Commission Fines Builder $260,000
Builders That Don’t Address Customer Issues Face Fines |
(Austin) — At its March 23, 2009, meeting, the Texas Residential Construction Commission fined J.D. White Construction of Victoria, Texas a total of $260,000.
The $260,000 fine was levied against James Del White, doing business as J.D. White Construction. The builder’s violations include a failure to pay consumer judgments, the misappropriation of or misapplication of trust funds, a failure to timely renew as a builder, and a repeated failure to respond to a homeowner’s complaint.
The commission fined Gaston Premier Homes, Ltd. agent William Gaston of Austin, Texas, more than $42,000 for failing to pay a consumer judgment and failing to timely renew as a builder.
Jaime Lozano, doing business as Lozano Construction in Edinburg, Texas, was fined $40,000. Lozano Construction failed to provide a 45-day follow-up report related to a state inspection of a customers home and to respond to a complaint filed with the commission. Also, the company failed to register a home, failed to pay a home registration fee, a state inspection process fee and late fees.
Additionally, the commission fined seven other builders for failing to timely renew their registrations with the commission. A complete list of builders fined or otherwise sanctioned can be seen here.
"In all these cases, the builders violated the law and as a result the commission has taken action," said Executive Director Duane Waddill. "Mr. White, Mr. Gaston and Mr. Lozano were not responsive to meeting their obligations. Their actions in their dealings with their customers and the commission were unacceptable. In light of these builders clearly mishandling their responsibilities to their customers, the commission took clear and significant steps to respond. All builders and remodelers should take notice of these penalties and act accordingly.”
Texas homeowners can research registered builders or remodelers by visiting the commission's Web site at www.TexasRCC.org. On the Web site, consumers can learn whether a builder or remodeler is registered and authorized to operate in Texas, how many projects they have registered with the commission or the status of a builder’s or remodeler’s registration.
For more information about the commission or its operations, Texans can call the agency toll-free help line at 877-651-TRCC (8722).
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