| Penalties Levied Against 24 Builders/Remodelers |
(AUSTIN) — At a recent meeting, the Texas Residential Construction Commission levied penalties against 24 builders/remodelers. In eight cases, builders/remodelers were fined for failing to timely renew their registrations. The remaining 16 cases were the result of more serious violations ranging from a failure to follow commission rules to using fraud and deceit in obtaining a registration.
The total amount of penalties is more than $23,000. Three builders — Nouvel Development LP (Houston), Steve DeGrote Custom Homes (Granbury) and Buchar Management (Wylie) — forfeited their registrations and can no longer legally build or remodel homes in Texas.
Ten of the affected builders are located in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, four in the Houston/Galveston area, and three in San Antonio. The rest are spread throughout the state. (View the complete list) .
Commission Executive Director Duane Waddill said the fines and the registration revocations demonstrate that the consequences for those not meeting their statutory requirements will be serious.
Waddill said, “The message is clear: When a builder or remodeler fails to meet its statutory obligations, they run the risk of being of being fined or having their registration revoked. If a builder or remodeler loses their registration, they can no longer operate in the state legally.
“The ramifications of a fine are greater than the monetary impact alone because the commission makes the information public. It’s in a company’s interest to stay in the best public light possible. A builder or remodeler with a record of fines fails in that goal. I encourage Texas consumers to thoroughly research builders and remodelers before they sign a contract for any work,” Waddill said.
Texas consumers can research whether or not a builder or remodeler is registered and if the state has found a defect as a result of a consumer complaint and how many projects a builder or remodeler has registered by utilizing the public record search on the commission’s Web site.
For other information about a builder, remodeler, the commission or its operations, Texans can call the agency toll-free help line at 877-651-TRCC (8722).
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