Michelle Rechtien’s Construction Horror Story
Hello, I am sorry you had the horrible experience. I too have had a terrible arbitration experience but I am still living mine as it is not over yet. We went through September of this year, received the “award” in October 2008. The repairs are to be completed by December 10, 2008. The only thing I have heard is from the builder is a letter from his attorney offering $2600 to repair my house, which is NOT near enough to fix the 39/188 items. The attorney also states in order to get the check forwarded to me, we must sign a release exempting the builder, the insurance company and the warranty company from current and future defects. Now our experience with arbitration, oh what a joke that was. We paid $1500 for a a complex arbitration meaning we wanted a decision and the method of repair for the defects. We turned in our paper work, with the documentation, and photos, our defect list had 188 items. The builder responded to our defect list he agreed 65 items are “covered defects”. The day of arbitration we had my husband, our structural engineer, and myself. For the builder he had the operations manager, the regional manager, two customer service managers, the framer, the finisher, a heating/cooling guy, a flooring guy, and an attorney. At the beginning of arbitration the arbitrator wanted to sit down and discuss the items, which we did. As we went down the list the builder agreed to a number of items he would repair. We then looked at the defects in the house, the items the builder agreed to repair were breezed over without true inspection. Almost all the items required measuring but, the arbitrator NEVER measured a single defect in our home. We have mounds and dips in the kitchen floor he did acknowledged the mounds and dips in the floors. We have studs pushing though walls, walls not nailed to studs, cracks in walls and ceilings, every door in my house has gaps you can see daylight through, showers/tubs that leak, the back door leaks water, we have obvious mold growth in two bathrooms and the back door. We were not awarded the 60 items the builder agreed were covered defects, nor the numerous defects he agreed to repair during arbitration. When I called to find out how we were not awarded those defects and how I wasn’t awarded defects based on measurements when the arbitrator never measured any defects. I was told the builder must have backed out of his agreement to repair and the arbitration company “can not obligate the builder.” I was also told that the arbitrator has been an engineer for over 20 years, and has been doing arbitration for over 10 years he can eye ball defects and decide if they meet tolerance. When I told her that was not possible she proceeded to tell me if I wanted I could pay $150 for clarification, which would not change the decision or I could pay $1000 for an appeal. I wrote a letter essentially protesting the award. I was called by the arbitration company the lady told me she talked with the arbitrator, he was standing by his ruling, he told the woman that he measured all the defects in our home with equipment provided by the builders representatives. Also the woman told me that when the builder stated the items were covered defects really meant to say “could be covered defect.” When I asked her to put the phone call in writing she refused stating that is not her job. Again she told me I could pay $150 for clarification or $1000 for an appeal. All of which would have been due the day after the phone call. Now the awarded items cover our back door that leaks, the showers that leak, and some dry wall issues. The defects that were not awarded to us were the kitchen floor with the mounds, the studs pushing through walls, the walls not nailed to studs, the doors with gaps, the spalling crack under the ceramic tiles, along with dozens more defects. The defects that were awarded have not been repaired and I have NO doubt that the builder is going to force me into filing a compliance hearing, which is another $1000, and uses the original arbitrator. WOW talk about not fair. Homeowners with defective houses are screwed.
Michelle:
That sounds like a horrendous experience…and such a joke. It defies logic to me that you would have to pay additional money to have a complete and accurate explanation of an arbitrator’s ruling. It seems to me that this should just be part of the process.
It also sounds to me like you had a lazy arbitrator – something to which I can personally relate. I can’t imagine any reason for him to “eyeball” anything regardless of his experience. His job is to find fact – not to estimate it.
And the fact that your builder freely admitted to a large portion of these defects and his responsibility to address them and then refusing his own statement later on underscores for me the fact that litigants can say anything and everything they want in front of the arbitrator in order to win favor with ZERO repurcussions down the road. In my own case, my opponent and his employees literally blatantly lied on record – including changing testimony IN FRONT OF THE ARBITRATOR – with ZERO repurcussions and ultimately won the case. Arbitration is truly a kangaroo court.
Ehren:
Yes, the builders representatives lied many times; they acted like that was the first time they had ever heard of the defects. We had many meetings prior to filing arbitration. You would think that while the “covered defects” are right there in black and white they would have been awarded. Not so much. I find a couple things interesting about the whole arbitration besides the fact that it was a joke. We paid for a method of repair decision also, we had to get estimates and the builder had to submit estimates with method and cost. I have method and repair from my choice of contractors x2 cost $49,000 for the 39 items. The builder submitted prices but no method for $1400. Three of my contractors methods were accepted, while the other 36 went to the builder with no method. When this was brought to the arbitration companies attention I was told I could give them more money and they would explain. Screw them I paid for the service once, why should I have to pay for it another time. One would think one would get what they pay for. Oh wait if that were the case we would not be in these crappy houses. The other thing is the arbitrator says the builder must have backed out. Technically in order to do that he would have had to put it in writing, which I should have received a copy of. There is nothing in writing stating they backed out of there agreement. If I had the money I would sue the builder, the warranty company, and the arbitration company. Of course I don’t have thousands of dollars laying around. I am having a sign made that says “STOP before YOU BUY ask me about my WARDLAW home and their “CUSTOMER SERVICE” then my phone number. I am sure I am going to get sued a week after I put it out. That will at least get my case in court. I will have to prove my defects in order to get myself out of a liable suit. I am afraid since I live in Savannah, Ga in the middle of a good ol boy system. I might lose the liable suit if it happened.
Thank you for your reply. Sorry mine are so long, I am just so frustrated, people with no house issues don’t understand my anger. Good luck to you. Where are you in your process?
Good for you on the street justice! If you can’t get justice in the traditional sense, I’m proud of you for the “guerilla” tactics!
My particular case is now completely over. Unbelievably, despite a preponderence of evidence in my favor and countless blatant lies under oath on the record by my opponent (previous employer) and his team, the arbitrator took his word over mine and decided against me. I wouldn’t have believed such a thing could happen unless I lived through it personally. The JAMS arbitrator, Stephen Haberfeld, didn’t just decide that I shouldn’t get the money that was owed me, but walloped me with my previous employer’s mid-six-figure attorney bill. I was professionally and financially ruined and have no recourse due to the lack of a viable appeal process. That’s why I now feel compelled to spread the word and be a catalyst for positive change.
ebrogg this is a serious question if you are still checking this post: Are you German by any chance? Haberfeld has ruled against us and we are a German company. His ruling is jaw dropping in its harshness. Now I am finding out his family (direct family) has a long and painful history at the hands of Germans during and after WWII.
My first name, Ehren, is German, but my family name, Bragg, is actually British. It never occurred to me that Haberfeld could be racist as there were no outward signs of that, of course. Can you elaborate on your findings?
Like your experience, in our arbitration there was no outward indication of bias or prejudice; he was the model of a gentleman. But his final decision was completely bewildering when viewed without the lens of racism and a quest for personal retribution. He ignored actual blatant lies from the main principal on the other side of the case and then in his decision he praised that same person as credible. He asserted our lack of credibility although the record shows only poor questioning and answers that created ambiguity. And he prevented evidence from being admitted on a key issue of the case. Then to assure that our family was decimated like his has been, he awarded nearly everything the other side requested including fees and costs of over a million dollars for a 7 day arbitration. I am working on a motion to vacate the award based on failure to disclose facts that would raise a doubt of his ability to be impartial. Call me at my office and I can share information with you. 949-715-9300.