Washington needs a Homeowner's Bill of Rights: Testimony on SB 6385
For the record, my name is Rick Hegdahl. I’m the Outreach & Advocacy Director for the Northwest Progressive Institute, a regional netroots strategy center working to advance the common good through ideas and action. I also run a home remodel and repair business in Bellevue, Washington, where I live – Viking Construction – so I have firsthand experience with this issue.  I’m pleased to be here today to voice NPI’s support for SB 6385.

Legislature proposes bills to protect consumers
State lawmakers want to regulate lead and toxic chemicals in children's products, create a bill of rights for airline passengers and allow homeowners to sue for shoddy home construction. Two weeks into the session, legislators have rolled out more than a dozen bills aimed at protecting customers after last year's product fiascos, including lead found in millions of toys, the subprime lending debacle and airline passengers stranded for hours on the tarmac without adequate food or water.

Bill protects homeowners from shoddy builders 
 If an auto mechanic damages your car or a tree service cuts down the wrong tree, you can sue for negligence. But buy a defective house in Washington state and you might not be able to take the builder to court. But some state lawmakers think that's wrong, and hope to change that. This is the lawmakers' second attempt to give you more protection if you buy a home that's not up to code or has substantial defects. Last year, two democrats almost got a bill passed to require new homes to come with a warranty, but the building industry got it shot down.

Consumer Protection: Building to last
Senate Bill 5550, known as the Homeowners Bill of Rights, would protect buyers of new homes against such things as defects in materials and workmanship (for two years), defects occurring because of water leaks (five years) and structural defects (for 10 years)...Chopp has been accused of giving in to the pressure from the Building Industry Association of Washington, and his position on SB5550 has prompted seriously outcry from the House... The House speaker should get off the dime and let lawmakers vote on this bill; we think it would mean new consumer protection for home buyers.

Some hope Williams’ threat to quit a ‘moment of frustration’
Some House Democrats said Friday that they hope Olympia Rep. Brendan Williams was just blowing off steam when he threatened to quit this week over the apparent killing of legislation to give new-home buyers a warranty against construction defects. “I can’t imagine such an extreme reaction to a bill not coming up,” House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, said of Williams’ reaction to statements by House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, that the consumer-protection measure needed more work this summer...“There is no point in continuing in this (job) if right-wing thugs like the Building Industry Association are allowed to run roughshod over the process,” Williams told the paper,

Democratic State Senator Calls Democratic House Speaker Chopp a “Dictator.”
Weinstein believed he had his ducks in row to also pass the bill in the House. Last summer, he says, he met with powerhouse House Speaker Rep. Frank Chopp (D-43, Seattle) at Chopp’s de facto office, the Tully’s on 45th in Wallingford. Chopp, Weinstein recalls, said the idea sounded good... However, earlier this week, after the House Judiciary Committee passed the bill onto the Rules Committee, Speaker Chopp tabled the bill...Anybody can get sued. Homebuilders are the only people in this state that can’t get sued. Aren’t they willing to stand by their work?”..This is democracy at its worst. Here is one guy that overruled 30 Democratic Senators and the Democratic House Judiciary Committee. What’s the point of working hard on a bill? There’s no point in doing the fact finding, holding eight hours of hearings, of doing the right thing, if a dicatator can just pull the rug out from under you. I feel helpless.

Reuteman: Greed vs. greed battle throws us all for a loss
Opponents of the controversial Homeowner Protection Act now have overplayed their hand so badly that their fears of frivolous lawsuits and higher housing costs will likely be tested in the marketplace. Trial lawyers and homebuilders have been fighting in the state legislature for years about the best way to resolve legal disputes over residential construction defects. The lawyers say homeowners don't have a strong enough "lemon law." Homebuilders complain that fee-happy barristers would rather take them to court than get a defect corrected. If there's anything worse than a sore loser, it's a sore winner, and this long-running catfight has both.

Senate OKs bill to boost homeowner rights in disputes
The Senate passed a bill Thursday that gives homeowners new rights in defective-workmanship disagreements with contractors, but the measure still faces an uncertain future in the House. Substitute Senate Bill 5550 creates a new home warranty effective in 2008, which will be after a study group made up of builders, insurers and others has reviewed the reasons for construction defects in new homes. The measure passed the Senate on a 30-19 vote mostly along party lines. "The days of 'caveat emptor' are over," said Sen. Brian Weinstein, D-Mercer Island and the prime sponsor of the bill, referring to a "buyer-beware" doctrine. He said homeowners testified in committee hearings about problems with foundations, leaking pipes, unsealed crawl spaces and, most of all, moisture damage.

Fearing lawsuits, builders oppose bill
Nearly a decade after such a bill was first proposed, the state Senate on Thursday voted to require longer, better warranties on new homes, and to make it easier for the buyer to sue builders over defects. "Owning a home is a quintessential American dream, but for too many people, it has turned into a nightmare," said Sen. Brian Weinstein, D-Mercer Island. "It is only fair that manufacturers and sellers of homes have to stand behind their work."

Part I of Herb's Story - Your pricey home may not be backed by a warranty
"Homebuyers in our state have little or no rights," says State Senator Brian Weinstein, D-Mercer Island. "If the home is defective, if there's structural problems, water damage, anything like that, they have no rights." "What we're doing is ensuring that the American dream of owning a home doesn't become a nightmare," Rep. Williams says in a news release. If approved and signed into law, builders in Washington state would be required to provide a minimum warranty...Those who support the bills to give home buyers better protection insist there is a problem. They point to a report from Criterium Engineers. The company inspects homes in 35 states, including Washington. Their 2006 Quality Survey says 17 percent of new homes have significant problems.