Erie Real Estate

Home improvement fraud

What is the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act?  The law establishes a mandatory registration program for contractors who offer or perform home improvements in Pennsylvania.  The statute also establishes minimum insurance requirements for contractors; requires contractors to provide their registration number in their ads and contracts; establishes required contract terms for home improvement contracts; prohibits unfair business practices; and creates a criminal penalty for home improvement fraud.

What is a home improvement?  Home improvement includes all of the following activities when they are done in connection with land or a portion of the land adjacent to a private residence or a building or a portion of the building which is used or designed to be used as a private residence for which the total cash price of all work agreed upon between the contractor and owner is more than $500:

(i)  Repair, replacement, remodeling, demolition, removal, renovation, installation, alteration, conversion, modernization, improvement, rehabilitation or sandblasting.

(ii)  Construction, replacement, installation or improvement of driveways, swimming pools, pool houses, porches, garages, roofs, siding, insulation, solar energy systems, security systems, flooring, patios, fences, gazebos, sheds, cabanas, landscaping work (other than work performed under the Plant Pest Act), painting, doors and windows and waterproofing.

(iii)  Without regard to affixation, the installation of central heating, air conditioning, storm windows or awnings.

Who is a home improvement contractor?
Under the law, a home improvement contractor is defined as:

Any person who owns and operates a home improvement business or who undertakes, offers to undertake or agrees to perform any home improvement. The term includes a subcontractor or independent contractor who has contracted with a home improvement retailer, regardless of the retailer's net worth, to provide home improvement services to the retailer's customers.  The term does not include any of the following:

(1) A person for whom the total cash value of all of that person's home improvements is less than $5,000 during the previous taxable year.

(2) A home improvement retailer having a net worth of more than $50,000,000 or an employee of that retailer that does not perform home improvements.

Erie CareerLink - moving

CareerLink has purchased the Sumner Nichols building on 8th & Sassafras and is leaving Lovell Place.  They will be doing some renovations to their new building, which should be conmplete by June.

They purchased the building from from Baldwin Gardens Inc., an affiliate of Baldwin Brothers Inc., of Erie. The purchase includes a 120-space parking lot.  They paid $475,000.  They were paying about $350,000 in rent at Lovell Place.

CareerLink will occupy the first and second floors of their new building and lease the third and fourth floors to the current tenant - Erie County government.  The current lease is for $233,048 a year.

Sure seems like a good all around move for CareerLink.  The question is what does this do to Lovell Place?  Lovell Place has been in bankruptcy for the last 4 years and is for sale for $7.8 million.

More of the story  here.

Home Improvement Law

In 2008, the Pennsylvania Legislature passed the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act.  The law requires that all contractors who perform at least $5,000 worth of home improvements per year register with the Attorney General's Office. 

As of July 1, 2009, consumers in Pennsylvania will be able to verify your registration with our office by visiting the List of Registered Contractors or by calling 1-888-520-6680.  In the coming months, the Attorney General's Office will encourage consumers to use registered contractors when deciding to invest in home improvements. Contractors (click here to register) with questions about the law can call, 717-772-2425.

The Attorney General's Office has prepared a list of commonly asked questions.

Read the Home Improvement Law.

Radon - what is it?

Most home buyers and few home sellers have heard of radon.  However, most really are not sure what it is.

The Pennsylvania DEP has this to say:  Radon, the second leading cause of lung cancer, is a radioactive gas that comes from the natural breakdown of uranium in soil and rock and gets into the air you breathe. It moves through the ground and into your home through cracks and other holes in the foundation where it can accumulate to unsafe levels. Because it is odorless, colorless, and tasteless, testing is the only way to know if you and your family are at risk from radon.

Here are some good resource links that will be able to answer most if not all your radon questions:

• What is radon?
• What You Should Know About Radon - pamphlet 
• EPA map of radon zones 
• Who can test of fix your home?
• Home buyer's and seller's Guide to Radon 
• FAQs 
• Instructional Videos 
• Bureau of Radiation Protection 
• Other radon websites 

   The good news is that there are simple ways to fix a problem if needed.