Local 2 Investigates Texas' Top Political Donor
Gov. Rick Perry and the top statewide elected officials in Texas have more than just politics in common. When it comes to padding their political campaigns, one man gives them far more than any other donor. "Bob Perry's automatic checkbook raises the eyebrows of what used to be high-rollers in Texas," said Craig McDonald of Texans for Public Justice, a non-profit policy and research organization, which tracks the influence of money in Texas politics. "He (Perry) is just off the charts." Local 2 investigative reporter Amy Davis unmasked the top donor and explains why some say he's giving so much. While Perry's donations are legal and part of the public record, his critics claim his "off the chart" spending is buying influence and even political favors.

Homeowners file house complaints with BBB
Copperfield area homeowner Imran Moola had problems with vents tilting and bending, then giving way to water leaks in the house he had built and had lived in for less than two years, but a roof leak around the stove exhaust was of particular concern to him. Several inspections showed that the roof wasn’t properly installed, and though it was under warranty for 10 years, a company representative told him that the repair was his responsibility, not Lennar Homes, the builder... Lennar has an unsatisfactory rating with the BBB, partly due to outstanding unresolved complaints or outstanding unanswered complaints,...

Woman has been fighting home builders for 4 years
Jeryl Bennett purchased her brand-new three-bedroom, two-bathroom house in August of 2004. The home, located in Hanover Forest subdivision near Interstate 45 in Spring, was built by Lennar Homes, Inc. and was documented to be worth $134,000 when Bennett bought it. But in October of 2007, the Appraisal Review Board of Harris County Appraisal District said the home was worth $70,000.  Bennett believes poor construction by the builders is the reason for the drop in value of a home that Bennett now refers to as “a piece of junk.”...Bennett said she’s been in a battle with Lennar and TRCC since she purchased her home and said Lennar has given her the run-around and taken advantage of her.

AT&T can't force customer arbitration
The state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that AT&T couldn't compel a customer to resolve his dispute through arbitration, allowing him to pursue a class-action lawsuit against the telecommunications company. "It is an enormous victory for the consumers in this case," said Paul Bland, one of the plaintiff's attorneys with Public Justice in Washington, D.C. "It's an extremely important case not only for consumers in Washington but throughout the country."  Michael McKee of East Wenatchee filed a class-action suit against AT&T Corp. in 2003, alleging that it wrongly charged him and others for city utility surcharges and usurious late fees.

Sunset staff: Eliminate builder commission 
The Sunset staff report on the construction commission is already controversial. The homebuilder lobby immediately attacked the report’s recommendation to abolish the commission. The action of the staff itself, and ultimately the Legislature, will be an interesting test of whether lawmakers are actually committed to reducing the size of government."The Texas Residential Construction Commission was never meant to be a true regulatory agency with a clear mission of protecting the public," the staff report notes. "Despite changes last Session ostensibly to strengthen the process by making builders subject to new penalties if they refuse to offer repair of a confirmed defect, the Commission still has no real power to require builders to make needed repairs.

Rockville home builder charged with Consumer Protection violations
The charges allege that Premiere Homes' building contracts contain illegal clauses that the builder used to terminate building contracts with consumers without any liability if it failed to build a client's home. The charges also allege that Premiere Homes repeatedly took advantage of this temrination clause when favorable market conditions caused housing prices prices to rise. The AG's Office says the company would cancel its contracts to build homes after one year and refused to build the homes unless consumers signed new contracts agreeing to pay Premiere Homes more money.

Time to demolish flawed commission
Critics contended that the resolution process was already stacked against homeowners before the commission went to work. So it was incumbent on lawmakers and Gov. Rick Perry — who appoints the nine commissioners — to create a new entity that leveled the playing field. That wasn't likely to occur in Austin, where the campaign contributions and lobbyists of builders and developers are a potent force... The sunset panel found a construction commission that was “fundamentally flawed.” “It's really doing more harm to homeowners than good,” the panel's executive director told the Express-News Austin Bureau.

A builder, a commission, a lot of cash
It remains to be seen what will happen to the recommendation to abolish the Texas Residential Construction Commission, but it is no sure thing, thanks largely to the money with which Houston home builder Bob Perry continues to shower lawmakers. Although the proposal was applauded by consumers, who view the agency as little more than a protective haven for home builders, the first of several potential obstacles is the Sunset Advisory Commission itself, which must decide whether to endorse or reject its staff's work.

Your Help is Needed!
A message from Janet Ahmad - The Texas Sunset Report has recommended that the State Legislature Abolish the Texas Residential Commission (TRCC)

Tell the Sunset Commission to Abolish the Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC)
Texas homebuilders have been given free rein to take advantage of ordinary Texans for far too long. We now have a unique opportunity to demand real reforms that will improve protections and options for Texas homeowners.  Send message to Sunset Commission

Real estate appraisers still feel pressured to inflate valuations
Are mortgage loan officers and realty agents -- even individual home sellers -- continuing to influence or attempting to interfere with appraisals despite new federal rules that ban such behavior? Ask appraisers and many will tell you: It's still business as usual. Attempts at encouraging inflated appraisals continue to be commonplace, though in some cases the techniques have become subtler. "Absolutely, appraisers continue to get pressured" to hit the numbers needed to push transactions to closing, said Bill Garber, government affairs director for the Appraisal Institute, the country's largest professional organization representing appraisers.

Oversight: Legislators should take Sunset report seriously
The TRCC, created five years ago after strident lobbying by home builders, is failing at its job, the Sunset Commission concluded. The Sunset report says that rather than resolve conflicts between builders and buyers, the TRCC has often frustrated consumers who have complaints about new homes...Consumer watchdogs have been critical of the TRCC from its inception, especially after Gov. Rick Perry's first appointments to the five-member commission included John Krugh, the general counsel for Perry Homes and the industry representative credited with writing much of the legislation that established the commission...The Sunset Commission report concludes: "No other regulatory agency has a program with such a potentially devastating effect on consumers' ability to seek their own remedies." If Texas lawmakers don't recognize that as a call to step up and represent the interests of their constituents during the 2009 legislative session, we're not sure what will get their attention — unless it's a new surge of campaign contributions.

Shoddy design impairs agency for homeowner gripes
The staff of the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission has recommended that the state abolish an agency created just five years ago, supposedly to provide fair and timely resolutions to disputes... You might expect consumer groups to complain and builders to cheer, but in fact it's the opposite — and that says something about the effectiveness of the Texas Residential Construction Commission. According to the Sunset staff, the commission and the law it operates under are so badly designed, so ineffective that it is "easy for even problem builders to stay in business." ..."No other regulatory agency has a program with such a potentially devastating effect on consumers' ability to seek their own remedies," the Sunset staff said...And "only 12 percent of all closed state inspection cases have resulted in a satisfactory offer of repair or compensation" to the homeowner, the Sunset staff said, with the remaining 88 percent left to go to the courts, "the very outcome the (inspection) process was enacted to prevent."

Review calls for state agency's abolition
After just five years, there are calls to abolish the state agency responsible for resolving disputes between homebuilders and homeowners. That's the recommendation of the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, which routinely reviews all state agencies. In the Magnolia Creek Subdivision in Leander, homes sit unfinished and the community pool has long been abandoned... "So when you drive by here and you see of course the pool with weeds growing in it - nobody's going to want to buy a home here," said Curtis Almond, homeowner... "Unfortunately the TRCC has never been able to resolve any disputes between homeowners and homebuilders. That's why we need to scrap it and start over again so that we have a real reform that will protect homeowners and taxpayers in our state," said Alex Winslow of Texas Watch, a consumer advocacy group.

More reasons to raze the badly constructed agency set up to resolve homeowner disputes with builders
The advisory panel that reviews how well state agencies perform and whether they have outlived their usefulness has determined that the body set up to settle disputes between builders and homeowners is "fundamentally flawed" and should be abolished. The fact that consumers are agreeing heartily with the recommendation while the construction industry is lashing out against it speaks volumes about how poorly the agency has served homeowners...Texans indeed need an agency that will provide real protection to victims of dishonest or incompetent builders. But what they have today in the Texas Residential Construction Commission is an ineffective agency built on a shaky foundation too defective to save.