Coalition Encouraged by Bank of America's Decision to Stop Using Forced Arbitration; Now Congress Must Act   
Consumers have stated loud and clear that forced arbitration clauses are a denial of justice, and Bank of America finally listened.  Bank of America, however, is just one corporation among the thousands of banks, private employers, nursing homes, auto dealers, and deposit institutions are still using forced arbitration every day to deny consumers and employees a fair shake.               

Bank of America Ends Arbitration Practice
The move, which comes amid a shakeout in the use of mandatory arbitration by big U.S. banks, means consumers will now be permitted to file lawsuits against Bank of America to resolve such disputes. Last month, two major organizations that preside over mandatory arbitrations said that they were pulling back from the business of using the process for collection matters......"We think arbitration is a very fair way to resolve the issue. A lot of our customers did not feel the same way, so we decided to make a change," said a Bank of America spokeswoman.

CPSC Reports Defective Chinese Drywall in Homes in 24 States
The CPSC recently issued an August 2009 update to congressional lawmakers on the status of their investigation into the problems with defective Chinese drywall, which has been blamed for causing foul sulfuric odors, corroding wiring and electrical appliances, and various health complaints...While the majority of reports received by the CPSC have come from Florida (75%), Louisiana (15%) and Virginia (3%), others have come from consumers in Alabama, Arizona, California, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia.  See Common Construction Defects

Further Investigation Into Defective Chinese Drywall 
A leading forensic expert on building envelope, water intrusion, toxic mold, and Chinese drywall, Spiderman S. Mulholland, Senior Forensic investigator and national consultant with U S Building Consultants (USBCI) and U S Building Laboratories Inc. (USBLI), is issuing a warning to those conducting remediation on homes and buildings across the states including Florida. It should be noted that remediation protocols have not been established, and cross-contamination is occurring, even after homes have the sheetrock torn out and replaced, out gassing of sulfur compounds and other elements continues to occur. In fact, remediation further jeopardizes public health when it is done without adequate safeguards or by unqualified individuals.

Chinese Drywall - Case Update and Warning
Attorney Daniel Becnel says the judge set a schedule to have thousands of homes inspected, almost immediately. "We're going to have this over with really quickly for the people across the country who have been victimized by this Chinese drywall. Most of their houses will be inspected within 60 days," Becnel said. "In addition to that, most of their cases will be on a docket to be set for trial beginning in 6 months, it's unheard of."  About 600 tainted Chinese drywall lawsuits, a number bound to grow, have been consolidated in multi-district litigation under U.S. District Judge Eldon E. Fallon for pretrial issues. With the help of plaintiff and defense steering committees, Fallon will select five cases to test the waters

Frustration grows: Few answers given at Cape Coral Chinese drywall meeting 
About 250 homeowners whose homes have defective Chinese drywall Monday night pleaded for state and federal government agencies to come up with a protocol to fix the problem so they can rebuild their lives and spare their health. They also sought relief from the Lee County property appraiser for the sinking value of their homes. Residents came from all over Lee County to a meeting in the Cape Coral library. Their homes were built by a variety of builders, but one thing is the same: They are all grappling with trauma to their lives caused by tainted drywall.

Texas claim forms sent for Countrywide restitution
Attorney General Greg Abbott's office on Monday announced the forms were mailed late last week over the February agreement. The deal applies to Countrywide customers who secured loans between 2004 and 2007, who lost their homes to foreclosure or whose payments were 120 days behind as of Oct. 6, 2008. Only Countrywide customers who receive letters are eligible to seek restitution. The final dollar amount will depend upon the number of people who respond. The AG's office investigated Countrywide in 2008 for encouraging homeowners to accept loans they could not afford, failing to fully disclose risky terms and writing loans for unqualified borrowers

Countrywide to dispense $7.46M to Texans
Texans eligible for a portion of the payout will soon be receiving a form in the mail to fill out to request restitution, according to the Attorney General's office. The office of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said the program to reimburse Texas homeowners was first announced in February. Only customers who took out Countrywide loans between Jan. 1, 2004 and Dec. 31, 2007 are eligible.

Lennar Signals Fleeting Builder Rally as Buyers Flee
People are the only thing missing. While construction of the 43-acre real estate project by Lennar Corp., the third- biggest U.S. homebuilder, is almost finished, a message at the information center says some homes in the development are expected to start selling early next year. The largest homebuilders are mothballing communities across the U.S., signaling they have little confidence that a market rebound is imminent. Builder shares have rallied 76 percent from the lows in November. They may fall more than 20 percent in the next four months unless home prices and property writedowns stabilize, said Anna Torma, a former Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst who tracks the industry at Soleil Securities Corp. in New York.

WARNING ALERT for Those Remediating Chinese Drywall and/or Other Defective Drywall
A leading forensic expert on building envelope, water intrusion, toxic mold, and Chinese drywall, Spiderman S. Mulholland, senior forensic investigator and national consultant with US Building Consultants and US Building Laboratories Inc., is issuing a warning to those conducting remediation on homes and buildings across states including Florida. It should be noted that remediation protocols have not been established, and cross-contamination is occurring, even after homes have the sheetrock torn out and replaced, out gassing of sulfur compounds and other elements continues to occur. In fact, remediation further jeopardizes public health when it is done without adequate safeguards or by unqualified individuals.

Credit card binding arbitration system crumbling
Two more supporting beams have crumbled and now, with astonishing speed, the entire edifice of the mandatory credit card arbitration system is collapsing. A second major arbitration firm -- the American Arbitration Association -- said Tuesday that it has suspended all consumer arbitration activities. And JPMorgan Chase, one of the nation's largest credit card issuers, announced Wednesday that it would stop filing such claims against consumers. These moves came just days after a forced and full retreat staged by the National Arbitration Forum, the nation's largest credit card arbitration firm. It surrendered in response to pending action in Congress and several lawsuits, including a sharply worded action filed last week by Minnesota's attorney general.  See Related FOX Report: Credit Card Arbitration Facing Charges -  See NPR Report

WCI Communities Reports 200 Florida Homes with Chinese Drywall
Florida builder WCI Communities Inc. says that at least 200 of its homes may have been built with potentially defective Chinese drywall. According to The Bradenton Herald, the Bonita Springs builder – which is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy – could face $40 million in Chinese drywall related claims. The Consumer Products Safety Commission has received more than 681 complaints from residents of 20 states regarding Chinese drywall. The most reports – 510 – have come from Florida. Homeowners have complained that fumes from the Chinese drywall produce a "rotten eggs" odor that permeates their homes, and causes metal, including air conditioning coils and even jewelry, to corrode. Eye irritation, sinus problems and respiratory symptoms have also been reported among people living in homes containing Chinese drywall.

A Message from Janet Ahmad: Big Arbitration Firm Pulls Out of Credit Card Business

Big Arbitration Firm Pulls Out of Credit Card Business
After coming under increasing fire for bias towards major credit-card companies, the nation's largest arbitration firm involved in adjudicating delinquent credit-card debt has agreed to pull out of the business, Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson disclosed on Sunday, July 19. The settlement with the National Arbitration Forum comes after the Minnesota AG sued the firm on July 14 for consumer fraud, deceptive trade practices, and false advertising. Under the terms of the consent decree, dated July 17 and signed by the AG and NAF officials, the arbitration firm by the end of this week will stop accepting new consumer arbitrations of any sort. The Minnesota suit said that Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Discover Card, and American Express use NAF, which is based in St. Louis Park, Minn.

NY Times GRETCHEN MORGENSON: Looking for the Lenders' Little Helpers
It is hard not to be dismayed by the fact that two years into our economic crisis so few perpetrators of financial misdeeds have been held accountable for their actions. And what of the giant institutions that helped finance these monumentally toxic loans, or arranged the securitizations that bundled the loans and sold them to investors? So far, they have argued, fairly successfully, that they operated independently of the original lenders. Therefore, they are not responsible for any questionable loans that were made.