TRCC Sunset Review!  Let the Sun Set on the Texas Residential Construction Commission! 
The Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC) is currently being reviewed by the Texas Sunset Commission to determine whether the agency will continue to operate. TRCC is run exclusively by the homebuilding industry to regulate homeowners. It is by far the most criticized state agencies ever created. Please send your comments to the Sunset Commission and a copy to me at HOBB

Moldy house costs builder $3 million
A tarp covers a hole where the builders tore off part of this Reynoldsburg home's stucco exterior but never repaired it. The judge awarded the Cosners $2.2 million in compensatory damages -- triple the original jury award -- because jurors found that Maronda Homes had violated Ohio's Consumer Sales Practices Act by acting in an "unfair, deceptive or unconscionable" manner. Jurors tacked on an additional $1 million in punitive damages.On Friday, visiting Judge Dale A. Crawford ordered that Maronda pay almost $700,000 more in attorney fees if the judgment stands.

Economic woes provide fertile field for scam artists
Mortgage fraud is on the rise and consumers need to be wary of the many scams that often surface in the wake of this crime. Those are among the findings included in a new report issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The FBI's report also showed the numbers of Suspicious Activity Reports (SAS) regarding mortgage fraud have skyrocketed in the past year. The top 10 mortgage fraud states for 2007 were: Florida, Georgia, Michigan, California, Illinois, Ohio, Texas, New York, Colorado, and Minnesota. Other states affected by mortgage fraud included Arizona, Maryland, Utah, Nevada, Missouri, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, New Jersey, and Connecticut;

Formal complaint against new home builder issued
The Department of Consumer Protection issued an administrative complaint today against Lloyd Bowden and Bowden Development TLI LLC, of Essex, Connecticut, for violations of state laws regarding the New Home Construction Contractors Act and the Unfair Trade Practices Act, Commissioner Jerry Farrell, Jr, announced... “Building materials and some of the modular unit themselves were not protected from the elements and sustained significant damage,” Farrell said. “It is hard to believe, but the modular homes assembled by Bowden were not secured to their foundations, nor were they bolted together per the manufacturer’s installation instructions. As a result, many homeowners were left in the cold, having to secure alternative housing. Some of the necessary repairs remain incomplete and we hope to obtain restitution for these consumers.” ...Upon meeting certain conditions, victims are eligible for up to $30,000 in compensation per contract from the Guaranty Fund.

Meet Big Business' Favorite Granny
US Chamber of Commerce Granny: Her winnings? A whopping $281, plus the arbitrator's fee. Kruse concludes that without arbitration, "The normal person just wouldn't be able to do that. Consumer Avocate's Texas grandmother Jordan Fogal testified before the House Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law about the new house she and her husband purchased in 2002 for $360,000...home needed $150,000 worth of repairs...The arbitrator came from the American Arbitration Association, a private group preselected by the builder. As a private justice system, AAA charged Fogal for every last piece of paper, meeting, and subpoena generated in arbitration, not to mention the arbitrator's time, which ran as much as $475 an hour... In 2006, the arbitrator awarded the Fogals a mere $40,000, even after finding that the builder had engaged in fraud. Adding insult to injury, she then ordered the Fogals to pay the builder $14,000 for some of its legal fees for the trouble they caused the builder.

Half-built homes becoming eyesores
In one Collin County neighborhood the weeds are growing and residents are growing impatient. It’s been 3 months since Buescher Homes, the large builder, went bankrupt. The fallout: half-built homes and now code compliance issues. But Frisco is reacting. They will mow 70 unsightly yards Monday after putting a lien on each property to get it done.

Web Extra: Don't be a sitting duck for costly roofing scams
Well, the Defenders found out that politics and special interests have made Texas a roofing scammers paradise. Texas is the only Gulf Coast state that doesn’t license roofers. Alex Winslow runs Texas Watch, a consumer watchdog group. He says making licensing the law would make roofers behave. “Accountability for roofing, is slim and none as it stands today.” ...every time a roofing licensing law has been introduced in the past five years, Fuentes says, he and his lobbyists went to work. Like in 2005 when the last version of the law came up—meeting with this man—Representative Kino Flores, Chair of the House Committee on Licensing.

A message from Janet Ahmad - Erin Brockovitch Confirms Contamination in Lennar Homes & Texas Supreme Court Grants Double Standard Decision to 'Bob the Builder' Perry

Give Texas homeowners better tools to force irresponsible builders to fix construction defects
The mounting numbers of unresolved complaints make increasingly clear that the Texas Residential Construction Commission Act, passed in the 2003 Legislature, has become for buyers of poorly constructed homes the nightmare many feared it would. Adding insult to this injurious legislation is how the law is falsely touted as an aide to homeowners stuck in shoddily built houses...families spent countless hours in futile attempts to get their builder to fix the problems and thousands of dollars out of pocket on repairs.Then the aggrieved owners were further abused by the Texas law that was supposed to help homeowners at the mercy of predatory builders.

Texas Supreme Court Bails Out Bob Perry
 Alex Winslow, Executive Director of Texas Watch, released the following statement: “After years of forcing consumers into a lopsided binding arbitration process, the Court today carved out a special decision for the man who gives the Court more campaign cash than any other individual in the state...“This decision is little more than a bail out for a major political moneyman, and is the latest in a long line of pro-defendant rulings by our state’s highest court.”

Residents: Agency Didn't Protect Against Shoddy Contractors
Some residents are claiming that the state agency in charge of protecting homeowners knew of problems with two local contractors but did very little until it was too late. The I-Team met with other homeowners who said they were victimized by contractors Robert Scott Huff and/or Greg Haigis. The men are affiliated with Bay Area Design and Build and Arundel Home Connections... "I went down to their desk and told them this is a medical issue. My wife can't get up and down the stairs. My wife can't handle this. You guys have got to get going on this," Artale said. Artale's wife, Linda, died just before the work was supposed to be completed.

Court ruling may create loophole in defective home construction cases
A state Supreme Court ruling last week has some area lawyers worried the court has created a loophole that could lead to more property owners building their own homes to skirt responsibility for defects... The case worked its way up to the Supreme Court, which ruled against Smith. The court said that since Breedlove was not a professional and had not planned to sell the house, he has no obligation to honor a warranty on the home. Breedlove had never previously been employed in the construction industry nor done business as a general contractor, the documents said.

Letters to the Editor: Reaction to 'flawed homes'
It has been nearly six long years since "Bob the Builder" Perry and his builder friends bought, built and now operate the Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC). The state agency offers no help for aggrieved homebuyers; instead, its process forces homeowners into costly protracted legal disputes ending in abusive, binding mandatory arbitration that most cannot afford.  There is far too much blame to go around. It is our obligation as victims to fight for our basic rights that the building industry has systematically taken from us. No one group or group of organizations can possibly stop this madness, which will continue to devastate families unless more become actively involved. See: YouTube Video on Tremont Towers

Home builders group spent $3.2M lobbying
So far this year, the builders group has been especially active in pushing for legislation designed to jump-start the lethargic housing market. It favors an emergency tax break that would let companies use losses from this year and next year to offset profits earned over the previous four years, instead of the usual two-year timeframe and a tax credit of $7,500 for first-time home buyers, estimated to cost $3.8 billion over 10 years...Earlier this year, the builders were so distressed by what they saw as lawmakers' lack of attention to the housing market in an economic stimulus bill signed by President Bush in February that the trade group's political action committee halted contributions to congressional candidates' campaigns.