The…(ahem)…Michigan Association of Home Inspectors (aka ASHI) seems to have bamboozled some folks to put new life in a dead bill.
Do you guys plan to fight this, or is it just time to grab your ankles?
Here are the finer points of the measure being pushed by the make-believe “coalition”:
Let me guess, the REAL charactoristics of the bill are typical of most licensing laws:
Either a lethagic board that only investigates complaints that are considered politically juicy or an over-zealous board that literally socializes the state’s HI industry
A vague and toothless anti-conflict of interest provision that realtors and softie inspectors are free to exploit while clients have a false sense of security
Virtually unenforced and horrendously low standards of practice that significantly increase the amount of unqualified 1-hour-special inspectors
“Character Tests” which consist of nothing more than a simple background check; a method which doesn’t screen out many “character flaws”
Doesn’t outlaw an obvious conflict of interest- Realtor influence in the selection process of a home inspector
A complaint process for clients that is inefficient and leaves many merited complaints uninvestigated
Set penalties that are often reduced or eliminated as a “plea bargain” or a “special circumstance” with the offending home inspector
I would respomd with the following questions:
-
The local AHJ is already in place and being funded. Whey didn’t they find this problem?
-
The Realtor already has disclosure laws. Why didn’t they find this problem.
-
Was the house inspected? Why didn’t the inspector, who serves only the client and has no legal authority (because the local AHJ and the Realtor disclosure laws alreay have the authority of law) call this out.
Why are they blaming the last line of defense when the first two are already in place, and there under force of law?
Think about it.:mrgreen:
This is disclosure issue and the seller should be held liable.
We’ve met with Frank Accavitti many times http://www.nachi.org/semichiganchapter.htm and each time he assured us that the Kindergarten NHIE would not be used in Michigan.
Update: The following came from a recent article dated Sunday August 29th, 2004 and quotes State Representative Frank Accavitti.
Inspect the inspectors
Lawmakers introduce bills requiring home inspectors to receive training, be licensed
By DOUG HENZE
Of The Daily Oakland Press
“While Accavitti says the three major home inspector trade groups-the American Society of Home Inspectors, the National Association of Home Inspectors, and the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors - have signed off on the licensing bill, some local inspectors say they hate the idea.” “Im dead set against it,” said Mel Jacobs, Great Lakes Chapter president of ASHI…
"Accavitti, who already has drafted a substitute bill to address the concerns inspectors have brought to him, said ASHI has tried to establish its test as the state’s. “That’s not going to happen in the state of Michigan,” he said, explaining that the law won’t be designed to give any organization an advantage
I (along with NACHI TV) am going to hold Frank Accavitti to his promise that ASHI’s Kindergarten NHIE will not be used.
Just to set things straight Michigan Association of Home Inspectors is not aka ASHI. It is a group of home inspectors that want to see good licensing. They are members of all organizations, ASHI, NAHI and yes NACHI.
Bill
Who is the president of this coalition and what association does he belong to?
As for Mich AHI not being A$HI driven… they do promote the SE A$HI chapter meetings on their website.
I guess I will have to see if they will post the Great Lakes-East Chapter Events.
As for legislation in Michigan, I have not heard of anything going on in a long time. Is there a new bill that has been drafted? Where can I find a copy of it?
The last time I saw anything it must have been about two years ago and it never made it anywhere.
Some past newsletters:
They are ITA and ASHI driven.
I suppose it is an official acceptance on ASHI’s part that they represent only a small minority of home inspectors and, as a force in affecting legislation, they are too small of a voice.
ITA and a handful of ASHI folks form a “coalition” asking others to join to add legitimacy to their effort. From there, it is a matter of … first and foremost… instituting a mandatory ITA curriculum for licensing. After that, whatever the rest of the guys want.
As a reward for helping, the participating ASHI leaders get jobs teaching the ITA courses.
It’s a scam on the taxpayer, mostly. It’s never hard to find two or three horror stories to take to the media and then exploit them, as if they are representative of a common danger. They tried the same thing, here.
The pattern is the same in every unlicensed state.
Exposing this scam to the legislature is the quickest way of neutering its potential.
Many little state associations have popped up in the last 2-3 years and enjoy some life especially during times of pending legislation, however I see them having a tough go of it in the long haul. NACHI continues to come up with more and more stuff that only an association that has reached a certain critical mass is able to do. And the stuff coming down the pike (take http://www.nachi.org/forum/showthread.php?t=16672 for instance) is so fantastic that it will be hard to capture the attention of the average local inspector by less robust local groups.
These “little associations” are not there to serve their members. They are there to serve the agenda of the handful who form them. Thus, their short lives…
Agreed. An exception to the little groups might be scumbag NAHI, a do-nothing association that had a pretty long run.
But when you peel away the unfair advantage they had of permitting contractors to join them and pose as home inspectors just to drum up repair work… and the work their members procure unethically by bribing agents to recommend them through preferred vendor schemes, they really are walking death.
It is just tough to compete with the going pace www.nachi.org/whats_new.htm these days on Planet NACHI.
Yep.
Very few even try to compete, any more.
There is an alternative to “competition” that a few are trying to use, these days, to gain their advantage.
They call it “legislation”.
It is absolutely pathetic how this “horror story” which blatanly fails to implicate the home inspector of negligence is being used as a catylist for HI licensing reform. The seller and realtor were clearly the guilty parties and therefore should be the ones targeted. And this pathetic, blantanly bias article uses emotional pitches, hearsay and personal opinions as an alternative to legitimate assertions.
It sounds like the “victim turned activist” is nothing more than a jackass who real interest is in being a so-called “hero of the people”. Heck, the article even mentions that he has always had in interest in activism! His true colors are shown by him suing the home inspector, who if insured was a potentially easy litigation target in the transaction, instead of the realtor and seller, who likely would be difficult and expensive to win a judgment against. His lawsuit being thrown out likely shows he lacked evidence that could speculate that the home inspector was in violation of SOP. But I guess none of this matters to those with an agenda …:roll: :roll: :roll:
The NHIE still makes the NACHI test seem like a joke. Why don’t you implement Gerry’s test?
Face it Nick your entrace exam is a joke and does not come close to the NHIE. However , I will give you the fact that this is the only Org. that requires an entrance test.
Pull up the sack and let Gerrys CMI test be the entrance test into NACHI you may not get as many passers, but it will due the Org. good. He has a very well written and well thought out test that 70% of the current home inspectors probably would not pass… If you would implement this test as a gateway it would solidify NACHI’s place as top of the line…
JMO:D
Here is my score and I am not to proud of it.
Your Online Score:
-
You answered 131 questions correctly for a total of 507 points.
Please note that some questions can have multiple correct answers, some worth only partial credit. -
The total possible points you could have received was 583.
Congratulations! You passed the the exam, with a final score of 87
Here are a few statistics about your exam session. Green bars are good, yellow bars are okay, and red bars are bad.
How you fared in each category**Electrical:** 77% **Environmental:** 100% **Ethics:** 100% **Exteriors:** 100% **Fireplaces, Stoves and Chimneys:** 59% **General:** 80% **Heating and Cooling:** 90% **Interiors:** 90% **Manufactured Housing:** 70% **Plumbing:** 100% **Roofs and Attics:** 95% **Safety:** 100% **Standards of Practice:** 87% **Structural:** 81% **Ventilation and Insulation:** 60% **WDI & WDO basics:** 100%
Now , if you could get the membership to pass a test as hard and thougrogh as this one that Gerry has you could take all of the slim compatition down to nothinhg.
I have taken the NACHI test at least 6 times it is a joke! I have taken the NHIE test, it is not easy, at least 10 times harder than the NACHI entrance exam.
I have taken Gerrys tests “CMI” or whatever and I can say without a doubt that it is the most inclusive and by far the most difficult HI exam I have ever taken.
If you as an Org. could make passing this test maditory after one year of membership… NACHI would instantly rule the HI world.
By the way I need some help with fire places…:mrgreen:
To be honest I posted my lowest score on this test hoping to prove a point.
Sorry Gerry, but you know me…:shock: