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.

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.

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

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.