Question about an inspector's report with someone else's name?

Hi all,

I was hoping it was ok for me to post here, even though I’m not an inspector…

I Received an inspector from “HouseMaster” against my better judgement, but because I had 5 days to complete an inspection and the few local smaller inspector companies were all busy for 5+ days so to continue on with my purchase I decided to hope HouseMatser would do the job well since a co-worker said they did well on his home.

Well He’s in a different area and I got another franchisee. Long story short the inspector came to my house for 5 minutes said hello and said he had to go as he was doing the “rounds” and left me with another inspector, which I felt was inadequate to do the job due to age and weight, ( he was atleast 65+ not in the best shape ).

Anyhow, he completed the inspection in about 1 hour 45 minutes, and didn’t really find anything other than the things I pointed out to him, but I doubt he would have noticed anything without me saying “Hey what about this?”

Fast-Forward to today feeling like I wasted my money from the inspection day, I recieve my report and low and behold the INSPECTOR name on the report is the franchise owner, the actual guy who inspected my home was no where to be listed on the report.

I did my own Private-Eye research and found the business owner is a registered valid inspector in my state, and from diving in and finding him on facebook I found the older gentleman who actually inspected my house and with his name found him and it appears he does have a valid inspectors license from what I can see, however, it didn’t seem like it.

My questions:

Is it standard practice to list the Inspector as the business owner who wasn’t there instead of the actual Inspector?

How do I approach him about this? I’m unsatisfied with the inspection and also upset how the report came out (bad english everywhere) and the actual inspectors name nowhere to be found.

Is it required by Florida Law that the actual inspector have to be listed on the report or is this normal?

I’m trying to find how I will approach him and express my dissatisfaction and get atleast a partial refund I can apply to a real inspector.

First…would all inspectors over the age of 50 and out of shape please raise your hand:D
In the state Florida as of July 2012 all inspectors must be licensed.
They are **required **to have the customer sign an inspection agreement before the inspection. They are also required to provide a proof of licensing and a description of what is not included in the inspection. Most will send you a copy of their trade assoc. Standards of Practice, like NACHI SOP.
The guy who actually performed your inspection should have produced his license prior to the inspection and the report should have the inspectors name and license# somewhere one the report, such as INSPECTED BY: xxx xxxx.

How you proceed is up to you. Try contacting the Dept of Business and Professional Regulation.

Mike just call the company and ask them. Tell them how you feel and see how they react and what they do. No person is perfect, but in the absence of perfection see if they do the right thing.

We tell everyone, if you can find an inspector to do it right away, ask yourself why they are not busy.

Mike,

Which area of Florida?

and
when you booked the Inspections
**did you inquire about the **
**age, **
**race, **
**sex, **
**weight, **
**etc… **
of the Inspector?

If you are unhappy with the inspection and you have a clock that is ticking away your inspection option … hire another inspector, immediately, and get a complete, accurate and unbiased description of the house you intend to buy.

After you have made those arrangements to give you peace of mind and the assurance that you are (or you are not) buying a money pit … approach the first inspector and demand a refund due to your lack of satisfaction with his inspection and report. When the inspector who does the work doesn’t put his own name on his own report … you have every right to be suspicious and to doubt its integrity.

You may or may not get your money back from the first bad inspection … but you need to make an informed decision about the house you are planning to buy and this should be your first concern, IMO.

due diligence
This Poser seems to be focusing on the items of little importance
when he should be focusing
on areas of greater importance…

Mike,
If you chose to read the contract that you signed with HouseMaster
you will find you signed with the “Company” providing the Inspection.

Not the Inspector,

The Company is the contracted Party.

The Report may or may not have the name of the Inspector.
The Company name (HouseMaster) I am sure is present.

To answer a few questions:

He did not show or have me sign anything prior to Inspection.

He did not provide me with his license number or information, neither the “owner” nor the actual inspector.

The only thing I ever found the owner’s license # on was his business card, but, I never saw mention of the “inspectors” name or license anywhere, it’s nowhere to be found anywhere including the report.

He didn’t provide me a copy of what is and isn’t included, just began the inspection.

All in all I was really unhappy, I just felt like I could have inspected the home the same or better than he did, it just didn’t feel like an inspection more like a glance over of easy to see/reach items.

I didnt’ ask about inspector age/weight info etc, because in all conversations I expected HIM to be the inspector, instead I got someone who barely spoke english (spanish primary), so we had trouble communicating, and I was not aware until the inspection started and I figured it wasn’t him. Few minutes later he showed up walked around for less than 5 minutes and left…

I feel unhappy about the actual inspector’s info not being on the report and only the business owners.

call the licensing agency and state your concerns. do NOT mention is race or age. Lack of english is ok. my 2 cents

As James and Joseph said, you should be focused on what your biggest investment is/will be.
If you are unhappy with the first inspection, get ASAP another inspector out there (and look at his credentials prior to hiring him. Perhaps get someone from InterNACHI).
Close on the house (or not) and then focus on the first inspection company.

Although 2 inspectors do their jobs differently and systems in houses can change from day to the next, if the 2nd company finds many more deficiencies or major ones that 1st did not find, go after that 1st company.

However, if both companies find similar things and it turns out you have a great house, then it might be that the first company has very poor communication skills. (I would still question the fact they didn’t have you sign a pre-inspection agreement)
Hope this helps and again, focus on what your biggest investment really is (and it’s not the inspection you paid for)

Therein lies the problem with a franchise. Who you talk to on the phone and who arrives to do the inspection are often quite different. Not much you can do about it now except to hire someone else if you are really concerned. Lesson learned: Caveat Emptor.

No offense to any of my fellow inspectors out there, but I would never recommend a multi-inspector firm to anyone who asked me for a recommendation.

In Kansas, an unlicensed third party can inspect any home for a real estate transaction, just as long as it is signed by a state licensed inspector, whether or not that person has seen the property.

Thanks again to state licensing, promoted by RE agent assoications and other interested parties standing to gain by inspection laws, and home sales.

Can you please citethat specific part of the Kansas law that says an unlicensed inspector can conduct the inspection as long as the report is signed by a licensed inspector. I can’t find it.

I do see where a Kansas inspector can lose his license by signing for someone else’s inspection, however (see [FONT=Helvetica-Bold][size=2]Sec. 4. K.S.A. 2008 Supp. 58-4505. (a) (3).[/size][/FONT]

I heard that there are some guys doing that, but it is inconsistent with the law that I have read, particularly the requirement of
[size=2][FONT=Helvetica-Bold]Sec. 6. K.S.A. 2008 Supp. 58-4509(a) as amended. [/FONT][/size]

.

Update:

After speaking to the Dept of Licensing of Florida regarding my concerns such as the report being in someone elses name, etc. I kept that communication anonymous and contacted the Owner.

He said it was a small “error” that his name was on the report and not the inspector as in the program they use they change the name back and forth but on mine they mistakenly put the owner’s name instead of the actual inspector and left it that way as it would be alot of work to redo. (They use HouseGauge according to the report I received).

I told him I was unhappy overall with the inspection and that the final blow was the report with many misspellings and wrong name.

I told him I was unhappy and wanted a refund for the services rendered or lack thereof or I would file a complaint with the State to investigate and my Credit Card company.

He very quickly said no problem I’ll give you a full refund just fill out a letter releasing your rights to pursue any judgements or file and complaints against me or my company…

I am a buy the book guy and a part of me wants to say screw you and get my money back with American Express who will take my side AND file a complaint so people like this get what is coming, but for some reason I accepted his offer because he complied so quickly, as much as I didn’t want to let him get away with what I felt was an unacceptable inspection by just offering me a full refund.

Good for you.

Now, do your homework and do not rely simply upon state licenses or franchises. Find yourself an experienced full time professional inspector who can provide you with a list of happy clients. Good luck.

FULL TIME inspector as James pointed out. NOT a guy like me still working for the same construction company for the past 17 years and over 23 years total in construction. I only perform about 150-200 inspections per year and am not worthy.

I found a guy name Stephan Genereux owner of Alliance Home Inspections and InterNACHI member who has great reviews everywhere I look online (google, yelp zillow), I explained to him my situation and what occurred and based on our phone conversations I am confident he will do the job properly.

He did you a great favor. Be happy. I’m not sure I would have returned your money based on your complaint.

unnless it is in fact not legal, Joe…

True.