HB 1045 - DIGEST

Declares that: (1) For Washington's families, purchasing a new home is both the greatest investment they will make and the culmination of their dreams;

(2) Those making the very significant investment in a new home should receive genuine accountability in return and should not be expected to bear, particularly on top of the heavy financial burden of a mortgage, the costs of homebuilder negligence;

(3) Those citizens purchasing new homes or remodeling their homes receive statutory warranty rights similar to those purchasing condominiums;

(4) Anyone purchasing a home within six years of its construction, including purchasers subsequent to the initial owner-occupant, be entitled to the common law implied warranty of habitability to ward against egregious defects in the fundamental structure of their homes, and intends that this warranty cannot be contractually waived; and

(5) As a matter of public policy the common law warranty of habitability applicable to newly constructed residential real property should be modified to extend greater protection to home purchasers.