Dig Deeper Texas

We in Texas are fortunate to have a select number of private citizens dedicated to the democratic process. These individuals are willing to contribute 100,000’s of dollars to candidates to ensure that they are able to represent themselves adequately before the public. Imagine the civic commitment of such individuals!

Don’t you think it’s about time the voters and the press acknowledge such selflessness?

Take Bob Perry for example. No relation to our Governor Rick Perry except through his generous donations to ensure Perry is able to get his message out. According to the Texas Ethics Commission filings, Bob Perry contributed nearly $1,000,000 to Rick Perry since the year 2000. Isn’t nice to know the real estate developers and builders are so dedicated to democracy that they are willing to contribute such large amounts of money?

And Perry isn’t the only candidate or cause that has benefited from Bob Perry’s largess. Since 2000, he donated another $1,000,000 to the Texans For Lawsuit Reform Pac. Not only does he want to make government more responsive, he’s interested in reforming the court system to prevent people from abusing the system by filing frivolous lawsuits.

In fact, he’s gone out of his way to support an alternative to lawsuits. He has been a big supporter of the Texas Residential Construction Commission. This agency would allow home owners to file complaints against builders for construction problems with new homes. By going through mediation, everyone saves the expense of court costs. And the commission has been finding for the consumer.

Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Local News:

Buyers of brand-new homes with cracked foundations, leaking roofs and other problems are still living with defects after turning to a state-run program designed to resolve their disputes with builders.

Good news: In about nine of 10 investigations, Texas officials have told builders to make repairs.

Bad news: Two years into the program, most builders haven’t made the fixes.

Because the TRCC relies on experts from the construction industry for mediation, the process is superior to the general mediation offered through the Better Business Bureau or general lawsuits.

Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Local News:

Builders favor arbitration over the courtroom because arbitrators come from a pool of people – attorneys, inspectors, appraisers – who have construction expertise. Critics of arbitration say those ties create a bias. They also suspect arbitrators prefer to side with builders because they want repeat business.

Jeff Adams, a home inspector in San Antonio who worked as an arbitrator, said he received a couple of cases a month until he decided a case in favor of a homeowner.

“I never got another assignment after that,” he said.

Market forces are so superior to the government making decision process. And why bother with impersonal government listings of complaints when you can get such a better idea of a builder’s quality by talking the actual customers?

HomeOwners for Better Building - Building Industry Bullies BBB Over Consumer Complaints:

Homeowners used to be able to easily turn to the local Better Business Bureau for help in resolving a complaint against a builder.

They still can, but for some it’s getting harder.

Some builders are dropping their membership in the Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan Houston because they don’t want to use the alternative dispute resolution process, a process they agreed to as terms of their membership.

Instead, they’d rather disputes go through the American Arbitration Association or the Texas Residential Construction Commission.

So far, four major builders — Centex Homes, Pulte Homes of Texas Houston Division, Tremont Homes and David Weekley Homes — have left the bureau in the past year.

And Bay Area Builders’ membership is pending revocation for not participating in the agency’s arbitration process.

A spokesman for David Weekley said the builder didn’t renew its membership this year because it would rather potential customers research the builder by talking to other customers and the company directly, instead of using the bureau.

But bureau officials said they believe Weekley’s nonrenewal stemmed from an arbitration ruling against the builder.

Information on builders getting tough to nail down:

Used to be, diligent consumers would check out complaints against builders at the attorney general’s office, look for major lawsuits at the courthouse, and investigate credentials. But now that’s getting harder to do because the Texas Attorney General’s Office stopped processing all consumer complaints three years ago, and there are fewer homeowner lawsuits at the courthouse because of binding arbitration clauses in contracts.

Information on builders getting tough to nail down:

Consumers also used to be told to go to the courthouse to check for any major lawsuits against a builder.

But, that’s getting harder because most builders have mandatory arbitration clauses in their contracts, restraining homeowners from suing, said Janet Ahmad, a San Antonio-based consumer advocate who heads HomeOwners for Better Building.

Bob Perry’s commitment to democracy must inspire many of his employees to work for better government as well. Just consider John Krugh, one of the current commissioners on the Texas Residential Construction Commission.

Commission Listing:

In his private-sector position as Senior Vice President, Corporate Counsel of Perry Homes, Commissioner Krugh serves as legal counsel for the joint venture’s business matters and is responsible for title company operations, serving as a liaison with mortgage operations and developing company policies, procedures, contracts and development agreements.

Given that I’m sure the time and energy Krugh devotes to commission work is surely largely uncompensated, we can only admire his dedication to the principals of democracy.

Bob Perry has donated over $15,000,000 to various candidates and pacs since 2000. Isn’t it nice to know that we live in a state that allows individuals to make such generous contributions to make up for all of the middle class people who can’t? Therefore, shouldn’t he be receiving more public recognition for using his wealth to support the political process in a way that the average person could never hope to match?

Filed under: Arbitration, Better Business Bureau, Binding Arbitration, Bob Perry, Frivolous Lawsuit, Governor, John Krugh, Lawsuit Reform, Lawsuit abuse, Perry Homes, Rick Perry, TRCC, Texans for Lawsuit Reform, Texas Homebuilders, Texas Residential Construction Commission, campaign, campaign contributions, election, grass-roots, politics, republican, texas, texas politics