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Washington need laws to protect homebuyers
Friday, 11 August 2006

Give homeowners some basic rights
The homebuilding industry is plagued by such problems. Thousands of homes are built and remodeled each year. The hotter the market, the more risk there seems to be of falling prey to negligent construction. Under current Washington law, contractors do not have to pass any qualifying tests. A contractor's "license" can be bought in a day: You register with the state, post a small bond and provide insurance...To make matters worse, in today's market buyers often release all warranty rights, even the rights provided by statutes, in exchange for nearly worthless third-party home warranty companies. State law does not prevent those waivers.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer's
OPINION

Give homeowners some basic rights

BRIAN WEINSTEIN
GUEST COLUMNIST

Two years after a Washington family moved into their new home on the booming Issaquah plateau, a massive plumbing failure caused $10,000 damage. The builder's response? Sorry, you waived your rights when you signed the warranty.

Faulty construction is a nightmare for too many new homeowners. Consider these scenarios:

  • A developer sold 33 starter homes to young Washington families. Each family signed a home warranty releasing the developer from all responsibility. Within a year, every home showed signs of leaks, water damage, missing foundation drains or mold. The developer refused to fix a thing and told the owners to file warranty claims, each of which required a $250 payment. After more than two years of fighting, a settlement was reached. It included more than $25,000 per house for repairs.
  • In 1998, an Eastside family bought a two-year-old house. During the first winter, water leaked through windows, leading to a $400,000 repair bill to remove all the home's siding, roof, windows and doors. The owners discovered that the so-called high-end builder had known about deficiencies in the siding and had ignored building code requirements for flashing, waterproofing and foundation drainage. The Washington Supreme Court recently ruled that second buyers have no rights to recover cost of repairs from builders.
  • A family hired a construction company to build a home. During a routine inspection, they discovered water damage in the garage and house, a roof without any venting, defective stucco and missing structural walls. Estimated repair cost: $750,000.

    The homebuilding industry is plagued by such problems. Thousands of homes are built and remodeled each year. The hotter the market, the more risk there seems to be of falling prey to negligent construction. Under current Washington law, contractors do not have to pass any qualifying tests. A contractor's "license" can be bought in a day: You register with the state, post a small bond and provide insurance.

    It is time to remedy this nightmare with common-sense legislation that gives homeowners some basic rights. Although there are tough building codes, only the state has the right to enforce them. If an inspector does a drive-by inspection and misses a major problem, there is no recourse. Our laws do not allow claims for negligent construction. Subcontractors, architects and engineers hired by builders cannot be held liable to home buyers no matter how costly their mistakes.

    To make matters worse, in today's market buyers often release all warranty rights, even the rights provided by statutes, in exchange for nearly worthless third-party home warranty companies. State law does not prevent those waivers.

    Nor can city inspectors be held responsible for negligently approving the houses they inspect.

    The situation is even worse for a second buyer, who has no rights against anyone involved in the original construction.

    A homebuyer's bill of rights, which I plan to introduce in Olympia, includes holding contractors liable for their mistakes for several years and giving subsequent buyers the same rights as original buyers.

    That will put us on a level playing field with several other states that provide remedies to home buyers for negligent construction. Washington law must recognize that the dream of owning a home should not turn into a nightmare of negligent construction.

    Sen. Brian Weinstein, D-Mercer Island, represents the 41st District.
    http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/280505_home09.html
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