Jan. 18, 2003 - 19:46 MST

THE WONDERING JEW

Sadly Laughing

For quite a number of years, developers have been building like mad here, filling the empty spots, pop-topping older houses, moving out into the suburbs 'til they hem the city in all around.

They built on problematic land in many cases. In areas of bentonite soil which has the bad habit of swelling when wet and cracking basement walls and causing many other complications. There is another area here where houses were built and sold on land which was slowly moving downhill. Broken houses. No big earthquake or sudden disaster. Just that people would be paying for houses that were becoming increasingly doomed. Then out southeast some developers began to slap up cheapies. Lately there has been a trend to fill up land with condos, apartments or whatever the developer decides to call those cubbyholes that people now live in.

Streets have not kept up with the growth and there is gridlock twice a day and heavy traffic the rest of the time.

Over that stretch of time there have been many lawsuits over homes becoming unsuitable for human habitation due to the disregard of land condition by developers and by contractors cutting corners, many, many lawsuits. In some of them developers and contractors have paid out thousands of dollars for their mistakes.

Regardless of what the arms of the administration tries to sell, we are in hard times which are looking to become harder.

Item in The Rocky Mountain News Friday January 17th by Peggy Lowe. Titled 'Dramatic Overhaul.' Now a legislative panel has sided with the home building industry Thursday, approving a bill that the attorney general calls a dramatic overhaul of Colorado's consumer protection law.

After three hours of testimony by two dozen witnesses, the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee voted 8 to 5 for the plan that builders say they need to protect themselves from costly lawsuits.

In a side bar box is the gist of the bill, written by the construction industry. *******************************************

Rewrites the law to say that if a builder gets a construction permit or a certificate of occupancy, which is standard, he doesn't have to pay for any problems.

Limits the number of problems a home owner can report by requiring a specific list and allowing it to be modified only once.

Says that if a homeowner "unreasonably" rejects an offer to repair the damages, he or she may not recover any amount that might be more than what the builder offered or get attorney's fees.

Virtually eliminates triple damages, now used as a deterrent in consumer law, by requiring a home owner to prove that the builder intended to defraud him or her and lets a judge, not a jury, decide the case.

Permits developers of condos and townhomes to shield themselves from suits by simply stating in their contracts that they are not liable for construction defects.

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And the House Business Affars and Labor Committee voted 8 to 5 for that vicious piece of industry written cop out. Pray God that this doesn't become law, I hope the Senate shoots it down if it comes through the House.

Just as in the case of Enron and other corporations being allowed to fly their own kite on flimsy thread 'til the bottom fell out, it seems that developers and contractors would have the ability to build any piece of junk on unsuitable land and be free and clear of financial responsibility.

Jeepers, we citizens stand a chance to lose all our pennies by legislation like that. And those blockheads are supposed to be representing we the people ? ? ? ? ? Don't think we have a chance with representation like that.

But comes a bit of comic opera. Times are hard, people keep getting laid off. More families are becoming homeless, no jobs to be had. And still the construction goes on and on and on.

How much longer will this surge of antpiling humans in slapped up cubicles go on ? How much longer will there be cash to pay construction workers, buy materials and pay salesmen and ladies ? And the big question, who will be able to afford any kind of housing when they are homeless ? How much confidence in continuing income will be in the hearts of average working Joes ? Here am I, with a tear in my eye, Sadly Laughing . . . . . . . . .

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