced Arbitration to Evade Accountability
By Public Citizen
 

An Army soldier between stints in Iraq and his wife were told just before closing that their new house came with a warranty to provide "extra coverage just in case something went wrong." But the warranty John and Michelle Rechtien received 45 days after moving in to their Savannah, Ga., house actually did the opposite. It severely restricted the builder’s responsibilities and, further, required any future legal dispute to be settled before a private arbitration firm that was approved by the warranty company – a requirement that a Georgia law appears intent to prohibit...  “As a result, the system is stacked against the consumer.” A Must Read Report...

Warning:  2011 Supreme Court ruling on AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion
NO Class-Action - Just forces binding arbitration. ...Judgment in your favor isn't a likely outcome, advocates note, because arbitration tends to be biased in favor of businesses. Hines points out that arbitration providers want to get repeat business from companies, so they have a financial incentive to rule more often in the business's favor. In one study conducted by Public Citizen, 95% of arbitration cases were settled in favor of the company Forced Arbitration: Killing the Right to Sue Big Companies, One TOS Agreement at a Time

Public Citizen
Forced Arbitration Rogues Gallery
Expose Corporations That Are Rigging the Justice System Against Consumers

You can help us add more by blowing the whistle on the companies that are taking away your rights with this predatory practice. Read more at Public Citizen...

Fair Arbitration Now.org!
Coalition Dedicated to Restoring Consumer Rights and End Forced Arbitration 
Home Builders wholeheartedly supported the subversion of civil rights laws by inserting Mandatory Binding Arbitration (MBA)
clauses in new home warranty’s that send legal disputes to their own corporate private courts.

Good Arbitration News: Congressman Kucinich Announces Credit Cards That Don't Cost You Your Legal Rights 
 
NEWS AND EVENTS FROM THE BENCH
Binding Arbitration - Kangaroo Court
No Appeal...."The court may not reevaluate supposed inconsistencies
in the arbitrator's logic or review the merits of the arbitrator's decision."

Why Homebuyers need a Home Lemon Law

Arbitration Bill Passes Senate!
Four years to fight to get in court is not a day in Court, Jamie Leigh Jones 

 Public Ctizen Report - Home Court Advantage

How the Building Industry Uses Forced Arbitration to Evade Accountability
The People vs the Plastic
Taking on Credit Card Companies
 - BOA drops Arbitration clause
Congressional Oversight Hearings: Credit Card Industry Facing New Charges Of Improprieties
FOX Report: Credit Card Arbitration Facing Charges

Consumer Victory: Arbitration System Begins to Crumble

ABC World News 4-part report on Mandatory Binding Arbitration
Video Report (high Spead)
Video Report (Dial-Up)
Text Version 

Privatizing Justice.  Arbitration is a private system without any legal protections.  There is no impartial judge, jury, or meaningful appeal.  There is no public review of decisions to ensure the arbitrator got it right. Federal law does not require that arbitrators have legal training or even follow the law.  We need a system that is transparent and accountable to the public.  Forced arbitration is the exact opposite

Editorial: Two Plus Two Equals … Whatever an Aarbitrator Says it Equals

Forced binding arbitration undermines the ability of consumers to hold Corporate America accountable under the law and their constitutional rights.

For the Texas homebuilding industry mandatory binding arbitration has been the highly profitable panacea that limits all warranty liability.  Builders understand a home warranty is no longer a warranty obligation they must contend with but, a consumer burden of an unaffordable legal dispute that ends in forced binding arbitration hidden from public scrutiny.

Today more and more homeowners are taking their disputes to the court of public opinion rather than the stacked deck of binding arbitration.  The Pulte-Centex Rivermist hillside collapse is an example of how forced binding arbitration in builder contract has both angered and inspired homeowners to go public rather than submit to the builder's entrapment of arbitration.

Iraq Rape Claims Push Senate Panel to Act

Feingold & Johnson Introduce Consumer Legislation Arbitration Fairness Act 
Restoring The Rule of Law
 View Press Conferance Video...  See photos

The Birth of Binding Arbitration, as recorded by American Arbitration Association
“In June 1994, the AAA created the Construction ADR Task Force, comprised of 55 representatives of the construction industry and it advocates. The mission of the Task Force was to undertake a comprehensive review of the AAA’s Construction Dispute Avoidance, Management and Resolution Services, including rules, administrative policies, panels, binding and non-binding forms of ADR, education and training programs, and outreach, with a goal of improving AAA services and helping the AAA be more responsive to the needs of the construction industry.”

Editorial: The deck is stacked against homebuyers
By Janet Ahmad  Read more...

San Francisco Chronicle
PRIVATE JUSTICE: Millions are losing their legal rights
Supreme Court forces disputes from court to arbitration - a system with no laws
San Francisco Chronicle's three part series (
1, 2, 3)
Deadly Mandatory Binding Arbitration Case
DR Horton Homes Avoids Warranty Responsbility for Defective House
 

The Lucrative Business of Arbitration � Judges reaping the bounty
 Exceptional Article! 
Is Justice Served?
By Eric Berkowitz
 
"Arbitration Used by Home Builders to Subvert Consumer Laws"
By Janet Ahmad, President
HomeOwners for Better Building
 Fair Arbitration Now!
Fair Arbitration NOW.org 
What Is Arbitration?  Mandatory Binding Arbitration is a system in which businesses require their customers and employees to "agree" to give up their right to go to court and to permit an arbitration firm of the business's choosing to resolve any future disputes.

"Give Me Back My Right Campaign!"
Model State Arbitration Legislation &
What's in your new home purchase contract?
Fair Homebuyer Contract Model

Bad Binding Arbitration Experience? 
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Arbitration Horror Stories
www.arbitrationhorrorstories.com.
Tell us your story

The Arbitration Fairness Act of 2009 - Protect Consumers & Employees from Forced Arbitration 
Read more...

Poll: Americans Oppose Forced Arbitration, Demand Corporations Be Held Accountable  Read more...
Americans widely oppose corporations using mandatory binding arbitration clauses in the fine print of consumer and employment contracts, according to national polling of likely voters conducted by Lake Research Partners.

Forced Arbitration
-
Debunking the Myths
  Read more...

Letter in Support of the Arbitration Fairness Act, H.R. 1020  Read more...

The Consumerist: The latest on Binding Mandatory Arbitration

Beware of All Binding Arbitration Clauses, FHA or VA!
 All buyers of homes with FHA & VA insured loans 
Buyers can refuse Binding Arbitration if they have an FHA or VA loan or buy a KB Home.
Dec 7, 2001 HUD on binding arbitration: "the Department precludes binding arbitration as the sole remedy." Page 1   Page 2
 

 

 

                

  

No Mandatory Binding Arbitration Allowed
OCT. 31, 2004: Fannie May & Freddie Mac no longer accept residential mortgage loans that contain mandatory arbitration clauses. Read more... Plus: Freddie Mac Press Release
   
Arbitration Justice  It stripped you of your rights and locks you into what many consider a one-sided decision that benefits everyone but you. The consumer has basically waived their constitutional right to sue, as an individual or with a class action suit, when he or she signs a mandatory binding arbitration clause as part of a contract. Consumer advocates point out many people do not know they have denied themselves that right.  

Mandatory Binding Arbitration Archives 1999 - 2002     
List of Home Builders that Require Mandatory Binding Arbitration as a condition to purchasing a New Home 
*******************************************************************

Featured Reports
Public Citizen Report - Arbitration More Expensive Than Court � So Costly That Many Victims of Consumer Fraud, Employment Discrimination Give Up
Read the executive summary of the report, click here.

Public Citizen Report - CAS Arbitration Investigated
Public Citizens calls for investigation of HBW and CAS 
Public Citizen describes how CAS is co-owned by a former lawyer who was disbarred for stealing client funds and operates in apparent violation of 12 states� laws... The letters also request investigations of the Home Buyers Warranty (HBW) companies, which insure many homebuilders and have designated CAS as the sole legal forum available to tens of thousands of Americans who buy new homes each year.

Public Citizen Report - The Arbitration Trap 
How Credit Card Companies Ensmare consumers 
Stunning results that disfavor consumers: In the more than 19,000 cases in which an NAF-appointed arbitrator was involved, 94 percent of decisions were for business... Biased decision-makers: Arbitrators have a strong financial incentive to rule in favor of the companies that file cases against cunsumers because they can make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year conducting arbitrations...Top arbitrators can charge up to $10,000 per day and some make $1 million a year. In camparison, California Superior Court judges earn $171,648.

Click to Listen: 7/3/2008 Binding Arbitration "You Can't Sue Me" Clauses! 
Ira Rheingold Executive Director and General Counsel of the National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA.net) and Janet Ahmad, Predisent of HomeOwners for Better Building hobb.org (hobb.org) discuss the costly, unfair and harmful effects of binding mandatory arbitration.
SpotLight   Listen to Welcome to


              ***************************************************************
Arbitration is the privatization of the Judicial System
The deck is stacked against homebuyers
The danger is that an arbitrator has the power of a Supreme Court Justice since arbitration decisions are final and can not be appealed.  For the past 12 years this consumer abusive system has been exploited by the homebuilding industry to avoid all warranty responsibility for defectively built homes.  Read more... 
or call 1-210-402-6800

American Arbitration Association (AAA) & The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Joint Venture 
Binding Arbitration Background:
In 1994 the National Assoc. of Home Builder (NAHB) and the American Arbitration Association (AAA) entered into a joint venture to write arbitration rules and builders put arbitration clauses in their contracts.  For the past 12 years NAHB�s members continued to supply AAA with excessively expensive binding arbitration business while homebuilders consistently receive favorable binding arbitration decisions from AAA.  Recently the building industry�s attempted to bully the Houston Better Business Bureau from offering affordable or even a free dispute resolution process that might hold builders accountable.  The object of the industry is to make arbitration too expensive for the consumer.
Houston Chronicle: Homeowners losing one option to resolve issues

American Arbitration Association Adoption of Rules - April 1, 1996
NAHB distributed a recommended builder contract to all of its members that contained a binding arbitration clause which stated, all disputes arising out of the contract shall be submitted to "American Arbitration Association (AAA) and shall be governed by the provisions of the AAA Construction Industry Arbitration Rules.      

Home Buyers Warranty Corporation (HBW) Scam & Binding Arbitration

After HBW accepted homes for enrollment in the warranty program, HBW issued warranty booklets to the homeowners. The HBW warranty booklet provided, "Any and all claims, disputes and controversies by or between the Homeowner, the Builder, the Warranty Insurer and/or HBW, or any combination of the foregoing, arising from or related to this Warranty, to the subject Home, to any defect in or to the subject Home or the real property on which the subject Home is situated, or the sale of the subject Home by the Builder, including without limitation, any claim of breach of contract, negligent or intentional misrepresentation or nondisclosure in the inducement, execution or performance of any contract, including this arbitration agreement, and breach of any alleged duty of good faith and fair dealing, shall be submitted to arbitration.  Read more...

Binding Arbitration & Worthless Builder Home Warranty - New Jersey Superior Court Judge Finds New Jersey's Home Owner Warranty Program "A Useless Piece of Paper" - "I'm well aware of the RWC program, the homeowner warranty program, and the election of remedies. It is set up with the specific goal in mind that there is declining coverage for the benefit of the homeowner, it declines. This is a program, even though it is distinguished by the Legislature, as a homeowner warranty, it is basically a safety net for the builder, as opposed to the homeowner."

 1999 - 2002
    
  •  
  •  
    Search HOBB.org

    Reckless Endangerment
    BY: GRETCHEN MORGENSON
    and JOSHUA ROSNER

    Outsized Ambition, Greed and
    Corruption Led to
    Economic Armageddon


    Amazon
    Barnes & Noble

    NPR Special Report
    Part I Listen Now
    Perry Home - No Warranty 
    Part II Listen Now
    Texas Favors Builders

    Washington Post
    The housing bubble, in four chapters
    BusinessWeek Special Reports
    Bonfire of the Builders
    Homebuilders helped fuel the housing crisis
    Housing: That Sinking Feeling

    Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence
     Arbitration Hearing,
    Video of Homeowners
    Testimony Advance to 1:55

    Consumer Affairs Builder Complaints

    IS YOUR STATE NEXT?
    As Goes Texas So Goes the Nation
    Knowledge and Financial Responsibility are still Optional for Texas Home Builders

    OUTSTANDING FOX4 REPORT
    TRCC from Bad to Worse
    Case of the Crooked House

    TRCC AN ARRESTING EXPERIENCE
    The Pat and Bob Egert Building & TRCC Experience 

    Build it right the first time
    An interview with Janet Ahmad

    Bad Binding Arbitration Experience?
    This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
    or call 1-210-402-6800

    top of page

    © 2024 HomeOwners for Better Building
    Joomla! is Free Software released under the GNU/GPL License.