Once again I'm watching as policy and rule makers scurry around trying to solve a problem that has existed for a long time, but a tragedy or lawsuit has brought the issue to the forefront. This week the calamity is the wasteful and unnecessary death of 4 young children caused by an illegal alien in our midst. It seems to me illegal immigration is a problem we have had for some time (even my hero the Dog Whisperer was an illegal alien at first), but now the media is all in a tizzy about what legislation should be created (It's already in place.) to prevent such a travesty again. The same was true of our 35W bridge collapse. The same was true of 9-1-1.
If there's a lawsuit, policies suddenly appear across the nation. Buyer agency was created because our own Minneapolis based Edina Realty suffered and lost a class action lawsuit for not disclosing who they represented. Before that time there were no agency disclosures. I bought my first two houses with an agent who I thought was MY agent but legally represented the seller! Who knew?
Private home inspectors now are required by their insurance companies to have a waiver signed by the buyers who hire them. A paragraph of legalese is added to every inspection report basically saying the inspector did his best but is not liable for making a mistake.
The lawsuit against the blogger in Florida is generating discussion among real estate brokers as to whether policies should be made or not to control what their agents say on blogs. Even closer to my back yard is the St. Paul City Council proposal about vacant homes.
My husband calls it reactive rather than proactive policy making. I tend to be more common in my description. To me it's all a knee jerk reaction created by a need to cast blame and the fear of being the object of that blame. Occasionally I make a mistake. Avoiding mistakes is high on my priority list (I don't like mistakes or the embarrassment that accompanies admitting them!), but I am not perfect. The difference I see is that I take responsibility for my mistakes. When I forget to send an e-mail, I admit I forgot or used the wrong address. If I'm ever sued, I will be sunk, because I'll admit I was wrong if I was. It's part of what I consider to be accountability and responsibility for my actions.
We live in a society that thrives on law suits. The media publishes that people get rich by spilling hot coffee in their laps (Again, I am not demeaning the pain but point out how the media conveys the story. See this link.). Teachers are not allowed to control their classrooms because they might offend someone. Bus drivers get attacked by students while their moms listen on the cell phone and the moms think it's okay?
Our national and local real estate market is full of short sales and foreclosures currently. The stop gap measures taken to forgive unpaid debt, to pump money back into the economy, to put a band-aid on the "owie" to make it better are just that . . . stop gap. They are temporary fixes. Our economy has to go through the bad times and come out the other side. Time will be the healer as homes return to prices people can afford. As sanity is restored to the lending market with clearer guidelines and a return to more stringent requirements. As buyers and sellers realize they can't always get their way.
Rather than looking for knee jerk solutions, we need to examine the residual consequences of our proposals (whether it's St. Paul houses, illegal immigrants, or coffee in the lap) and make them good solutions that will stand the test of time.
Accepting the responsibiity and consequences of our actions....sometimes it seems like a lost value. God I love the way you write.
Posted by: Carole Cohen | February 23, 2008 at 02:14 AM
Amen to Carole's comment.
Posted by: Andy | February 23, 2008 at 07:33 AM
You really have a special gift. You say it so well!
Posted by: Linda Davis | February 23, 2008 at 07:35 PM
Bonnie you weave the story so well. We have gotten away from personal responsibility and into placing blame. I like the way you say to try to avoid mistakes. That's what we should all do. Try to learn how not to make them and accept responsibility when we screw up.
Posted by: Kristal Kraft | February 24, 2008 at 10:05 PM
Personal responsibility is almost a dying art value. It's going the way of preventing anyone from suffering because they fail or aren't as good as the kid next door. Imagine the shock of this generation when a boss tells them there's no raise because they didn't do their job well enough. I'm thankful there are professionals like you guys left in the world!
Posted by: Bonnie Erickson | February 26, 2008 at 11:45 PM