LOUISIANA (KLFY) — A legal battle between homeowners and Texas-based homebuilder D.R. Horton has led to a class-action lawsuit. For years, there has been a debate over whether the case should proceed in a district court or through arbitration.

A district judge has ruled that a class action lawsuit against D.R. Horton will move forward in a district court and not arbitration. This following claims that an arbitration clause in homeowner’s contracts only benefited the homebuilder.

For years, reports of constant issues with D.R. Horton homes, ranging from moisture buildup, leaks, and health issues as a result of mold exposure, have resulted in a class action lawsuit against the homebuilder. But because of an arbitration clause in homeowners’ contracts–in a previous report– lawyers representing D.R. Horton said contracts homeowners signed state all claims against the company must go to arbitration.

Anna Pollock, a former D.R. Horton homeowner, says if anything goes wrong during the ownership of that house, you are stuck in arbitration.

“When something serious is going wrong, nobody else has access to that information, said Pollock. “It gets taken care of quietly, and that’s what we don’t need. We need it to be taken care of out in the open where everybody has access to that information.”

Attorney Lance Unglesby, one of the attorneys representing homeowners in the class action, says everyone has the right to appear in court to have their issues heard in public.

And with a district judge deciding the case will move forward in court and not arbitration, hundreds of families who have joined the class action lawsuit against D.R. Horton will get the chance to have their day in court. Unglesby says it’s a way D.R. Horton can be held accountable for selling a house that they knew to be defective.

“That’s what they did. They had an arbitration clause that they thought would protect it, but it was a very one-sided arbitration clause, and that’s what the judge saw,” said Unglesby.

Unglesby also went on to say that in the future, he plans to work with the legislature to amend some of the rules that allow homebuilders to put in arbitration clauses.

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