Bob Perry – The Godfather of Texas Homebuilding & Politics

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Bob Perry is known for his deep pockets, political influence, and an aversion to the limelight, even though he’s often in the press and has a page on Wikipedia. However unflattering the publicity, it does not seem to have hurt his business.

Perry has given large sums to conservative causes across Texas and the nation, promoting Tort Reform, helping to elect President George W. Bush, and funding the Swift Boat attack ads that challenged Democrat John Kerry’s military record during his presidential campaign.

According to Andrew Wheat of Texans for Public Justice, Bob Perry gave more than $21,000,000 between 2006 and 2009 to candidates and judges - including all but 6 Texas legislators and all nine Texas Supreme Court justices.

Bob "the builder" Perry

Thanks to Perry’s political influence, the plight of Texas homeowners has gradually worsened since 1989 when RCLA (Residential Construction Liability Act) was passed to replace much of DTPA (Deceptive Trade Practices Act). RCLA, part of the Tort Reform movement, gave builders a “right to repair,” limited their liability from lawsuits, and banned class actions.

Later, in 2003, Perry created the TRCC (Texas Residential Construction Commission), showing that “In Texas you can buy your own state agency and then regulate yourself,” as state representative Garnet Coleman (D-Houston) put it. Note that Coleman is one of the six Texas legislators who did NOT get money from Perry.

With no consumer representation in the process, Perry’s general counsel John Krugh drafted the bill that established the TRCC, and then Governor Rick Perry appointed Krugh as the commission's first chairman.

Based on TRCC's own records, reports from two state agencies, and overwhelming public testimony, Texans were worse off with the TRCC, so the legislature eventually abolished it in 2009. (See TRCC Eulogy)

Representative Articles about Bob Perry

• 8/18/10: Aren't there better uses for money pouring into court races?
• 7/21/10: Steve Mostyn provides some politial balance to Bob Perry, contributing more than $2 million to candidates and political groups, mostly to Democrats.
• 7/21/10: Houston husband-wife lawyer team plans to donate >$3M to knock Rick Perry out of office.  
  (See Back to Basics videos on YouTube. They were largely funded by Mostyn.)
• 7/17/10: Perry camp pays Democrat to settle suit over $1 million donation
• 6/07/10: Runaway jury in Tarrant County [HOT Letter to the Editor Response:
  "Why would you publish this opinion piece representing one side of a 10-year-old legal dispute without showing the other side or providing space for reader comments? In the Cull v Perry Homes case, the jury was obviously showing their anger and made a bold statement with their $58 million award designed as a punitive deterrent to future abuses. Homeowners of Texas has a full account of this interesting case."]
• 5/26/10: Texas Couple Wins $51 Million for Defective $250,000 House
• 4/27/10: Bob Perry bankrolls GOP governors group (and Rick Perry) 
• 4/24/10: This decade-old case has gone through Litigation, Arbitration, and Mediation and still no closure
• 4/17/10: Larry Gonzales, Brought to You by Bob Perry
• 3/22/10: Mediation between Mansfield couple, home builder fails
• 3/20/10: Campaign contributions: Financing order in the court
• 3/02/10: Verdict in Bob Perry case was a message about court system
• 3/02/10: Jury awards $58 million to Mansfield couple in home builder lawsuit
• 3/02/10: Radnofsky Calls on Texas Attorney General to Return Perry Donations 
• 3/02/10: Bob Perry Spokesman calls $51 million jury award 'jackpot justice' 
• 3/02/10: Justice! – Political moneyman Bob Perry (biggest campaign contributor in Texas & major figure in tort reform) ordered to pay $51 million
• 3/01/10: Political moneyman Bob Perry ordered to pay $51 million (actually $58M)
• 3/01/10: Stephen Thomas and Bob Perry, Who's Your Sugar Daddy? 
• 3/01/10: Homeowners Robert and Jane Cull Win $51 Million Decision (actually $58M)
  Decision documents #1 and #2 
• 3/01/10: Sometimes I think there just might be a God
• 2/25/10: Homebuilder Bob Perry gives $25K to House GOP candidate Thomas 
• 2/17/10: "Bob the Builder" Invests In Judges As Lemon-Home Trial Begins 
• 2/9/10: Bob & Jane Cull’s fight with homebuilder Bob Perry back in court
  Bob & Jane Cull's house in Texas was built by Houston homebuilder Bob Perry, one of the most powerful and politically connected homebuilders in the country. It was defective and they won their case against Perry Homes, only to have Texas Supreme Court overturn the case.
• 2/9/10: Political money machine not slowing down 
• 2/9/10: Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty delivered a $100,000 check from Bob Perry to the Alabama Republican Party. 
• 1/19/10: Houston home builder Bob Perry is the Top contributor to 527s  
• 6/09/09: Supreme Court backs judges' recusals in big donors' cases 
• 5/17/09: TRCC... Time to let the sun set on Bob Perry's Builder Commission 
• 4/20/09: Should Texas judges be appointed instead of elected? 
• 4/06/09: 2006 governor's race lawsuit back in court 
• 3/31/09: Homeowners denounce Bob Perry-created housing agency 
• 3/29/09: How Bob Perry Created the TRCC, which favors Builders over Buyers – NPR Part II 
• 3/28/09: Builder's Clout Traps Couple [Bob & Jane Cull] In Dream Home – NPR Part I 
• 3/25/09: Homebuilder who backs TRCC donated to lawmakers deciding agency's fate 
• 3/22/09: Political donor clout may extend TRCC life 
• 11/10/08: Big donors fuel Texas House races 
• 12/19/08: Stacked Deck 
• 12/15/08: If at first you don't succeed, try sweetening the deal 
• 8/24/08: A builder, a commission and a lot of cash 
• 7/20/08: Building homes and candidacies 
• 5/06/08: Donors should not tip scales of justice 
• 5/02/08: Texas Supreme Court rules against Mansfield couple in battle with homebuilder 
• 5/02/08: Justices Rule For No. 1 Individual Campaign Donor; Perry Homes Decision Overturns Two Lower Courts 
• 1/01/08: Bob Perry funds candidates in bid to save the TRCC (3:09 min video)
• 4/01/07: Bob Perry needs a hug 
• 3/20/07: Texas Supreme Court vacates the Cull's arbitration 
• 1/21/07: Couple's dream home a 10-year legal nightmare 
• 1/29/06: TRCC: The house that Bob Perry built 
• 8/2005: Home Buyer Beware 
• 8/27/04: ‘Swift Boat’ backer is major political financier 
• About Bob Perry (his bio)