- 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. 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. 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 was not satisfied with a builder's efforts to repair construction defects under the builder's warranty, the buyer could ask TRCC to review the complaint and to initiate an arbitration process.
A TRCC registered, State licensed home inspector would (eventually) be dispatched to review the complaint.
Dilemma:
Problem is, the buyer was prevented by TRCC from filing suit against a problematic builder until the TRCC reviewed the complaint, and this often took 4-6 months.
Making matters MUCH worse, TRCC created "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.
So, Texas' new-construction warranty standards were extraordinarily builder-friendly, at the consumers' expense.
Solution:
Brent, as a Director of the ASHI Texas Chapter, petitioned the national ASHI (American Society of Home Inspectors) President to intervene; in turn, a letter of protest from the ASHI Texas chapter was distributed to over 400 media outlets, with ASHI's national funding.
Within 10 days of the ASHI letter becoming public, TRCC revised the proposed performance standards, requiring builders to comply with the "most restrictive building codes and standards available".
This was a VAST improvement to a flawed system.
Epilogue, 2009:
Texas subjects each State agency to review by the "Sunset Commission" every 12 years or so, and if Sunset Commission recommends elimination of a State agency, the Legislature can make it so.
This is done to streamline the system, by eliminating duplication of services provided among agencies and by eliminating poorly performing bureaucracies.
TRCC was placed on an initial 6-year Sunset Review cycle, which expired in 2009.
The Sunset Review staff recommendation was to abolish TRCC entirely, as it presented an impediment to the consumer's ability to sue a builder, and because of the abysmal consumer satisfaction level with entire process. (Even if TRCC decided a builder was at fault & ordered reparations, there was no enforcement authority.)
The Texas Legislature followed Sunset Commission' recommendation, so TRCC is now history.
(Once in a while, even in Texas, the "Good Ol' Boy" system CAN be defeated!)
Score one for the consumers!!
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