Be careful and think FAST!

General Inspection Topics General Inspection Discussion
1

Well some of you are going to happy this happened to me!

As I was doing a pool inspection on a pool that was constructed about 8 weeks ago, I was walking on the pool coping and fell in! It was funny as hell as my clients see me in their pool with all my clothes on getting the coping from the bottom of the pool. They were from Germany and spoke no English, but by their facial expressions I could see they thought I was an EXCELLENT inspector, looking at their pool from the inside, out!

After explaining it to them, their faces were in shock and they felt bad for me and I told them, if something like this were to happen, I wish it on myself BEFORE the purchase rather than on them AFTER the purchase.

After this and about 100 other things came up on this newly remodeled flip foreclosure with its improper electrical and Polybutylene piping, the decided not to buy. So guess what happens now…

Listing agent refuses to give the buyer their $5,000 deposit back until a repair estimate on the pool can be obtained because they are responsible for any damage caused by the inspector per the contract.

So they call me FREAKING out and want me to help and well they want me to pay for the damages!

I call the listing agent who is so damn mad she cannot talk straight, she wants my insurance carriers phone number and my policy number. I told her that this is no big deal at all and I will gladly give her my insurance information and then I begin to give it to her, and then stop mid sentence. I then inform her if she could call her client, because it is the exact thing my lawyer was asking from the present owner. We need their insurance information to make a claim on the injuries I had gotten while performing ordinary work on a faulty pool and sustaining injuries that could hinder my work performance in the future.

She told me I could not do this, its illegal. I then told her that is one of the purposes of Homeowners insurance. She hung up, 10 minutes later the buyers agent called asking me how I go the money released so quickly and without a fuss and an apology. I just told her I have my ways of convincing people on doing the right thing…

Think fast and use thier own game against them…

2

Smooth Move we all learn so much from each other thanks for the heads up post and a great bit of information … Roy

3

Great story but better response. Thanks for sharing.

4

Sweet,sweet,sweeeeeeet!:slight_smile:

5

We all knew you were ‘all washed up’ a long time ago! ha-ha-ha.

Good job on your fast thought to help protect your client!

6

Cell phone and tools in pockets?

7

Russ, Sorry to hear but thanks for the chuckle and glad you were not hurt.

8

To bad you sent that New cam Back , that would of been a great video .lolol

9

Damn never thought of that.:mrgreen:

10

No loss of tools, thank God. Was pretty damn funny though.

11

Any of your guys take a pic of you all wet?

12

LOL, I love it! Nice job Russell.

13

Nicely done - :smiley:

14

Not even a pic of the broken coping? hmmmmmm

15

Notice how the broken brick area is wet and the other is dry…

16

Notice how the broken area is all wet and the other side is dry…the tile pieces got out, because I was tile diving…

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17

Russ glad you’re OK.

18

Russell -

Good defense move. At least a dozen times over the past 25 years, I’ve had a seller or angry listing agent try the old THEY won’t release the buyers earnest money because the home inspector broke the … AND the real estate contract says the buyer is resposible for anything that gets damaged or broke, etc, etc.

Then all of a sudden your buyer WHO each time had decided to NOT buy the house and the buyers agent are mad at you WANTING you to pay for …

Each time its happened its been something that was defective to start with.

Last time it happened, we did the inspection … lots of problems and handyman repairs, renovation without permits AND no where close to correct; electrical service upgrade from 60 Amp to 100 Amp BUT I could stand on the patio and touch the overhead wires (bootleg service upgrade).

Buyers, their agent and my inspector set down at the wood dining room table to go over summary, AND the chair my guy is setting in collapses. He falls back and hits the wall. Its embarrassing, BUT laughable. After summary, buyer and agent walk on deal.

Four days later same situation as yours … Listing Agent calls, seller is heartbroken the seller has taken the broken chair to several furniture stores and can’t match it (he bought the dining set oversea’s 15 years ago). So he’s been shopping for new oak dining room sets and has one picked out for $2,300 … whats the name of my insurance carrier AND he’s holding the buyers earnest money, etc, etc.

The buyer and his agent had already called me all freaked out telling me this. I told them I’d resolve the issue AS being an old fashioned guy I’m under the belief that NORMAL chairs are meant to be set on by normal sized people without collapsing. I was EVEN going to offer to buy 1 NEW chair or have a wood shop make a leg UNTIL they tried this.

I had about the same conversation you did, explaining my inspector was home recovering from the terrible fall when the DEFECTIVE chair collapsed AND asked for their homeowners insurance information (will need that for the medical bills, loss of income, etc). I explained that we HAD been prepared to just chaulk it up to perils of the job BUT since they want to go this way, we’ll let the lawyers handle it.

Later that day BUYERS agent calls and tells me I WALK ON WATER. Sellers agent however probably tells everyone they know about that big, bad home inspection company AND this is an example of why we GOT to get home inspectors licensed and saddled up with mandatory E&O and general liability insurance, yaddi, yaddi.

19

Its good when you can think fast. I hope these stories help others…

20

No real thinking fast to it …

Dan’s Rule #1 / We break it, we buy it.

Dan’s Rule #2 / If it was broken to start or defective to start (like the garage door goes half way up / falls off its track). We’re sympathetic BUT it FAILED the operation TEST and its the sellers / NOT ours.

Dan’s Rule #3 / You wanta play nasty - Fantastic now you’re in my ballpark and we’ll play by Marine Corps Sniper Rules / One Bullet - One Kill.