Watchthis it gives us ALL a bad rap!
Mario, what I got from that, is, you can not trust your Realtor.
6-8 hours for an inspection!? Kiss my **** lady.
Must have been a Hotel all I could figure----:lol:
I can’t find anything in the BPC that prohibits a Realtor or a Mortgage lender from providing a free home inspection (or anything else free) if they use that person’s services. Upcharging or paying for referrals is a different story. Free is not addressed as far as I can tell.
I had to go back and re-read what this inspector is doing. It isn’t the Realtor or Mortgage lender that is providing the free inspection. The way I read his site, you pay for your home inspection and if you obtain your mortgage through the Home Inspector’s referral to his select group of mortgage companies, you get a rebate on the cost of the inspection.
I guess this means the inspector gets a commission from the mortgage company for his referral. Doesn’t sound ethical to me.
IMHO, realtors should be banned from recommending HI’s…period. **They have a major conflict of interest called “the commision”. **
In June, I did an inspection for a doctor on a $1.3 million, 3,800 sq ft house. The doctor had interviewed 5-6 other HI’s and none that the realtor recommended! (smart man…his family is big in investment properties/construction here) I got the inspection.
Got there and found out the realtor had allowed only 2 HOURS for the inspection. We were in disagreement before the inspection began but the doctor agreed to return for another 3 hours the next day to the dismay of the realtor. The house had been designed and built by the architect brother of the owner. I found 6 code violations in the house, the worst of which was the bedroom windows did not meet requirements for egress!!
The realtor was representing both sides in this sale…commission…at least $32,500 and maybe as high as $40,000. No conflict of interest here!!!
My inspections are quite thorough…only 1 realtor out of over 1000 or so recommends me on a regular basis (he was the realtor that sold me the house I currently live in 16 years ago!) My work comes from referrals and the website.
Brian,
That’s what I got from it as well, add this to Home Inspectors that offer free home inspections [if you use a particular mortgage broker] or a Home inspector that actually does repairs on homes he inspects, or a Home Inspector that charges $49 for an Inspection, and soon clients will only remember one thing and one thing only.
Home Inspectors are not professional and can’t be trusted!
…and this my friend gives us all a bad rap!
It is really up to us to clean up our profession, IMO. We can’t count on the various associations.
This guy is a NACHI member…but what can NACHI really do, other than kick him out? He will still continue to tarnish the image of all of us among the other real estate professionals who can see the obvious conflict of interest and potential to defraud as we all can.
I think that the Kansas guys should take this to their electronic media…asking for the media’s help since the legislature, with their very best efforts, couldn’t even make this disgusting activity illegal. Let the media know that it is actually a dark part of the real estate industry…not the home inspection industry…that needs closer regulation and that the home inspection industry — independent of them — is the tool to keep them honest.
As far as our COE is concerned, he is in violation. All we can do, however, is throw him out if he refuses to cease and desist.
That’s enough for me. We do not need members like that in NACHI. He can join ASHI as far as I am concerned.
Jim, I am not that concerned that he is a INACHI member. Here the the guys with all the complaints at the state are either unaffiliated or ASHI members.
You can not legislate morality. 
But you can affect change through legislation.
Not playing devils advocate, but an honest question…
How is what he is doing a violation of the COE? The inspection is free. There is no undisclosed conflict of interests. Technically he isn’t profiting from the sale of the home, but the mortgage. He’s not getting any payments from agents.
I think he’s walking a fine line, but I’m not convinced he’s technically violated the letter of the COE.