Voters to consider homeowner's bill of rights

Proposition 201 would require homebuilders to provide 10-year warranties on new homes and make reasonable repairs or offer compensation for new homes that do not meet specifications.

The proposition, which will appear on the Nov. 4 general election ballot, states home purchasers would be required to give a 60-day written notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the seller reasonably detailing the structural and/or esthetic/other problems before legal action can be taken.

Multi-unit complaints - those by several homeowners in a development, for example, against the same builder - would have the same requirements. The seller/builder, after receiving the notice, would then have to diligently inspect the dwelling to determine the causes and of alleged defects and send the buyer a good faith written response detailing all repairs or replacements made at sellers expense or an offer to provide monetary compensation to the buyer.

The Arizona Advocacy Network, the Coalition for Better Construction, the Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans and the state AFL-CIO union support the proposition.

But Spencer Camps, chairman of Arizonans Against Lawsuit Abuse, said that "unlike any issue ALAW (Arizona Lawsuit Abuse Watch) has ever seen, this is an unprecedented attempt to alter our legal system in the favor of litigation over mediation. This is an unnecessary step when we have legal procedures in place today that allow for mediation while preserving consumers' right to litigation."

More individuals than groups see this measure as a surefire way to force builders to manufacture good homes or pay a price for not doing so. One individual, who wished to remain unidentified, said a home she purchased had multiple problems and that, more than one year later, the repairs have still not been made by a local company.

Proposition 201 would ensure that repairs are timely and made by contractors that are "state-licensed with no record of an order against it by the Registrar of Contractors within the 10 years preceding the seller's offer."

Sellers, the proposition states, must provide a list of three certified contractors from which the buyer may choose for any required repairs. The buyer has a right to refuse the contractors, or counteroffer. Repairs may not be made if the offer is refused, however.

The Home Builders Association of Central Arizona, the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association, the Arizona Contractors Association, the Professional Fire Fighters of Arizona and the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry are against the measure.

Details of the warranty are available in the proposition, which can be accessed online at www.azsos.gov/election/2008/Info/PubPamphlet/english/Prop201.htm.

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Matt Keller can be reached at mkeller@yumasun.com or 539-6857.