Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 19, 1991                   TAG: 9102190501
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: From staff and wire reports
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

VOTE A BLOW TO CONTRACTOR GROUP'S EFFORTS

The House voted 82-17 to erase a requirement in the new state regulations that home-improvement contractors pass out a sheet of consumer information to their customers before starting work.

If upheld by the Senate, the vote effectively will overrule recent efforts by the state Board of Contractors to attempt to cut down on the number of complaints about contractors.

Earle Shumate, a Roanoke contractor who is a member of the state board, said that he was disappointed at the vote.

"I feel like the board has worked very hard to help the consumers as well as to make the industry more professional and more responsible," said Shumate.

Shumate, an owner of Building Specialists in Roanoke, said the state board felt that its regulations were reasonable based on the number of complaints the board gets.

"I do not understand what their reasoning is except that they think a lot of their small contractors would be burdened with paperwork," said Shumate. "Contractors should be happy to get rid of unscrupulous people."

Shumate, who has been on the board for a year and a half, said educating the public is one of the major problems in controlling and regulating the construction industry.

"Not telling the consumer [about licensing procedures or recourse] does not change their recourse or the true situation," Shumate said. "It just makes it harder for consumers to find out."

Del. Clifton Woodrum, D-Roanoke, who led the House floor effort on the builders' behalf, said the new rules were too complex for small operators who "work out of their homes, out of a tool kit, out of the back of the truck."

Others disagreed. "One sheet of paper basically is all you're asking," said Del. Marian VanLandingham, D-Alexandria. "It's a pretty minor burden."

The board, after receiving a record 1,143 complaints about contractors last year, imposed tough new rules last month to make sure consumers know their rights before the contractor drives the first nail.

"You finally get a regulatory body to do the right thing," said Jean Ann Fox, president of the Virginia Citizens Consumer Council. "It goes into effect Jan. 1, and the next thing you know, they're in the General Assembly to undo it."

Contractors and home builders' lobbying groups said they were fighting excess paper work.

Del. George Grayson, D-Williamsburg, who led the fight Monday against the builders, suggested some contractors may not want consumers to know the law, such as their right to change their minds on a home-improvement contract within three days of signing it.

But the builders clearly had their opponents outflanked; certainly they had them outspent.

Building and development interests gave at least $276,000 to the 1989 campaigns of House members who voted for the bill Monday - an average of $3,415 per seat. Those who voted against the bill received a total of $38,000 - about $2,300 per seat, according to an analysis of campaign reports last year by The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star.

By contrast, the Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, the only organization fighting the bill Monday, gives no campaign contributions.

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