Dallas Morning News Editorial
How's the American Dream?
Home buyers need to know about bad builders
Sugar Land. Frisco. Georgetown. Rooftops keep popping up all over Texas. About 140,000 of them last year. But not all those new homes are satisfying home owners. Walls crack. Foundations shift. Builders even walk off the job. If you're investing in the American Dream, this is not what you expect... reformers want more, pushing House Bill 662 in Austin...We like this bill because it gives home buyers power to make informed decisions. They could determine whether their builder has put up shoddy residences... Perhaps naturally, the home builder lobby doesn't want the bill because its members would be held to yet another standard. But you'd think most builders would want this latest reform. The measure would further weed out bad builders, whom surely most home builders don't want spoiling their industry's reputation... State Affairs needs to pass this measure soon so the full House can approve it.  Eissler - HB 662  See video of hearing (time 1:05)  House State Affairs Hearing on HB662

 Dallas Morning News Editorial Home Buyers need to know about Bad Builders
  
How's the American Dream?
Home buyers need to know about bad builders
Friday, March 11, 2005  
 

Sugar Land. Frisco. Georgetown. Rooftops keep popping up all over Texas. About 140,000 of them last year.

But not all those new homes are satisfying home owners. Walls crack. Foundations shift. Builders even walk off the job. If you're investing in the American Dream, this is not what you expect.

Two years ago, the Legislature required the commission that oversees residential construction to pursue judgments against fly-by-night builders. Now the reformers want more, pushing House Bill 662 in Austin.

Authored by Republican Rep. Rob Eissler of The Woodlands, the bill would amend the state's property code to require builders to inform the residential construction commission of any convictions or judgments against them. They would need to do so within 30 days. And, equally crucial, the commission would post all convictions on its Web site.

We like this bill because it gives home buyers power to make informed decisions. They could determine whether their builder has put up shoddy residences. From there, the buyer could choose whether to work with the builder.

Perhaps naturally, the home builder lobby doesn't want the bill because its members would be held to yet another standard. But you'd think most builders would want this latest reform. The measure would further weed out bad builders, whom surely most home builders don't want spoiling their industry's reputation.

The House State Affairs Committee took testimony on this legislation Monday. We urge the committee's chairman, GOP Rep. David Swinford of Dumas, to see that the measure doesn't die there. State Affairs needs to pass this measure soon so the full House can approve it.

Rest assured, not all homes have a problem. The home builders' trade group argues that only a tiny percentage of new homes do. But even a tiny percentage experiencing the American Nightmare is simply too many.