Has the Texas Board of Professional Engineers gone corrupt?
Posted by Engr101 | Posted in Professional Licensing | Posted on December 1st, 2009
Tags: corruption, texas board of professional engineers
Two professional engineers have now reported that they are being harassed for what they write in their letters and reports in violation of their First Amendment Rights to the United States Constitution. The source of the harassment is the Texas Board of Professional Engineers.
Building contractors, chiefly homebuilders, are using the engineering complaint-discipline process to achieve their financial objectives including encouraging their hired engineering expert witnesses to initiate frivolous claims against those professional engineers who work on behalf of homeowners.
According to Mr. C.W. Clark of TBPE’s Enforcement Division, the Board avoids complying with Section 1001.252 General Rules Regarding Complaint Investigation and Disposition paragraphs (l) and (m) concerning frivolous complaints, by refusing to classify ANY complaint filed against an engineer as “frivolous”.
Also according to Mr. Clark, the Board, all of whom have been appointed by Governor Rick Perry, has discussed this matter and has formally or informally endorsed the Staff’s actions.
The Texas Medical Board has also been stacked by Governor Rick Perry’s cronies and it also engages in unethical practices. That Board has attracted a Travis County District Attorney’s investigation as well as a civil lawsuit.
More to come soon.
Leave your comments about problems with your state licensing board below >
I’m happy to see agency corruption exposed, because a lack of accountability and regulatory oversight has turned Texas into “The Wild West of Homebuilding” beset by rampant fraud and deception. Unscrupulous builders literally have a license to steal, and homeowners have virtually no chance of recovering their actual damages. Texas leads the nation in homes built, yet it’s the only major homebuilding state that does not license homebuilders.
Good builders struggle when forced to compete against unqualified or unscrupulous ones who cut corners, pass risks onto homeowners, and hide behind a legal and regulatory system that shields them from lawsuits. Since a new home is often the largest purchase that most people will make in their lifetimes, the consequences of homebuilder fraud and deception can be financially devastating.
See http://homeownersoftexas.org/Licensing.html to contrast Builder Licensing versus Registration, and see http://homeownersoftexas.org/TRCC-Eulogy.html to learn how our nonprofit consumer group convinced lawmakers to abolish the TRCC, the abusive agency that protected builders while giving buyers a false sense of security.
Hi There, I just spent a little time reading through your posts, which I found entirely by mistake whilst researching one of my projects. Please continue to write more because it’s unusual that someone has something interesting to say about this. Will be waiting for more!
Very few posts peak my interest or my comments, but this one was great!
This PE keeps praying that lightning will strike the TBOPE. I’m licensed in numerous states but TBOPE has to be the most corrupt in the nation.
There should be federal legislation giving protection to licensed professionals. Due process is ignored whenever corrupt licensing boards find it’s in their own interests. I’m a former Maine dentist who was maliciously prosecuted by the dental board. I did nothing to violate the state dental practice act. The truth was that one of the seven board members reneged on an agreement over office space, leaving me temporarily with no facility. It was a big business setback to me, but the board attacked me nonetheless. Clearly there was a conflict of interest and no chance for me to receive due process. Many other dentists in that state have been similarly treated. Some, like me, were forced out of the state and had our businesses destroyed and our careers severely impacted. Why no government agencies care one bit about this travesty of justice is mind-boggling.