Contracts & Reports

For inspection clients and home inspectors alike, inspection reports are worth their weight in gold. Many inspection clients—often home buyers—rely on the findings inspectors detail in their reports to make important purchasing decisions. “[The inspection report is] basically a giant list of everything that is wrong with your (potential) home,” explained Kristin Wong in her…

In North Carolina, a home inspector performed an inspection on a property that had been vacant for about 18 months. During the home inspection, the inspector ran the water in the various fixtures, including the shower directly above the kitchen. The inspector photographed the kitchen, including the ceiling, which, at the time, showed no signs…

Two years after the inspection, a multi-inspector firm received a county court summons. Within the summons, the inspection company’s former clients made a litany of allegations: Termites occupied multiple areas on the first floor, including the garage. One of the anchor plates on the basement wall was “moldy musty.” The bottom of the heating unit…

In Massachusetts, claimants alleged that a home inspector missed over $30,000 in property damages. According to the claimants, the inspector failed to identify a bow in the exterior wall along with resulting water, structural, and pest damage. The crawlspace that exhibited most of the issues was inaccessible at the time of the inspection, and the…

Over a year after their inspection, one of our insureds received a letter from an attorney. The attorney alleged that the insured was negligent in performing the home inspection and failed to identify multiple defects. The letter demanded that the insured pay to cover the cost of repairs to multiple areas of the property. These…

Pre-inspection agreements are home inspectors’ foundations. Without them, clients are left to assume the nature of inspections. And as inspector and mentor Jan Banks stated in a previous article, clients for whom expectations aren’t set often believe inspections are warranties. That leaves inspectors subject to a lot of unnecessary risk. But simply having an inspection…

Second only to pre-inspection agreements, reports provide home inspectors with great claims protection. By providing a detailed account of both defects and sufficiencies, inspection reports can provide evidence of the home’s condition and the inspector’s competence at the time of inspection. Inspection reports can support an inspector’s defense and lead to quicker claims resolution. Better…

Statistics continue to suggest that the United States becomes more lawsuit-happy each year. The home inspection industry is no exception as inspectors continue to receive allegations of negligence and misrepresentation. Because potential lawsuits continue to threaten inspection businesses, it’s crucial that every home inspector get their pre-inspection agreement signed before each inspection. For most of you,…