Press Release: Bills to abolish homebuilder's commission to be heard

[johncoby2]

Bill to abolish the Texas Residential Construction Commission up for hearing.
Elected officials have a chance to take a stand.

“Until the TRCC is abolished, homebuyers should avoid buying newly constructed homes, risking their financial stability, the health of their family, and being subjected to the abuse of the worthless builder’s commission.”;


For more information, contact
John R. Cobarruvias
Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings, Texas
281-536-2457 C

(Austin) — A hearing in the Business and Industry Subcommittee will accept testimony on a number of bills concerning the Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC trick) on Tuesday 3/31/09 10:00am in room E2.030 of the capitol extension. One of the bills, HB2695 filed by the chair of the Subcommittee, State Representative Gattis, will abolish the TRCC.

HB2695 reflects the results of an extensive study by the staff of the Sunset Commission which recommended to abolish the TRCC and repeal the TRCC Act passed in 2003. This study, released in Aug 2008, is available at http://www.sunset.state.tx.us/81streports/trcc/trcc_dec.pdf. The study echoes the results of yet another study by the Texas Comptrollers Office released in Jan 2006 with a recommendation by the Comptroller "...if it was up to me personally, I would blast this TRCC builder-protection agency off the bureaucratic books"

“On Tuesday the members of the Subcommittee have an opportunity to support the consumers and instill faith in home buying by voting to abolish this ill conceived builder-protection agency.” says John Cobarruvias of Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings (HADD). “Until the TRCC is abolished, homebuyers should avoid buying newly constructed homes, risking their financial stability, the health of their family, and being subjected to the abuse of the worthless builder’s commission.”

Abolishing the TRCC has bipartisan support with two Republicans, State Representative Gattis and Todd Smith, and one Democrat, State Representative Leibowitz filing bills calling for an end to this Commission. (HB2695, HB1635, and HB2243 respectively). Unfortunately while consumers and two State Agencies are calling for the abolishment of this Commission, State Representative McClendon has drafted legislation to “fix” it with HB2695, much like a coat of paint to mask a severely cracked foundation, something that homebuilders actually do.

“The TRCC is a case study in corruption. The bill that created it was written by the Vice President and General Counsel of Bob Perry Homes and filed by a State Representative who owns a lumber company and is a member of the Texas Association of Builders. The TRCC is an embarrassment to the State and our elected officials should put an end to it.” stated Cobarruvias. More details can be found at “The TRCC. A Case Study in Corruption” at http://bayareahouston.blogspot.com/2008/08/trcc-case-study-in-corruption.html

COMMITTEE: Business & Industry

SUBCOMMITTEE: TRCC, Property , and landlord & tenant issues

TIME & DATE: 10:00 AM or upon final adjourn./recess Tuesday, March 31, 2009

PLACE: E2.030

CHAIR: Rep. Dan Gattis

Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings http://www.hadd.com

[sonias]

1. Sub-Committee membership

House Committee:
Business & Industry
Bill Subcommittee: TRCC, Property Issues and Landlord and Tenant Issues
Gattis (Chair) | Christian | Deshotel | England |

Contact info for Gattis (Represents: Georgetown area)
www.house.state.tx.us/members/dist20/gattis.php

Contact info for Christian (Represents: Houston/Nacogdoches area)
www.house.state.tx.us/members/dist9/christian.php

Contact info for Deshotel (Represents: Port Arthur area)
www.house.state.tx.us/members/dist22/deshotel.php

Contact info for England (Represents: Grand Prarie area)
www.house.state.tx.us/members/dist106/england.php

Contact info for Sid Miller (Represents: Stephenville area)
www.house.state.tx.us/members/dist59/miller.php

You know what to do. You can contact all of them. It's better if one of them represents you but you can certainly say you are concerned that consumers are not getting a fair shake in this committee and it should be abolished.

You can use the Sunset Commission's report words

Conclusion
From its inception, the Texas Residential Construction Commission has received criticism of its
ability to effectively oversee builders and protect Texans from poor quality construction. Although the
Legislature recently listened to these concerns and made significant changes to the Commission and
its enforcement abilities, these efforts only mask fundamental flaws in the State’s current approach to
industry regulation. To fix these structural flaws would require an expansion of industry regulation that
Sunset staff concluded cannot be accomplished in the near future. Without true regulation designed
to ensure public protection, Texans are better served without the Texas Residential Construction Commission

Here's a good Texas Observer article to give you some background: The Agency that Bob Perry Built

:kick:

Sonia

[Baby Snooks]

2. Why do people keep buying his homes?

It is not "news" that his homes are notoriously poorly constructed, not to mention that he is evil, so why do people keep buying them?

Are people that stupid that they believe the warranties, which are a joke as well at this point, protect them or that TRCC will protect them?

Thank you John for banging the pots and pans.