Texas Chapter:
Director Emeritus

Legislative Committee Chairperson Emeritus

Charter Member

1. Successfully sponsored an amendment on behalf of consumers to section 535.223, Rules of Texas Real Estate Commission, to require a licensed inspector, if hired by a builder to perform a Buyer's Acceptance "Inspection", to disclose in writing to the home buyer that:
   the inspection is not regulated by TREC,
   the inspector serves the builder's interests not the buyer's,
   & that the buyer should hire a TREC inspector to provide more information about the home.
2. Supported an amendment  on behalf of consumers to section 535.217, Rules of Texas Real Estate Commission, to require a licensed inspector to obtain written permission from a client before accepting a fee from or paying a fee to any party in the transaction other than the client.
   This is a preliminary step to banning such payments entirely, as has been done in several states.
   ASHI (American Society of Home Inspectors) members such as Brent are prohibited from participating in such activities.
3. Successfully petitioned TRCC (Texas Residential Construction Commission) to abandon newly created construction-warranty standards that were far too "builder friendly". See below:

Overview:
The Texas Legislature created the Texas Residential Construction Commission in September of 2003. The nine-member board was charged with creating warranty "performance standards" for new homes across the state.

If a home buyer is not satisfied with a builder's efforts to repair construction defects under the builder's warranty, the buyer can ask TRCC to review the complaint and to initiate an arbitration process.

Dilemma:
Problem is, TRCC created "proposed warranty standards" that exempted builders from code compliance: "The builder is not responsible for making a home comply with code provisions..."
(Building codes primarily address life, safety, & health issues.)

The builder-friendly TRCC standards were strongly supported by TAB (Texas Association of Builders) during the creation process, but no organized consumer group or lobby was involved to balance the process.

Solution:
Brent petitioned ASHI (American Society of Home Inspectors) to intervene; in turn, a letter of protest from the ASHI Texas chapter was distributed to over 400 media outlets.
 
Within 10 days of the ASHI letter becoming public, TRCC revised the proposed performance standards, now requiring builders to comply with the most restrictive building codes and standards available.
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