Couple May Sue Former Home Owner

Channel 6 News Portland, Maine;

Check out this Video, and what they say about the Home Inspector.

http://www.wcsh6.com/video/default.aspx?aid=49949:)

Wow, that’s right in my back yard. I know Arthur, good building inspector.

What a shame. This is also a good example of why I use a 3 foot metal probe to poke around in these area’s to find rot. Just by looking at that house you can tell there’s water problems.

Thanks for the info. Marcel.

I was hoping you or Dennis might know something about it. First thing I thought of when I heard the news.

How do you know who it was Peter.

Not very good publicity and sure he will get dragged in the Suit if there is one. :slight_smile:

Marcel, you got mail.
Pete

Also, I was referring to the local code enforcement officer. I’ve done many projects with him, very knowledgeable but codes won’t be applicable to a home inspection. Your right though, I would think they will be brought into it, Housemaster that is.

ditto on the probe Pete

Darly Justham who is the “General Manager” of the inspection company that overlooked the house rot this inspection.

Daryl is also a “Board Member” of the newly formed New Hampshire Home Inspector’s licensing board!

When the complaint is filed against him I wonder how the board will rule?:roll:

Frank, is he the one that wanted 25 ride alongs before you could get a license.

No he and fellow board member David Roth {local ASHI Vice President} wanted to up it to 100 ride alongs!

He and David Roth also promote the ASHI owned NHIE as an “independent” test!:roll:

Wow, I guess licensing doesn’t solve everything. I doubt all that rot would have gotten past me. When I looked at the video you can tell it appears to be a wet area and with the upper roof run off to the lower roof, bay window roof and deck there is enough visual evidence to suspect water intrusion. It also said in the video that the basement walls where covered with new insulation and plastic. I would have used my 3 foot probe and poked around a bit through the plastic.

I also would have used my IR camera and a moisture meter but that’s outside the sop of a standard home inspection.

Maybe “someone” should have gone on about 500 to 1,000 “Ride Alongs” :stuck_out_tongue:

Thats funny, I do not care who you are!

Not too long ago, I followed a licensed PE on a home inspection. I was out there just checking the EIFS for hidden moisture - NOT doing the home inspection. As I was walking around in the house looking for moisture stains, mushrooms, gold coins, guns or loose money laying around - I heard the bathroom sink gurgling.

When I got outside, I realized being a 2-story home on a walk-out basement my normal 4’ ladder would not me high enough to check things and justify my $189 fee for moisture testing this 7,400 sf house. So I put my binoculars on the upper walls and roof to wall junctions AND realized there were NO plumbing vents on the roof. After going to all sides of the home and looking up, there were NONE anywhere.

The engineer never saw it OR reported on it in his home inspection AND he WALKED the roof. How do I know?? When they called me 2 months later telling me they’d got the bad stucco fixed BUT kept having a smell in the house that smelled like a college locker room AND asking me for help trying to figure out where it was coming from. I had them send me a copy of his report.

I’m charging them my standard $249 p/hr to help them solve their SMELL problem AND be an expert witness against the engineer.

AND people ask us old guys how we can make money being cheap??

I always raise red flags in my reports whenever I see fresh paint on basement walls.

PE’s, realtor agents, insurance adjusters, appraisers, as you know, are all exempt from any home inspection laws in Kansas. They are not educated in home inspection practices, yet buyers hire them, because of their “status”. I hope they all get to see a judge up close and personal someday.

Those franchise Co’s are always in the news.
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Of course the video is shot to emphasize the bad stuff. And once the walls are opened the mold is easy to see. So I don’t find it surprising that a strictly cursory (given the individual in question) visual exam would miss what may have been subtle evidence. Even if it was one of ASHI’s superstars doing the work.

Having said that what idiot doesn’t suspect fresh basement paint and go to some extra lengths to discover why it was painted. And if you can’t determine the reason then the existence of fresh paint itself is written up with a recommendation that client ask the seller specifically why it was painted. Make the seller go on record.

But I’ll be using this video to emphasize to my prospective clients why they want a full thermal scan and mold survey as part of their inspection. (Also why they don’t want an ASHI inspector who is as deal friendly as this fellow is known to be)

As for this inspectors attitude about ride alongs and training requirements. I think we showed pretty conclusively that their motivation for that was/is greed. Since by their own standards they would have been the only inspectors in NH qualified to priovide such training.

It should be interesting to see if a complaint is filed. Maybe the homeowner should be told that this person is on the board?

Don,
Good post.
As far as filing any complaints against Inspectors in NH, licensing is not required until Jan. 2010 as you know. Therefore the board has no jurisdiction until after Jan 1, 2010 relative to any grievances.
Carla

Could he not be ejected from the board do to his apparent legal problems of not performing a proper inspection? I would think letting him stay on the board might cause some legal problems for the licensing board if he is found guilty in a court of law. But it is your licensing law, not mine.

I think the rest of the board members should ask him to step down. This is a slap in the face to all of us who fought this poorly written legislation that was ASHI bias.

I attended a house sub-committee meeting where Senator Cilley, who helped write the ASHI bill, got up and said if we save one person from a bad home inspection then we’ve done our jobs. Just unbelievable!!!