Using "Gifts" & "Bonuses" To Screw Over The Unwitting New Home Buyer

In Washington, D.C., Public Citizen reports:

• Millions of new home purchasers each year are forced into binding mandatory arbitration by deceptive “warranties,” and those warranties may violate the law in as many as 17 states, Public Citizen has found.

• This conclusion is contained in a report titled “Home Court Advantage: How the Building Industry Uses Forced Arbitration to Evade Accountability.” These warranties are particularly insidious because consumers often do not learn of their details until after moving into their new houses. Although builders often portray the warranties as gifts, bonuses or extra protections, the warranties actually serve to exempt the builder from liability for all sorts of problems (such as mold, building code violations and “consequential damages”) while relegating buyers to pursue legal disputes in a private forum chosen by the warranty company.

For the entire press release, see Warrantless Injustice (Public Citizen Report Exposes Builders’ Use of Forced Arbitration and Deceptive Warranties to Escape Accountability for Construction Flaws).

For the 65-page Public Citizen report, see Home Court Advantage: (How the Building Industry Uses Forced Arbitration to Evade Accountability).

For more on the screwing over of consumers through the use of arbitration clauses buried in "standard" contracts, see Fair Arbitration NOW.