If arbitration is so wonderful, why is it mandatory? Are we citizens or subjects?

Are you sure your new home is protected? Are you sure your family, will not join the growing ranks of the homeless? Are you sure you understand arbitration and tort reform? Are you sure that the American Arbitration Association, hasn't stealthily already entered every phase of your life? Do you think you still have the right to a trial by a jury? Do you still think you can sue anyone who wrongs you? Do you still think frivolous lawsuits are those that happen to other people? Do you tire hearing any more about big business flagrantly squashing your rights? Do your eyes glaze over and your mind shut down when you hear all these things? Are you bored by this rhetoric? Is it all just to complicated for you to understand? I understand.

But, please read on. Because you have been majority deluded, confused and overwhelmed ... just so these things will slip right by unnoticed.

If you have a new home, new car, a car lease, a Visa, Master Card, American Express, Discover card, bank account, a cell phone, a storage room, electricity or even an exterminator. YOU have given up your seventh Amendment rights. You have given up your seventh amendment rights, you cannot sue any of these people. Sounds crazy doesn't it? Well, call any of them and ask if you have an arbitration clause in your contract with them ... because you do.

We are bombard daily, with harassing telemarketers, a mailbox full of trash offers and clutter ... our bills are stuffed with slick adds and offers. We don't have time to read all this junk..... And there in lies the problem. Big Business knows you don't. We are the new hurried, fast food, drive by cleaners generation, the multi taskers. ... with more on our plates than we can handle. So big business has used your over burdened life style to their distinct advantage. You are screwed. Those little offers or things you think are privacy propaganda, in your bills, they aren't, they say "if you continue to use our services and do not pay off your account immediately you are now accepted the following terms.....You have now accepted arbitration ... and you didn't even read it.

Not one person in this country, is not bound by an arbitration clause and the shocking part of it ... most don't even know it. But you will, when you become one of the enlightened and destroyed. And believe me you do not want to be.

Ignorance is bliss ... and you can remain blissfully unaware of the dangers lurking, that threaten you, your family, your home and your livelihood. But when it hits you, it will be, a rude awakening ... like a two by four right between the eyes. AM I am trying to scare you? You bet I am. Because many of us do not have the time to watch fear factor, we live it daily. And, you may have just signed on for a guest appearance.

Take your home for instance. You made your down payment. You make your payments on time, you paid your property tax, you have homeowners insurance. Your investment is safe. You are living the American dream. Not so Kimosabie. You have rolled the dice with your future, put all your money on the pass line, and you weren't even aware you were gambling.

Example: You have a lovely new home, all decorated, a manicured lawn, a place for your stuff, and somewhere to come home to. But what happens if you start having problems with that new house? You just call your builder for repairs right? What if he doesn't answer your phone calls, faxes, or emails. What if the problem continues to worsen ... as you try to get him to live up to his moral, and ethical responsibilities. You say well I have a contract. And you do.

Now..... you will take the time to read, all that raft of papers that were shoved at you at closing. Uh oh...earnest money contract, arbitration clause. Closing papers arbitration clause...warranty papers arbitration clause.

Your foundation is cracking, your walls have lines that weren't there before, the carpet is damp and your house is taking on a musty smell. Your children begin to be ill and Fido's' hair falls out. What are you going to do? Your wife is frantic. She is calling neighbors, many experiencing the same sort of problems. Many do not want to admit it and "patch up and dump." Some will get by with it, until the new owner sues them. Yes, the new owner can sue you, just can't sue your big builder. Big business, little business that is how tort reform works.

And yes, you all paid to have your house inspected and had a relator and you called them all. You can start at the governor's office and they will refer you into a vortex of time-consuming, catch 22's that will make you crazy. You will end up lastly at the Heath department. They can try to help you find temporary housing ... soon, or maybe later....if you qualify and of course fill out the paper work.

You have now filled out paper work for every agency in the state. You stay up all night filling out this waste of time. Then bleary eyed drag yourself to your day job. No one understands. They think you are a real putz and offer you their lawyer's phone number...thinking you just are not smart enough to handle your own affairs. Little do they know...yet.

They think they are not in any danger...and that you just do not understand how to hand these things.

You call you insurance company...you know that agency that has you safe in their out stretched hands. That agency you pay those hefty premiums to each month. Guess what, substandard construction and builder defects are not covered items.

You are on the phone with your lawyer, he has looked over your papers, and informs you, YOU cannot sue your builder, you have signed an arbitration clause.

You say, well lets arbitrate ... it is faster and cheaper and my house is deteriorating as we speak, my investment is being destroyed. He really doesn't want the case, but will take it for a substantial upfront fee. He knows neither of you are going to be happy with the outcome, so he gets his upfront. Many of these legal eagles also have arbitration clauses in their own contracts. The contract you must sign to have legal representation. And you have to have a lawyer no matter what AAA arbitration tells you.

Your shower falls out. Black puffy balls are growing out of your carpet. Your windows are leaking, your hardwoods have begun to buckle, the children are sick, their eyes are all red, they have constant sore throats, you are having migraines you think from all the stress, your wife is crying, and her nose is bleeding ...and your cat just died. ( Am I Exaggerating ... No unfortunately, I am not.) I am just reliving part of what happened in our neighborhood, compliments of our greedy, unethical, unscrupulous builder. He sold us our homes after filing a lawsuit against the roofer and subcontractors with no disclosure. Yes, I said, he sued ... the big boys still have the right to sue, this only applies to you and me, the little guys.

Arbitration is great protection for the mass builder. First, most of you can't afford it and second if you can roll out 30 to 100,000 dollars it is still an unfair playing field. The builders team of high priced, sleazy prostitutes can make chopped liver of you in short order. They do this for a living. In our case, one of the builders' law partners, was/is also a AAA arbitrator. You want him to rule on your case?

Why didn't you repair your own house?

First you didn't think that was your responsibility, it was the builders. Second you had no idea the amount of damage and third, when you found out how many thousands of dollars it would cost ... you couldn't afford it.

You hadn't planned on the down payment, the new drapes, the new lawn mower and then repairs? TO A BRAND NEW HOUSE! Did you figure an extra 20 to 150 thousand for that in your budget? Like us, you probably bought a new home so repairs would not be an issue.

Well, guess what else you can't afford? You can't afford arbitration. Nobody tells you what it costs. The American Arbitration Association will not even give you a total cost, but if you can't afford it ... they will be more than happy to send you a form that authorizes them to just charge all their monstrous fees as they occur, on to your credit cards. How ever many it takes. Do I have you attention now? Do you think you have entered the twilight zone. Well, welcome to our world.

Homeless in Houston

Jordan Fogal Please google my name for more information or check out HADD.org or HOBB.org, tort deform

3003 Memorial Court #2407 Houston Texas 77007

713-802-9727

PREVIOUSLY: Tremont Homes Sells Rotten Lemon, Provokes Victimized Homebuyer Into Five-Year Consumer Crusade
Jordan Fogal Responds To Your Comments About The Rotten Lemon Tremont Homes Sold Her

Thank you Ben! Now how do I respond to these comments ... they are the ones I usually get.

First: We did use a licensed realtor.

Two: We did not understand the true ramifications of arbitration, or it's unfairness. No one who has not been caught in this snare does. We did not know that almost always big business wins. We thought it was like, OK kids lets sit down and not argue and fix this situation. We did not know the system was rigged. We did not understand the builders were repeat clients and the arbitrators meal tickets. No one understands arbitration companies are just the middle men. You still have to put on a trial and have all the costs associated: witnesses, subpoenas, expert testimony you even have to pay for the room to hold the arbitration in... We would not have had to pay a judge as we did an arbitrator or room rent or the astronomical fees charged by arbitration companies. Our arbitration fees alone were $9300. dollars. That does not include going to the kangaroo court where the rules of law no longer apply behind close doors. That was nearly $30,000 dollars...

3) We did have an inspector. Without invasive testing, he could not have know what was behind the freshly paint walls. Ask you builder if you can do a little destructive testing before you buy the house and see how far you get. 4) We did get legal advice. We are on our third set of lawyers. One advised us to go into foreclosure and bankruptcy and get on with our lives because in the state of Texas we would never receive any ration of fairness or justice. The builder's lawyers know how to eat up your retainer before your check clears. People make these comments because they still just do not understand. The public cannot accept that this can go on the this county and they have no recourse. The court house doors are blocked. Those who run from trial prove their guilt. If arbitration is so fair why is it mandatory? Thank you for trying to help us all and informing the public. Jordan Fogal

PREVIOUSLY: Tremont Homes Sells Rotten Lemon, Provokes Victimized Homebuyer Into Five-Year Consumer Crusade

My husband Bob and I are senior citizens. Like so many others, we lost our home to foreclosure... not because of sub-prime loans... but because of defective, substandard housing - protected by an arbitration clause. We bought a new house so we wouldn't have to worry about repairs. The first night my husband decided to try out the Jacuzzi tub on the third floor. When he pulled out the stopper, 100 gallons of water crashed though the ceiling. We had been in our new home all of six hours... all I could do was scream as I watched the ceiling fall on our dining room table, water pouring down the walls, filling up the chandelier, and splashing on the new hardwood floors, then finally flooding the garage below..."

After that, we found out we were trapped, as our investment attacked itself and us. All the upstairs lights blew; and when we tried to replace the bulbs, they broke off their rusted bases. The windows were installed upside down, and with the first rains came the leaks. The shower wall fell out, and a disgusting smell permeated our home. Mold grew up out the carpet; and black, spider web tentacles crawled up our walls. We pleaded with our builder for 29 months to please fix our house, but they had taken out insurance against any responsibility - they had inserted an arbitration clause in our earnest money contract. They had also knowingly committed fraud by covering up the defects before they sold to us.

The arbitration clause kept us hostage, since we could not afford over 150,000 dollars to repair our new home. The builders told us that if we continued to complain, their lawyers would take care of us in arbitration. Tremont Homes / Stature Construction, our builder, filed on us with AAA, the American Arbitration Association.

We knew they would not have threatened us with arbitration if it was fair. Come to find out, they had already entered into a contractual agreement with AAA; they were partners. All the burden of proof was on us. We endured 8 months of deadlines and demands while our builder never complied. When we told AAA we couldn't afford the costs, this demented collection agency emailed us blank forms for our credit card information so they could charge the costs as they accrued.

Our case was dismissed from arbitration because the arbitrator was not paid by us, or the builder. After nearly 8 months of torment, I thought that I could now go to court. We filed a suit, charging the builder with fraud. His attorneys dragged us through 10 hearings before the judge ordered us to return to arbitration and said that we must file a counter claim {which is much more expensive than a regular claim}. The judge said, no matter what his personal feelings, the legislature favored arbitration; and he could not rule from the bench. This time we were ordered to pay. We had to paid $9300.00 to AAA and the arbitrator, and an additional $1687 dollars before the arbitrator would issue her verdict, thirty days later by mail... She did not even have to face us. We were granted the ruling of fraud, because of the builder's own sworn testimony, used in other cases against their subcontractors, where they used our house as the example of the most defective. All totaled, arbitration cost us in excess of $30,000, not including our legal fees. On October 30, 2006, after four years of anguish, our award was a grand total of $26,088. This did not even reimburse us for the down payment on our home.

Arbitration is like a jail sentence: Your money is taken from you; an agency has complete control over your life. You are bound by legal handcuffs into a secret kangaroo court held behind closed doors, and the rules of law no longer apply. We had 187 documents, a PowerPoint presentation, pictures, witnesses, and expert testimony. The builder walked in laughing, with his attorneys and a little white binder with 37 pages... they didn't even need that.

Arbitration is a demeaning and abhorrent substitute for justice. We were sworn to tell the truth. We do not understand why lying was overlooked in arbitration, or when civil becomes criminal, and why a ruling of fraud doesn't nullify a contract?

Everything is upside down in arbitration; the perpetrator files on the victim. Many victims of arbitration come out in shock; many are under gag orders, referred to as secrecy agreements so they cannot tell what has been done to them. They will only repeat a pat statement... we reached an amicable settlement with our builder... How can arbitration be fair - sending an individual up against a multimillion-dollar corporation?

Read a recent Mother Jones article about Jordan Fogal's story to hear Tremont Homes' side , such as it is.

Now Jordan is on a quest. She stands outside Tremont Homes building sites with lemons and big signs warning prospective homebuyers. She's spread her story through the local papers. She pens scathing articles about the evils of mandatory arbitration, and the layers of bureaucracy and indifference that keep them in place. She's testified before Congress. She still has not received her satisfaction, and will not rest until she does. Because of the terms of her contract, and the absurdly unfair structure of mandatory binding arbitration when applied to consumer disputes, she may not get it until the Federal Arbitration Act is significantly altered to go back to what it was originally meant for, an expedited way for businesses to deal with one another, entities of similar size and complexity. Until then, as long as Tremont keeps making more lemons, that's more fuel for her slingshot.

RELATED: Home Sour Home [Mother Jones]
Written Testimony Submitted by Jordan Fogal To The Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law "Mandatory Binding Arbitration Agreements: Are They Fair For Consumers?" Tuesday, June 12, 2007, 10:30 a.m [judiciary.house.gov]
"ARE YOU NEXT? The Many Levels of Texas Bureaucracy" by Jordan Fogal [Homeowners For Better Building]
Podcast Series: Arbitrating Away The American Dream (Vol 1)
Podcast Series: Arbitrating Away The American Dream (Vol. 2) — "The Stupid People"
Why an Ultra-Conservative Texas Grandmother Doesn't Support the GOP [Alternet]

Pissed? Learn how to support the Arbitration Fairness Act.