A message from Janet Ahmad
Countdown to Lobby Day and Sunset Hearing

Treasury's Paulson says government to take over Fannie, Freddie
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. Treasury Dept. said Sunday it is placing troubled mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae under conservatorship by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Under the plan, the FHFA will assume the power of the board, and the two firms' cheif executives will resign after a transitional period. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said: "Based on what we have learned about these institutions over the last four weeks ... and given the condition of financial markets today, I concluded that it would not have been in the best interest of the taxpayers for Treasury to simply make an equity investment" rather than take over the firms outright. Read and Post Comments

LULAC Calls for Abolishment of TRCC to Assured New Homes are Built Correctly
It is LULAC's intention to call on all Texas Legislators to abolish the TRCC and support legislation to regulate the homebuilding industry and assure all future new homebuyers that a home is built in compliance with HUD minimum property standards and the state adopted International Residential Code before it is sold. As National President of LULAC I stand in support of the rights all Americans to be assured that new homes are built correctly and protected by adequate consumer protection laws.  Be assured that new homebuyers will not be denied something so basis as decent housing for their hard earned dollars.

HomeOweners for Better Building Response to Sunset Report -TRCC Historic Hallmark for Bad State Policy
The Sunset review confirms what Home Owners for Better Building has asserted since the establishment of TRCC in 2003, that there is no incentive for builders to construct homes with care or to get it right the first time. By establishing TRCC as a burdensome process daunted with bureaucratic roadblocks for homeowners; fearless and confident bad builders simply ignored their customers.  To that end TRCC aided in pushing 88% of aggrieved homeowners into costly binding mandatory arbitration, protracted legal disputes or to simply give up in submission; setting an historic hallmark for bad state policy.

Texas Watch responds to Sunset Report - TRCC Must be Abolished
Texas Watch agrees wholeheartedly and enthusiastically with the Sunset staff's recommendation to abolish the Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC).  The staff's review of the agency has verified the complaints homeowners have made since the agency was established in 2003 – that the agency is not only an unnecessary barrier to the resolution of disputes between homeowners and builders, but is also a stacked process that does more to protect the interests of the homebuilding industry than those of Texas taxpayers, homeowners, and consumers...We agree with Sunset staff that the TRCC is beyond repair.  Homeowners are better served by simply abolishing the agency.

Take Back Your Rights PAC Response to TRCC Sunset Report - Abolishing the TRCC is the right thing to do for all Texans
Our organization commends the fine work that is outlined in the Sunset Staff Report.  This comprehensive report revealed the detrimental results the Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC) has on our new-home consumers.  Take Back Your Rights PAC knows that abolishing the TRCC is the right thing to do for all Texans...The commission should not be continued; it should be eliminated.  The TRCC is one more obstacle that homeowners in Texas must endure on the road to dispute resolution.  The foundation of the Texas Residential Construction Commission is structurally flawed and must be demolished.  The TRCC is both harmful to consumers and wasteful.  We must eliminate government waste and remove bad policy.

Facing closure, TRCC makes some changes
The governing board of a state agency criticized for being too easy on shoddy home builders adopted proposals on Thursday to make the agency more consumer-friendly but declined to require builders to be licensed and bonded. The Texas Residential Construction Commission also voted down a proposal to modify the commission's makeup to have more public members than builder members. The commission now has four builder members, three public members, one engineer and one inspector. The commission was responding to a sunset staff review report that said the 5-year-old agency is ineffective and should be abolished.

Inspection fees waived for home complaints
...On hand at the meeting were investigators from Taylor PD and the sheriff's department as well as lawyers representing the Sonterra Homeowners Assoiciation, the Sonterra Municipal Utility District and TRCC. Gravel led the meeting, making sure it did not deteriorate into attacks on Stucky. Gravel shared some of the more sordid stories surrounding homes built by Stucky, including one involving Karen Carter, a wheelchair-bound woman who purchased a house from First Home in Jarrell. Carter bought her home under the condition that her doorways would be widened for her wheelchair.

John Henneberger co-director Texas Low Income Housing Information Service
The hopelessly flawed Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC) has been recommended for abolition by the Texas Sunset Commission staff.  The Sunset staff report on the TRCC concludes, "Current regulation of the residential construction industry is fundamentally flawed and does more harm than good." I reluctantly concur.

Consumer Watch : Opinions mixed on the fate of TRCC
Jeryl Bennett paid about $130,000 for her new home four years ago. The appraised value now: $77,000. That dramatic decrease resulted from what Bennett says is a foundation problem, symptoms of which she started noticing shortly after she moved in. But the builder, Lennar Homes, and the Texas Residential Construction Commission have told her the foundation is solid. Consumer advocates and some lawmakers contend that situations like Bennett's highlight their contention that the TRCC is an anti-consumer agency.  Nearly two weeks ago, the Sunset Advisory Commission said what TRCC opponents have been wanting to hear: The agency should be abolished because it is "fundamentally flawed."...Alex Winslow, executive director of Texas Watch, said he will encourage the sunset commission to go a step further to create a new agency that will "impose real protection for homeowners that ensures builder accountability, quality building standards and real oversight of the home-building industry."

Join us for the Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC) Lobby Day & Press Conference on Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Homeowners losing fights with builders
The Texas Residential Construction Commission agreed the builder is responsible for the plumbing fiasco, but the agency can't force the company to fix it. That disconnect is one reason the Sunset Advisory Commission staff this month recommended abolishing the agency... The Texas Residential Construction Commission agreed the builder is responsible for the plumbing fiasco, but the agency can't force the company to fix it. That disconnect is one reason the Sunset Advisory Commission staff this month recommended abolishing the agency... "The remaining 88 percent of reported cases are pursued by one party or the other using the legal system "€” the very outcome the process was enacted to prevent," the report said."

Builders Foolishly Claim Industry Understands what is Best for Consumers
Mr. Binash (President, Greater Houston Builders Association and Wilshire Homes) and any builder that is against abolishment of TRCC and claims the agency is good for consumers are selfishly incorrect.  No one is buying the industry (Binash) smoke and mirrors spin, that without TRCC homeowners will end up in "time-consuming and expensive litigation."  The true fact is Sunset concluded that of the homeowners with construction defects who were forced into TRCC, 88% were driven to "time-consuming and expensive litigation."  Sunset further concluded TRCC is bad for homeowners and failed to protect them from the bad actors of the building industry.  Shame on the industry that claims an agency that they bought and paid for is somehow good for the consumer. The industry's attempt to claim to be experts on the subject of what is good for consumers is a hoax. They had their chances and failed miserably while making our Texas legislators look incompetent for listening to the industry for its legislative wisdom. Abolish TRCC! It's bad for consumers and it's an embarrassment to the industry and Texas .  Janet Ahmad
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Huttoparke Problems Continue, Values Suffer
It is with great fascination that I first saw last year Huttoparke home owners made sure that everyone knew how poorly their homes were built. They may have had no choice but to bring public attention to the problems they were having. In 2006/2007, when our phones rang daily with investors calling to buy in Austin, many didn't like what I had to say when I told them I wasn't interested in helping them buy a home in Hutto, Kyle or any other starter home area with supposed better cash flow. "It's a bad idea" I would say...I hope the owners in Huttoparke find resolution and all problems are resolved. I feel sorry for them. First time buyers have enough to think about without having to do legal battle with builders.

State Representative Garnet Coleman
This past week the Houston Chronicle editorialized in favor of abolishing the Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC), following the recommendation of the Sunset Advisory Commission from a report they issued last week... Texas homeowners deserve to have a state government on their side when they need it.