Real property improvement contracts

The Senate Civil Law Committee heard Sen. Head’s SB 353 on real property improvement contracts. The bill amends the statute concerning home improvement contracts to do the following:

• expand the scope of the statute to cover improvements made to commercial real property in addition to residential real property;
• specify that for purposes of the statute, improvements include interior improvements made to real property, including improvements made to a basement;
• expand a consumer’s right to cancel a contract to include canceling a contract before midnight on the third business day after the later of the following:
  1. the date the contract is signed by the consumer and the real property improvement supplier;
  2. if applicable, the date the consumer receives written notice from the consumer’s insurance company of a final determination as to whether the consumer’s claim or the contract is a covered loss under an insurance policy
• require that a real property improvement contract include an electronic mail address for the real property improvement supplier and each owner, officer, employee, or agent to whom consumer problems and inquiries can be directed;
• allow a consumer to submit a notice of contract cancellation by electronic mail;
• prohibit a third-party subcontractor or vendor from initiating or pursuing a claim with an insured consumer’s insurance company without the express consent of the insured consumer, as evidenced by a separate written authorization signed by the insured consumer; and
• provide that a claim initiated or pursued by a third-party subcontractor or vendor, or any legal cause of action filed in connection with such a claim, shall, at the request of the insured consumer’s insurance company, be resolved through binding arbitration.

Sen. Head explained that the bill is aimed at out-of-state storm scammers.  An amendment to prohibit a third-party contractor from initiating a claim with a consumer’s insurance company was adopted by consent. Representatives of the Insurance Institute of Indiana testified in favor of the bill, which passed as amended 8-0.
Read the bill at http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2017/bills/senate/353