Another Letter to send

[PAUL J. MAGRONE]

There is a proposed legislation attempting to regulate the home inspection industry in the state of Florida. All of us inspectors are for regulation but it needs to be fair and serve the purpose of protecting the general public. I reviewed the proposed legislation and found that it is grandfathering in all businesses 3 years of age or older. Those three years or under will need to take a course and exam. The problem most inspectors have with this bill is that:It discriminates against businesses three years or younger with no real measure of ability or qualification.
It allows the grandfathered businesses to be automatically licensed without a measure of their ability or qualifications.
It sets a very low bar of regulation over all.
If this bill is designed to protect the public, why not test and qualify all businesses under the same criteria? How can I get Governor Crist's attention. I have written letters upon letters and have not been able to get a direct response. Can you help with this. Can the Sentinel review this proposed legislation and report on the issue. I would appreciate your direct review of the bill and once you see for yourself how irrelevant this legislation is, maybe you could help bring it to the attention of our new governor. Many small businesses like mine that are new are being asked to spend time and money on proving our abilities while others will skate right through. The scary part is that you could have an inspector out there for 15 years doing it wrong for 15 years and not being challenged by this new proposed regulation. This does not protect the public in my view. I believe in my heart that your newspaper would want the best for your clients as do I. Please look into this. I believe there is only 13 days left before Gov. Crist will see this bill.

Sincerely,
Paul J. Magrone & Karen A. Magrone
Home Inspections By Paul J. Magrone Inc.
http://pjm-inc.com/

[Greg Bell]

Hi Paul,

Your letter only points out the thing that you are against. How about the fact that this bill does nothing to protect the consumer, which is why it is there in the first place. There is a long history in Florida for grandfathering. It has taken place with every profession that has been licensed after the fact. I doubt that we can win this fight with only using that argument.