Jan. 28, 2003 - 19:29 MST

THE WONDERING JEW

Undeclared

The way it looks to me is that builders and developers are going to lose their hats anyway, what with people going jobless and homeless while the big expensive structures are multiplying, the condos and dodos multiplying logarithmically. The available money to devote to house payments alone has been hard to come by for a number of years. Check the occasional articles showing that fewer Americans will ever be able to buy and own their own residence.

This uspeakable bill has now passed the Colorado House and if passed in our Senate its easy to forsee things of this type spreading nationwide. If passed here - we are in a world of hurts.

There are seven items mentioned in our paper.

1 -- Limits warranty claims to six years after construction is completed, even if a written warranty says 10 years.

2 -- Limits contract claims against the builder to two years. All other businesses are required to work under a three-year statute of limitations.

3 -- Says if a builder gets a construction permit or a certificate of occupancy, a standard practice, it is not required to pay for any problems.

4 -- Limits the number of defects a homeowner can report by requiring a specific list and allowing it to be modified only once.

5 -- Says that if a homeowner "unreasonably" rejects an offer to repair the damages, he or she may not recover any amount that might be more than what the builder offered or receive attorney's fees.

6 -- Virtually eliminates the triple damages now used as a deterrent in consumer law by requiring a homeowner to prove that the builder intended to defraud him or her and lets a judge, not a jury, decide the case.

7 -- Allows developers of condominiums and townhomes to state in their contracts that they are not liable for construction defects.

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I think that most anyone who reads the news, or knows someone who has been through the mill trying to get a developer or contractor to make a faulty dwelling livable realizes that it is a long hard row to hoe to get anything done, with in reason and in a timely manner.

The whole damn bill seems to be packed with cop outs for builders and developers.

1 -- A warranty can be written for a number of years, thus sucking an innocent in thinking he has as many years as stated in writing.

2 -- Limits contract claims against the builders to two years but all other businesses are required to work under three years limitations. There are some residences built in places and in such a way that even after three years defects still show up.

3 -- A builder not required to pay if the firm gets a permit or certificate of occupancy before hand ? How gross can things get ?

4 -- Limits the number of defects a homeowner can report with no more than one modification ? There are many houses that have a great number of built in defects that may not come to light before a filing is made. So whats a guy to do in that case ?

5 -- "Unreasonably" rejects --- by whose definition and how many lawsuits will this provision cause ?

6 -- This makes a homeowner prove that he was intentionally defrauded. Hah. If a developer hasn't received proof that his land is quite suitable to build on, shouldn't he be liable if his houses are built on bentonite soil or on a slope that is gradually moving down hill ? Or builds in a place that can be flooded ? What about these glowing brochures and fancy pitches by salesmen paid by the developer who promise happiness forever if the sucker will just put the money down ? Now, if the builder chooses to go ahead and build on land that he is not sure is suitable for housing and a complication occurs, shouldn't he be just as liable ? I think that developers and construction outfits work hand in hand all the time. Seems as if they do. Opportunities for fraud and it is hard to prove it was intentional.

7 -- If you want to really rob the public -- just build condos or town homes, build them out of crates and cardboard even. Just be sure that the contract states that you are not liable for construction defects. In other words if one buys a townhome or a condo and it comes apart -- that poor sucker is just out his money

Dear Lord, I do hope this bill is cut down in our Senate. Not for my sake as we will not be buying a residence of any kind at our age. Not for the sake of Mr Moneybags -- hell he can afford to buy another or build another on top of the debris. But for the sake of us little guys who scrimp and save for a down payment on a house to move our kids into before they reach college age, for us who have to assign priorities as to who gets paid what payment on time.

Some of the pleas of the construction industry say, "The law is needed to protect builders who sell expensive homes to owners who look for defects so they can sue." Uh Huh, even though this is called a litigious society, I just can't see even rich folks moving into a house with the intent to search for defects in order to sue. That doesn't sound reasonable to me. Not to the extent that the industry must be overly protected. They claim that, "Our home builders are sitting ducks."

If I recall this bill was written by the construction industry with the approval of statehouse pols. Its colors shine through, a sleazy green and I would say that the home buyer has always been a sitting duck, but now could be if this bill passes a sitting duck holding a Russian Roulette gun in his claw. At least that is the way it looks to me.

Looks like it is an action against the public welfare by the construction and developers on the sly, a war yet Undeclared . . . . . . . . .

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