The InterNACHI member will not solicit referrals from a real estate agent(s) and/or broker(s) who are representing the seller in a real estate transaction when the referred client is, or is to be, the prospective home buyer.
Should a home buyer contact an InterNACHI member to arrange an inspection as a result of having been referred to him by a real estate agent who is representing the seller in the real estate transaction without solicitation, the InterNACHI member may conduct the inspection only if the client agrees to and separately initials or signs in the contract already required elsewhere in this code, the following statement: “I understand that the real estate sales agent referring me to this company/inspector has a fiduciary duty to the seller of the home. I further understand that it is a violation of his code of ethics for my home inspector to solicit home buyer referrals from real estate sales agents who are representing the seller in a real estate transaction. I am agreeing to hire this inspector based upon my own investigation of his qualifications and am not relying upon the seller’s agent’s referral as my sole reason to hire this inspector”.
Failure to comply with this provision of the code of ethics can result in sanctions by the association against the violating inspector up to and including expulsion from the association.
I am not sure what you are talking about for sure but if the buyer is using the same agent as the seller you are saying that we are not to perform the inspection. Dual agency is common in my area.
I am not hired by the agent but the client themselves. Please explain this a little more
HATE it. I do not want iNachi making business decisions for me. Any realtor agent or broker that has been in business for any appreciable length of time is going to have listings for sale. That alone should not preclude them from making referrals or recommendations for a home inspector. It doesn’t take anything for a customer to move on to the next inspector especially if YOU become difficult and start demanding they sign off on some arbitrary and nebulous new concern or fear the people at iNachi may have. Why is iNachi sticking their nose this far into anyone business. This is that one size fits all and “we are here to help” overreaching mentality that has crept into every area and aspect of American life. Leave it alone! If James (or anyone else) wants to do this now there is nothing stopping him from adding this to his business procedures.
I might be understanding this wrong, but, doesn’t soliciting literally mean urgently asking? If the buyer is calling me because he got my number from the seller’s agent, I am not the one soliciting referrals from that RE. I might have done an inspection one day for a buyer who happens to have John as his RE. Then on another day, that John becomes the Seller’s and buyer’s agents and happens to refer me to the buyer because he liked my work not because I “solicited” referrals from him. Now, I am either going to have to refuse the job because of possible ethics violations or I will have to add yet another paragraph in my already getting too long contract.
I do appreciate wanting to protect us are our ethics as much as possible, but why add extra “ethical” rules when I believe the “Duty to the Public” rule 3 and 8 already cover it?
It’s Jim’s idea , just like the Full-Time Home Inspector logo/idea. Can’t you just make this “The Bushart Ethics Rule” and just have it apply to Bushart or inspectors in Missouri? He would get his way and he would be happy until he thought up another stupid idea.