Buyers' Remorse

"I've changed Mary's name to Erin Brockovich," says her mother-in-law, Judy Cohn.

There are 23 people listed on the agenda to testify this May afternoon. But every seat in the room is packed with unhappy homeowners who want to speak about their damaged homes and distraught lives.

Deron Neblett

Attorney Jim Moriarty defended the Cohns when their builder sued them.

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Everyone tells the same story: They didn't read the fine print on their closing contract, and they didn't realize that if they went into binding arbitration, it would cost a lot of money and they would probably lose because arbitrators are usually developers who side with the builder.

"You can't win," Mary says. "It's like you going with him and four of his drinking buddies."

To enter into arbitration, Mary would have to pay a nonrefundable $8,000 filing fee. Plus, she would have to pay three arbitrators $2,000 a day in addition to paying for the mediation room and stenographer.

During the break, Mary hands out flyers inviting people to come to the home-show protest she's planning. She smiles and greets people with the honey-roasted-peanut charm of 16 years as a flight attendant. She meets someone who attends Bible study with home builder David Weekley. She asks if she can come to class one night and ask Weekley what Jesus would do about her moldy home.

Even though she hates public speaking and wanted to throw up during the ride to the capitol, she feels it's important to get up in front of lawmakers and tell her story.

"There's nothing else we can do," she says.

The Cohns repeatedly asked Wagner to buy their house back. Wagner says he doesn't want their house. "Their house flooded," he says flatly. Why would he want a water-damaged house?

"If the house filled up with rainwater from the roof, then by all means, I would be right behind them," he says. But he doesn't think the flood was remotely his fault. "Their contingence that all of the mold in their house is a result of the roof leak, to me, is a little unrealistic," he says.

He says he fixed the leak originally reported after the Cohns moved in, and they didn't complain again until a couple of months after Allison. He says if the roof was constantly leaking, they would have told him before their one-year warranty ran out.

"She's trying to be my worst enemy," Wagner says. "Frankly, it's just hard work keeping up with what she's trying to do."