Letter From Local NAHI president to Kansas committee

[David Moriconi]

From: mike pritchett
To: bob.bethell@house.ks.gov
Sent: Monday, February 09, 2009 9:50 AM
Subject: HB 2260



My name is Mike Pritchett I am the President of The National Association of Home Inspectors, Heartland Chapter, many of our members live and work in the state of Kansas. Many members have contacted me regarding HB2260. This is the new home inspector registration bill that will be brought to the commerce committee on Monday 2/9/2009.

The concern of the members is that the original bill HB2315 that was written with the input from only one of the National home inspectors associations was very unfair to all inspectors and could favor only one association. The bill has been re-written and is now titled HB 2260. The new bill has been written with input from primarily from the same group.

Many members are very concerned about the leadership of the board. It papers that before any education committee meetings were even scheduled one inspection school (that is run by a member of the same group as the chairmen of the board) was listed in the Johnson County Community College course catalog, it stated that it would meet the state requirements for registration. The question arose that the requirements had not been set or even discussed by the education committee how can the board chairman's associate possibly have a class that meets these requirements. When brought to the attention of other board members the class was pulled.

The main concern that I have heard from my members is one of ethics. If this kind of unethical inside information is being transferred between associates How can the chairman of board be seen as honest and ethical.

The other major concern is the $10,000.00 liability issue. The way this bill is written a home owner could take unfair advantage of Home Inspectors. As you know many systems in a home work fine today and not tomorrow. This bill could let a homeowner collect the cost of a new furnace from a home inspector if the furnace were to break eleven months after the inspection. There are too many variables to put that kind of a burden on the home inspector. Doctors, Hospitals and Real-estate sales people have the right to limit the amount of liability they will assume for the fee charged. Home Inspectors should have the same right.

The National advocacy groups such as Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings have spoken out against this bill. There was no significant public outcry for this bill. At this time the home inspector is the ONLY neutral party in the real-estate transaction. Registration of Home Inspectors can have advantages, however HB 2260 is very poorly written and unfair to the Home Inspection profession.

I am sure you can imagine the public reaction when stories break in the media about insider information being passed among members of the same association and the unfair advantages given to associates.

Thank you
Mike Pritchett
President, National Association of Home Inspectors,Heartland Chapter

[Dan Bowers, CMI]

2/10/09

Mike -

I see that you have written a letter of some kind to Jeff Barnes or others and he has sent you a reply. The reply from Jeff is below:

"Your letter indicated that the first bill was produced by one national association which you know is not true. Input was gathered by members of all associations which chose to participate".
__________________________________________________ ________
Mike -

I'm not trying to be rude to anyone, but to help clarify some issues. I think where part of the confusion lies is that when Jeff Barnes said he sent emails to over 250 inspectors and all interested groups so they could have input, etc in the Bill WAY back when - he probably did - BUT he's forgetting that most of the invitations came from KAREI and required you to attend one of their association meetings where they discussed the proposed Bill or related issues. I attended 1 or 2 of the meetings personally. You had to PAY to attend. There were ABOUT 25-29 people in attendance at the meetings. As I looked around the rooms I can remember counting and SAYING to myself - Gosh, all but about 5-6 of the people present are ASHI / KAREI members.

In talking to other inspectors in other home inspection groups around the state - most looked at KAREI / ASHI meetings as just that - KAREI / ASHI.

For the most part the KAREI / ASHI members never attend the NAHI, NACHI, KARCI or MAREI meetings - so those inspectors don't attend the KAREI / ASHI meetings. In fact when I looked at the records for educational seminars over the past 5 years held in Kansas City that have been JOINT meetings of NAHI / NACHI / KARCI / MAREI / Midwest Pro-ASHI ... I could not find a record of Jeff Barnes (his own ASHI Chapter of record) ever attending one BUT I've seen records to indicate he's attended several of the other ASHI Chapter Seminars in KC (Great Plains ASHI). Our groups would obviously feel that Jeff has provided NO INPUT to them, or just sat on the sidelines, etc. Not a big deal - he just wanted to go elsewhere.

So by the same token - Since the KARCI, NAHI, NACHI, MAREI and ASHI members (not in favor of licensing) were left out of talks with legislators (except the later on public hearings), attorneys, the state organizations, and KAR who was basically forcing this Bill on them - they logically felt the Bill was devised by KAR / KAREI / ASHI - with DELIBERATELY no participation or input from the other home inspector associations. So other than calling their legislators, writing to newspapers, etc they had real NO VOICE.

There are 3 State Associations with members living and working in Kansas (KAREI - of which Jeff Barnes was Past-President of & which is mostly run by ASHI members; there is KARCI - of which Mike Greenwalt is President; and there is MAREI of which Mark Adams is President),and 3 primary National Associations with local Chapters (NAHI - Mike Pritchett / President; NACHI - Paul Sabados / President; and 2 ASHI Chapters - Great Plains ASHI & Midwest Pro-ASHI).

It should be a simple matter of clarification to check with the applicable Chapter or Association Presidents to see WHICH ones were involved or had ANY input in the Bill writing.

I can say for a FACT of LIFE, that as a member of NAHI, ASHI, NACHI, KAREI (my membership number was #3 before I dropped them), KARCI and I am the Founder of the Midwest Pro-ASHI Chapter AND as its Main Education Director and Legislative Committee Chair for the time this Bill was being put together, I had only tidbits of any actions or meetings with KAR, the state, etc.

Stacey Van Houtan (Past NAHI Chapter President), Paul Sabados (NACHI Chapter President), and John Kurtz (Past Midwest Pro-ASHI Officer & Director in Kansas City), and Mark Adams (President of MAREI & past Midwest Pro-ASHI Chapter Vice President) all state they had no input NOR were they informed of almost anything having to do with the Bill.

Since Jeff was just about the only inspector involved in meetings with KAR, the attorneys, the state groups, etc on a consistent basis he may personally feel he was providing input from ALL, but if you ask the other groups that is not their opinion. Thats why the other groups feel this is the JEFF / KAREI / ASHI / KAR home inspection Bill.

Jeff is not a bad person, if anything hes just guilty of maybe thinking he knew what was best for everyone and trying to control the process. Unfortunately that is leaving other inspection groups with a bad taste and distrust of future actions.

I hope this helps you clarify any concerns you have.

Dan Bowers, CMI, CRI

Certified Real Estate Inspector, NAHI
Certified iNACHI Member
ASHI Member #1038
MAREI Member
KARCI Member
Certified Mold Inspector
FHA Compliance Inspector
EDI Certified Stucco / EIFS Inspector
NRSB Certified Radon Measurement Specialist
ICC Code Certified Residential Dwelling Inspector
Flir Level I Thermographer







From: mpritchett2@kc.rr.com
To: RESINSPECT@aol.com
Subject: Re: Letter about HB 2260
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2009 09:52:05 -0600


Jeff
I did not state that you ran an inspection school only that my members had expressed concern that your associate seemed to have the inside track on the information before the education committee had even been formed. The deadline for the college catalog was way in advance of the education committee being formed. I have heard you state that you sent 250 invitations to get involved in the bill writting process, however I can not seem to find NAHI members that received their invite. I know I never received mine.
That is the truth.
Mike

----- Original Message -----
From: RESINSPECT@aol.com
To: mpritchett2@kc.rr.com
Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 9:28 AM
Subject: Letter about HB 2260


Mike I was forwarded a copy of your letter to Bob Bethell and was very disappointed. Not that you had sent the letter, but that you had blatantly misrepresented the truth. Your letter indicated that the first bill was produced by one national association which you know is not true. Input was gathered by members of all associations which chose to participate. Those who chose to sit it out chose not to be heard. You wrote that the bill could favour one association. I would encourage you to find even one sentence in the bill which favours any one group, you wont find it. You wrote that the new bill was written by the same group. Wrong again not one word came from anyone but the Board. The initial language was written by our attorney and was submitted to the Board for revision. You stated that I run an inspection school that was listed in a collage catalogue as approved by the Board and when the Board was made aware of the situation the class was pulled. First of all I have no interest in providing inspection education, have never taught at any inspector schools nor do I ever intend to, the sad thing is that you know that I am not a part of Toms school making your comment even more disappointing. As for the Board pulling the class. I addressed the problem before the Board ever knew about it. As soon as I was told about the problem, I called Toms office and the collage for immediate action. What makes this sad is that the members of the legislative committee that were on the board last year know the truth and the new members have been told by the last years members to look out for the misleading e-mails from the opposing side and to verify the facts before making an decision. This morning I received two phone calls asking about your letter and I had to explain the history and provide the true story. Mike you know the truth and you know better. I encourage to write you representative, but you need to understand they are not stupid and will verify the information presented.

[James H. Bushart]

The Kansas legislator who received Mike P.'s letter went to Jeff Barnes for clarification. Jeff set him straight. That about wraps it up, doesn't it?

[Gary Farnsworth]

Jeff Barnes is a dedicated ASHI member. The bill, his rules and regulations are all going to be ASHI based. I have been an inspector here in KC for years, and have never been solicited to become a member of any orginization. My friend who has performed over 28,000 inspections, and whom I trained with, has never been a member of any association. I feel that home inspectors join associations because they are mentally insecure, and want to be members so that they can brag to every home buyer and realtor about how they are a member of several associations. That does not make them a better inspector. Realtors are finding this out, and are getting tired of "I am a ASHI, iNACHI, Nahi, asssyyee, or any other orginization. They do not care, as home buyers do not either. Do you understand why Mr. Barnes is pushing this? He and KAR want to find these inspectors, as I was one up until March of 2008, regulate them, and get a piece of their business. I was very successful, up until I joined iNACHI, started advertising it, and my business is lower over the past two years than it was years ago. Yes, the economy is lower, but being a member of any orginization does not make any difference to a home buyer. Mr. Barnes wants to change that. He is finding out otherwise.

[Dan Bowers, CMI]

Gary - I know it wasn't me, so Who did you train with?

Andy or Norm

[Gary Farnsworth]

Andy.