Texas Legislative Session should be good news for builder accountability and new homebuyers
This years Texas Legislative session just may become ‘ground zero’ of heated debate that highlights the magnitude of increased shoddy homebuilding since the creation of the scandalous Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC)... The Texas legislature begins in a couple of weeks and the issues of bad building, massive builder mortgage fraud, epidemic foreclosures, abusive binding arbitration clauses and the failed state ‘builder-protection-agency,’ TRCC will be priority issues this session.

 Check out your builder - Web site allows users to check background of companies, remodelers
The Texas Residential Construction Commission site at www.texasrcc.com includes information on builder and remodeler registration, inspection reports, and records of any administrative action taken against the company.  Send us your comments This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Clay Robison: Cash may stand in way of changing 'builder protection agency'
Does money talk in Texas politics? No, it screams. And Perry is the gift that keeps on giving for many candidates and officeholders, mostly Republicans but some Democrats as well. Check the campaign finance reports of state leaders or conservative committees, and you will frequently see Perry's name, often followed by figures with five or six digits.

Press Release - Bills Would Protect Homeowners from Shoddy Construction
AUSTIN – Representatives Jessica Farrar and David Liebowitz have filed the first two bills intended to amend the Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC) in the upcoming 2007 Legislative Session.  Since its creation in 2003, the TRCC has repeatedly come under fire for its inability to successfully assist homeowners in resolving home construction defects, and for the lack of enforcement powers to make builders comply with the conclusions of the commission.

Anger over new homes
THEY say home is where the heart is - but a fed up group of residents today claimed buying new property on an Ipswich estate has left them wishing they had never bothered.  All 16 homeowners in Cranberry Square, Ravenswood, have levelled an angry blast at Bellway, criticising the developer for failing to deliver the dream home they say they were promised. They have also accused the property giant of poor customer service and shoddy workmanship, which has seen one problem fixed but another created in the process.

State-sought home fixes rarely made
Good news: In about nine of 10 investigations, Texas officials have told builders to make repairs. Bad news: Two years into the program, most builders haven't made the fixes... The informal survey seems to echo the sentiment of a statewide review of 102 homeowners. Of those, 88 said the builder didn't make the repairs suggested by the commission, according to a state comptroller's office report released this year. Some of those included cases still being reviewed, commission officials said...Guy Combs, a homeowner in Alpine in West Texas, said arbitration backfired for him. He lined up about 20 expert witnesses and provided several inspection reports to support his claims that builder negligence led to damaged stucco, a leaking roof and mold. The arbitrator ruled against him, in part because, she said, he contributed to the damages. She ordered him to pay the builder $68,000 for legal fees, which he negotiated to $50,000.

Agency set to put complaints online
Texas officials plan to air problems with bad builders in public to shame them into mending their ways – and their crooked floorboards...A San Antonio builder filed a lawsuit earlier this month against a homeowner for posting complaints on the Web site of HomeOwners for Better Building, a consumer group. The lawsuit alleges that owner Jay Hirata owes Sitterle Corp. $500,000 in damages for "misrepresentations of fact" that hurt the company's reputation. "Does this action ... send a message of fear to every new homebuyer that they, too, could be subjected to the wrath of a builder if they file a complaint?" said Janet Ahmad, president of HomeOwners for Better Building.

Please help call for a State Affairs Interim Hearing on the Texas Residential Construction Commission
If you are appalled at what is happening in Tecas please take the time to participate.  If the building industry's TRCC is successful in Texas it will spread to every state in the nation.  Read more... 

Home-building measure's effect unclear
Consumer groups are glad to see the new requirement, but they say registering with the Texas Residential Construction Commission won't do much for consumers...But Alex Winslow of Texas Watch noted it doesn't take much to be registered in the state. There aren't any tests or continuing education requirements. "It doesn't mean consumers are being protected," Winslow said. "In fact, we think it gives consumers a false sense of security, because all you really have to do is pay a fee and you're registered. There aren't any standards to be met."