Cars have mileage counters and changing the total mileage on a used car is illegal. I believe one should be required to prominently display and disclose the age of a building to anyone renting an apartment, hotel room or buying a residence or other space. I also happen to believe disclosure is superior to regulation. The real estate profession managed to annihilate the appraisal profession a few years ago by getting permission to offer a market value opinion. Now the realtors are attempting to create a profession of undereducated building inspectors to push engineers out of this market. I have seen many contractors do a gut rehab of a building and offer it as brand new. Yet realtors manage to get grandfathered in getting regulations applied based on the oldest part of a building, even while they tell consumers the building is brand new. Therefore I believe it is in a consumer's interest to disclose the age of the oldest existing part of a building, much as a car's odometer reveals the true wear and tear of a car.
- posted
19 years ago