realtor paying for buyers inspection

[Stewart Mussolum]

I know that this question has been dealt with before but can not find the thread.Here it goes anyway.Realtor wants to pay for buyers inspection.Who is the client and who signs the agreement?

[Bruce A. King]

The client is whoever signs the agreement. The payment is necessary to be a "paid inspection" for E&O purposes but it does not matter who pays you, except that you may find that you actually have two clients if problems arise later. Good question for an attorney.

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

Originally Posted by bking

The client is whoever signs the agreement.

Roger that. To drive home the point, if a parent is paying for a child's inspection, and the son's girlfriend signs the agreement...the girlfriend is the client.

[Russel Ray]

The Client is whomever is buying the house. King George or Prince Cheney could pay for all the inspections for my Clients and it wouldn't make a hill of beans difference.

Representatives of the Client can also sign on behalf of the Client. Here in California, that can be the Realtor, the mom, dad, brother, sister, child, whatever. The Client is still the person buying the house, and that's whose name the service agreement is in.

If you have any concerns, put this sentence under the signature line for your Clients:

"By signing above, Client (or Client’s agent, or persons representing Client, or persons representing themselves as Client) acknowledges having read this agreement, having had the opportunity to ask questions or for clarification, and having had such questions answered or clarifications satisfactorily provided to Client, Client’s representative, or Client’s agent."