The End of the TRCC may be at Hand

[Chuck Evans]

The Texas Senate approved a bill to give the TRCC (Texas Residential Construction Commission) 5 months to shut itself down. The TRCC was created in 2003 after lobbying by some big builders. It was supposedly created under the auspice that it was to aid consumers with complaints against builders, however the agency was roundly criticized for protecting builders and making it more difficult for aggrieved consumers to get satisfaction.

The Texas House passed legislation to radically reform the agency but the bill was allowed to expire without a vote in the Senate. That means the agency will be phased out unless lawmakers give it a two-year extension.

"I think that at this point and time we should throw in the towel and wind down the agency," Hegar said.

http://www.statesman.com/news/conten.../0524trcc.html

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...n/6437815.html

[Chuck Evans]

The commission will stop taking in new business (i.e., buyer complaint inspection requests) after August 31, 2009 and will shut down on August 31, 2010.

If you are doing 12 month warranty inspections, be careful what you tell your clients regarding how to get disputes handled.



*********** TRCC Press Release ************

COMMISSION IMPLEMENTS SUNSET PROVISIONS

(AUSTIN) —At its June 11, 2009 meeting, the Texas Residential Construction Commission announced a general timeline and action plan related to the implementation of the State’s sunset provisions.

Under provisions of Texas Government Code 325.017, the commission will not be accepting new inspection requests after August 31, 2009. In other action taken, the commission approved the following:

All new homes and projects completed by August 31, 2009 must be registered;

All new builder registrations and timely renewal registration applications will be accepted through August 31, 2009

All new builder registrations and timely renewal registration applications will be prorated, please see prorated chart here;

Inspection requests will be accepted through August 31, 2009;

Inspection requests will be scheduled for inspection as soon as possible following commission rules, policies and procedures; and

Ombudsmen will actively process complaints and post-inspection actions through August 31, 2010.

Commission Chairman Paulo Flores of Dallas, said, “The commission felt it necessary to implement a timeline regarding the state’s sunset provisions. August 31, 2009 will be the last day that the commission will receive new business, to ensure we have enough time to properly assess and complete the casework.”

The Web site will be updated as more information becomes available. For more information about any commission-related issues, go to www.TexasRCC.org.