The Texas Residential Construction Commission defended itself today during a Texas Sunset Advisory Commission hearing. Just last month, the Sunset Commissionâs staff made the unusual recommendation that the agency be scrapped because it did âmore harm than goodâ for Texas consumers.
Today, the representatives from the TRCC who testified before lawmakers did all they could to avoid taking blame. The general consensus of the TRCC commissioners was that Texas consumers needed to be more educated about the home building process.
They argued for the survival of the agency and said that HB 1038, which made changes to the agency, needed time to take effect. The legislation was passed in 2005 by Rep. Allan Ritter, D-Beaumont, who also authored the original legislation.
TRCC Commissioner John Krugh, general counsel and VP for Bob Perry Homes, who helped craft the legislation that created TRCC, said he felt the agency was âfair and unbiasedâ toward consumers.
He said there were a number of misconceptions about the agency such as the idea that TRCC blocks or delays court access. (Arbitration can take up to two years with TRCC before homeowners can pursue their cases in court). âWe are light regulation and heavy reconciliation,â he told the Sunset panel.
Commissioner Lewis Brown said he âtotally disagreedâ with the Sunset staffâs recommendation that the agency be scrapped. He called TRCC the voice of the consumer. âIf you take away their voice, then shame on you,â he admonished the legislators.
Rep. Dan Flynn, a member of the Sunset Commission that will help decide if the agency survives, wondered why, if TRCC was fair and unbiased, was there such a disconnect between consumers and the agency?
Krugh remained silent on the issue. The executive director of the agency chimed in. He said consumers were very upset, because they already felt abused and cheated by the builder. Once they start working with TRCC, consumers felt the process was taking too long so they started to believe the agency was on the builderâs side. He also blamed the news media for portraying the agency on the side of home builders.
The âdonât blame usâ argument from the agency didnât sit well with consumers.
Carol Hemphill, a home buyer testified that she had 215 defects in her new home. Hemphill said she contacted TRCC who acknowledged the defects but said they were powerless to do anything about it. Hemphill said no attorney would take her case because construction defect cases were too expensive and took too long to pursue.
Hemphill said a lawyer had told her that âtoo many roadblocks had been put up by the Legislature to successfully pursue a case for a consumer.â She said she would probably lose her home because there was no way to sell it. âIt would cost $25,000 to $50,000 to see it through arbitration,â she said.
Itâs difficult to believe in the agencyâs independence when wealthy home builder Bob Perry, the stateâs largest campaign donor, donated $17,000 to Ritterâs campaign in 2006, the author of TRCC legislation. And when Perryâs VP and general counsel serves as an agency commissioner.
The Sunset Commission will make a recommendation in December on whether the agency should be abolished.
http://www.texasobserver.org/blog/index.php/2008/09/23/trcc-its-the-uneducated-consumers-fault/