Part 1 of our BIRTHDAY BASH discussion for The DYOJO Podcast Episode 54

It's a fun churning of events that have coalesced over the last year leading up to the birthday bash for the one year anniversary of The DYOJO Podcast. The first of these elements was an interview with Ed Cross, then the inaugural chair for the recently formed Advocacy and Government Affairs (AGA) committee of the Restoration Industry Association (RIA). The Restoration Lawyer graciously agreed to a discussion that would be the core content for an article that would be released as the April column for The Intentional Restorer. These words were drafted to carry the reader through Mr. Cross’ legal journey which includes involvement in many of the key evolutions of the property restoration industry.

Source material for this article included previously written pieces from Michelle Blevins, Jeff Bishop, IAQ Radio, and a name that kept popping up, Pete Consigli. Mr. Consigli collaborated with Michelle for her article, A Brief Walk Through RIA History, while also composing one of the industry’s legacy pieces published in Cleaning & Restoration titled, The Four Faces on Mount Restoration (often referred to as The Founding Fathers article). Pete has long been referred to, by those who had front row seats to the early innovations of property restoration into a professional industry, as Restoration Google. If you intend to dig into the bowels of the emergence of our profession, a good test of whether your source is credible would be whether they ask, “Have you talked to Pete about this?”

Ed Cross shared some recent revelations in the fight to defend the right to utilize assignment of benefits (AOB) by insureds and contractors as well as dispel some of the backlash against this resource from his perspective. Pete facilitated a Town Hall discussion, followed by an excellent episode of IAQ Radio (#553), in the wake of the 2019 decision in Florida leading to the elimination of the fee shifting statute for contractors.

As was revealed in that Town Hall and by daily interactions between contractors, there are strong opinions about the role of AOB in our industry. Whether you believe they should be used or not, caution should be used when responding to one extreme with another, i.e. responding to bad actors by eliminating the resource. As John Lapotaire, who was vocal in his dissent during the Town Hall, shared via private message during our discussion with Mr. Cross, “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. It’s AOB abuse that I disagree with. That’s a moral and ethical issue not an AOB issue.” Merlin Law Group, respected by many in our industry for their book Pay Up, noted in 2017, “Hopefully, the Legislature will come up with a fair and balanced solution that attacks the bad actors, protects consumers, and preserves the ability of a policyholder to execute an AOB under the right conditions.”

Most efforts to bury or alter the right to AOB are cast as Insured Homeowners Protection Act, carrying the connotation that the legislature, often with great encouragement and lobbying from the insurance companies, must intervene to protect homeowners from the big bad contractors. Unfortunately, the simple logic goes, protect the insured by limiting their resources. Ed announced the launch of his new book, The Book on the Assignment of Benefits: A Restoration Contractor’s Guide with Forms & Instructions. Mr. Cross believes this resource helps contractors to strengthen their position to force the insurance company to deal with and pay them directly as they negotiate the claims process. As always, we encourage all of our listeners for The DYOJO Podcast and our readers for The Intentional Restorer, to do your own research and make your own decisions about the merits of these topics.