Home inspectors and their warranties (San Antonio, Richmond: real estate, insurance, house)

[Sugarlandbubba]

I am in the market to buy a home in the Richmond area. Right now, researching and finding a home inspector is on my to do list. I went to one of the home inspection websites and read their information. It has good reviews and the fees were reasonable.

I was thinking that I had found the right one and I was leaning towards hiring the company. Then I read their agreement which states that their liabilities are limited to a refund of the inspection fee, so I ran and never looked back. In my mind, this company may not have professional liability insurance and just want to "CYA"as cheap as possible.

[DSL_PWR]

They are all that way.

[haudi]

That's every inspector everywhere. Good luck finding one that isn't like that.

[Failed Engineer]

These inspectors don't actually do anything to the house except visually inspect it so to expect any sort of warranty is unreasonable. You can buy a home warranty from companies like American Home Shield, but their warranties are generally limited in scope.

[escanlan]

Originally Posted by Sugarlandbubba

I am in the market to buy a home in the Richmond area. Right now, researching and finding a home inspector is on my to do list. I went to one of the home inspection websites and read their information. It has good reviews and the fees were reasonable.

I was thinking that I had found the right one and I was leaning towards hiring the company. Then I read their agreement which states that their liabilities are limited to a refund of the inspection fee, so I ran and never looked back. In my mind, this company may not have professional liability insurance and just want to "CYA"as cheap as possible.

If you are using an Inspector licensed by The Texas Real Estate Commission then all Inspectors are required by law to carry Errors & Omissions insurance (E&O, Professional Liability insurance).

The attempts at limiting liability with these type statements are common, especially among the cheaper Home Inspectors. In some cases the liability statement might hold up in court or other venues depending on the situation. One such situation is the cost of the cheaper Inspectors do not provide any assurance they will even do the full job they were paid to do. Their cheap fees are also used as a defense to help support the liability statement claims. In any case no Inspector can limit all of their liability to a specific dollar amount. Gross negligence can not be defended!

Originally Posted by DSL_PWR

They are all that way.

Not quite all of them. There are Inspectors out there that choose not to use these liability limiting clauses. Instead that type Inspector generally tries to limit their liability by actually performing the job they were contracted for and writing a proper inspection report.

Originally Posted by haudi

That's every inspector everywhere. Good luck finding one that isn't like that.

They're out, see above.

Originally Posted by Failed Engineer

These inspectors don't actually do anything to the house except visually inspect it so to expect any sort of warranty is unreasonable. You can buy a home warranty from companies like American Home Shield, but their warranties are generally limited in scope.

Unfortunately that is all that many of these Inspectors do. However there are plenty out there that actually go beyond a visual inspection. Also the Standards of Practice (SOP) dictated by Texas law prevents a completely "visual inspection". You can read about the SOP here TREC - Rules Governing Inspectors. What consumers need to be aware of is that there are many ways an Inspector can disclaim and/or not inspect systems, items, etc., and for the consumer to understand there is an SOP, as well as what is in it, can help them select the right Inspector. The SOP is not very big at all and not that hard reading.

What consumers do need to watch out for are the Inspectors who use all these 90 day warranty things. If you read the terms of these (if the Inspector even gives you one before you sign the contract) those warranties do little for the consumer, if anything. The intention of those is as a marketing piece and to have at least some little level at attempting to deflect liability away from the Inspector. Essentially all they do is push you to another company to deal with instead of dealing directly with the Inspector.

[Sugarlandbubba]

Originally Posted by DSL_PWR

They are all that way.

My previous home inspector did not have the limiting language in the contract. I looked him up but he had move to San Antonio.

[Sugarlandbubba]

Escanlan,

Great post, especially the warning about the 90 days warranty offer.

From a business perspective, well financed medium to large home inspection companies can shut down the small inspection companies by offering some kind of assurance and stand behind the their work.

[haudi]

Aside from full or partial refunds which most offer if they miss something major, what exactly are you expecting them to do?

[Sugarlandbubba]

Originally Posted by Failed Engineer

These inspectors don't actually do anything to the house except visually inspect it so to expect any sort of warranty is unreasonable. You can buy a home warranty from companies like American Home Shield, but their warranties are generally limited in scope.

I was thinking About patent defects and not latent defects as inspectors generally can not remove equipment or tear up the property. I read there was a situation where the inspector failed to note that one of the bedroom does not have a egress window.....most people would not accept a "sorry, here is your money back".

[Sugarlandbubba]

Originally Posted by haudi

Aside from full or partial refunds which most offer if they miss something major, what exactly are you expecting them to do?

If you bough gas to fill your car but the gas has too much water and damaged your engine, what would you want them to do?