Homeowner Protection Act passes House despite drama

A press release from the House Democrats states, in part:

With an initial voice vote, the House today passed House Bill 1338, the Homeowner Protection Act of 2007. Sponsored by State Representative Jack Pommer (D-Boulder) and State Senator Jennifer Veiga (D-Denver), the bill preserves basic protections for homebuyers that protect them from contracts that leave them with no right to get a defective home fixed...

Nearly all major homebuilders in Colorado today use contracts that force homebuyers to waive their rights that are actually protected under the Construction Defect Action Reform Act. HB 1338 corrects this egregious problem by prohibiting homebuilders from systematically waiving the rights of homeowners. The bill now heads to the Senate for further debate.

HB-1338 has been the subject of much infighting among the GOP. As johne wrote yesterday, GOP stalwart Debbie Stafford claimed that she was threatened for supporting it. ColoradoPols reported that her Republican colleagues essentially called her a liar.

Today's Rocky reported on the threats and the robocalls before getting to the heart of the matter:

At issue is a measure designed to protect homeowners from having to waive their legal rights, at the time of buying their homes, to compel their home builder to fix construction defects.

Opponents argue that House Bill 1338 does much more than that, opening the door to lawyers collecting huge judgments for their clients.

"I don't get that," said Sen. Jennifer Veiga, D-Denver, the Senate sponsor of the measure. "That's not in there."

It's really not. HB-1338 is a common-sense measure that will protect the rights of homebuyers.

UPDATE: The Rocky via ColoradoPols is reporting that the person who threatened Stafford was HD39 Republican David Balmer.