Arizona ASHI President Proves Licensing Solves Nothing

[James H. Bushart]

Hiring a home inspector? Why their mistakes can cost you

Produced by: Nicole Longhini
Email: nlonghini@abc15.com
Reported by: Steve Irvin
Last Update: 5:04 pm



When you hire a home inspector, a lot rests on what they find – or more importantly what they don’t find. And, why their mistakes could cost you a lot of money.

Justin Lutick said he regrets buying his home in Fountain Hills, AZ.

“First the air conditioning doesn’t work. Then I see a hole in the wall. Then a couple of days later I get a flood,” Lutick told ABC15.

Lutick has only one way to describe his home.

“As a money pit, like the movie,” he said. “It just doesn’t stop.”

So, why did he buy the home in the first place?

“Because I felt confident, I paid a home inspector,” he said.

Lutick said his home inspector missed every major issue.

“I noticed it all within the course of a week,” he said.

He said the inspector missed electrical, plumbing and structural problems.

Three years later, Lutick said he has spent a total of $60,000 on the house, just to fix the problems the home inspector overlooked.

“This experience has probably been one of the worst experiences and biggest impacts on my life, because he didn't do his job,” he said.

Lutick’s story is an example of what can happen when a home inspector doesn’t do his job correctly.

With hundreds of home inspection companies in the Valley, how do you know who is going to best protect you and your investment?
With hundreds of home inspection companies in the Valley, how do you know who is going to best protect you and your investment?

To help answer that question, ABC15 went undercover. We put three home inspection companies to the test.

First, we enlisted the help of Neil Brogen. He is a licensed Valley home inspector and the President of the Arizona Chapter of the American Society of Home Inspectors.

Then, we found a house in Chandler to base our test around.

Brogen gave the Chandler house a thorough inspection.

He found problems all over the house.



In the kitchen, Brogen discovered the oven could be tipped forward, a safety concern for children.

Brogen said that all ovens are required to have a device that would prevent it from tipping forward.














Brogen also noticed the dishwasher drain line did not form a high loop.

“It’s a safety concern. It’s considered a cross-contamination between potable water that comes into the dishwasher to wash dishes with, and the drain water,” Brogen said.












In the living room, Brogen found the distance between the stair railings to be a concern.

“The distance between [two railings] should not be a greater than four inches, so that kids can’t stick their through there,” he said.











Brogen found an electrical issue in the wall between the living room and kitchen. He said all the outlets indicated an open ground.

“I’d recommend you get an electrician,” he said.

On the outside, Brogen said the porch cover was not securely attached to the house.

“So, a wind gust could get under here and take the [porch cover] loose,” he said.

But, Brogen said, it wasn’t an easy problem to catch.

“I think this could be overlooked pretty easily.”


After Brogen inspected our test home, we set up appointments with three inspection companies: All-Pro, US Inspect and Arizona Professional Home Inspections.

Then, we placed undercover cameras inside, outside and on our producer.

Every inspector identified the open ground electrical issue.

All three companies caught the issue with the oven missing the anti-tip device.

Arizona Professionals and US Inspect caught the issue with the distance between stair banisters.

All-Pro missed the stair banister problem.

Remember the problem with our dishwasher drain line?

Because the drain line did not form a high loop, Brogen considered it a safety concern. It could potentially make the homeowner sick, if the water got cross-contaminated.

Only two inspectors caught the issue.

All-Pro didn’t find the dishwasher drain line problem. That is not the only cross-contamination problem he missed.

All-Pro failed to note that our outside hose faucet was missing a small device that prevents dirty water from being sucked back into the house.

As for the issue with the porch cover, not one of the three companies caught the problem.

All three companies also missed an exposed electrical wire in the kitchen above the microwave.

“You shouldn't have any exposed non-metallic wiring,” Brogen said.

After our inspections were completed, Brogen looked over each company’s report.

He was looking to see if they missed anything, and to see if each company’s report met the State Standards of Professional Practice.


Brogen said while all three companies missed the issue with the unsecured porch cover and the exposed electrical wire, those issues are minor.

Brogen was happy that all three companies caught the open ground electrical problem.

However, he said, All-Pro did not take it a step further by recommending an electrician be brought in. Brogen said the State Standards of Professional Practice require the inspector give a recommendation.

“So that an average person would know what to do about that situation,” he said.

Overall, Brogen said Arizona Professional Home Inspections came out on top in our test.

Brogen said it had the most thorough inspection report. He said it exceeded the standards.

So, which company came out on the bottom in our test?

Brogen said All-Pro did not pass our test.

“It was probably not one of the better reports,” he said. “They did miss a number of items in the report. There are some things in it that don't meet the standards.”

All-Pro did not respond to our repeated requests for comment.

Click here to read US Inspect’s response to our story.

Arizona Professional Home Inspection sent ABC15 the following statement:

"It was an absolute surprise to find out about the story. I consider home inspections a crucial part of the home buying process and thoroughly enjoy the work. Using my home building and customer service experience, I put everything I have into the inspection, the report, and helping the home buyers get through the process. I actually consider our industry a type of consumer advocate in itself, which makes being evaluated and recognized by another consumer advocate such as ABC15 News that much more significant. Hopefully all parties involved can also appreciate and see the value in being made aware of the items that were overlooked. It reassures me that no matter how competent we all may feel that there is always room for improvement. I will continue to strive for excellence and improvement by educating myself, so that I may continue to transfer that education onto my customers. It was a pleasure inspecting for you."

Dylan Bucknavich
Arizona Professional Home Inspection L.L.C.

As for Justin?

He took his home inspector to court and won. However, Justin said he only received a fraction of what he said it will take to fix someone else's mistakes.

"It's three and a half years later and I'm not there yet," Justin said.

Once more, ASHI in Arizona uses the media to try to try to educate the public that a license does nothing to guarantee a good home inspection.

[Dale Duffy]

My part-time helper Inspector, Dylan Bucknavich did the best according to channel 15 news, which will be aired tonight at 10:00 pm.

The station contacted Dylan asking for his permission to air the story in which he agreed wholeheartedly before even knowing the outcome of the investigation.

[Brian E. Kelly]

Originally Posted by dduffy

My part-time helper Inspector, Dylan Bucknavich did the best according to channel 15 news, which will be aired tonight at 10:00 pm.

The station contacted Dylan asking for his permission to air the story in which he agreed wholeheartedly before even knowing the outcome of the investigation.

Well done Dylan.

[Ed Bancroft]

Good work Dylan and Dale !
Good Professional response in a less than good situation by Arizona Inspection.

.........this does reinforce a recurring nightmare I keep having though !

[Dominic J. Maricic]

Nice response & job Dylan.

[Kevin L. Luce]

On the outside, Brogen said the porch cover was not securely attached to the house.

“So, a wind gust could get under here and take the [porch cover] loose,” he said.

But, Brogen said, it wasn’t an easy problem to catch.

“I think this could be overlooked pretty easily.”

Wow, this can be overlooked pretty easily???

The items listed are basic items to check. It sounds more like they need to change the way they inspect. There is a chance they didn't spend enough time to recognize or question some of these issues. So there is a chance that it's the technique not the knowledge that resulted in them not reporting these items.

The other thing that makes me wonder is if Brogen would have found as much as he did if he was one of the three that didn't know he was going to be evaluated. I would think the other three would have found more if they knew why they were there.

I did find it amusing that a part time home inspector that likely has less field experience doing home inspections then the other home inspectors did the overall best.

[Dan Bowers, CMI]

I wonder how many of the things reported were acceptable practices when the home was built. For example, in my area the thing on the outside hose bibb (I think its called an "Anti-siphon" piece) is almost never seen. Most of our guys would not talk about something like this ESPECIALLY if the house was over 6-7 years old.

[Dale Duffy]

Originally Posted by kluce

Wow, this can be overlooked pretty easily???

The items listed are basic items to check. It sounds more like they need to change the way they inspect. There is a chance they didn't spend enough time to recognize or question some of these issues. So there is a chance that it's the technique not the knowledge that resulted in them not reporting these items.

I did find it amusing that a part time home inspector that likely has less field experience doing home inspections then the other home inspectors did the overall best.

Kevin...Dylan is not a Part-Time Home Inspector, he works for me Part Time when I'm over-booked...generally every week, but part-time...he has his own company as well, and is a very good inspector...oh, and the gig about exposed Romex in the Cabinet ABOVE the Microwave is not even an electrical code violation here in the City of Chandler, let alone an item which NEEDS to be reported according to the X-Pert-----

But it would be a good idea to report it as a possible concern regarding possible physical damage I guess.

The rafter Simpson ties could be an easy miss, but certainly not the end of the world, overall I certainly think Dylan did a very good job.

[Kevin L. Luce]

Originally Posted by dduffy

Kevin...Dylan is not a Part-Time Home Inspector, he works for me Part Time when I'm over-booked...generally every week, but part-time...he has his own company as well, and is a very good inspector...oh, and the gig about exposed Romex in the Cabinet ABOVE the Microwave is not even an electrical code violation here in the City of Chandler, let alone an item which NEEDS to be reported according to the X-Pert-----

But it would be a good idea to report it as a possible concern regarding possible physical damage I guess.

The rafter Simpson ties could be an easy miss, but certainly not the end of the world, overall I certainly think Dylan did a very good job.

Around here, a high loop for a dishwasher is not enforced by city inspectors and many manufacturers only recommend having them installed. Is it required in the City of Chandler?

[Brian E. Kelly]

Originally Posted by kluce

Around here, a high loop for a dishwasher is not enforced by city inspectors and many manufacturers only recommend having them installed. Is it required in the City of Chandler?

Yes.

[dharris]

Good Job Dylan.
The rewards by hanging out with ASHI inspectors can be rewarding

Busshy.. How does this prove licensing solves nothing?
With out state lic. the Fountian Hills customer would not have any one to file a complaint with, and that inspector will still be providing inspections that do not meet the states requirements.
This is just another example that licensing as minmum as the basic requirements are, at least the consummer has some recourse by having a place to file a complaint[ at no charge] if that minmun is not met.

[Brian E. Kelly]

Originally Posted by dbowers

I wonder how many of the things reported were acceptable practices when the home was built. For example, in my area the thing on the outside hose bibb (I think its called an "Anti-siphon" piece) is almost never seen. Most of our guys would not talk about something like this ESPECIALLY if the house was over 6-7 years old.

Cross Contamination of potable water IS a big deal. People put garden hoses into all sorts or weird stuff with no regard what so ever for their own health or safety.

You may find what you are looking for here Dan.

http://abpa.org/

[James H. Bushart]

Originally Posted by dharris

Good Job Dylan.
The rewards by hanging out with ASHI inspectors can be rewarding

Busshy.. How does this prove licensing solves nothing?
With out state lic. the Fountian Hills customer would not have any one to file a complaint with, and that inspector will still be providing inspections that do not meet the states requirements.
This is just another example that licensing as minmum as the basic requirements are, at least the consummer has some recourse by having a place to file a complaint[ at no charge] if that minmun is not met.

This is a three year Arizona event.

ASHI gets the media to set up a sting and film inspectors making mistakes. They find a horror story to accompany it about some poor schmuck who made a bad purchase, add to it how EVEN WITH LICENSING IN EFFECT the consumer is not assured of getting a quality inspection.

The sting always has an ASHI inspector (Neil Broegen, I understand, is president of the chapter although he does not show up anywhere as an ASHI member....perhaps he is in arrears with his dues) reviewing the inspections of the "victims" targeted by the sting.

Congratulations are in order to Dylan for coming through unscathed...but he, and others, should be wary and not forget the fact that they were targeted because someone thought they could film them in a "gotcha".

[Brian E. Kelly]

Not fond of the ASHI using scare tactics to market their members.

It is comming on the news now.

[James H. Bushart]

Originally Posted by bkelly2

Not fond of the ASHI using scare tactics to market their members.

It is comming on the news now.

Not fond of ASHI disparaging home inspectors....members or not.