Letter to combat real estate agents who ask inspectors for referral fees.

PRESS RELEASE: InterNACHI® General Counsel Helps Members Combat REA Requests for Referral Fees - InterNACHI

Thanks for this Nick. I have several Agencies that want me to pay to be part of a referral program. The letter has some typos in it, that should be corrected. On the 4th Paragraph, short sighted is mis-spelled.

Good one thanks NACHI .

I’ve only been asked to pay to play once.

I declined.

They hire me multiple times anyway.

But this will be nice just in case.

Great letter.
But I am curious. Does anyone know if any real estate agent, broker, office, has been successfully sued on the very fact they only referred one home inspector?
And has any real estate agent, broker, office successfully defended themselves against a lawsuit because they referred three home inspectors?

Just wondering.

I seen some Realtors settle when they referred only one inspector who missed major defects. But the inspectors were not certified according to my state. It is called a neglectant referral. The real estate agent has a fiduciary duty to her client, so it hard to argue that referring an inspector who does not belong to NACHI or ASHI is doing the right thing for her client.

I was curious to learn about how to present to real estate offices and I came across this link: Free Real Estate Presentation Resources - InterNACHI®, which also has a short video about hiring a real estate agent and pay them for referrals. In this video, Ben speaks on how to find top-performing real estate agents. I would like to know how to approach this topic with an agent. I want to know more about that. How much should I offer to pay them? Do I pay them a commission, when they are not selling houses and provide a 1099 form?

Hi Corey,

These are great questions for an InterNACHI Mentor. You can find the list here: Home Inspector Mentoring - InterNACHI®

You might also reach out to a local chapter and see if they have anyone who may be help answer your questions: https://www.nachi.org/chapters/

1 Like