Buying a Home in Kansas or Missouri? Be Careful!

Article from the Wichita Eagle published on 12/26/10. The government and the builders tried to push the blame off on the home inspector…but the citizens are not taking the bait.

The consumers are beginning to speak out. Hallelujah!!!

As soon as the home buyers of Kansas realize that the home inspector, by law, only needs to check one outlet, one window, one wall per room; no appliances, is not required to remove any fixed panel, perhaps then, lawmakers will understand the mistakes they made by passing these so called Kansas home inspection laws.

Anytime anyone hires anyone to do anything, it is always buyer beware. It did not used to be that way. Now, free enterprise is gone, and all businesses are protected by some law, paid for by their associations and special interest groups. Sad for the consumers.

I put in a comment to the writers of the article.

About half the time when I field calls like this the home inspector they refer to ends up being the City / County Inspector - NOT a Home Inspector at all …

In this case, the city and the builders are attempting to shift blame to the buyers’ “private home inspector”. That’s us. The victim, however, is not buying it.

Builders lean on city and county inspectors, because you cannot sue the city, county, or state. I have found several newer homes with no attic insulation, with tags signed-off by the city inspector.

“Oh, yeah. Just sign the tag. The insulation guy is on his way. He will be here after he eats lunch”.

Most counties are no longer using city/code enforcement inspectors due to cost cutting. And, the ones who are still enforcing, do over 100 per day. Sad.

Finger-pointing is becoming an art form.

You can sue the city.

I assisted a man who sued his city for failing to enforce its building codes. Three of his five counts are to be tried next month before a jury.

He is my hero I wish him and you all the best .
If this was to happen a few times I expect we would see a lot of improvement in our systems.

Generally speaking… doesn’t one need “permission” from the city to sue the city (or something like that)?