AKA the “No action at home proposition!”

My husband Charlie has worked in the homebuilding industry for almost 15 years and he loves it. Recently, with the current housing crisis, he has been like a cat holding on to a wall …he’s holding with all of his might trying to keep from falling. You can almost picture the scratch marks from him digging his claws into the wall.

The reason why he loves the industry is that there is a lot to learn. Every day he comes home and tells me something new. It’s actually pretty amazing that after all of these years, he hasn’t grown tired of building houses and everything that comes with it. He is an enthusiastic learner.

I keep telling him to hold on and learn as much as he can during this time so that when it gets good again, he’ll remember the tough times and work to make his company safe from the ups and down of the housing market … sort of like a boat weathering a storm. Next time, he will know how to weatherproof the boat a little bit better, hopefully.

For those of you who don’t know Charlie, he is fighter, but he’s a careful one. Picture him fighting in a ring … he would be the one saying sorry and making sure his opponent was all right. Having said that, though, he is highly competitive. So, when Prop 201 came about, he came out swinging, because it isn’t good for the home building industry and he’s not about to let something hurt what he has grown to love.

Swinging … maybe I should clarify swinging. He dared his staff to raise enough money to tell others about Prop 201 by saying he would grow a mustache if they raised a certain amount of money. Now, I don’t know how to put this nicely, but my Charlie is a little bit hair challenged … okay, he’s a lot challenged. He’s got hair, but it’s all in the wrong places!

Needless to say, his colleagues raised the money within an hour. I’m not sure what Charlie was thinking, because for one, he’s super sensitive about his hair issues, and two, he’s always trying to get lucky with me, which ain’t been happening since he sprouted a new cactus patch on his face. I never knew how prickly a mustache could be.

Now we fondly refer to 201 as the “No action at home proposition,” and I fear that no one has heard much about the pros and cons of Prop 201, but rather how much action Charlie is getting at home. Even his daughter runs away when Charlie leans down to kiss her.

So, as a good wife, we can’t allow this moment in time to be wasted. I will tell you why Prop 201 isn’t good for the homebuilding industry.

First of all you should know who designed Prop 201 … a union did. The name of this union is the Sheet Metal Workers International Association, with support from the AFL-CIO and they want to unionize the homebuilding industry.

Now Arizona is a right-to-work state and I’m very proud of that fact. I was born and raised in Arizona and I like its independent nature, which says that a person can work even if they don’t belong to a union. The union’s motivation in pushing this initiative is to increase employment opportunities for its members and to strengthen organized labor in right-to-work Arizona.

Next, if 201 was adopted, it would establish a minimum 10-year warranty on new homes (materials and workmanship), which I have to admit sounds pretty good, because it seems like the minute the warranty runs out, everything goes kaput! Yeah, I would like someone else to pick up the tab and guarantee me a perfect home for ten years.

But, wait a minute … try applying that to your own home. Let’s say you built a home or that you are trying to sell your home to a new homeowner.

Proposition 201 would also require every seller of a dwelling to include a 10-year warranty in the purchase price. In addition, the warranty applies to the original owner and all subsequent owners within 10 years of the original purchase. Further, the 100-day money-back provision also would apply to re-sales by owner-occupants.

So, let’s say you sell your home and you throw in the washer and dryer, the refrigerator, and all of the other appliances. You would have to provide a warranty on those appliances for ten years. What about the carpet? It’s always been assumed that the new owner would have to take responsibility of the home. What would be the incentive for the new owner to take care of anything that has a warranty for 10 years?

It’s good when someone else has to pick up the bill, but when you’re the one; it’s not so good. In fact, it would be really expensive. What it comes down to is responsibility. Who should be responsible for what?

Seems to me that we should keep things the way they are. The homebuilding industry is in trouble and we don’t need to add another hole to their all ready sinking boat. Perhaps in the future, when things are good again, this subject can be revisited. But, now is not the time to add more costs and lawsuits to the homebuilding industry.

If you look around, many of our builders have already gone out of business. I am very thankful for the roof over my head that was built by workers that live in a right to work state. Before we make it harder for builders, which would happen if you vote “yes” for Prop 201, think about all they have done for Arizona.

Prop 201 is an unnecessary initiative that will encourage litigation and increase costs for both consumers and homebuilders. Current law already provides a process for homeowners and homebuilders to resolve construction related disputes prior to filing any lawsuits. These laws have been in place for years and have resulted in increased consumer satisfaction, reduced litigation costs, and lower insurance premiums for homebuilders and homeowners alike. Prop 201 is a boon for trial lawyers, and does little to aid homebuyers or the construction industry.

Help things return back to normal by voting no to Prop 201 and maybe my husband will finally get lucky!

UPDATE: Two million people voted "no" for Prop 201!