Hot pics of Gary Johnson at last night's Maryland NACHI meeting.

[gjohnson]

John quit being grumpy...

[Nick Gromicko]

For the first time ever, I spoke at the Chesapeake Maryland Chapter about the liability of doing pre-listing inspections and how to do them.

The liability issue seemed to be what everyone was interested in. Here is a quick recap:

IMHO, doing an inspection for a seller (even a seller who intends to hand a copy of your report to every potential buyer that walks in the door) has less liability associated with it (for the inspector) than doing a normal inspection for the buyer.

1. First of all, the fact that he hands out 50 copies means nothing. Only one buyer is going to buy the house so having 49 other people see your report is a moot point and does not add liability.

2. Second, it is better to work for a client who is NOT going to end up owning the property you inspected than it is to work for a client who is. A seller is NOT going to end up owning the property... the seller is moving. So liability is lessened by working for the to-be NON-owner (seller). He is moving and not going to have any issues with you next year.

3. Third, the buyer, though likely going to be given access to the report by the seller, is not your client, did not get permission from you to rely on your report, and did not pay you. The buyer is merely someone who read your report without your permission including the section of your report that warned him NOT to rely on it.

4. Fourth, the buyer relying on your report without your permission carries less liability for you the inspector than a buyer who gets your permission (such as your own buyer-client). In other words, had you done the inspection directly for the buyer, the buyer would have had the right to rely on your report completely, and you would have been exposed to greater liability anyway.

5. And finally, working for the seller lengthens the time (by the time the home is on the market) between the date of the inspection and the time the buyer moves in. In general.... liability is inversely proportional to the age of a report.