Beware of a particular buyer

Hey fellow inspectors. If a guy named Aly Ladha calls you for an inspection in South Florida, do not take the job. We did an inspection for him and he did not pay us for the service. He did not attend the inspection, his realtor did. We billed him, gave him multiple ways to pay and he kept giving us the runaround. Beware of this guy! Scumbag!!!

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Is the purchase still going forward?

Send a Bill to the Realtor.
They are a Legal Representative of the Client, and a good lawyer can have a field day pushing that agenda!!

Also… NEVER perform an inspection without being paid prior to the start of the inspection, whether on-site or online!
NEVER be that desperate that you will do anything to waste your time and money working for FREE!!

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I have a rule for clients not attending, sign the inspection agreement and email it to me by 9 pm day before inspection, 2nd, inspection fee must be paid by 9 pm day before, I clearly state if this isn’t done inspection will be canceled, no exceptions.

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Inspection agreements and payment are due 24 hours prior to scheduled inspection if client isn’t present. If client will be present the agreement is signed 24 hours prior to inspection and payment is made on site prior to inspection. This has worked for me 100%.

If your inspecting property before being paid you are a fool. A fool and his money are soon parted.

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Chalk it up as a lesson learned. You need to edit your inspection agreement and put in specific wording that payment must be received at least 24 hours in advance. I have changed mine to payment must be received 72 hours in advance.
I’ve had clients who couldn’t do this so I have had the realtor sign the agreement as well and the realtor paid me. The realtor got their money back at closing.
We work too hard to not get paid so change your inspection agreement wording and make sure everyone is aware of your payment policy.
Good luck.

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Yeah, you guys all talk tough but it’s hard to enforce what you are preaching - “if the client won’t be attending.” What if they say they are and then aren’t present at the start of the inspection? Do you just sit in your truck and wait? Do you leave? Require payment 24 or 48 hours prior? What if someone schedules 18 hours before? Or do you just tell them to get lost because you need 48 hours notice? Sure, there are things that help most of the time but it’s possible to get burned… it’s happened to all of us one time or another.

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Payments and signing the pre-inspection agreement are done online and must be completed before the day of the inspection. An automated text and email is sent to them tactfully reminding them to complete those if they hadn’t already done so. I don’t leave my house if they haven’t paid.

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This☝🏻

I walk the walk. Payment 24 hours prior to inspection if the client will not be attending. Payment prior to inspection if the client will be attending. If the client is attending and not present at the agreed start time I’ll wait 15 minutes and call. If there’s no answer I leave. All of this has been written into my agreement that they have signed 24 hours prior to inspection. I’ve have been paid for 100% of my inspections.

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Burned.

I like cash too much to apply that policy :wink:

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I make it as easy as possible to pay for the inspection. They can do it online without any fees (I absorb the fees and factor it into my expenses. The convenience is worth it to me.) So there’s no reason for them not to pay before the day of the inspection. If they can’t under those circumstances, it’s a red flag, and I have a good reason to suspect there will be problems getting payment from them later.

I do as well, example…$450 cc due prior to the inspection or $425 cash at the time of inspection. Many many take the cash option :+1:

I currently cannot recall getting burned, but I suspect it has happened at least once.

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Then what you’re doing is working for you. Through experience, I may decide to do it differently, but for now it’s been convenient. No trips to the bank. :grin:

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