The speaker ducks a desperate homeowner
Scott Thalhamer of Olympia came to the Capitol yesterday to confront Speaker of the House Frank Chopp, D-Seattle.
Thalhamer wants Chopp to allow a vote on Senate Bill 6385, the "Homeowners' Bill of Rights" sponsored by Sen. Brian Weinstein's, D-Mercer Island. The bill would allow homeowners to sue and recover damages for shoddy home construction. It was held up last year, too.
Thalhamer was recently featured on KOMO-TV because the crawl space of his new house keeps flooding.
As Thalhamer waited for Chopp outside the Senate Chambers - where Chopp was meeting with Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane - he described the problem plaguing his subdivision. "Whether it rains or not, there's a large amount of water that's coming down our hill ... and floods into our crawl spaces so it's like a swamp underneath of our homes."
As he spoke, Thalhamer held a picture of himself, flashlight in hand, mucking through his neighbor's crawlspace.
But in the end, Thalhamer's plan to confront the speaker was foiled. Perhaps someone tipped off Brown. She was seen escorting Chopp to a members-only elevator in the Senate wings.
This escape route allowed Chopp to avoid two potential threats: Thalhamer and hordes of lobbyists who, in the final days of session, congregate outside the House and Senate chambers like hungry wolves at the door.
Comments:
Posted Wed, Mar 12, 9:56 a.m. inappropriate
CHOPP! What a pu$$y!: stinky tuna smelling wet spot waste of flesh.
Posted Wed, Mar 12, 6:44 p.m. inappropriate
Over kill.: This legislation is over kill. It goes too far to fix the problem. The insurance rates for Contractors would go sky high and then all the homeowners would be complaining that we charge too much. No need to remedy a few bad Contractors with bad legislation.
Posted Wed, Mar 12, 7:54 p.m. inappropriate
Here is a thought......: I started driving when I was 16; I am now over 30. My insurance rates went up ONCE when I was 17 because I received a speeding ticket. I did something wrong I paid for it. Since then my rates have not gone up and coincidentally I have not received a speeding ticket that justified an increase.
If builders would actually take a little pride in their work and go above and beyond what is required by that worthless organization called the International Code Council you would not have a problem. Your rates will only go up if you and the other builders continue to build the homes the way you build them now.
Also here is some useful information for builders. If you tell me that I am paying an extra $1,000 on my 30 year mortgage to get top rate work and not what most builders put out and you do not make me sign a mandatory arbitration agreement I will gladly pay that. An extra $1000 on a 30 year mortgage is $6 per month. Heck I would consider $10,000 because that is $70.00 per month. I would gladly pay that if I knew I would not have to worry about the work that was done building my home.
Knowing that I could sleep at night is priceless.
Finally cities across the US need to start earning the money they receive in permit fees.
Posted Wed, Mar 12, 7:54 p.m. inappropriate
Here is a thought......: I started driving when I was 16; I am now over 30. My insurance rates went up ONCE when I was 17 because I received a speeding ticket. I did something wrong I paid for it. Since then my rates have not gone up and coincidentally I have not received a speeding ticket that justified an increase.
If builders would actually take a little pride in their work and go above and beyond what is required by that worthless organization called the International Code Council you would not have a problem. Your rates will only go up if you and the other builders continue to build the homes the way you build them now.
Also here is some useful information for builders. If you tell me that I am paying an extra $1,000 on my 30 year mortgage to get top rate work and not what most builders put out and you do not make me sign a mandatory arbitration agreement I will gladly pay that. An extra $1000 on a 30 year mortgage is $6 per month. Heck I would consider $10,000 because that is $70.00 per month. I would gladly pay that if I knew I would not have to worry about the work that was done building my home.
Knowing that I could sleep at night is priceless.
Finally cities across the US need to start earning the money they receive in permit fees.
Posted Thu, Mar 13, 7:15 a.m. inappropriate
RE: Here is a thought......: I agree with you all the way.
We signed a contract with toll brothers to build us a home, this has never been a home for our family. Soon after closing we discovered the house was built with weathered material which caused toxic mold to grow and fill the air.
We paid over 900,000.00 for it and it is filled with toxic mold and can not be lived in. We have not spent one night in the property that was sold to us by toll brothers.
If a builder can not build a property right then they should be fined/sued, or lose their license to build or all of the above. The senate needs to stop worrying about the builders and big corporate, these are the companies that are recieveing big bonus while they are laying off people and causing some of the issues with unemployment and consumer spending.
If congress does not feel fit to protect the homeowners then it should be their responsibilty to purchase these shoody constructed items from the public at the price that it cost them and they should also pay any expenses the homeowners has laid out for the property, which would include upkeep, experts, and legal expenses.
Posted Thu, Mar 13, 11:21 a.m. inappropriate
Moisture Content Inspections: Wouldn't a simple moisture content inspection of the bare framing by a city/county building inspector prevent a lot of these all-too-common moldy house situations? Sure, it may slow down the project but better to get it right than to abandon the house or an expensive repair.
Posted Thu, Mar 13, 5:17 p.m. inappropriate
RE: Moisture Content Inspections: You are assuming the city inspector actually takes the time to leave his cribbage game to do the inspection. I am sure over 90% of the problem homes that are built could have been caught prior to closing by an inspector that can actually spell the word inspect.
There was a septic system installed on our property in 2003. A 1500 gallon tank was installed but they never installed a drainfield. The contractor was in and out in about 4 hours.