Highlights and [bracketed comments] added

The TRCC was created in 2003. While it was designed to protect homebuilders, the agency’s critics view it as a protection for builders, something Gattis echoed.

“There were obviously signs it was not working as the original authors had intended in … truly protecting homeowners. It was working more really to protect builders,” Gattis said.

A Sunset Advisory Commission report in 2008 recommended the agency be dismantled. However, the Sunset Board voted to not recommend its abolition.

For Gattis, this is the second session he has attempted to provide more power for the embattled agency. Many of his provisions were stripped, much to his dismay. In the end, the agency was given the power to fine builders $10,000 for not cooperating with the agency or performing home repairs the agency deemed the responsibility of the homebuilder.

This time Gattis is more confident. Since last session, support for reforming the agency has taken root with many representatives and builders who previously opposed regulation.

“We’ve got several other representatives looking at the issue closely. They’re hearing from their homeowners. I was hearing it sooner mostly because we’re a fast-growth area,” he said.

His legislation would require homebuilders to register with the agency. Building without a TRCC permit would be a class A misdemeanor. Gattis said the criminal provision would protect homeowners as well as honest builders.

[HOT: We like much of Gattis' proposed legislation, but he, like so many others, seems to be confusing the terms Licensing and Registration. Look it up on Wikipedia or other trusted sources. "The verb license or grant license means to give permission. The noun license refers to that permission as well as to the document memorializing that permission. A license is a government-issued permission to engage in an activity that is otherwise prohibited or to operate a business." A registration is a recording of someone engaged in an activity. It does not grant them that right but assumes they have it. In Texas we individually need a driver's license to drive a car on public highways, and we must be able to show proof of insurance and vehicle registration. To obtain that license we must pass a driver's test.

We need a driver's license no matter how far we drive, whether it's 100 or 100,000 miles a year. We contend that builders should need a license no matter if they build 1 home or 10,000 homes a year.]

After Hurricane Ike decimated a large swath of the Gulf Coast, many fly-by-night builders swooped in promising cheap repairs to damaged homes. After receiving homeowner payment, the builders left without making any repairs, Gattis said.

A criminal statute would have allowed law enforcement to arrest a dishonest builder on sight if not registered with the TRCC or otherwise allow them to be tracked. Honest builders would have benefited as well because they would not have been undercut by scammers, Gattis said.

Gattis’ bills provides more immediacy to the agency. Generally, it will take six months or more for the agency to exact any punitive measures on a builder, Gattis said. New measures would allow the TRCC to attack bad builders before they build bad homes.

[HOT: Doing that would require a prerequisite exam and continuing education, common provisions of licensing.]

“I don’t think the staff there has the tools to do the job we’ve asked them to do,” he said. “They’ve exercised yeoman efforts but we’ve given them all the responsibility and no authority. You just can’t function that way.”

Gattis also filed legislation allowing the TRCC to examine homes before they are sold. Currently the agency may only examine homes that have been completed and sold.

“We need somebody to be able to step in at that point and deal with these situations,” Gattis said.

Common victims are first-time homeowners, he said. A dishonest builder is encouraged to complete homes fast and cut corners in the process. The builder will exploit the buyers’ lack of knowledge in the process.

The process may sound familiar to some Taylor residents, who accused now defunct builder Affiliates LLC of performing shoddy work on their homes. The builder reportedly completed homes in an overly expedited manner, cutting corners while offering incredible move-in deals. Soon after homeowners moved in they discovered shoddy work the builder refused to repair.

To the TRCC’s credit, the agency has secured a lifetime ban for Affiliates’ owner Pete Stucky from building homes in Texas. The agency also participated in an investigation that led to 37 felony accounts against Stucky.

[HOT: The TRCC is quick to take credit for the criminal indictments and lifetime building ban, but it's our understanding that they had no leadership role and don't deserve the credit.]

Should his bills fail, Gattis will push for the abolition of the agency. He said it is not a course he wishes to pursue, but without adequate power, the TRCC will end up hurting homeowners more than it can help them.

“The easy answer is to do away with the agency, but it doesn’t solve the problem,” he said.

All bills are currently in the House Business and Industry Committee. Gattis will chair a meeting regarding the bill Tuesday at the capitol. Members of the public may testify at the hearing by simply coming to room E2.030 at the Capitol.

By Philip Jankowski, Taylor Daily Press, 4/2/2009
Source: http://www.taylordailypress.net/articles/2009/03/29/news/news06.txt 

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