Why we need a Homeowner's Bill of Rights: Stories from Washingtonians (Part I)

Over the next twenty seven hours, we're going to count down the time remaining until the bill cutoff deadline (when SB 6385 expires) by posting stories from homeowners who have been victimized by negligent construction. These are stories of families who have, through no fault of their own, lost their life’s savings, their health, their ability to finance their children’s college education, and their prosperity because there was a defect or problem with the workmanship of their home.

Countdown Clock: 27 Hours, 35 Minutes Remaining Until Cutoff

We urge you to join us in calling on House Speaker Frank Chopp to bring SB 6385 to the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote. If SB 6385 gets to the floor it is sure to pass - and Governor Chris Gregoire is ready to sign it.

But it has to make it out of the Rules Committee first.

We begin with Thomas' story.

I had purchased a home that was recently built and I was the second owner. There was a hidden defect that neither the homeowner inspector nor I could pick up with the way the house was sealed so that it leaked badly.

The initial homeowners claimed that they had addressed what they thought was the problem but this was clearly a larger structural problem that the builder refused to acknowledge despite a thorough structural analysis that pointed out the flaw in the construction.

None of our other insurance would provide coverage for this and the final resolution was expensive. Inititially we had to use all of the funds we had saved for our children's college education to repair the house.

Fortunately, we were able to come to an agreement with the builder but there was no legal precedent established that would provide us with any protection and at one point we saw our life savings [erased overnight] to both repair the home and to support litigation that could possibly recoup some of our losses.

We ultimately were able to recover over 50% of our losses and subsequently we believe that we will be able to send our kids to to college but at an extreme hardship.

Here's how to get in touch with Speaker Chopp:

District Office:
444 NE Ravenna Blvd, Suite 106
Seattle, WA 98115
(206) 729-3223

Olympia Office:
339C Legislative Bldg.
PO Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600
(360) 786-7920

Toll-free Hotline: 1-800-562-6000
TTY (hearing impaired): 1-800-635-9993
Email: chopp.frank (at) leg.wa.gov