Hello everyone,
It's been a while since I've posted. It hasn't been an easy couple of months as I'm sure it hasn't for any of you either.
For those of you who have filed lawsuits against Standard Pacific, I congratulate you. However, Standard Pacific is hiding behind some fine print in their joke of a 10-year warranty that we all signed at closing. This allegedly states that we have waived our rights to a trial because we are forced into arbitration.
Arbitration is a non-court proceeding that is entirely private and very commonly won by the builders. It does NOT favor homeowners because builders typically have the arbiters in their pockets since this is what they use ALL of the time to resolve issues.
If you are in this situation, there may be things you can do to avoid expensive arbitration. Please check with your attorney since I am in no position to offer legal advice. However, I have found a couple nuggets of wisdom on the internet that might help you.
First off, if your mortgage loan is FHA-insured or a VA loan, then the builder cannot legally force you into arbitration regardless of what their contract says because the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has built a special protection around FHA and VA loans.
Second, talk to your lawyer about the 6th constitutional amendment. It may protect you by ensuring your right to a trial by jury. I'm not entirely sure about this, but it may be possible. Again, I'm not an attorney.
Lastly, even if you're forced into arbitration, keep it as short as possible. In the State of Florida, arbitration is NOT binding... meaning that if you don't like the results you can still go to court and sue them. However, it does eat up money because it is expensive.
On a separate note, one of the blog readers indicated correctly that the Broward Property Appraiser's Office is reducing the 2009 property taxes for Chinese Drywall homes by 50%. It was previously said to have been 20% but apparently they've changed their minds.
You can visit their website at www.bcpa.net The notice is on their front page. This is what it says currently:
WE'RE REDUCING ASSESSMENTS FOR HOMES WITH CHINESE DRYWALL PROBLEMS.
As has been extensively reported in the news, some homes constructed in Broward within the past few years contain contaminated Chinese drywall. This drywall -- over time -- emits sulfur odors and seemingly causes visible corrosion to copper pipes and air conditioner evaporator coils. However, until a homeowner contacts our office to notify us, we have no way of independently identifying which homes contain contaminated Chinese drywall. These drywall problems seriously impact the value of these homes. To ensure fair assessments for these damaged properties, we will reduce the building value by 50% -- subject to the owners providing us with sufficient documentation of the condition and agreeing to this resolution for the 2009 assessment. To request this reduction, please contact our Residential Department Manager Bob Zbikowski by email or at 954.357.5880 to notify us if your home has documented Chinese drywall issues.
In the meantime, stay strong! We'll make it through this!
Very few lawyers will likely be aware of the regulation that allows FHA and VA home buyers to escape a 10 yr warranty policy's arbitration clause. The homeowner will HAVE to know what it is and the significance of enforcing it, to have success in my opinion. I base my opinion on having USED this regulation, which resulted in being able to settle my dispute w/a builder and warranty co since I was able to retain my right to sue. The regulation is 24 CFR 203.204(g) which says that "judicial" resolution of disputes must remain an option as well as arbitration. Be aware that if you agree to arbitrate, you are stuck, the regulation will not get you out of it after that point. You can find out more about this on HADD.com If I had not found out in time from HADD that this protection even existed, I would've almost certainly been forced to arbitrate a dispute and probably lost between $50,000 and upards of $100,000. Such a loss would've invariably forced my family into either bankruptcy or foreclosure if not both. I cannot stress the importance of retaining your right to sue. It's such important leverage and too many lawyers are ready to give in and just say there's nothing that can be done when you have an arbitration clause. I had to enforce this myself, and had to represent myself legally.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to add what the CFR is. It's the Code of Federal Regulations, and Title 24 is Housing. Here is a link to it, scroll down to where it says "(g) g) In the event of any dispute regarding a homeowner complaint or structural defect claim, Plans must, unless prohibited by applicable law, provide for binding arbitration proceedings arranged through a nationally recognized dispute settlement organization. The sharing of arbitration charges shall be as determined by the Plan. A Plan must contain pre-arbitration conciliation provisions at no cost to the homeowner, and provision for judicial resolution of disputes, but arbitration, which must be available to a homeowner during the entire term of the coverage contract, must be an assured recourse for a dissatisfied homeowner."
ReplyDeletehttp://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=5c571d2a713abf1744f87b3e3a531944&rgn=div8&view=text&node=24:2.1.1.2.4.1.89.67&idno=24 (24 CFR 203.204(g)
I've even had lawyers read this and still fail to see where it said you can go to court, and still other homeowners' lawyers were given the info and didn't see the importance in it. Those who can't get out of arbitration take a HIGH risk of losing or getting only pennies on the dollar of their claim. The arbitrators do repeat business w/companies, and they get repeat work by ruling in their favor, not in consumers' favor. This has largely been underreported because it's private (secret) and many homeowners get gag orders.