Thanks to those wonderful autocrats in Washington, you may soon need government permission to sell your home and it won’t come cheaply.
If you think the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (H.R. 2454) is simply a bill about energy independence and environmental improvements, think again. Just as with any mega-bill coming out of D.C., there are so many expansions of regulatory control and bureaucratic powers in H.R. 2454 we all ought to march to Washington, yank each congressman out of their chairs and send them packing. The long arm of Washington is now trying to impede your ability to sell your own home by essentially requiring you to obtain a permit to do so.
In section 204 of H.R. 2454, provisions are made to encourage the retrofit of existing residential buildings, your house in other words.
(A) PURPOSE- The Administrator shall establish a building energy performance labeling program with broad applicability to the residential and commercial markets to enable and encourage (emp. mine) knowledge about building energy performance by owners and occupants and to inform efforts to reduce energy consumption nationwide.
Don’t be confused, it isn’t just a publicity campaign to get people aware of what can be done to increase the energy efficiency of their home, no, it’s much more than a new series of public service announcements. The central planners in D.C. are going to make you get an energy efficiency label for your home and the only way you can do that is to have your home inspected (several hundred dollars) retrofit your home (untold thousands of dollars) and then—— have your home inspected again (several more hundreds of dollars) so that you can get a label for your home. How are those regulation loving fools in D.C. going to do this? They are going to:
(C) utilize incentives and other means to spur use of energy performance labeling of public and private sector buildings nationwide.
It’s the “other means” that is the catch and you need to look closely. As with any government takeover of rights, they offer “incentives” like tax breaks, tax credits and government guaranteed, low interest loans. When smart people don’t leap at the dangling bait, and thus get themselves caught on the hooks of government control, Uncle Sam gets mean and resorts to the “other means” to coerce compliance.
One of the “other means” which Washington will use to enforce compliance with the new energy efficiency requirements is to force each home owner to have an energy efficiency rating (label) for their home before selling it. Or if you intend to live in your home but would like to get an equity line to upgrade your kitchen, you will be required to get the energy efficiency label before you can get your final building inspection.
Has Washington completely lost their collective minds? How many people have the money to retrofit their homes before selling them? Many people are backwards on their mortgages because of the recent real estate collapse. If you owe more on your house than it is worth, you will not be able to borrow money to retrofit your home to meet the new regulations and most people don’t have thousands of dollars lying around with which they can pay to have the work performed and tested for compliance.
If this bill passes the Senate and is signed into law, you will have witnessed the driving of one more nail in the coffin lid of the economy and it’s a pretty big nail.
Related pending legislation which should be axed immediately.
Do You Have A Permit To Sell That House?
You've Been Denied
Thanks to those wonderful autocrats in Washington, you may soon need government permission to sell your home and it won’t come cheaply.
If you think the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (H.R. 2454) is simply a bill about energy independence and environmental improvements, think again. Just as with any mega-bill coming out of D.C., there are so many expansions of regulatory control and bureaucratic powers in H.R. 2454 we all ought to march to Washington, yank each congressman out of their chairs and send them packing. The long arm of Washington is now trying to impede your ability to sell your own home by essentially requiring you to obtain a permit to do so.
In section 204 of H.R. 2454, provisions are made to encourage the retrofit of existing residential buildings, your house in other words.
(A) PURPOSE- The Administrator shall establish a building energy performance labeling program with broad applicability to the residential and commercial markets to enable and encourage (emp. mine) knowledge about building energy performance by owners and occupants and to inform efforts to reduce energy consumption nationwide.
Don’t be confused, it isn’t just a publicity campaign to get people aware of what can be done to increase the energy efficiency of their home, no, it’s much more than a new series of public service announcements. The central planners in D.C. are going to make you get an energy efficiency label for your home and the only way you can do that is to have your home inspected (several hundred dollars) retrofit your home (untold thousands of dollars) and then—— have your home inspected again (several more hundreds of dollars) so that you can get a label for your home. How are those regulation loving fools in D.C. going to do this? They are going to:
(C) utilize incentives and other means to spur use of energy performance labeling of public and private sector buildings nationwide.
It’s the “other means” that is the catch and you need to look closely. As with any government takeover of rights, they offer “incentives” like tax breaks, tax credits and government guaranteed, low interest loans. When smart people don’t leap at the dangling bait, and thus get themselves caught on the hooks of government control, Uncle Sam gets mean and resorts to the “other means” to coerce compliance.
One of the “other means” which Washington will use to enforce compliance with the new energy efficiency requirements is to force each home owner to have an energy efficiency rating (label) for their home before selling it. Or if you intend to live in your home but would like to get an equity line to upgrade your kitchen, you will be required to get the energy efficiency label before you can get your final building inspection.
Has Washington completely lost their collective minds? How many people have the money to retrofit their homes before selling them? Many people are backwards on their mortgages because of the recent real estate collapse. If you owe more on your house than it is worth, you will not be able to borrow money to retrofit your home to meet the new regulations and most people don’t have thousands of dollars lying around with which they can pay to have the work performed and tested for compliance.
If this bill passes the Senate and is signed into law, you will have witnessed the driving of one more nail in the coffin lid of the economy and it’s a pretty big nail.
Related pending legislation which should be axed immediately.
S 1733 Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act
Parties responsible for introducing and co-sponsoring this garbage
Henry Waxman (D-CA)
Edward Markey (D-MA)
Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
John Kerry (D-MA)
Benjamin Cardin (D-MD)
Paul Grattan Kirk, Jr. (Outta there thankfully)