Battles waged over home issues

Lisa Snedeker

Monday, March 22, 1999 | 11:23 a.m.

Anyone who owns a home or is considering buying one in Nevada should keep a close eye -- or at least an ear -- on the 70th session of the state Legislature.

There are a number of bills being considered that deal with construction defects, the state Contractors Board and homeowners associations, all of which could ultimately affect current homeowners or potential home buyers.

Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas, is supporting a number of bills that deal with all three.

"We're working on some great stuff," he said. "I think we will get some strong legislation from this session."

Senate Bill 286, which would make amendments to Chapter 40, more commonly known as the construction defects law, has come under fire from homeowners and trial lawyers who say the changes would benefit home builders, rather than home buyers.

Among the changes the amendment would make as it is currently written is limiting the amount of time a homeowner has to file a construction defect claim to four years after construction is complete.

Since a Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor hearing two weeks ago at which more than 300 people turned out in Carson City and Las Vegas, lobbyists on both sides have been working to come up with legislation that they say will ultimately get homes repaired.

Attorney Bob Maddox, president of the Nevada Trial Lawyers Association, said SB286 is not salvageable.

"There has to be something new, because SB286 is loaded up with so many big uglies, we'll fight that to the bitter end," he said. "We're trying to develop a new bill that we can agree to and they can agree to, too. We'd rather work it out. That's what we did in '95 and '97. They are far better off talking to us rather than trying to beat us up."

Sen. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, confirmed that she has provided her conference room for the lobbyists on both sides of SB286 to hammer out the details of a compromise.

"They are still meeting and I'm optimistic," she said last week.

Attorney Jim Wadhams, a lobbyist for the home builders, said it was obvious during the bill's hearing that both sides were saying the same thing: construction defects need to be fixed.

"We have found common ground," he said. "The key is if we can write it."

If they can, Wadhams said he believes they will have advanced the course in getting homes fixed and made it easier for builders who play be rules to get those homes fixed.

A workshop for the construction defects bill has been scheduled for Thursday in the Senate commerce committee.

The Senate and Assembly Commerce and Labor committees are entertaining separate bills that, if passed, would strengthen the authority of the Contractors Board to crack down on unscrupulous builders.

Angry homeowners have testified about cracked walls and leaking roofs as part of recent hearings on Senate Bill 32, which would raise penalties for contractors' negligence. Assembly Bill 259 would change the composition of the contractors-dominated board, reducing contractors' seats from six to three. The three other seats would be filled by a local government building inspector, professional architect or engineer and a certified public accountant.

Schneider, along with some homeowners and the state ombudsman, testified to the Senate Commerce Committee Friday in support of Senate Bill 441, which would make various changes to the laws governing common-interest communities, or homeowner associations.

One change Schneider said he wants is to make associations' financial statements more readily available to homeowners.

"We're still having a real problem with financial statements," he said.