Background:
Perry had an $750,000+ arbitration, concerning a defective home, overturned by his buddies in the Texas Supreme Court and demanded to return his case to court. Perry wanted a trial by a jury to drag the case on for another few years. At that time the case was nearly 10 years old. This is a very popular tactic used by the home building industry, in this case it was "Deny till they die" with Perry denying justice to the homeowners, an elderly couple, hopefully until they died. That didn't happen.
The Verdict:
Instead the jury that Perry wanted voted unanimously against him on 31 of 33 counts and assessed a penalty of over $47Million. This was exactly what he wanted and fought for all the way to the Supreme Court of Texas and the Justices gave it to him. And now Perry is whining about the verdict like a prostitute at a eunuch convention.Whiners
Of course, Perry's attorney's are now claiming they offered a buy back of the home. Again very typical of the builders. Now they want to appeal the verdict calling it "frivolous". The arbitrator hit Perry hard after hearing the evidence. The jury hit harder making sure the amount awarded would get his attention. And obviously it did.
Don't hold your breath for Perry to get a heart or to become the so-called Christian he claims to be. He will continue to drag this out for as long as he can to avoid paying a dime to the Culls.
Deny Till They Die.
15 comments:
What is a eunuch convention? Where do you come up with these nonsensical analogies?
Also, how can damage on a $250,000 home possibly be worth $7 million?
Hey anon - care to list any other crimes that you think shouldn't carry punishment? If you knock over a bank and steal $250,000 and get caught, as long as you give back the money you'll be OK, right?
Or apparently "punitive" measures are only to be taken against people who aren't major right-wing campaign donors?
There have been a number of comments posted on articles about this case questioning the actual, and punitive, damages awarded. It's funny how people who seem to think they know how lawsuits work, don't have a clue how the damages could add up. Or, maybe they just want to instill doubt in other readers' minds to try and make the Culls look greedy and Perry look like the victim?
Here's how it works: Let's say you buy a $200,000 house. Then you discover serious defects. You hire experts at the cost of thousands. They find defects that will cost tens of thousands or more to fix. Repairs can be high enough that the house is not worth fixing. Your house's value is nada because of estimated demolition costs. You might have to move out if the defects are unsafe. You might have safety issues, health issues, that end up costing you money. Your lawyer costs you money--lots of it. Don't be fooled into thinking lawyers don't charge unless you win. In personal injury they may take your case on contingency but not usually in property type cases. You will be making hundreds of dollars in copies and sending everything certified return receipt mail which costs almost $5 per regular letter sized envelope. You will miss work and lose income. If you have to move that's expensive. If you lose personal property as a result of the defects, you have to replace it. If it's going to trial or arbitration there are costs to prepare for the case, one big one is 'discovery.' The lawyers for all this charge hundreds per hour. The expenses just keep coming and coming. So the actual damages (actual repairs, cash outlay to fight the case, and so on) and legal fees, can add up to more than you paid for the house. PUNITIVE damages are awarded for the sole purpose of punishing the loser for their negligence, and can only normally be awarded where the laws allow for them which in this case they clearly did because of Perry's behavior. Punitive damages are meant to prevent future misbehavior and send a message. All damages, if over what the law allows, will be reduced by the court. And all damages are just an award, they are not money in teh Culls pockets because even if Perry doesn't appeal he might just never pay. They have a ways to go to collect any of this award and if it's like most lawsuits they won't get it all. But they are entitled to recover what they lost and Perry deserved to be punished.
It's not just about the house, but the nightmare that these seniors have had to endure over the past 14 years since the purchase of the home and 10 years since litigation.
There's a mountain of evidence (obviously) in this case showing the lies and deception by the defendants from the very beginning. Perry could have fixed the home for very little and avoided litigation altogether. Then they could have paid the arbitration judgment that was rendered 8 years ago instead of begging the TSC for a jury trial.
They just wanted their day in court...they got it and deserved everything they found there!!
Just a quick question.
Are these the folks who chose the courts because of the availability of discovery in that forum, grabbed every document they could, withdrew their suit and switched to arbitration, where they would otherwise not have been entitled to the sort of discovery they got with their initial suit?
You know, the sort of thing that you would argue was unethical and should be illegal if Perry were to have tried that on a homeowner -- and which you would insist ought to be appealed if it was done by Perry.
Rheinhard:
If these wree crimes, they would be prosecuted in a criminal court by a prosecutor, not in civil court by an attorney working on contingency. These are, in reality, torts.
So if you want to pretend you know somethign about the court system, why don't you at least learn the proper terminology.
Yes. Unlike arbitration where there is limited discovery, the courts give you the right to discover the truth.
Because they were given the opportunity to discover the truth, they were given an unfair advantage against Perry. (This was the Supreme Courts argument)
So yes, they discovered the truth and that is unacceptable to Perry.
Oh.... builders have run off with the money from homeowners and not finish the job. Rarely will the DAs file against them for stealing.
They claim it is a civil matter.
And...contingency contracts are the thing of the past every since tort reform. You will be very very lucky to get someone to represent you on contingency.
Of course anonymous, with your nose stuck in deep in the ass of Bob perry, you probably cant see this.
Typical coby argumentation. You can agree with John or be evil, stupid, or both. In his book there is no room for good faith disagreement on any issue.
I'll try to use small words here since anon is apparently kind of thick.
The damages awarded are "punitive". Now I know that's one of those long "book learnin' type" words, so anon probably can't pronounce it, but it means "punishment"; something conservatives are always in favor of when it is to be applied to the poor or dusky hued people.
Perry has abused the system to deny people he has wronged by fobbing off substandard shoddy workmanship of their just recompense. As the lengthy comment after mine describes, the costs incurred to the family just in trying to make themselves whole from the losses on their de facto worthless house probably more than double the total value of the house, plus the costs of years of attempts to get Perry to pay what he owes. Perry, assuming he has bought enough judges and can just keep spending until regular folks run out of money to keep pursuing justice, places himself above the law. The only way to get him to stop doing this to other law-abiding citizens is to make him feel it in the only place he still has feelings - his wallet. Thus "punitive" damages.
Now, since you seem to enjoy playing the smarty pants pedant, I assume you are equally vigorous criticizing wingnuts who will complain about Obama's policies being a "crime", or that it's a "crime" that liberals are allowed to vote, etc.? In the high school english class you apparently skipped you missed the day where they covered "figures of speech"...
Anonymous, you are either "evil, stupid, or both." hence my comments about your nose stuck up the ass of bob perry.
Look, he had 6 high paid attorneys at the trial. He doesn't need you acting like his personal spokesman.
So pull your nose out and smell the coffee.
Anonymous at 7:57
Why do you have a problem with businesses being held to their legal binding agreements? If there was a contract, then Perry Homes and the warranty company were legally bound to provide the goods and services spelled out in that contract. That can happen in civil court or by arbitration. That's why we have civil courts. I don't think "tort" is the proper word to use in this case, unless there was no contract.
Rheinhard, there are punitive damages and actual or compensatory damages.
The actual damages were said to be $7 million, meaning the Culls actually lost $7 million (including the value of their time).
The punishment was supposed to be in the $40 million.
Do you really think the Culls suffered $7 million worth of economic losses? How?
You said it yourself - including the value of their time. They have spent over 10 years fighting a corrupt bought and paid for legal system for justice. That comes out to less than $700K per year. That's chicken feed for CEO salaries. And I'm quite sure Perry makes quite a bit more than that.
Oh, wait. I get it. you no doubt feel that common peons should only have their time reimbursed at the minimum wage which they deserve for not being smart enough to be a CEO in the first place! Silly me!
It is always amazing that the one person who has their nose up the ass of Bob Perry and was NOT on the jury is the one who claims the amount is not justified.
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