First, it was a gas leak. Then a plumbing leak. Then a leak around the window casings. Worse yet, said Jo Hayman, was the leak in their hemorrhaging savings account as the couple attempted to make repairs and force their builder to make good on his promises to fix the house.  "It was one nightmare after another," said Hayman, who was in Austin on Monday lobbying lawmakers to fix a 2003 law that established the Texas Residential Construction Commission.

Home buyers lobby for better protection
By John Moritz

Star-Telegram Austin Bureau

AUSTIN - When Jim and Jo Hayman purchased their newly built house in a fashionable Dallas neighborhood, they were on track to retire early and enjoy a comfortable lifestyle.

But they had scarcely finished arranging the furniture in their new place when that dream sprung a leak.

First, it was a gas leak. Then a plumbing leak. Then a leak around the window casings. Worse yet, said Jo Hayman, was the leak in their hemorrhaging savings account as the couple attempted to make repairs and force their builder to make good on his promises to fix the house.

"It was one nightmare after another," said Hayman, who was in Austin on Monday lobbying lawmakers to fix a 2003 law that established the Texas Residential Construction Commission.

Hayman and about two dozen dissatisfied home buyers from across the state patrolled the Capitol corridors complaining that the agency is little more than a tool of the building lobby. The commission sets a too-high burden of proof when a buyer complains about shoddy or incomplete construction, and it lacks the authority to force a builder to do the needed repairs, they said.

Hayman said her builder filed for bankruptcy protection and fled the country. "The last I heard of him, he died," she said.

Patrick Fortner, spokesman for the new state agency, said the commission's role is to act as an independent third party to resolve disputes between builders and buyers. In 95 percent of the cases decided, the homeowner prevailed, he said.

"Our dispute-resolution process is set up to give homeowners and home builders the opportunity to settle their differences without expensive litigation," Fortner said.

Fortner acknowledged that the agency doesn't compel builders to do additional work, but he said its inspection reports can be used in court if the homeowner sues. Finally, he said, a recalcitrant builder could face the prospect of not having his state licensed renewed.

State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, said the 2003 law may need some modifications to better protect consumers.

In the Haymans' case, the couple ended up paying about $75,000 in repairs, then sold the property for $100,000 less than they paid for it, Jo Hayman said. Now they live in a much older house in Plano.

"We were supposed to retire early. Instead, we took out a new mortgage, and we'll be still working to pay it off when we're in our 80s," Hayman said. "That's not what we were counting on."