Re: construction Arbitration Services

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Shammed, Yup, I have seen that exact page, tried to use it in my own case
but lawyers told me it does not apply. Some research suggests it only
applies to manufactured homes, (when it comes to "homes" being
a "product"). I feel that the right lawyer could argue it and set a
precedent if he or she won. Arbitration clauses and Right to Repair Laws
that keep cases out of the courts are probably at least PARTLY intended to
prevent certain decisions from happening. The National Association of
Home Builders has a legal defense fund for that type of thing, for cases
that might result in far reaching decisions against builders.

I agree MMWA SHOULD apply to a house, and I would love to see some case
law or govt agency proclamation saying it does. I have looked until my
eyeballs are falling out of my head. I will no doubt look some more, even
though my own case has long settled. If MMWA is supposed to be covering
stick built houses all along, then a lot of construction defect lawyers
are missing the mark when they fail to apply it on behalf of their
homeowner-clients. Wouldn't be the first time that happened, but frankly
if the big firms that do class actions haven't successfully used it, then
there must be something to the "house is not a product" theory.

Please do let us know if you find anything.

On 9/20/06, Shammed by CAS wrote:

>> Homeowner, please go to
> www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/warranty.htm#Magnuson-Moss...."
> Finally, the Act does not apply to warranties on products sold for
> resale or for commercial purposes. The Act covers only warranties on
> consumer products. This means that only warranties on tangible property
> normally used for personal, family, or household purposes are covered.
> (This includes property attached to or installed on real property.) Note
> that applicability of the Act to a particular product does not, however,
> depend upon how an individual buyer will use it." ...Isn't a home that
> is "constructed" on real property also "installed" on real property? I,
> too, would love to locate such a case.