If I read your new Bill or whatever with proposed new insurance requirements right, youse guys have to be FINGERPRINTED on every renewal. OR am I missing something and read this wrong.
I’ve seen some professions make members get fingerprinted on application, BUT not each time they renew. Have lots of your people been involved in gun fights, selling cocaine, rape, attempted child molestation, running guns, etc?
I know over the past 4 yrs in Missouri we’ve had a lot of Realtors get involved in that sort of stuff BUT I didn’t think the Texas inspectors had been super bad boys to rate that type of treatment.
Dan, the wording of the proposed legislation is being worked on to clarify that the fingerprinting is a one-time requirement as intended and confirmed with TREC.
Thats good … Now for the rest of the question. I’m curious / What other professionals like us have mandatory finger printing down there?
Do HVAC technicians; do lead or asbestos inspectors; do home builders; do the foundation contractors; how about chimney sweeps; City Mayors; TV news anchors; termite inspectors; attorneys; doctors; septic inspectors; electricians; plumbers; remodelers; engineers or architects; etc.
Just curious / Where I’m at NONE of those folks do, so how about where you’re at??
Now in my area the 1 group required to have mandatory fingerprinting is Realtors, BUT 3 years ago a search of MAR records showed over 76 agents getting felony convictions in a 90 day period (rape, drug use and sales, drunken driving, armed robbery, assault & battery; attempted murder, attacking a police officer, child molestation, etc). Drugs was the Realtors crime of choice. So I can see fingerprinting them BUT you guys??
According to TREC, over 52 license categories in Texas require one-time fingerprinting for issue or renewal of a license, including real estate brokers and salespersons , right-of-way agents, nurses, bus drivers, appraisers (in 2014), etc.[size=2] I can’t tell you all of them though.
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Dan,
As a Contractor working in Schools in PA, annual State and Federal background checks are required. This includes finger printing for myself and any employee that may work in the building.
Michael its amazing you are so much different than up here.
We only have something like 56 +/- licensed professions LET alone require fingerprinting. A study by the Missouri Highway Patrol at the governors request a few yrs ago revealed real estate agents and nurses had the highest percentage of hard core convicted felons in our state.
So I can see Texas finger printing real estate agents and nurses BUT who else??
Yeah, with 150,000 +/- RE agents in Texas there’s bound to be some felons in the mix here too. I have no clue as to how to determine which of the scores of other licensed professions here require fingerprinting though.
Texas DPS implements the State fingerprinting program. DPS calls this FAST and their WEB site is here http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/administration/crime_records/pages/applicantfingerprintservices.htm . They don’t list anywhere on their site how many different licensees require fingerprinting, at least in no specific stats or docs I could find. However I would expect they might provide that information if asked?
Their site is an interesting read as well if you ever have time. If you root through some of their documentation the fingerprinting is only one component of what they collect. They also participate in data exchanges with many other LE Agencies both States and Federal and utilize various facial recognition services from the Feds. Typically you have fingerprints and a photo submitted for most, if not all, fingerprint requirements. Both are entered into Fed databases for any valid LE Agency to use.
It is an erosion of freedom and a national ID card in disguise. Hitler created ID cards in 1933. If you wanted to travel or work you had to have the card. Its a means of controlling the population. Hitler called his program “Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of People and State”. Every rule or law passed today is “for the protection of the public”.
Today is not 1933 and I am not saying the country is fascist. The point is that is has always been the nature of all government to implement more controls on the population. Computer technology has made it a whole new game. We will all have to be run through a federal agency (FBI prints) in order to flush toilets and plug in to receptacles."My country tis of thee, sweet land of . . . . . “papers please”.
Update. Anyone who has driven with me knows I drive slow. Drives em nuts. Today I am approaching a well known red light camera intersection. Yellow light. I decide to brake; look in mirror and a car is rapidly approaching my rear (because I am driving slow). I decide not to get rear ended and stomp the gas. Of course the old car just doesn’t respond like it used to. FLASH. Expect ticket soon. $75. :razz: Gotta love those money trees erected in the name of public safety. Wish I had one.
What I find so amazing about the fingerprinting scam on home inspectors is the who, what, when, why of it??
In Kansas when the realtors, trial attorneys and Wichita ashi members were pushing the licensing law 4.5 years ago they brought up mandatory fingerprinting of home inspectors and acted like it was vital to national security and the personal safety of the general public in Kansas. They also pushed for mandatory E&O insurance (or mal-practice) AND told legislators ALL other professions carried this.
When we started checking other professions, we quickly discovered that was a BS lie and discovered among others the following professions were not required to be mandatorily fingerprinted: lead inspectors, termite inspectors, home builders, general contractors, chimney sweeps, electricians, plumbers, hvac technicians, appraisers, real estate agents, bank loan officers, the list goes on and on. My doctor told me to do surgery in my hospital he has to carry mal-practice (E&O ins for us), BUT hes not required to have it to get a license … same with my attorney (No mal-practice needed).
Also of note was the fact we had no KNOWN instances in Kansas of home inspectors being charged with rape, murder, child molestation, drug sales, etc, etc. SO the BIG QUESTION is why do the Realtors keep trying to push crap onto HI’s that many other groups are NOT required to do OR have AND why do so many of our NAIVE or BUTT KISSING fellow HI’s go along with it AND not scream to the world what a BJ this is??
BOTTOM line after all the horse puckey is thrown around its all about Realtors shifting liability AND a new FOOD source with DEEP pockets (our E&O) for attorneys.
Fingerprinting might eliminate some competition. The intent is to protect the public from evil doers and those that don’t fit into the click.
I’m ready for inspection fees to start at a minimum of $600.00 and go up from there. That’s still pretty cheap to be a liability shield for the 6%-10% sales people get and the too great of expectations from buyers.
Pretty sad E&O for H.I.'s is required in a state with no builder licensing law, very little consumer protection and code enforcement.
One good thing is the loser pay law that went into effect last year in Texas.
The other is Joe Ferry.
I don’t think Thomas Jefferson would agree with fingerprinting but this is not the same country as the one originally created.
