You would think the biggest investment of one's life, a new home, would have some of the most comprehensive warranties in the nation. Well, think again.The Texas Residential Construction Commission adopted new home warranty standards after it's creation in 2003. These standards were not created based upon reviewing the common defects found in new home construction and establishing standards of quality to address them. Instead Texas A&M, under a contract from the TRCC, simply reviewed the warranties currently in use and adopted an extremely limited subset of these.
On top of this, the TRCC Act waived the implied warranty of good workmanship, provided to new home buyers in the late 60's. Waiving this warranty and adopting the extremely limited, near worthless, warranties developed by Texas A&M was the worst thing that could happen to a home buyer. For example, lets compare the warranty of a Kia car made in Korea, with an American made home by a Texas Homebuilder.
| Warranty Item | Kia Spectra5 | Texas Homebuilder |
| Made In | Korea | Texas |
| Lemon Law | Yes | No |
| Basic Coverage | 5 years | 1 years |
| Drivetrain/Foundation | 5 years | 10 years |
| Paint | 5 years | 1 year |
| AC | 5 years | 2 years |
| Heater | 5 years | 2 years |
| Electrical | 5 years | 2 years |
| Emission | 5 years | NA |
| Legal Action | non binding arbitration | arbitration |
| Roadside Assistance | Yes | No |
8 comments:
Clearly Texans aren't aware of these issues and don't care, since we just re-elected a Republican governor, lieutenant governor and Republican-led legislature. You get the government you deserve.
Right. The vast majority of the people in the state dont understand this.
But they learn REAL quick when it happens to them.
I agree. You get the government you deserve.
You are admitting this is all because of Aggies? In public? On your blog? :)
The Kia comparison is funny. Sad, but funny.
I just saw on TeeVee that Kia has now changed their warranty to 10 years/100,000 miles.
sad. but true.
A&M. what a joke that was. It was real pathetic. Their first warranty standard was nothing more than a copy of the homebuilders warranty standards.
They were laughed at.
John, are builders forced to adopt these warranty standards? That is, is it legal for a buyer to negotiate for and receive a more thorough warranty?
builder are force to adopt AT THE VERY LEAST these standards, but could offer more.
So far out of 24,000+ builders, not one has offered a better warranty.
Not one.
It does not matter what builders are supposed to adopt. If they don't feel like fixing something they won't. The mantra of the builders IMO,is it is homeowners' maintance. When my roof leaked builder said I should have been on the roof caulking, when rain came through the windows, I should have been caulking and did ya hear the one where the foundation was cracked badly. Builder told homeowner it was because their dog peed too much on it. (true story)
How'bout the one where the homeowner moved in and all the belongings fell apart. Builder told homeowner it was because of their marrital status. (again true)
What amazaes me more then builder's stupidity is the stupidty of people who read these sites and still buy these homes.
No one is immuned regardless of how much homework you do or even if you have a great inpsector.
One just never knows.
Let's talk about the AG in all of this-where is he?
People are getting scammed aren't they; right out of their life savings.
Yep. It is "Welcome to Texas" dow get the fuck out of here.
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