Homeowner's Bill of Rights introduced in Senate by 48th District's Rodney Tom

Last Wednesday, as our Executive Director reported, the House Judiciary Committee held a public hearing on HB 1045, a reshaped Homeowner's Bill of Rights proposal sponsored by Representative Brendan Williams. HB 1045 unfortunately seems doomed to remain stuck in committee, but there is good news from the Senate side: Senator Rodney Tom has introduced his own revised version of the Homeowner's Bill of Rights: SB 5895, which is cosponsored by Senators Kohl-Welles, McDermott, and Fraser.

The bill's rather long description reads:

Addressing residential real property construction improvements through consumer education, warranty protections, legal remedies, municipal liability, third-party inspections, contractor registration requirements, worker certification standards, and bonding requirements.

The bill runs thirty nine pages; there's a lot of good ideas in there. It's unlikely that all of them will make it into any final version of the bill - we'll probably see some amendments to make it simpler.

No doubt SB 5895 will be vehemently opposed by the BIAW, who will surely claim that homebuyers and homeowners just don't deserve protection under the law.

The BIAW's opposition is so fierce that it leads us to wonder whether they know something nefarious that we don't. Are builders simply not striving to build quality houses these days? Is it difficult to comply with building codes?

Aren't the standards prescribed in the Homeowner's Bill of Rights quality assurance objectives the industry is supposed to be meeting to begin with?

If a house has significant defects, shouldn't the people who built it be obliged to help out the poor homeowner who is otherwise saddled with the cost of the repairs? Homeowners can't bank on goodwill. There has to be a warranty provided by law.

People ought to be able to buy a home with the expectation that it is well built and in compliance with building codes. Regulations provide such economic security, if they are properly enforced. As Representative Williams said::

"I think particularly with the economy in decline, if we're going to try to get folks to buy new homes and obligate themselves to 30-year mortgages, there should be some assurance as to the quality of what they are purchasing."

There should be no excuse for shoddy construction.

We need a Homeowner's Bill of Rights to ensure peace of mind for every Washington family who invests their hard earned money into a new dwelling.