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Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC) Abolished
Texas Observer - TRCC Reform on the Home Front? |
Saturday, 20 September 2008 |
Reform on the Home Front
...try to justify their agencyâs existence. Itâs not an easy case to make. Two weeks earlier, the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, a legislative oversight committee, had recommended that state lawmakers abolish the TRCC because it does âmore harm than good.â...Even by that lax standard, however, the Texas Residential Construction Commissionâcreated ostensibly to aid homeownersârepresents a new low. Itâs one thing to ignore consumers; itâs quite another to work against them. Since its inception in 2003, the TRCC has been criticized for helping builders skirt lawsuits from consumers seeking reparations for shoddily built homes...Commissioner Mickey Redwine I ask that every commissioner unite and vote for change to prove to consumers that we are serious about change.â...The commissioners did uniteâand voted against most of Redwineâs reforms. Consumer advocates werenât surprised. âHis heart is in the right place,â said Alex Winslow, executive director of the consumer advocacy group Texas Watch. âBut regardless of the changes TRCC makes, it is broken and needs to be scrapped.â |
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Texas State Representative Dora Olivo Responds to TRCC Sunset Review |
Tuesday, 16 September 2008 |
Representative Olivo Response: TRCC Irreparably Harms homeowners
TRCC is an ill-conceived attempt to replace true regulation of an industry with a complaint review board; as such, TRCC does more harm than good. Not only are individual homeowners irreparably harmed, but the loss in property values resulting from substandard, incomplete and unsafe construction erodes the local tax base. These are the tax dollars that educate our children and safeguard our communities...Texas must develop an effective means to regulate the residential construction indUstry, thereby protecting the value of Texas homeowners' property and protecting the local tax base from unnecessary erosion. Ifwe, as elected and appointed officials who are charged with keeping the public trust, fail to effectively regulate this industry, we have failed in our responsibility to protect the safety and welfare of all the citizens of Texas. Read more... |
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Sunset Review Public Comments |
Tuesday, 16 September 2008 |
Sunset Review: Texas Residential Construction Commission
Public Comments Received Regarding the Report Sunset Commission Meeting and Public Testimony is September 23, 2008. See Public Comments regarding Sunset Report to Abolish TRCC |
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Inspector Responds to TRCC Sunset Review |
Tuesday, 16 September 2008 |
Inspector Calls Inspection Inadequate
I expect The City of Austin and other cities that are county seats have amended their codes to require more than just three inspections. If the county seats require say 5, 10, 20 inspections each at different stages, then in the county outside that county seat it seems the same multiple layers of inspections will apply also if the amendments apply. Finally how do the RCC requirements and the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation TDLR that regulates the licenses for electricians and mechanical contractors also the Texas Board of Plumbing Examiners that regulators the plumbers and the Adopted Plumbing Codes Uniform Plumbing Code and the International Plumbing Code line up with the Texas Residential Construction Commission? When there is a conflict in code requirements, which prevails? |
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Reminder - Join HOBB and Texas Watch for Lobby Day |
Sunday, 14 September 2008 |
Please join
HOBB
and Texas Watch for Lobby Day and attend the important Sunset Advisory Committee Hearing at the Capitol
The Sunset Commission hearing at the State Capitol on September 23rd creates a unique opportunity for Texas Watch activists to speak out on their experiences with the TRCC. During our Lobby day, you will have the chance to attend the sunset commission public hearing, take part in a press conference, and meet with your state legislators. Also, lunch will be provided by Texas Watch Staff. |
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Where are the Other Honorable Builders - We Want to Hear from You! |
Friday, 12 September 2008 |
One Good Builder Speaks Up - Abolish TRCC
I am a TRCC registered "builder" and I believe the following: 1. Abolish the TRCC; its building standards are a sad joke and consumers ARE NOT protected. 2. Require builder licensing on any work over $500. 3. Require builders to post a performance bond of at least $7500 close the independent sub-contractor loophole. 5. Create an enforcement state agency that would vigorously prosecute every offender with no first time get out of jail free card. Investigate to the fullest extent of the law "Bob Perry showering cash on Sunset Commission members." The consumers in Texas are suffering at the hands of the good ole boys builder club. I was a licensed General Contractor in California and no Texas "builder" would be allowed to do business there. They should not be allowed to continue their current practices here either. Contact your State representatives by letter, phone or email and keep doing it until we are no longer being victimized. See Builders comments on Houston Chronicle Article |
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Only Builders Shed Tears over Abolishing TRCC |
Friday, 12 September 2008 |
Houston Chronicle: Only builders shed tears for flawed state agency
Its facade of legitimacy is so flimsy that a Sunset Commission staff report recently recommended its absence would serve homeowners better than its presence. It called the commission "fundamentally flawed." It's telling that the only group upset about dismantling the TRCC is the builders it is supposed to police. The TRCC purports to resolve differences between aggrieved homeowners and builders and promote better home construction. In fact, it's been a Legislature-sanctioned smoke screen for bad construction..."There is a huge burden on the homeowner to prove what's wrong with their house, and where do they wind up? In a legal dispute," said Janet Ahmad of San Antonio, president of Homeowners for Better Building. "We don't need a state agency for that." |
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TRCC may not be any help to Taylor, Jarrell and Belton Homeowners |
Friday, 12 September 2008 |
Home complaints may be unenforceable
The government agency has been the principal responder to accusations of shoddy construction in the Mallard Park sub division, taking complaints and setting up independent inspections of property to confirm or disprove claims. However, a recent report from the Sunset Advisory Commission calls for the direct abolition of the agency, because it lacks the regulatory power it purports to wield. âIn its review of the Texas Residential Construction Commission, Sunset staff concluded that anything short of a true regulatory program does more harm than good, and should be abolished,â the report released in August said. |
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With TRCC's arduous process victims are no better off |
Wednesday, 10 September 2008 |
Editorial: Victims no Better Off
Since 1979; shoddy construction is epidemic, it does not discriminate it crosses all sectors of race, religion and socioeconomic status. It is absolutely amazing that we sent a man to the moon decades ago. Computers now fit in a pocket. We have made tremendous strides in cancer research using nanotechnology, in many instances eradicating the disease. But today in the state of Texas, almost 30 years later, we continue to fail in the practice of building habitable and safe homes. |
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LULAC National President Calls on All Texas Legislators to Abolish TRCC |
Friday, 05 September 2008 |
LULAC Calls for Abolishment of TRCC to Assured New Homes are Built Correctly
It is LULACâs intention to call on all Texas Legislators to abolish the TRCC and support legislation to regulate the homebuilding industry and assure all future new homebuyers that a home is built in compliance with HUD minimum property standards and the state adopted International Residential Code before it is sold. As National President of LULAC I stand in support of the rights all Americans to be assured that new homes are built correctly and protected by adequate consumer protection laws. Be assured that new homebuyers will not be denied something so basis as decent housing for their hard earned dollars. |
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HOBB Response to TRCC Sunset Review |
Friday, 05 September 2008 |
HomeOweners for Better Building Response to Sunset Report -TRCC Historic Hallmark for Bad State Policy
The Sunset review confirms what Home Owners for
Better
Building
has asserted since the establishment of TRCC in 2003, that there is no incentive for builders to construct homes with care or to get it right the first time. By establishing TRCC as a burdensome process daunted with bureaucratic roadblocks for homeowners; fearless and confident bad builders simply ignored their customers. To that end TRCC aided in pushing 88% of aggrieved homeowners into costly binding mandatory arbitration, protracted legal disputes or to simply give up in submission; setting an historic hallmark for bad state policy. |
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