Testimony by Janet Ahmad before the Texas Sunset to AbolishTRCC |
Thursday, 25 September 2008 |
TRCC is contrary to responsible public policy
Currently there is no incentive for builders to construct homes with care to get it right the first time. TRCC is an ill-conceived policy that places the burden squarely on homeowners, rather than the builder. Forgotten is the inspiring slogan âMade with Pride in American?â... History will record the legacy of TRCC as shameless domination by the builderâs agenda to limit responsibility. An agenda designed to punish consumers through industry domination of smoke and mirror policies â bolstered by the State. |
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Quorum Report: Consumers Say Abolish TRCC |
Wednesday, 24 September 2008 |
SUNSET COMMISSION QUESTIONS WHETHER ABOLISHING TRCC IS THE RIGHT SOLUTIONS
â
Texas
history will record TRCC to be the hallmark of a bad state policy, driven by the building industryâs agenda to unnecessarily punish homebuyers for the mistakes of their builder,â said Janet Ahmad, president of Homeowners for Better Building. âHomeowners helplessly stand by frustrated as their homes and values are falling all because of industry greed and higher profits without accountability.â |
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Texas Observer: TRCC Builders Blame Uneducated Victims |
Wednesday, 24 September 2008 |
TRCC: Itâs the Uneducated Consumersâ Fault
The Texas Residential Construction Commission defended itself today during a Texas Sunset Advisory Commission hearing. Just last month, the Sunset Commissionâs staff made the unusual recommendation that the agency be scrapped because it did âmore harm than goodâ for Texas consumers. Today, the representatives from the TRCC who testified before lawmakers did all they could to avoid taking blame. The general consensus of the TRCC commissioners was that Texas consumers needed to be more educated about the home building process...The âdonât blame usâ argument from the agency didnât sit well with consumers. |
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Press Release: HOMEOWNERS CALL FOR END TO HOMEBUILDER AGENCY |
Wednesday, 24 September 2008 |
Groups Support Sunset Staff Recommendation to Abolish Builder Protection Agency
Homeowners who have seen firsthand the problems posed by the Texas Residential Construction Commission came to the state Capitol today to encourage lawmakers to abolish the agency. âThe state should not burden taxpayers and further frustrate victimized homeowners with this agency. We must eliminate government waste and remove bad policy. The Texas Residential Construction Commission must be abolished,â said Carolyn Becka, Vice President of Texas Back Your Rights. |
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Associated Press: Consumers Blast Big Builders Boys Club (BBBC) |
Wednesday, 24 September 2008 |
Consumer groups blast Texas homebuilders agency
The Texas Residential Construction Commission should be abolished because it is ineffective and shields homebuilders from liability for shoddy work, activists said Tuesday, echoing a recent state report. The commission, which was created in 2003, was skewered last month in a state review, which found the agency does not have the trust of the consumers to protect them from unqualified builders...The report found that in 88 percent of TRCC cases, consumers were unable to get their homes fixed. Some cases continue to arbitration hearings, but "there are a lot of people that simply throw up their hands in frustration and say the expense and time wasted at TRCC made it difficult if not impossible for them to move forward," said Alex Winslow, director of the liberal watchdog group Texas Watch. |
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Builder Protection Agency TRCC May Survive with Changes |
Wednesday, 24 September 2008 |
Controversial Texas construction commission meed not be dismantled, lawmakers say.
Lawmakers indicated Tuesday that they want the much-maligned Texas Residential Construction Commission to be rebuilt, not abolished, as has been recommended. Sunset Commission chairman and state Rep. Carl Isett, R-Lubbock, told residential construction commission officials to work closely with Sunset advisers and to embrace changes, or else the agency could find itself slated for demolition by the Legislature next year. |
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KLBJ: Hutto homeowner find no help from State TRCC Builder Agency |
Wednesday, 24 September 2008 |
Residents of the Hutto Parke subdivision were joined by members of a newly formed advocacy group and a candidate running to represent Williamson County in the Texas House of Representatives today on the State Capitol steps to call for an end to the stateâs current agency tasked with regulating the building industry and its professionals. Historically, Texas has held homeownerâs rights in very high regard, adopting some of the toughest homestead laws in the nation, â says Avery. âHowever, Texas today, become a magnet for unscrupulous home builders, because our laws fail to hold them accountable for their mis-deeds. âWhen did it become alright to sell a sub-standard home?" asks Maldonado. " When did the mortgages become commodities, and when did homes become disposable?â |
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Austin News8: Cracks in Commission -TRCC Not Working |
Wednesday, 24 September 2008 |
Homeowners' faith in commission crumbling. The state commission tasked with ensuring quality construction for Texans is in jeopardy.
It's been almost four years since
Hoover
contacted TRCC. Today,
Hoover
's home still has cracks in the foundation and he's still trying to get the builder to do something about it. "It's crumbling around us. A brand new home under warranty and we can do nothing about it,"
Hoover
said. "Eighty-eight percent of homeowners who go through the TRCC process see no resolution to their problem," Winslow said. |
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Williamsom County Homeowner will get little if any help from the Builder's Protection Agency TRCC |
Wednesday, 24 September 2008 |
Builder Protection Agency Gets Legislative Protection
Yesterday the Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC) had itâs day in the Sunset, Commission that is. Itâs key to remember no matter what homebuilders and TRCC commissioner say, the TRCC was created to keep homebuilders from being sued for shoddy workmanship by homebuyers who received that shoddily built home. That is why the consumers are not happy with the TRCC, and why it has received the nickname of âthe builder protection agencyâ. (Read this post, Builder Protection Agency âHits Homeâ In Williamson County, for EOWâs earlier reporting). |
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TRCC should be abolished, homeowners said.. |
Wednesday, 24 September 2008 |
Panel ponders future of builder mediation
A state agency set up to resolve disputes with builders isn't working and should be abolished, homeowners said Tuesday. The construction commission, created in 2003 with homebuilders' support, lacks authority to force builders to fix defective houses. The staff report said that only 12 percent of the commission's cases have resulted in satisfactory repair or compensation to homeowners. |
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