So here is a post from Facebook this evening. Was good for a chuckle. I do love this industry 
Home inspectors can’t falsely advertise themselves as experts or engineers.
But it is free LOL, Seems to me someone snuggled up and stole ideas and left
Nothing tops Certified Master Inspector. Consumers instantly recognize what those 3 little words mean.
So in your opinion there are 100’s of InterNACHI Members falsely advertising as a Certified Expert using Nate’s self proclaimed “designation”?
Where are they gonna hang those plaques? On their tricycles?
I don’t know how many, if any. But home inspectors are generalists, not experts. If you claim to be an expert, you’d better be ready to back that claim up in court. The first thing a plaintiff attorney does is check the claims you advertise about your qualifications. If you snookered his client into hiring you with false advertising, he’s going to take your house.
Never make statements in your marketing about your qualifications that are patently false.
Nick can’t/won’t confirm that because then if what he says is true, he would be forced to take Ethics violation action against all the Members claiming to be Experts!
I think the first plaintiff’s attorney who sues one of these ding dongs claiming to be an expert or an engineer or whatever is going handle that for us.
So here is my take on it. I just read the latest rants on PNT’s facebook page. He rants about Nicks opinions and inaccurate information by posting a link to a public section of his forum and conversely Nick makes his points on here.
Facts
CMI Board charges a fee for the registration and verification process. Qualifications are required to be met and I take Nick at his word that they are checked.
PNT’s “Expert” certification per his new standards supposedly has the same requirements But he touts you do not have to pay Nicks Fee. Someone in this thread even mentioned “It’s Free” Well…That is not 100% true because in order to qualify for “Expert” you have to go above SOP. And that is defined as providing one or more of his services which of course have a fee attached. In addition, you have to provide client information. I checked with a couple of companies that provide his services and not one gets a release from the client to “SELL” (my words) their personal information to PNT. This will end up in court at some point and I bet it will be in CA.
So neither certification is actually free.
The issue I have and have voiced to Nick is that there are companies out there that market their inspectors being CMI’s when maybe one out of 10 are. In some cases people wearing CMI logoed shirts and not even inspectors. I suspect the same thing is happening with the Expert designation PNT is marketing. Nick has already replied they are looking into new policies to address this with multi-inspector companies and I personally appreciate it.
Personally, I don’t care which designation someone chooses. The only person I have to defend if I end up in court is ME and I prefer to do it as a CMI.
“So Mr Inspector you’re a CMI. How did you qualify for that designation?” I applied, met the qualifications and paid a one-time application fee.
VS
“So Mr Inspector you’re an EXPERT inspector. How did you qualify for that designation?” I applied, met the qualifications. OH…and I sell the certifying authorities products and services in order to maintain my designation.
Even Realtors our target referral audience are being cautioned about identifying themselves as “Neighborhood Experts” or “Foreclosure Experts” why do you think that is?
I do not begrudge anyone their choice. I made mine and apologize to no one. I’m sure there are numerous CMI’s that sell PNT’s products and if it works for them that’s great.
NAHI swore their certification was the best. Now NAHI is part of InterNACHI. ASHI swears their certification is the best. InterNACHI swears theirs is best. Nick developed the CMI Certification Board. PNT has his "EXPERT certification.
My original post in this thread was because I found PNT’s FB post humorous. As the day has progressed it has spiraled to something else.
The BOTTOM LINE here is the certification is only as good as the inspector that holds it.
Plaintiff’s attorney: So Mr. Inspector, my client hired you because you claimed on your website to be an “expert.” How did you become an expert in inspections? I remind you that you are under oath.
Ding dong Inspection Expert: I bought some products from Nathan and agreed to exceed my Standards of Practice that I referenced in the pre-inspection agreement your client signed, making it meaningless.
LOL.
Well Nick I’ll give you credit. You say a Lot more here than Nathan did in his thousand word Facebook book rambling.
This thread was some more great reading material, and quite entertaining !!
Jim
Pretty obvious the end game is to create a NT led association to compete with NACHI.
I see it happening.
Agreed, and not just with CMI but NACHI complete. Nathan copies everything Nick creates and has for years, but what I don’t understand is that Nick not only allows him to, but actually helps him.
Jim
Maybe he’s (Nick) setting him up for the big fall…:mrgreen:…one can dream.
That would be nice, and the way it should be, but it appears that it is Nathan in control. Not once has Nick done anything to go against him. Heck the little guy even publicly told the world Nick cheats on taxes, has partnered with CMI, yada, yada, the list is goes on and on, and Nick never once does anything or says anything about Nathan to defend his position one way or the other. Nathan pulls all the strings at least that how it appears to the public.
Jim
I still think Nick and Nathan had a secret love affair, but I guess that is just me. 
Nathan, also copies a lot of vendors. I bet he hides behind his lawyers a lot.
Nick on the other hand has shown to stick his neck out legally in some cases.
It does puzzle me why Nick does not fight more, even when he gets spit in the face.
I’m not sure what you are asking me to do. Any nitwit can make up a logo and other nitwits can claim they are experts or engineers or whatever.
The only thing we would want, since it is a Certification Mark, is to demand through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that he properly file the standards for use of the mark (sorry, purchasing a product from him isn’t a valid standard). As of yet, he has not filed those required standards with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office.