Heater Not Working

Hello, I purchased my home on June 5th 2018, upon inspection the heat was said to be working with no issues. Now that the cold weather is upon us (Washington, DC area) I have learned that the heater is not working. I have owned the property for approximately 161 days. I am aware the the NACHI policy states that the "We Will Buy Back Your Home’ Policy is Guaranteed for up to 90 days. In this instance, am I exempt since I am past the 90 days? I am not necessarily trying to have NACHI “Buy Back” my home, however, I want to know what action I can take as my heater is inoperable.

Thanks!

Well things do break down , Not enough information for plan of action but calling a service company would be a good start .

Wayne, “approve him” before you respond or you will need approval, too. Like I just did for you.

I hope you’re good.

Are you asserting that your inspector made a false statement about the system operating or did he promise that it would work through winter? If not, I don’t see that you have any recourse against the inspector or that he was in any way negligent.

A home inspection is not a warranty. Things that work one day may fail the next and nearly six months have elapsed since your inspection. That is more than enough time for a system to fail. It comes with home ownership.

I am assuming that you chose not to take out a “home warranty”. Otherwise, I don’t think you would be inquiring here as to what your recourse is. Looking to others to cover an appliance failure is an unrealistic expectation.

To your question regarding the 90-day buyback, that program is limited to 90 days after you close. I think it’s safe to say that 161 days is well beyond that.

You have no recourse against the inspector. A home inspection is a snapshot of the condition of a home on the day of the inspection, with no warranties expressed or implied.

The first house my wife and I bought together had a heater that passed inspection, but come the first few cold days, I suspected problems and sure enough, CO levels in the home were over 4 PPM. When the unit was pulled, it looked like someone had thrown a hand grenade in the burner assembly, it was so badly rusted.

This was before I became a Realtor or an inspector, but it would never have occurred to me to go after the inspector. Even then, I knew that for the few hundred bucks we paid for the inspection (back in 98), that it was unrealistic to expect an inspector would have been able to see what was going on deep inside the heater.

As Chuck said, this is home ownership. If you don’t want to pay for a home warranty, save up your money, because things break.

Holy Crap. Call your HVAC company and have the unit serviced / repaired.

Was anything said at all about the furnace? Age? Was there a picture of it working at the inspection? (e.g. I put a picture of the furnace flames in my report and a temp measurement picture at a register showing warm air.)
In other words, a client of mine would never post anything like this, because it would have been crystal clear in the report that it was working fine at the time of inspection.

Maybe post your report or the heating section?, and we can look at it.

That is all well and good for you, but there is nothing that says you must report on stuff that works. You may have to state if something is tested and running (based on State Laws).

OP- First, do you know why it’s not working? Second, did you call and discuss this with your HI? His first response would likely be that he would drop by and look at it. It would be prudent for you to pay for his trip if he finds the problem. Your best bet is to call an HVAC service company.

If the HVAC guy says; Your Inspector should have found this, don’t believe it. HI’s are not licensed and certified to do anything to HVAC equipment beyond determining if it runs or not.