The House on Wednesday gave first-round approval to the Homeowner Protection Act, despite warnings from some Republicans that it would invite a flood of lawsuits and drive up costs for home buyers.

The measure, House Bill 1338, would prevent home buyers from being forced to sign builder warranties that strip away their legal rights to have home defects fixed.

Calling the bill "the trial lawyers' dream," Rep. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs, predicted that the legislation will be struck down as unconstitutional for allowing consumers to retroactively escape contract clauses on home purchases stretching back years.

But sponsor Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder, said the bill simply requires home builders to abide by the industry-backed Construction Defect Action Reform Act of 2003, which shielded home builders by requiring buyers to negotiate repairs first before taking legal action and capping damage awards.

While the industry vowed that the 2003 law also would protect buyers' rights, Pommer said, virtually all major tract-home builders in Colorado began inserting non-negotiable warranty clauses that allow them to wiggle out of correcting home defects - or even to ensure houses are "habitable."

A big supporter of the bill was Rep. Debbie Stafford.

The Aurora Republican, who said Monday that a GOP colleague tried to blackmail her into voting "no" on the bill, stood on the House floor Wednesday and urged colleagues to back it.

"This is a time when we need to hear the cries of the citizens who have been violated," Stafford said.

"The American dream for many of the people who voted and sent us down here has become an American nightmare. It's time to do what's right.

"In 2003, we gave the home builders an inch, and by 2007, I think they've taken a mile on many of our citizens."

This week, Stafford said Rep. David Balmer, R-Centennial, told her that home builders would freeze her out of future campaign contributions if she supported the bill.

She called it a "heavy-handed" blackmail attempt.

Balmer has firmly denied Stafford's allegation.

On Wednesday, he said the measure will hurt buyers in the long run.

"House Bill 1338 is an anti-consumer bill" that "is going to cause construction insurance to skyrocket" and hurt affordable home prices, he said.

Rep. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, rejected Balmer's argument, noting that during a committee hearing a building company owner expressed shock at the language stripping buyers of their rights and couldn't explain "how it got in there."

"Why should the good home builders and the ordinary citizens of Colorado have to bail out those who even refuse to warrant habitability?

"Why would you buy a home if not to live in it?" she said

Instead of burying the warranty loopholes in home-sale closing documents - when buyers risk losing their deposit if they refuse to sign - Carroll challenged builders to tout the clauses in their sales pitch.

"Proudly tell them that you will not warranty anything - and see how your business does then," she said.

Differing opinions on home buyer bill

News release issued Wednesday by House Democrats:

• What builders said: "With this law (House Bill 1161), builders still end up being responsible to fix a problem, and good builders will always do that." - Amber Homes President Jim Harmon, Colorado Builder Magazine, May-June 2003 Issue

• What builders do: "To the fullest extent permitted by law, all other warranties, expressed or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, workmanship and habitability are disclaimed, excluded, and waived." - Amber Homes Contract, 2007

• Harmon's response Wednesday:

"Trial lawyers are pushing (House Bill) 1338 as a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

(House Bill) 1161 is working. Since its passage in 2003, the number of lawsuits has dropped dramatically, and that's money out of the trial lawyers' pockets."

gathrighta@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5486

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