Editorial: Poorly built houses are troubling
Monday, April 12, 1999 | 10:22 a.m.
Such attention has been focused on the battle in the Legislature on when lawsuits alleging faulty construction can be filed by homeowners against builders. The contentious debate has pitted builders against trial lawyers and homeowners. While it is significant a compromise on this issue was reached last Friday between these warring factions, other legislation involving shoddy construction, which is equally as critical if not more so, is moving through the Legislature.
Assembly Bill 636, authored by Assemblywoman Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, would allow homeowners to receive up to $30,000 from the creation of a new fund to fix bad work when a contractor refuses to make needed repairs. Homeowners could still sue, but the legislation would enable them to sidestep the potentially costly and lengthy legal process and opt for a faster resolution to their problems. The recovery fund would be financed by a fee on residential contractors. The bill last week received a recommendation for approval by the Commerce and Labor Committee and is now up for a vote in the Assembly.
Meanwhile a Senate bill giving homeowners more rights also received committee endorsement and is awaiting full approval in the upper house. Senate Bill 32's preamble, written by Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, says all licensing boards should protect consumers -- not the licensees. Consumers too often have found that under the current regulation, it is just the opposite when lodging a complaint against a builder with the state Board of Contractors.
Townsend believes the most important part of the bill is the provision that gives the Board of Contractors the power to use deceptive trade practices laws against a builder. "It's illegal in Nevada to sell something that cannot be used for its intended purpose. If you've built a house people can't live in, that's deceptive trade practices," Townsend told the Associated Press.
The vast majority of builders do excellent work, but there have been enough instances of shoddy construction in Southern Nevada to require legislative action. It's important to reserve the possibility of suing for defects, but when setting public policy every effort should be made to get the dispute resolved without having to resort to litigation. The Legislature should pass AB636 and SB32, bills that give homeowners the added consumer protections they need.
archive
- Most Read
- Discussed
- Most E-mailed
- Man, 26, dies in collision with truck traveling at 100 mph
- Nevada’s just not for us, many top high schoolers say
- CityCenter completion might spur home foreclosures
- Casino venue in Singapore will have Las Vegas flavor
- MGM Mirage: CityCenter not affected by debt woes
- Fontainebleau retail component seeks bankruptcy
- Metro admits to improper release of criminal history data
- Holiday Auction 2009 items
- Real estate experts cautiously optimistic about market
- Locomotives win inaugural UFL championship
Blogs
The Kats Report
Could a savior of shuttered Las Vegas Art Museum be ... Peter Max? (6 Comments)
For Paul Stanley and KISS, rock and roll is not over (6 Comments)
Twenty years ago today, Human Nature took root on the farm (1 Comment)
Robin Leach's Las Vegas Celebrity Watch
Photo Gallery: Donny Osmond’s triumphant return to the Flamingo
The Kats Report
'DWTS' champ Donny Osmond still deft afoot in return to Flamingo (8 Comments)
Politics: The Early Line
Meeting of GOP governors draws challengers, not Gibbons (5 Comments)
Politics: Ralston's Flash
Oscar loves forcing developers to sign labor peace agreements, Culinary loves the city's downtown plans and all is forgiven (10 Comments)
Calendar »
- 29 Sun
- 30 Mon
- 1 Tue
- 2 Wed
- 3 Thu
-
Tahoe Takeover at The Bank
The Bank | 10 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
-
Playboy Club model search
Playboy Club | 10 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
-
Queen of Queens at Revolution Lounge
Beatles Revolution Lounge | 10 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
-
Zowie Bowie's Vintage Vegas Show at Monte Carlo
Lance Burton Theater
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
Technorati









