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Organizing your community to bring public attention to builder’s bad deeds and seeking assistance from local, state and federal elected officials has proven to be more effective and much quicker for thousands of families. You do have choices and alternatives. Janet Ahmad |
TRCC in the News
Saturday, 30 May 2009 |
The Examiner: Timely Demise
TRCC is currently at death's door in Austin as lawmakers in the Senate showed little appetite for extending the life of the controversial organization created by the legislature in 2003 at the behest of Bob Perry and other home builders...A significant contributing factor in TRCC's demise was the persistent testimony of homeowners who ran into serious problems after they had purchased new homes, only to find that TRCC consistently took the side of the builders over the buyers... Two women from Southeast Texas - Marcia Kushner of Jersey Village and Dorina Corrente of Sugarland - became regular visitors to the state capitol in Austin over a period of years to tell their horror stories about the builders they believe hid behind the TRCC to avoid fixing the defects that plagued their not-inexpensive new houses...Corrente in particular was singled out for harsh treatment, first from homebuilder D.R. Horton and most egregiously by Duane Waddill, executive director of TRCC. When she testified at a hearing in Austin before the House Building and Industry Committee on March 23 of this year about her on-going struggle with the homebuilder, Waddill sought to dismiss her complaints and assailed her credibility by suggesting from the. podium that she was mentally unstable and that D.R. Horton had to obtain "a restraining order against Mrs. Corrente to keep her off their property."...the charge he leveled against Corrente was a lie. |
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Still Hurdles to Kill the Builders TRCC |
Sunday, 24 May 2009 |
Dallas Morning News: Senate adds amendment that would kill Texas Residential Construction Commission
The Senate just passed 31-0 its so-called safety net bill that will allow agencies subject to sunset review this session to continue for two years, even if their bill authorizing a bill continuation does not pass. Of the 25 or so agencies under review, only a handful have seen their continuation bills pass both chambers. Under law, if those bills don't pass, they go out of business -- include another bill provides them a temporary lifeline. But the Texas Residential Construction Commission won't be among the agencies afforded that extension, at least not according to the bill that just passed the Senate. Sen. Glenn Hegar, R-Katy, added an amendment that would leave out of the safety net that commission, and instead shut it down after this session. |
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Are Builders Playing Political Games |
Sunday, 24 May 2009 |
Dallad Morning News: Residential Construction Commission: Circling the drain? Homeowners groups sent out victory press releases this evening, saying lawmakers had decided to abolish the oft-criticized Texas Residential Construction Commission. Not. So. Fast. True, the agency may be circling the drain. Though the House passed legislation to drastically reform the state's homebuilding agency, the bill won't make it up for a vote in the Senate. That means the agency - which was up for review this year - will be phased out unless lawmakers give it a two-year extension. |
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Residential Construction Commission likely to be abolished |
Saturday, 23 May 2009 |
Houston Chronicle - Home panel faces uphill fight
âThe (legislative) members have pretty well spoken, and itâs probably in the publicâs best interest to do a systematic wind-down of the agency,â Hegar said...Friday was a deadline for the bill to have been voted on by a Senate committee in order for it to be scheduled for Senate floor debate. Senate Business & Commerce Chairman Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, said he didnât schedule the bill for a hearing because builders and consumer advocates could not agree on what to do to improve the agency. âItâs been a war zone the last two years,â said Fraser. |
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Saturday, 23 May 2009 |
Express-News: Panel that took heat from homeowners likely wonât survive
The Texas Residential Construction Commission, highly criticized by the homeowners it was meant to protect, appears headed toward its demise because Senate lawmakers don't have the votes to keep the agency alive... âI'll wave it good-by with a big smile,â said Janet Ahmad of San Antonio, president of Homeowners for Better Building...The Sunset Commission staff report last year said the agency is âfundamentally flawedâ and does more harm than good for consumers. The report said that only 12 percent of cases where the state had sent in inspectors to review alleged defects have resulted in a âsatisfactory offer or repair or compensation over the life of the program.â |
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Houston Chronicle: Confirms TRCC Will Die |
Friday, 22 May 2009 |
Residential Construction Commission to die
The Senate sponsor of a House bill to re-create the Texas Residential Construction Commission said he will let the bill die, meaning that the much-criticized agency will be "sunsetted." "The (legislative) members have pretty well spoken, and it's probably in the best interest to do a systematic wind-down of the agency," said Sen. Glenn Hegar, R-Katy. The Sunset Advisory Commission staff last year recommended the agency be abolished, saying it did more harm than good for consumers. ..Senate Business & Commerce Chairman Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, said he never scheduled the bill for a hearing because builders and consumer advocates could not reach a compromise. "It's been a war zone the last two years," said Fraser. |
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Quorum Report: TRCC phased out under the state’s Sunset |
Friday, 22 May 2009 |
HEGAR SAYS HE'S INCLINED TO LET TRCC BE PHASED OUT
The agency's sunset bill is dead and is now unlikely to be included in the catch-all bill.Sen. Glenn Hegar told reporters that heâs inclined to allow the Texas Residential Construction Commission to be phased out under the stateâs Sunset process because lawmakers were unable to reach a compromise on how to keep the agency functioning.Hegar, a Katy Republican, is carrying the catch-all Sunset bill thatâs pending in the Senate to cover those agencies whose Sunset bills die during the waning stages of the session. The TRCC Sunset bill did not get a hearing in the Senate Business and Commerce Committee.âIt is my inclination at this point in time, and the members have pretty well spoken, that we do a systematic wind down of the agency under the provisions of the Sunset Act,â Hegar said during a brief chat at the Senate press table during a break in the floor action.Hegar said heâs still talking with Rep. Ruth McClendon Jones (D-San Antonio), whoâs the House sponsor of the catch-all bill, but his mind is just about made up not include TRCC in the measure.If the measure is not included, it would appear that the only way to save the agency would in conference committee, he said. But that would require the panel to go outside the bounds. By John Moritz |
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Quorum Report on TRCC: Rep. Hegar no compromise seen |
Friday, 22 May 2009 |
TRCC PROSPECTS LOOK BLEAK IN THE SENATE
Texas Residential Construction Commission may not survive the session. The Senate Business and Commerce Committee will not vote out the Sunset bill dealing with the Texas Residential Construction Commission, meaning the agency will go out of business unless it can be saved by appending it to other still-moving legislation. âI was not able to reach a compromise with all parties,â said B&C Chairman Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay). âWe simply ran out of time. My committee is not scheduled to meet again, so whether that agency can be saved is out of my control.â The agency tasked with promoting the construction of quality homes and looking after the interests of new homebuyers has been slammed by its critics as being little more than a tool for the industry. Sen. Glenn Hegar, the Katy Republican who is carrying the catch-all bill that extends the life of agencies that slip through their Sunset process, said heâs not yet made a decision about whether to save TRCC. âRuth (McClendon Jones) and I are talking about how we want to proceed,â Hegar said, referring to the House sponsor of the catch-all bill. âWe donât have an answer just yet, but weâre working on it.â The commission is made up of nine members who are appointed by the governor and serve staggered six-year terms. Four of them must be registered builders, three must be members of the public, one must be an engineer in the residential construction field and one must be either an architect or inspector in the residential construction field. By John Moritz |
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Quorum Report: TRCC PROSPECTS LOOK BLEAK IN THE SENATE |
Friday, 22 May 2009 |
Texas Residential Construction Commission may not survive the session
The Senate Business and Commerce Committee will not vote out the Sunset bill dealing with the Texas Residential Construction Commission, meaning the agency will go out of business unless it can be saved by appending it to other still-moving legislation. âI was not able to reach a compromise with all parties,â said B&C Chairman Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay). âWe simply ran out of time. My committee is not scheduled to meet again, so whether that agency can be saved is out of my control.â The agency tasked with promoting the construction of quality homes and looking after the interests of new homebuyers has been slammed by its critics as being little more than a tool for the industry. The rest of the story, Quorum Report subscribers only. |
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