SPRING HILL - Don Baba has tried to find an attorney to represent him next month at a civil trial in which he hopes to prove Maronda Homes built him a shoddy house at 5152 Teather Street seven years ago.

The case, which is scheduled to go to trial the week of Jan. 23, has been drawn out for several years in part because of Baba's inability to find legal representation.
After several continuances, Circuit Judge Daniel Merritt told Baba at a pre-trial hearing earlier this month that there would be no more delays. He said if Baba can't find a lawyer, he has the constitutional right to represent himself.

And that's what Baba, An Iraqi native with poor English skills, plans to do. It's something that's not done often because of the risk the average person takes when going up against a trained lawyer in the courtroom.

Merritt told Baba he won't get any breaks.

"You're held to the same standard that an attorney is," the judge said.
While it might be to Maronda Homes' benefit, the company isn't thrilled about Baba representing himself.

Heather Pinder Rodriguez, a lawyer with Holland & Knight representing Maronda Homes, said the trial would be a challenge.

"We would prefer for Mr. Baba to have an attorney who is familiar with the rules of evidence and procedural guidelines," she said.

She told Merritt that it would be hard to prepare her case.

"I don't even know what he's going to prove or attempt to prove at trial," she said.
But just because Baba doesn't know his way around the courtroom doesn't mean Pinder Rodriguez is going to take it easy on him.

"We are ethically bound to zealously represent the interest of our client," she said.
Baba said he has no choice but to proceed because he doesn't have any more time and he's not about to drop the suit, which has consumed his life.

"This case is six years. That's what I'm doing every single day," he said. "I live here because I don't have another place to go. Why should somebody like Maronda Homes, if this country is democracy, do a criminal home and get away. I paid them money to build me a house."

But at the pre-trial hearing Dec. 8, Pinder Rodriguez claimed that Baba has already been reimbursed the full cost of his house and then some. Technically, she told the judge, he's not out a penny.

In a motion for summary judgment, the lawyer asked Merritt to forego a trial and rule in her client's favor. She said Baba closed on his home Dec. 23, 1998, and paid $72,878.72. A year later, he began complaining about the home's construction.

Pinder Rodriguez said Baba then received an insurance settlement check for $79,300 because of a sinkhole on his property. He filed the lawsuit after that on the same grounds.

"Mr. Baba is not allowed to seek a windfall," she told Merritt. "The law abhors a double recovery...Mr. Baba has no further damages to recover in this matter."

Baba responded: "I'm not claiming the sinkhole in this case. I don't want to talk about the sinkhole. I'm talking about the shabby construction from the first day I went to that home."
Baba's suit complains about an assortment of problems, including the sinkhole, toxic mold, crooked doors and windows and a defective footer and roofing, to name a few. The suit asks for general damages as well as medical costs, interest, taxable costs and punitive damages.
Baba said it's not all about money.

"I'm dying either way. This toxic in my body, they can't do anything about that," he said.
Baba said Merritt shouldn't grant Pinder Rodriguez's motion because the suit isn't about the sinkhole anymore. His concern now is the toxic mold, which he claims is affecting his health.
He said the mold is from poor ductwork and construction, not the sinkhole. And he claims the mold has made him sick. He said the mold is a result of the sinkhole, and he calls his home a deathtrap.

"The sinkhole has nothing to do with it. I will pay to fix the sinkhole," he said.

Merritt told both sides he would consider the defense's motion, do some research and get back to both sides with his decision.

Baba has lived in the U.S. for 34 years. He moved from Iraq to Connecticut and then to Florida.
"I worked in a factory the third day in this country. I couldn't speak English when I came here, but I learned," he said.

He said he worked in factories for several years until 1984, when he was injured on the job and his health began to decline. He went on permanent disability in 1989 and money continues to be a struggle. He lives on a $974 social security disability check each month.

"I bought a car. I bought myself a TV," he said. "I didn't make too much money, but it was enough to live on."

In 1993, he moved to Hernando County.

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