Our dream of building a home and raising a family there have turned into a nightmare.

A bad builder and binding arbitration can ruin your life.

OUR STORY

We loved the idea of moving to Jackson County, Georgia…the small town feel and sense of community really appealed to us.
We had spent almost a year looking for an existing home to purchase. When we could not find what we wanted, we spent another six to eight months looking for a piece of property or subdivision to build in.
My husband found Clover Mill Farms subdivision on one of his many drive about outings. When a house we wanted to buy became under contract before we could do our own contract…we began looking at lots. We both fell in love with a lot in the back of the Clover Mill Farms neighborhood immediately.
I had house plans I found in Southern Living Magazine already...and was very excited to build. It was really a chance to build our dream home.

When we met with our builder…she seemed very competent. Her name is Sue Campbell. She is the owner of Sue Campbell Properties, LLC. Ms. Campbell looked at the house plans we had…and told us she could build the house for us. She told us she had built most of the other homes in the community…many of which we had toured…and so we felt secure in her abilities.
As soon as Ms Campbell acquired the actual building plans, we sat down with her to make any changes or specifications.
Some of the changes we made were:
1. We asked her to move the fireplace from the living room to the kitchen
2. We ask her to make the laundry room into a pantry
3. We ask her to make a bathroom upstairs into the laundry room
4. We had her change a couple of door placements…etc
As soon as we finished making the changes on the plans…we gave her the first $10,000.00 deposit and the build was a go.
The build began in December of 2001.
The building process was difficult…and Ms. Campbell as it turned out was difficult to work with. Of course we did not find out how difficult she was…until we had signed on the dotted line and had given her the large check.
During the build, A LOT of mistakes were made. Many of the mistakes we did not catch until after we bought the house.
One mistake caused her to have to tear the whole front corner of the house out, after the house was 90% completed.
The whole building process was a bad experience. We were so thankful when the house was finished and we could finally move in.
Despite the problems we had with Ms Campbell, we became friendly acquaintances. After we moved in, she would drop by for coffee or we would go to lunch to gab. I even took her daughter to the ballet on two different occasions.

My husband and I built our home in Clover Mill Farms subdivision as an investment. We intended to stay in the home until we retired. We both planned to open businesses in the area and start a family. We spent a large portion of our savings to build this home. The base price of the home was $252,000.00. In addition to building the home, we added many upgrades, had the basement finished, added a third full bathroom, put in a garden with an arbor, fence and potting shed and much more.
In upgrades, finishing the basement and extras, I would conservatively estimate we have spent another $50,000.00!
We really like the layout of Clover Mill Farms subdivision. We have loved our two acre all wooded view from our back windows and patio. We have made many friends in the neighborhood and have had Christmas parties and gathering with our friends and neighbors. I even helped start a neighborhood welcoming committee and joined the home owner’s association board.

THE PROBLEMS

The problem with our home and Sue Campbell began approximately one year after we moved in.
Toward the end of our first year there, one of us noticed a dip in the fireplace and some cracking in the walls above the fireplace.
It was Scott I believe, who pointed it out to Sue Campbell, when she came in to do her year end inspection. She seemed very concerned and said she would make the necessary repairs right away. She seemed like she cared and would make things right.
Again, we trusted her.
As it turns out, her idea of “repair” was…to close in a large 6 foot doorway opening down to a 3 foot doorway opening in the single stud wall that was directly under the fireplace in our basement. This “repair” involved removing part of the existing sheetrock…adding in some framing…putting up new sheetrock and repainting.
When the repairs were being scheduled, we were told by Ms Campbell that she would be putting in a steel jack. She even showed us paper work that showed she was ordering parts to “jack and beam” the fireplace.
I was out of town during the entire “repair” process…and Scott was at work all day. We trusted Ms Campbell to supervise all workers…and to do a good job. Until the arbitration…when we removed the sheetrock ourselves…we always assumed that there was as steel jack under the sheetrock…but there was not.

As a side note…
While the year end work was going on in our home, the painter Ms Campbell employed to paint the new sheetrock she installed in our basement…robbed our home. He took many personal and private things. It was very upsetting and violating. BUT…that is another LONG and tediously detailed story.
The important thing to know is that the robbing incident sparked the beginning of Ms Campbell’s bad attitude…because we blamed her for not supervising the workers in our home as she had promised…and quite frankly should have done…as a matter of being a good and responsible builder.
After the robbing incident, we realized that Ms Campbell's “repair” attempt was not working, and was in fact minimal. We also saw that it had not corrected the problem…and that in fact the problem was getting worse.
The fireplace was sinking!

Because of the incident with the painter robbing the house…and issues that arose from the incident…we were no longer on speaking terms with Ms Campbell.
I did attempt to call her a few times…in hopes that she would fix the problem…but she refused…used foul language…and hung up the phone.

THE INSPECTIONS

In order to have a full scope of what was happening with our home, we hired several inspectors to come in to the home and view the problem.
We also hired a structural engineer.
Over the next almost two years…we would spend thousands of dollars on several different inspectors, structural engineers and other building professionals.
In the process of the initial inspections…we confirmed another issue we had suspected all along: Our staircase was entirely out of code and unsafe.
We always thought the front stairs seemed steep. We also knew that a little three inch step where the front stairs turn on the landing was not safe or built right.
We have actually had several people other than ourselves, trip or fall on the stairs…including an elderly lady.
As it turned out…the stairs are not even close to being built properly.
Code requires that all steps be the same height.
Some of our stairs fluctuate between two to three inches.
Our stairs on the front porch are also wrong and vary in height…and have caused people to fall.

So…we have really bad stairs and a sinking fireplace among other issues that were discovered. What a nightmare right?
We had NO IDEA!!!!

The structural engineer has said that the lack of support under our stack stone fireplace is a big problem. The fireplace is only supported by a single stud wall. Because of this poor construction, the fireplace is sinking. The sinking is causing severe cracking on both walls flanking the fireplace on the main floor of our home. In addition, the walls and ceiling of the master bedroom, which are also attached above are also cracking in several different directions. This sinking of the fireplace is also causing the hardwood floors to begin to slope and buckle.
In order to repair these problems, we have been told that the situation will get much worse before it gets better.
Repairs to the staircase will involve complete demolition of the current staircase.
The repairs for the sinking fireplace will involve tearing out sheetrock on two floors and placing jacks underneath the fireplace that will be slowly raised to bring the house close to level again. CLOSE to level…is the best we can hope for according to our structural engineer. The house will never be perfectly level…as the jacks can only be cranked so far without causing more damage. In other words…the house will never be as it should be, had it been built properly.
We have been told that even slight jacking of the fireplace will cause even more severe cracking to the walls above, stone could fall off of the fireplace, moldings will crack or fall, more cracking and warping of the hardwood floors and more.
This is a very scary prospect!!
The secondary problems we have had with our home range from mild to severe leaks, uneven poorly installed tile on the shower floor, stone falling from the front of the house, drainage issues, shutters falling off, the before mentioned out of code front porch steps, an improperly installed and uneven lower boat door and more.

Estimates for the main repairs for the staircase and fireplace only… range from $65,000.00 to $80,000.00!

Because Sue Campbell refused to work with us…and would not take our calls…we had no choice but to take legal action. We hired an attorney in Jackson County. Her name is Shelley Welch-Cox.
Unfortunately…because of our contract with Ms. Campbell…we were required to use arbitration and not the regular court/jury system to state our case.
If you take away or learn anything from reading this story…please learn this:
SIGNING A BUILDING CONTRACT THAT HAS A BINDING ARBITRATION CLAUSE-WILL CAUSE YOU TO LOSE YOUR LEGAL RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL BEFORE A JURY OF YOUR PEERS IN THE REGULAR COURT SYSTEM. IF YOU GO TO BINDING ARBITRATION…IT IS MY OPINION THAT YOU WILL LOSE. NO MATTER WHAT YOUR EVIDENCE IS…YOU WILL LOSE. I FEEL YOU CAN NOT WIN IN BINDING ARBITRATION.

The nightmare sets in!!!!

THE PERIOD LEADING UP TO THE ARBITRATION

Our contract with Sue Campbell and Sue Campbell Properties, LLC states that we must handle legal issues through arbitration…and not a regular court.
If you are reading this…again…I CAN NOT stress enough…DO NOT SIGN A CONTRACT WITH ANYONE…ESPECIALLY A BUILDER…THAT REQUIRES LEGAL ISSUES TO BE HANDLED THROUGH BINDING ARBITRATION.
Arbitration is not a jury situation. Arbitration is one person…who is supposed to be “neutral” and “non-biased”. This person hears your case and makes a legally binding decision.

The arbitration process is supposed to be less expensive and much faster than the regular court system.
IT IS NOT!!!
Our arbitration cost us over 40,000.00...yes…OVER FOURTY THOUSAND DOLLARS… and over TWO YEARS of stress, headaches and heartache.

Ms Campbell's attorney is NOT a nice man. His name is Rob Alexander. In my opinion, the two of them actually make quite a pair. People of their character seem to migrate toward one another.

Unfortunately, I already knew prior to the arbitration what type of character Rob Alexander has. The first time I met him in 2003…he tried to make very sexually explicit advances towards me. He made some very filthy comments and then propositioned me. Please keep in mind...Mr. Alexander is married…and he knew I was too!!
Yes, Rob and Sue truly make the perfect pair!

Mr. Alexander seemed to use a lot of stall tactics. He was constantly coming up with reasons to ask for more time…and strangely enough, he was getting it!!!
In addition to Mr. Alexander…she also had a second attorney from her insurance company. His name was Jason Schwartz. He was not much better than Mr. Alexander.
So…Mr. Alexander, Mr. Schwartz and Ms Campbell made their plans…and dragged their feet for quite a while.
They requested at least two different inspections by their own inspectors…as well as a personal visit for themselves to take pictures.
At one point early in the proceedings…Mr. Schwartz requested that we allow them to pull up the carpeting around the area under the fireplace…and remove the sheetrock from the wall under the fireplace. He asked this…because he thought he would find evidence that some type of support had been removed from under the fireplace.
We agreed to let them do it…but they never followed through and did it. Shelley even reminded them on two separate occasions that we had agreed to let them do it…and requested for them to set up a time.
Shortly after their request to tear up my basement…Mr. Schwartz on behalf of the insurance company, offered us $10,000 dollars to settle. Our lowest estimate for repairs at that time was $55,000 dollars…so we of course declined.
Right after that, Mr. Schwartz quit working with the case. He stated that Ms. Campbell was too difficult to work with.

Another incident that shows Ms Campbell's AND Mr. Alexander's apparent lack of integrity involves one of the visits they made to our home.

I made it very clear that I did not want Sue Campbell in our home. There was no reason for her to be there…and I did NOT want her there.
The day of a scheduled inspection…as the parties began to arrive…the attorneys and inspectors etc… I looked out my front window and noticed Ms Campbell standing in the street talking to several men.
Shelley was already there…and so I reconfirmed with her that Sue was not to come in to our home.
A few minutes later, Mr. Alexander came to the door and asked to speak to Shelley.
He explained to her that Sue was there with her framing crew and that she wanted to come in with them to look over things…because he said “it could possibly be the framers that caused the problems”.
While I was trying to make a decision, Ms Campbell took it upon herself to walk around to the back of our home and let herself and the men in.
She came rihgt in our home in without being invited or escorted.
I was furious…but relented to keep peace.
Five minutes after she was in…I found out it was not her framing crew at all…but rather county building inspectors who were looking around our basement for code violations dealing with the finishing of our basement. They threatened to fine us for not having a fan in the bathroom or a smoke detector. They even said that we could get fined hundreds of dollars for not pulling a permit to finish the basement. As you will read later…the basement was finished while Sue Campbell still owned the house.
Shelley was FURIOUS…and immediately questioned Rob Alexander about the situation. He just smiled and shrugged his shoulders saying “She told me they were the framing crew”.
Yeah…right!!!!

Throughout the entire arbitration process…Ms Campbell has not been truthful.
She also began to follow me in her truck like a crazy stalker, apparently trying to intimidate me. She did it many times. Once she even blocked me in the entrance of my neighborhood and stared me down until I tried to drive around her. Then she swerved as if she were going to slam her truck in to me.
The scariest time was once as she was driving passed me in her truck. She actually slammed on her brakes and did a U-turn in the middle of the road in order to follow me.
I attempted to handle the matter through Shelley and then eventually, through the court system. But…IN MY OPIONION…thanks to the odd Jackson County court system…I was unable to make her stop legally.

When the word spread about our problems with Sue Campbell…and the fact that we were taking her to “court”…our phone started ringing. We received calls from so many people she had wronged. We heard about poorly built staircases that had to be rebuilt, windows with no seals that had wind rushing in around the sides, leaking roofs, flooding basements, sagging floors and so much more. Almost all of the callers told us that Sue had promised to make the repairs and then never returned their calls. One of the callers even went to Ms. Campbell's home with a document signed by Sue Campbell that stated she would make the repairs. She still has not made the repairs… and the family has lived in their home for over two years.
Unfortunately, when we asked these people to testify in court…they all but one declined. They stated that they were “afraid” of Ms Campbell…with her reputation of retaliation.

Right before the arbitration proceedings, another attorney from Atlanta was hired by Ms Campbell to assist Mr. Alexander. The new attorney's name was Mr. Ford. He is apparently a construction expert.

It is my opinion that Rob Alexander felt insecure about handling the case…as he is only used to dealing with the Jackson County Judges and legal system. Again, this is all my personal opinion. It is however, the opinion of many in Jackson County.
Because Ms Campbell hired Mr. Ford…we had to go through another series of home inspections…so that they could cook up their new story. The old stories had fallen to the wayside.
First Ms. Campbell said she put the support under the fireplace where it is now. Then she said she didn't. Then she said she tore out the original fireplace support. Then she said she didn't. It was complete madness!

As the date for the arbitration approached…we had to do depositions.
At my deposition…Mr. Alexander and Mr. Ford grilled me for two full days.
Out of those two full days…they asked questions about the house or construction defects very little of the time.
The rest of the time they focused in on everything from…who I went on vacation with…to who my former talent agents were when I modeled.
They grilled me about private medical issues and then accused me of being on cancer medications that would alter my thinking or answers.
They accused me of telling people I had breast cancer…which I do NOT have.
For the record, I do have a private medical issue with my breasts…but not breast cancer...which certainly has NOTHING to do with the construction of my home.
They accused me of writing a scathing letter about Ms Campbell and then distributing it around town.
They asked me questions about the most ridiculous things…just to intimidate me.
Ninety percent of the questions they asked were very personal and had absolutely nothing to do with our house in any way.
It was a ridiculous attempt to drain me emotionally and then get me to drop the case.
It didn’t work.

I also want it to be known that when it came time for my witnesses to do their depositions…that Mr. Alexander threatened several of them.
One in particular such incident involved my real estate agent Carol.
Carol was contacted by Mr. Alexander via a simple request to appear letter...not a subpoena…to do her deposition. Carol was unable to go to the deposition as her son’s wife had just had her first child. This was also Carol's first Grandchild. Carol had to travel out of town to be with her family.
Because Carol was unable to attend the scheduled deposition…Mr. Alexander called Carol's very elderly boss…who is extremely ill…and is a three round cancer survivor. Mr. Alexander THREATENED him, by suggesting that he would charge all missed deposition related expenses to the gentleman or his agency and take him to court if necessary….etc.

These are just a few of Ms Campbell's and Mr. Alexander's shenanigans prior to the arbitration.

THE ARBITRATION

Finally, after months and months of stalling and story changing by Mr. Alexander and Ms Campbell…the day for the arbitration arrived…late August 2006.

The arbitrator came in and introduced himself. His name is Jeffrey D. Paquin. He seemed to be very nice. He stated and encouraged everyone to call him by his first name…and mentioned that he would be conducting the proceedings in a very casual manner…with no formality. He then started the proceedings.

The first thing that was discussed was the possibility of a site visit. Jeff was the one who mentioned wanting to make the visit to our home. He even asked how far our home was from the court house.
He then stated that he would make a site visit if both parties agreed.
Well…of course Ms Campbell and her attorneys did not want to do a site visit.
God forbid Mr. Paquin see the defects up close and personal.
So…believe it or not…Mr. Paquin stated that there would be no site visit. We still can’t believe he let Sue and her attorneys decided if we could or could not go and see Sue's shoddy work.
We should have known how things were going to go then and there.

Mr. Alexander opened the proceedings…and let me say this…NOTHING could have prepared me for the idiotic and dramatic spiel that came out of his mouth.
I wish I had the funds to purchase the actual court reporter’s files. If I could, I would scan it and put it on here word for word. I am currently trying to raise the funds to purchase all of the court documents. I have been told that to purchase the arbitration documents…would cost in excess of $3000.00!
(They get you coming and going)
I want the files for many reasons…but most of all to expose Sue Campbell and her witnesses to the public. These witnesses include official Jackson County employees and other local building officials!!!
But, back to the opening statement:

Mr. Alexander's mouth opened…and out came what has to be the most ridiculous opening statement of all time!
Please note that I am paraphrasing:
“Your honor…I would like to present you with the case of …Who Murdered the Kimbell’s Fireplace.Was it the butler? NO! Was it the maid in the parlor with a candlestick? NO!!!” …and on and on…
It was completely idiotic and tacky. He actually presented the case as if it were the game of Clue.

My attorney Shelley opened with a simple and to the point synopsis of the building defects and why Ms Campbell should be held responsible to pay the repairs on our home…period.
Of course…Shelley has ethics and integrity…in my opinion…qualities Rob Alexander can not even define.
In a way, I feel bad for Mr. Alexander. I personally could not be the type of attorney that defends people…knowing they are wrong…and knowing that winning for the bad people could destroy other people’s lives. It must be a sad existence to ruin people’s lives and defend bad people…for the sake of the all mighty dollar. But then again...there are people who enjoy that type of thing.

After the opening statements…witnesses were called to the stand.
The following are a few of the more important witness statements I remember…both from my witnesses and Ms. Campbell's witnesses.
Again…keep in mind that I am paraphrasing…until such time I can post the official arbitration documents:

MY WITNESS
Her former job superintendent on our home build:
“I told Sue about the sinking fireplace during framing. She was aware of the problem. She told me she would take care of it…and to steer the Kimbell’s away from finding out about it”

HER WITNESS
A Jackson County building inspector:
“No…the Kimbell’s staircase should not have passed inspection”
And
“The basement was not finished when I did my final inspection”

I suppose I need to interject the reason for the questioning of when our basement was finished.
After many months of stalling…and all the time Sue had to change her story…which she changed many times…she finally zeroed in on this lie and story:
She claims that our basement was finished after the house was built and sold…and that who ever finished the basement…tore out the original fireplace support…that was originally framed in the wrong place on the opposite side of the house from where the fireplace is now…which when removed caused the floor joist to shift and make the fireplace on the opposite side of the house sag.
What I find so incredible…is that she admitted in her deposition…that she did not place the proper support box under the fireplace where it exists now.
Just for the record…Ms Campbell had the original and wrongly framed fireplace box removed. We asked that it be removed…and she had it removed…during the framing of the house.
Also for the record…and I have overwhelming evidence to show the truth: Our basement was finished before we purchased the home…with the approval of Ms Campbell. Though we hired someone to finish the basement…he finished it prior to the closing.
Ms Campbell even had to let him in the locked house so that he could do his work. All of his paper work and building supply orders are dated prior to the closing of our house.
All sheetrock, wires, plumbing and other building materials are all time and date stamped from or before May 2002.…prior to the closing of our home.

What amazed me more than anything…was Ms Campbell's ability to sit on the witness stand and swear to tell the truth…and then without any qualms…lie.
When she was asked by Shelley why she attempted to repair the fireplace to begin with…if she were not responsible….she replied: “I saw what the Kimbell’s had done…and I wanted to save them from themselves” (indicating that WE were somehow responsible for our sagging fireplace) and that she offered to repair it “to be nice”. Let me just say this…the woman is NOT nice…at all.
Sue's stating of this would mean that she (out of the goodness of her heart) paid for all the construction materials and then paid construction professionals to come in to our home and do a job…entirely out of her pocket…even though she claimed to not be responsible!

Raise your hand if that seems like a big load of manure to you!!

The whole arbitration was a circus.
Ms Campbell also had some man who claimed to be an “expert” of some sort come in and say that our basement was not finished until the year 2005...because he saw a stamp of “I5” inside the lid of the toilet in our basement. So…we went home during a court lunch break…took our toilet apart and brought it to court. Yes folks…we took our toilet to court. It was ridiculous and idiotic…but necessary…in order to try and fight the lineup of liars Ms Campbell and Mr. Alexander paraded into the arbitration.
The lid of our toilet clearly had the year 2002 stamped inside…on the other side of the lid from the “I5”.
Mr. Paquin saw the 2002 clearly. When called back on to the stand…Ms Campbell's “expert” witness suddenly couldn’t see very well. He said something like…”OH, I don’t have my glasses…so I can’t see very well to make a definite call on the date”. Mr. Paquin even offered him his glasses. Let me repeat...it was a total three ring circus!!!
We later called American Standard who manufactured our toilet…and were told that the “I5” in the lid was “Inspector 5” from the production plant.

SOME EXPERT!!!!!

But not only did Ms Campbell lie…but she had others lie as well.
One of her witnesses sat on the witness stand and said that he had personally done the repairs on our house in the basement…but that he only closed in a doorway. He seemed very nervous and rehearsed. He could not even look me in the face. In a way, I felt bad for him…he probably felt he had no choice. I believe that Sue Campbell is his only employer.

But Ms Campbell's lies are more far reaching than just one of her own employees.

As I mentioned before…a Jackson County building inspector sat on the stand and testified that our basement was not finished when he did the final inspection.
I have documents from both my insurance company AND my mortgage company that both state “finished basement”. My insurance policy is dated three weeks prior to the closing.

When she went on the stand…I have to say that she was very convincing. She talked about the importance of her reputation and about being a single mother. She tried to appear as sweet and innocent as possible.
But the sweet act suddenly changed to psychotic.
She screamed across the court room towards us “I do not feel sorry for you. You did this to yourself…and you will never sell your house”. She also screamed “I am not the lottery!" I suppose she screamed the lottery thing to indicate that she felt all we wanted was money.
This is also when she stated that she had only done the fireplace repairs on our home…“to save us from ourselves”…out of the kindness of her heart! It was ridiculous and sad...and yet eerily compelling. If I did not know she was a complete liar...I would have believed her myself!
Unfortunately she is a very convincing liar…and came across as very believable. Crazy…but believable. Like Sybil.

After two long days…the arbitration was over.
At the end of the second day… both attorneys were not finished with the case. However, we had only scheduled two days for the arbitration. Because the attorney’s were not finished…and it was almost 5:30 PM…Mr. Paquin stated that “any and all remaining evidence, testimony, rebuttal evidence and closing statements must be on his desk by the following Friday. He made a big deal of this…stating “Not Saturday…not Monday…FRIDAY!!” All of the attorneys agreed…and we left the courthouse.
The arbitration really took a lot out of us. By the end of the second day we were both completely physically and mentally exhausted…and felt defeated. We went home and collapsed.

That night…we couldn’t sleep. We both tossed and turned. I finally got up and started typing lists of our evidence on the computer.
The clickity click click of my fingernails on the computer keys woke Scott up…and he sat straight up in the bed and said “We have to take the sheetrock off the wall in the basement”.
It was bizarre and out of no where…all I could do was stare at him.
He went on to explain his theory. He said that because Jason Schwartz from Sue's insurance company had wanted to tear out the sheetrock and tear up the carpet…and then never did…he suspected that there must be something behind the sheetrock that Sue had told them she did not want the arbitrator to see.
I said “OK…it’s worth a shot”…but was not looking forward to destroying our home.
SO…later that day…after work…with the help of our friend Ben, who is a licensed, bonded and insured builder…we tore out the sheetrock.
We filmed the entire deconstruction.
Our hope in tearing out the sheetrock…was to find some boards that matched the pieces nailed side by side up in the ceiling between the floor joists. These pieces of wood were termed “soldiers” during the arbitration proceedings…and Ms Campbell adamantly denied having anything to do with them…or installing them. She even stated that it was a “poorly constructed bush league repair job” that she would never allow to be done.
We began our video by using a Nextel cellular phone as a time and date stamp. Cell phones as you know automatically display the current time and date and cannot be changed.
The deconstruction involved taking out all the drop ceiling tiles…prying away the drop ceiling metal support framing…tearing out the door frame and moldings…and tearing down the sheetrock.
WHAT A MESS!!!!
As the sheetrock came down…the first thing we found was a “beam” that was made by nailing together several used and beat up 2 x 6’s. This “beam” was well inside the six foot area that our builder admitted under oath she had closed down to three feet. Some of the boards even have cut marks from top to bottom…indicating that they were used on a saw horse or something of the like.
None of the boards match…indicating they were just “whatever scrap wood thatwas around” at the time of the “repair”.
The sheetrock that was covering the area she had closed in was dated 2003...and was also a different color on the back than the sheetrock that had been installed when the basement was finished.
But the most startling evidence we came across was under the original sheetrock dated from 2002.
Scott and Ben had been scoring the sheetrock with razor knives and pulling it down. Most of it was crumbling and breaking…causing a HUGE mess.
Just as I was walking back into the room from going to get another video tape…they pulled down a huge piece of sheetrock.
Under the sheetrock…and written directly across the beam under the fireplace were the words “Jack up floor sag”…which was also highlighted with orange neon spray paint. Next to those words were the letters LVL…which had been scribbled out.
I screamed "Thank you Lord" and jumped up and down.
Ben told us that LVL indicates a type of much stronger beam that should have been used there…instead of the one that she used.
We all became so excited. This was it…the direct proof that we needed to show that Sue Campbell is a liar and a fraud…not to mention a bad builder.
It is our firm belief that the “jack up floor sag” note was written by either the home inspector or Sue herself. We believe this because when looking back through the pictures we had taken during the home construction…Shelley found pictures of writing and orange paint on the actual fireplace itself as well as on several areas of the staircase.
Someone had come through during an inspection and accented all the areas that needed correction or attention…and regardless of who that person was…the areas were never addressed properly.
But wait…there’s more…
My husband with his perfect eyesight found even MORE damning evidence than the “jack up floor sag” on the wall.
All the way up in the basement ceiling…between two of the floor joist…where the side by side boards that are pounded together are located …he spotted some protruding nails. OH…but not just any old nails…NO.

Before I continue…let me remind you that Ms. Campbell adamantly denied having anything to do with the “soldiers” that are pounded in side by side between the floor joists.

Continuing…
The main nail that Scott discovered…is coming through the side of one of those “soldiers”. But…where is the nail coming from?
Well…it is coming through the sub flooring above. In fact…there are two easily seen nails coming through the sub floor above…then into and through the “soldiers” that Ms. Campbell claims she had nothing to do with.
What is on top of the sub floor on the main level of the house?…you might ask.
The entire main level of our home is all hard wood floors!!! Yes…hard wood floors.
There are no nails going through the hardwood floors and down into the basement.
What does this mean?…you might ask.
This means…that in order for US to have put in the side by side “soldier” boards…we would have had to pull up our hardwood floors to get those nails through the sub floor and into the "soldiers" from above…and then put the hardwood floors back down.
I have several construction pictures of the hardwood floors being installed around the fireplace.
So what does this really mean?…you might ask
THE NAILS HAD TO HAVE BEEN POUNDED THROUGH THE SUB FLOOR BEFORE THE HARDWOOD FLOORS WERE INSTALLED…MEANING THE “SOLDIERS” HAD TO HAVE BEEN INSTALLED DURING CONSTRUCTION.
There is no other explanation!

We scrambled around to find someone that could put the evidence on to a DVD. The American Arbitration Association will not accept video tapes.
Shelley was thrilled…and turned it in with all of her other final paperwork and closing arguments.
Of course…both Mr. Alexander and Mr. Ford yelled “I object” through a series of emails that were circulated to Mr. Paquin and between all the attorney’s. They even tackily went so far as to accuse Shelley of taking advantage of the fact that Mr. Alexander's Grandfather had passed away that week.
As a matter of record, Scott nor I nor Shelley had any idea that Rob’s Grandfather had passed…until Shelley attempted to hand deliver a copy of our DVD to him…and found his office closed for the funeral.
Shelley was very offended that they would accuse her of this type of behavior. VERY OFFENDED…but not surprised.
After the smoke cleared…and all of the emails had been circulated we received a final email from Mr. Paquin. In the email, Mr. Paquin stated that he would “take any and all evidence into consideration for what it was worth”.
We were so excited…we had the 100% proof and evidence we needed to get our home repaired…and it was in the hands of Mr. Paquin!
But we were in for the shock of our lives!

THE ARBITRATOR’S DECISION

Mr. Paquin took a long time getting back to us with his decision.
It actually took him over the thirty day period we were told he would have to make his decision.
The day we received the call from Shelley was bad…very bad!

Mr. Paquin's decision is six pages long…and most of it is a rehash of each parties claims.
Mr. Paquin's decision basically states that “all defects in the Kimbell’s home are homeowner fault or neglect” and “all arbitration fees will be divided equally between the parties”.
Basically, Mr. Paquin stated that Sue Campbell is “not guilty”…but still has to pay half the arbitration fees. As far as the defects and code violations are concerned...he rules that we have somehow “neglected” to tell our builder how to build a house properly and to code.
By the way…
If anyone…ANYONE…can tell us how our poorly built/out of code stairs could be our “neglect”…please email us and let us know.

No where in Mr. Paquin's final statement does he mention the evidence. No where does he state any laws or case law he used to reach the decision.
The rules of Binding Arbitration are: There are no rules for Binding Arbitration! He can do whatever he wants…and there is nothing we can do about it.
We are completely shocked. Shelley is completely shocked. Everyone that knew about the case is shocked.
How could this happen? How is it possible that Mr. Paquin could view the video and not see through the lies?

This is when we began our research…and found other stories just like ours on the internet. Hundreds of stories just like ours…with people facing or going through foreclosure, families torn apart and families left basically homeless…because of arbitrators like Mr. Paquin constantly siding with bad builders like Sue Campbell.
It is my opinion that the arbitrators side with the builders…because it is the builders who come back to arbitration time after time after time.
A homeowner will most likely only go through arbitration once in their life. Whereas the builder will be back many times…paying the arbitrator’s $250.00 hourly rate.
If arbitrators side for the homeowner…then the arbitrator will never be selected by builders when the time comes for the parties to select from the pool of available arbitrators.
This essentially means that doing the right thing…could put them out of a job. This is why in my opinion, you will never win in Binding Arbitration.

Shelley immediately filed a motion with Mr. Paquin requesting a reasoned order…meaning “Hey…tell us how you reached this decision with Georgia law.”
That was almost two months ago as of today...December 22, 2006.
After many calls to his office…Mr. Paquin finally had his secretary call to tell Shelley that “he will get back with us on his decision after the holidays.”

He did get back with us after the holidays…just to let us know that he is refusing to give a reasoned order. He will not state the evidence or law he used to reach his decision.

(Because he can’t)

Because he is doing this…we are at a dead end. Our appellate rights have been curtailed. We have no recourse. We have no where else to turn.
The American Arbitration Association has all of our savings and Sue Campbell gets away with her lies and bad building.

As soon as we received the arbitrator’s first decision…I began making calls to every newspaper, radio station and television station in the general area…including Atlanta.
Finally, the Channel 2 Investigation Team called me back.
Clark Howard asked them to call after hearing me call in on The Whistle Blower Hotline.
They sent out a camera crew and a producer to cover the story two different times. The second time Jim Strickland himself came out.
They were shocked when they saw our evidence. The first question the producer asked me was… “How can the staircase problem be your neglect, if you didn’t build it?” I replied “I don’t know…but if you find out…please let me know.”
They have told us that our story will be a spotlight segment on Binding Arbitration…and that they will run many commercials to promote it prior to it airing.
About a week after the producer and camera crew came out…we received an email from the producer. She wanted us to know that she had made several attempts to contact Mr. Paquin for an interview…both by phone and email…and that he had stopped working for The American Arbitration Association. He now works in Chicago, and says he has “taken a vow not to speak” about our case.

YES…seriously…he said that!

Channel 2 contacted The American Arbitration Association for an interview. At first a spokesperson agreed to talk about why they felt that arbitration is a good alternative to the regular legal system. But, then they refused to talk at all.
The producer contacted Sue Campbell for an interview and she refused to talk. But, I do believe that Rob Alexander will talk. He seems to like to hear himself talk…
That is where we are with the Channel 2 story. Please watch for our story to air, the first week of February 2007.

We are also scheduled to be in two upcoming newspaper articles and another television spot. I even have a call in to a nationaly syndicated news show.

AND SO WE WAIT……..

In the meantime, our greatest fear has come true…
We have been told by real estate agents that our home should sell at over $400,000.00 if there were no problems with it. We listed our home during the arbitration proceedings for $369,900.00…WELL below the market price. Though many people came to see it…no one would even consider buying it due to the structural issues. It is a law that homeowners must disclose any structural problems on a Sellers Disclosure Statement. If it were not a law…then I personally feel that any ethical person should disclose such issues.
As soon as we received Mr. Paquin's decision, we dropped the price of the house to $299,000.00. Yes…over $100,000.00 below estimated market value!
We were flooded with lookers…but no buyers. They all stated that they did not want to take on the responsibility of the repairs.
We are now trying to raise the money to have someone do the repairs, in order to sell the house.
All we want to do is move…and try to start over.
We now have a son…and we want to get him out of this county and away from this nightmare of a house. But we can’t without selling our house first.
The arbitration cost, the countless experts/inspector’s bills and our attorney’s fees have drained what was left of our savings. We are now seriously in debt with our attorney…and have no savings left for a safety net. It has caused extreme stress and anxiety to both of us.
In addition, because of all of the problems we have had with our less than four year old home, we are afraid of what other problems we will encounter from the poor construction.
But as I mentioned before…we are not alone.
PLEASE make sure you visit the websites in the links area of this site.
Be aware of bad builders and their dirty practices.

We DO NOT recommend using our builder Sue Campbell of Sue Campbell Properties, LLC.

PLEASE…investigate the builder you use to build your home.

PLEASE…read your building contract thoroughly before you sign it. DO NOT SIGN A BUILDING CONTRACT THAT HAS A BINDING ARBITRATION CLAUSE IN IT!

PLEASE...learn about the people who are rallying to have a law passed to take binding arbitration clauses out of building contracts.

PLEASE feel free to contact us for a full length DVD of all the evidence we uncovered…or for a tour of our home.

PLEASE watch our website for the date of our story to air on television.

And…whatever you do…THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU SIGN A BUILDING AGREEMENT OR A NEW CONSTRUCTION PURCHASE AGREEMENT THAT HAS A BINDING ARBITRATION CLAUSE IN IT.
IF EVERYONE STOPS SIGNING THESE CONTRACTS…BUILDERS LIKE SUE CAMPBELL COULD BE FORCED TO TAKE THEM OUT.

IF YOU SIGN ONE…YOU ARE SIGNING AWAY YOUR RIGHTS TO A FAIR JURY TRIAL IN THE UNITED STATES LEGAL SYSTEM.
IF ANYTHING GOES WRONG WITH YOUR HOUSE…YOU WILL HAVE TO GO TO BINDING ARBITRATION…AND IN MY OPINION… YOU WILL LOSE!
IT IS HAPPENING ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY...DON'T BE THE NEXT VICTIM OF BINDING ARBITRATION!