American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009

[Wisewr]

Below is an e-mail I reccieved which I thought was a very interseting read. Will be truely sad if it comes to be. Enjoy, weep, or whatever makes you happy.



Thinking about selling your house?

A look at H.R. 2454 (Cap and trade bill)

Here's the link to the bill in case you think this might be false.

H.R. 2454: American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009

This is unbelievable! Only the beginning.....

Wow! Home owners take note & tell your friends and relatives who are home owners!!! Beginning 1 year after enactment of the Act, you won't be able to sell your home unless you retrofit it to comply with the energy and water efficiency standards of this Act.

H.R. 2454, the "Cap & Trade" bill passed by the House of Representatives, if also passed by the Senate, will be the largest tax increase any of us has ever experienced. The Congressional Budget Office (supposedly non-partisan) estimates that in just a few years the average cost to every family of four will be $6,800 per year. No one is excluded. However, once the lower classes feel the pinch in their wallets, you can be sure these voters get a tax refund (even if they pay no taxes at all) to offset this new cost. Thus, you Mr. and Mrs. Middle Class America will have to pay even more since additional tax dollars will be needed to bail out everyone else.

But wait. This awful bill (that no one in Congress has actually read) has many more surprises in it.

Probably the worst one is this: A year from now you won't be able to sell your house.

Yes, you read that right. The caveat is (there always is a caveat) that if you have enough money to make required major upgrades to your home, then you can sell it.. But, if not, then forget it. Even pre-fabricated homes ("mobile homes") are included.

In effect, this bill prevents you from selling your home without the permission of the EPA administrator.

To get this permission, you will have to have the energy efficiency of your home measured. Then the government will tell you what your new energy efficiency requirement is and you will be forced to make modifications to your home under the retrofit provisions of this Act to comply with the new energy and water efficiency requirements. Then you will have to get your home measured again and get a license (called a "label" in the Act) that must be posted on your property to show what your efficiency rating is; sort of like the Energy Star efficiency rating label on your refrigerator or air conditioner If you don't get a high enough rating, you can't sell. And, the EPA administrator is authorized to raise the standards every year, even above the automatic energy efficiency increases built into the Act.

The EPA administrator, appointed by the President, will run the Cap & Trade program (AKA the "American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009") and is authorized to make any future changes to the regulations and standards he alone determines to be in the government's best interest. Requirements are set low initially so the bill will pass Congress; then the Administrator can set much tougher new standards every year. The Act itself contains annual required increases in energy efficiency for private and commercial residences and buildings.. However, the EPA administrator can set higher standards at any time.

Sect. 202: Building Retrofit Program mandates a national retrofit program to increase the energy efficiency of all existing homes across America .

Beginning 1 year after enactment of the Act, you won't be able to sell your home unless you retrofit it to comply with the energy and water efficiency standards of this Act. You had better sell soon, because the standards will be raised each year and will be really hard (i.e., ex$pen$ive) to meet in a few years. Oh, goody! The Act allows the government to give you a grant of several thousand dollars to comply with the retrofit program requirements if you meet certain energy efficiency levels. But, wait, the State can set additional requirements on who qualifies to receive the grants. You should expect requirements such as "can't have an income of more than $50K per year", "home selling price can't be more than $125K", or anything else to target the upper middle class (and that's YOU) and prevent them from qualifying for the grants Most of us won't get a dime and will have to pay the entire cost of the retrofit out of our own pockets. More transfer of wealth, more "change you can believe in."

Sect. 204: Building Energy Performance Labeling Program establishes a labeling program that for each individual residence will identify the achieved energy efficiency performance for "at least 90 percent of the residential market within 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act." This means that within five years, 90% of all residential homes in the U.S. must be measured and labeled. The EPA administrator will get $50M each year to enforce the labeling program. The Secretary of the Department of Energy will get an additional $20M each year to help enforce the labeling program. Some of this money will, of course, be spent on coming up with tougher standards each year. Oh, the label will be like a license for your car.. You will be required to post the label in a conspicuous location in your home and will not be allowed to sell your home without having this label. And, just like your car license, you will probably be required to get a new label every so often - maybe every year. But, the government estimates the cost of measuring the energy efficiency of your home should only cost about $200 each time. Remember what they said about the auto smog inspections when they first started: that in California it would only cost $15. That was when the program started. Now the cost is about $50 for the inspection and certificate; a 333% increase. Expect the same from the home labeling program.

Sect. 304: Greater Energy Efficiency in Building Codes establishes new energy efficiency guidelines for the National Building Code and mandates at 304(d) that 1 year after enactment of this Act, all state and local jurisdictions must adopt the National Building Code energy efficiency provisions or must obtain a certification from the federal government that their state and/or local codes have been brought into full compliance with the National Building Code energy efficiency standards.

[A-R]

http://www.realtor.org/wps/wcm/connect/ ... b684cb314f" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Wisewr]

I guess there is always two sides to every story. Thanks for the reply. I sent the link to the person who sent me the original e-mail.

[joe817]

Austinrealtor, many, many thanks for forwarding this on to us! Once again the NAR has proved itself to be a champion of free enterprise AND home owner rights. Just as the NRA is the champion of gun owner rights, the NAR does the same for property owners. They are a MAJOR watchdog on issues that concern realtors (and property owners) nationwide, as does the NRA for gun owners.

My hats off to you and NAR!

[A-R]

Thanks Joe. Honestly, I didn't even know much about a national proposal to force home energy upgrades. But I joined a lot of Austin-area Realtors in fighting to prevent the recently term-limited Austin mayor from ramming his own personal version of this down residents' throats. We succeded in reducing mandatory energy upgrades at time of sale to simply an "energy audit" - basically a glorified redundant home inspection. Still costs seller $300-$400, but much better than the $10,000 to $20,000 that mandatory upgrades were projected to cost.

[joe817]

I can totally believe that! Realtors are very politically active, and are on all issues that effect their industry like a frog on a june bug. I know that to well. I was a member of NAR, TAR & the Fort Worth BOR for 10 years.

NAR is one of the strongest PAC's in the U.S. today and has been for many years.

http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Wisewr]

We succeded in reducing mandatory energy upgrades at time of sale to simply an "energy audit" - basically a glorified redundant home inspection. Still costs seller $300-$400, but much better than the $10,000 to $20,000 that mandatory upgrades were projected to cost.

So will that be for the entire state of Texas or are there different rules for different counties? I thought the proposal said it allowed changes under each state, so that would make the entire state of Texas under the same laws.

I always understood that the inspection was for the loaner to look at and make sure they were loaning money on a sound investment. Who would turn down a loan due to a non-energy star rated dishwasher, fridge, dryer, A/C unit, etc.? I'm sure that in order to get a certificate and call yourself an Enery Auditor you have to pay the goverment something. Just another sly why to make money.

Thanks again for the info.

[RocTrac]

Reguardless, this will still limit new home owners just due to the price increase of building the new homes. I am hopeing to sell my home with in the next year or so and purchase a new home. If the idot in the WhiteHouse keeps going I will never be able to get out of Ft Worth.

[A-R]

We succeded in reducing mandatory energy upgrades at time of sale to simply an "energy audit" - basically a glorified redundant home inspection. Still costs seller $300-$400, but much better than the $10,000 to $20,000 that mandatory upgrades were projected to cost.

So will that be for the entire state of Texas or are there different rules for different counties? I thought the proposal said it allowed changes under each state, so that would make the entire state of Texas under the same laws.

I always understood that the inspection was for the loaner to look at and make sure they were loaning money on a sound investment. Who would turn down a loan due to a non-energy star rated dishwasher, fridge, dryer, A/C unit, etc.? I'm sure that in order to get a certificate and call yourself an Enery Auditor you have to pay the goverment something. Just another sly why to make money.

Thanks again for the info.

Above quote from me relates only to the City of Austin. Far as I know, there are no similar state-wide or nation-wide "energy audits". The redundancy is not 100%, there are some items covered in the city-mandated energy audited that are not normally addressed in the typical TREC format property inspection. But a lot of it is redundant, and it is - of course - ridiculous to MANDATE that all sellers have these audits done, but it is better than the alternative the mayor and his cronies originally wanted.

And yes, the Austin Energy Audit is now a new cash cow for certain folks. A few "follow the quick money" types jumped on board and got city certified to perform audits, though they know little to nothing about the subject. Others who are reaping the windfall are HVAC companies, who are getting certified to contduct the audits (a majority of which involve HVAC related items) plus they can then conveniently say "oh and we can upgrade these deficiencies for you for XXXXX dollars. One HVAC company owner in particular was in the former mayor's lap the entire time these audits were being designed and you can just smell the opportunism (mandated by the city) dripping from this guy. I'm all for making money, but do so without hiding behind government mandates you helped create.

/soapbox