ASHI Delivers Message in Person

by Edited by ASHI Staff July 1, 2002

As part of the ongoing successful campaign to increase ASHI’s presence at the federal level, Randall G. Pence, Esq., President, Capitol Hill Advocates, Inc. arranged for ASHI leaders to visit Washington D.C.

Mike Casey, ASHI president; Rich Matzen, ASHI president elect, and Rob Paterkiewicz, ASHI executive director accompanied the lobbyist in what proved to be a productive, whirlwind tour of the nation’s influence center.

The group spent two days on the Hill, starting with an 8 a.m. breakfast in the Cannon Building sponsored by the Small Business Committee, where they had an opportunity to network with leadership from organizations such as the Air Conditioning Contractor’s Association.

At 10 a.m. they met with executives of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Casey described this meeting as “extremely productive.”
He said, “All agreed home inspectors and builders will increase dialogue and understanding. Also, we were invited to participate in NAHB’s product performance evaluation committee.”

By noon the group had moved on to a meeting with the Appraisal Institute to work on joint letter to the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) agency expressing dissatisfaction with its VC sheet/Enhanced Appraisal scheme.  

The late afternoon was spent meeting with Legislative Directors or Legislative Assistants for various Senators and Congresspersons discussing the significant number of issues affecting the interests of the ASHI Membership.

Casey also used the word “productive” to describe the group’s Friday morning meeting with Department Heads and Analysts for the Government Accounting Office (GAO) regarding the role of home inspection in reducing HUD/FHA loan defaults.

Paterkiewicz presented anecdotal data collected from the ASHI Membership and media reports discussing individual instances of homebuyer disasters as a result of consumers buying homes with serious unknown defects.

Pence arranged for the group to have lunch on Friday with a staff member of the House Financial Services Committee, and the remainder of the afternoon was filled with more meetings with Legislative Directors or Assistants for various Senators.
Pence said ASHI is seen as a positive player and a force to be reckoned with in federal housing policy. He arranged the face to face meetings so those with influence in Washington D.C. could hear about the importance of home inspections and the role of the home inspector from representatives of the Society.


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