Proposed law does nothing to protect buyers

To the editor,

SB161 is not about protecting home buyers, it's protectionism for contractors, which I suspect is targeted mainly at Russian immigrant homebuilders who are suspected of using a loophole in existing law to compete in the home building market without getting a license.

Ensuring that a contractor has built your home is no insurance that it was built correctly according to code, or that best practices or materials were used. Contractors are known to cut corners. Contractors also often go out of business, or leave the state for better markets. Most owner/builders building their own homes are more concerned with doing quality work, than are contractors trying to get the most profit out of a job. What really does protect home buyers are valid building inspections done throughout the building process. For most buyers, the financing institutions require inspection reports from licensed inspectors. This is a good thing.

The negative side of the proposed law (SB161) is that the Home Builders Association wants every one except them to have to file something to sell their own home. This bill would create more bureaucracy, and make all owner/builders (but not contractors) need to register with the state to sell their own home.

Building, and eventually selling your own home should be your right, unfettered by state regulation.

Although I agree with limits being placed on the frequency with which an individual can legally build and sell a structure; I cannot support this lobby group in giving protectionism the force of law. In such cases where someone is merely attempting to avoid obtaining the required license, they probably ought to be penalized after they have been found guilty, not before! I propose that they be investigated only after a formal complaint is filed against them, and if found to be in need of a license, to either be fined or obtain the license. Either way, we won't need to burden every owner/builder with some filing requirement, not equally imposed on contractors. Nor do we need to spend additional tax dollars for another layer of government oversight.

Patrick Marley

owner/builder

Wasilla