The definition of Move In Certified is:
MoveInCertified homes have been pre-inspected by NACHI certified inspectors and the sellers confirm that there are no major systems in need of immediate repair or replacement and no known safety hazards.
You the inspector do nothing different (other than host your report online at FetchReport.com). The seller, using your report and what he knows and has to disclose by law anyway, determines if his house is Move In Certified. So you haven’t assumed any additional liability.
- Your liability is probably reduced by having a better report generated with the help of the seller (the person who knows the home best).
- Your liability is actually less because the buyer (the one who would complain later) isn’t your client. Trust me, it’s much better to work for the people moving out of the house you inspected as opposed to the people moving in.
- Your liability is even less because there is more time (on an inspection for a seller) between the time of the inspection and the time the buyer moves in.
- Your liablity is even less because the buyer may hire his own inspector and find something you missed. Yes… that is a good thing as although you may have missed something, having the buyer’s inspector find it in time for the buyer to address it, makes their damages zero.
*]Your liability is even less because the seller becomes a partner with you in reporting the condition of the home. He/she is the one confirming (see definitiion at top of this post).
But let’s look at it from the worst possible scenerio:. You goof. And the house really wasn’t Move In Certified according to the definition. Your failure to discover and report major systems in need of immediate repair or replacement and known safety hazards is no worse than the situation you’d have been in anyway, working for the buyer and failing. In fact, you are held to a much higher standard than just merely discovering and reporting on major systems in need of immediate repair or replacement and safety hazards on every inspection you do, every day, anyway.