TexPIRG Defends Homeowners’ Rights

A coalition of non-profit groups, led by TexPIRG, has launched a campaign to improve homeowners’ rights for Texans.

In 2003, the Legislature created the Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC), ostensibly to help mediate disputes between consumers and homebuilders. Unfortunately, the TRCC has served as a bureaucratic brick-wall.

A homeowner cannot bring legal action against a negligent contractor until the TRCC conducts a dispute resolution process. In these resolution procedures, the deck is stacked against the homeowner, as the building industry has a huge amount of influence in the TRCC.

Even in cases were the TRCC sides with the consumer, the TRCC has no authority to force negligent homebuilders to fix mistakes. Even after the TRCC dispute resolution process, 86 percent of the time builders failed to make necessary repairs.

TexPIRG believes that there must be fundamental reforms to the TRCC. To achieve this, TexPIRG has teamed up with Texas Watch, Home Owners for Better Building and Public Citizen to enact reform legislation during the 2007 session.