Columbus Board of REALTORS adopts InterNACHI suggested inspection language.

General Inspection Topics Legislation, Licensing, Ethics & Legal Issues
1

From: Kathy Elliott [mailto:kelliott@columbusrealtors.com]
Sent: Monday, March 21, 2011 11:46 AM
To: Mark S. Cohen
Cc: jane@cohenslaw.com
Subject: RE: InterNACHI

Mr. Cohen,

It was the decision of the Board of Directors of the Columbus Board of Realtors, at its February 23, 2011 meeting, to approve of the following revised standard clause # 402:

402 Qualified Inspector Clause
The inspection and/or tests provided for in the paragraph titled: “Inspections and Tests”, shall be conducted by a qualified inspector who is either a registered architect, qualified engineer or an inspector who is a member in good standing of a national home inspection association. Radon inspections must be conducted by a state and/or EPA licensed inspector. The elections available under the paragraph titled: “Inspections and Tests”, are not available to the Buyer unless the inspection and/or tests are conducted by a qualified inspector.

This clause is now available through our website along with the on-line forms subscription program available to the membership.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kathy Elliott
Senior Administrative Assistant
Columbus Board of REALTORS®
2700 Airport Dr
Columbus, OH 43219
P: (614) 475-4000 ext. 233
F: (614) 475-4091
kelliott@columbusrealtors.com
ColumbusRealtors.com

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2

Can you have a letter sent to my local Board? Most of their Realtors are still referring uncertified inspectors. Sad but true.

3

IMO, state licensing does not help as it was intended. Licensing is only a basic, standard requirement. Definitions on “qualified” , “certified”, and “registered” are different in most all states. This is very confusing to a home buyer, and should be spelled out if contracts are used. Even newer state laws and regulations should define the differences.

Just as in any industry, just because you are a member of the bar association does not make you a good, qualified, and educated attorney. Just because you have a license to practice medicine does not make you a good doctor. On, and on we can go on this subject.

Special interest groups are pushing these basic requirements to put basic reporting into play. This causes low cost, basic, cheap inspections and reporting. This same philosophy is happening in the appraisal industry. New, basic, third-party rules were put into play to help ease fraud, and actually these new rules allowed their part of the real estate industry to go the other way, and hurt the home sales industry drastically throughout our nation. Most all lenders are now having to get multiple appraisals, some times three to five, all to get the home to appraise. This causes multiple fees that the consumers must now pay for.

It is very sad, not only for me, but for home buyers, that all of these new rules, regulations, licensing of inspectors from home to radon to termite, are all causing more confusion in our industry than ever before. Now, being a CMI, having licensing from soup to nuts, has actually caused my business to be half what it was years ago. Sure, the economy has hurt, but homes are still selling. I truly believe that RE’s are just selling homes AS IS, and are no longer suggesting our services, all just to be able to sell a home, and not to care about the needs of the home buyer.

4

What this language does mostly, is remind real estate agents that the home inspection industry is a profession, like engineering. And that real estate agents, and their clients, have a duty, a contractual duty, to find a qualified inspector.

5

It also helps the inspectors in unlicensed states. There is a less need for licensing if Realtors would just refer qualified inspectors.

6

And that is where the true problem lies. Agents are so scared to hire a certified master inspector, as that would surely cause the chance of a home buyer to walk away from a home purchase to increase. We are more likely to find more defects than a basic, state licensed inspector.

I heard recently that a home buyer hired a home inspector at $249 including termite to inspect his 7,500 sq. ft. home that he was purchasing for $1.2 million upon of the advice of his agent.

Simply incredible. Until local and national RE associations step to the plate and demand more high quality RE transaction parameters, cheap low cost repair persons, home inspectors, radon testing companies, termite exterminators, and conflicts of interest all are the norm.

7

I think the national home inspector associations should demand it from the real estate associations. I guarantee Realtors do not want any bad press about them not requiring certified (on-going training) home inspectors during their real estate transactions. It would also increase membership in the national home inspector associations.

8

This is bigger than most realize. We are starting to get some precedent established that makes choosing a home inspector based on price (or anything other than merit) agent malpractice.

9

MEMBER IN GOOD STANDING ??

I sended my application in last week to NACHI, ASHI, NAHI and they cashed my check OR ran my credit card.

Am I a member in Good Standing?

I see nothing about being certified, qualified, tested, etc.

Am I missing something here.

10

“member of a national home inspection association” is a phrase used by many governments including Florida (for grandfathering), Alabama, Pennsylvania, etc. It doesn’t mean you do a perfect inspection every time, but it does indicate that you are more serious than someone who isn’t a member of a professional trade association.

11

As Kansas is a right to work state, new home inspection laws back-fired when a line in the new proposed laws had to be changed that “required” you to be a member of a “national home inspection association”. There are other states with rules in place that do not force you to be a member of a “union” or other “organization”.

Just another reason the state laws vary so much in our industry, and cause confusion. Until the NAR and all other local and state RE associations step up to the plate and set their own inspector, contractor, appraiser, etc. recommendations and rules, in the long term may actually hurt their own industry.

IMO, the days of the real estate agent are numbered anyway. They need to wake up, and set their own precedents, and clean-up their own before it all goes away. Perhaps the day will come when the home inspector and/or attorney will be actually in charge of the whole RE transaction instead of the RE agents and office brokers.

12

So is NACHI going to just do baby steps or actually do the walk on this issue?

13

We already provide each member with his/her own educational transcript which can be used to demonstrate merit. Members can also download and print their course completion certificates.

For the Columbus Board of REALTORs (which requires membership), members can download and print their InterNACHI membership certificate or direct interested parties to their membership webseal.

14

So it is baby steps?

If it worked in Columbus, why not the rest of the Boards, especially in unlicensed states?

Nick, you have always showed us that after something starts to snowball, it will only get bigger. So why be so hesitate?

15

Illinois does not allow even Architects or “qualified engineers” to “Inspect 2 or more systems of residential real property (regardless of size of number of units) for a fee as part of a Real Estate transaction (i.e., under a contract of sale)”. Only state licensed HIs.

I have nailed more than a few GCs, Architects and moonlighting municipal code inspectors who are “referred” the agents.

Hope this helps;

16

Why have state licensing laws if you cannot enforce them? The only way to report someone doing wrong is for you, yourself, to do the reporting. Then, your reputation is shot.

Here in Kansas, RE’s, insurance agents, engineers, contractors, architects, even modular home salesmen are exempt from home inspection laws. I know there are engineers in Kansas doing home inspections, and not abiding by any law or rule. RE’s in some offices are doing home checks.

Who wants to cry foul? No one.

http://www.linkedin.com/news?actionBar=&articleID=438869963&ids=0SczARczAMd3gIcPoVejoUe3cQb34Ne3APdzgPd2MVcjgNdPsVcPgIdPoNd30Oe3cQ&aag=true&freq=weekly&trk=eml-tod-b-ttle-44

Now, the NAR wants to raise RE dues for “political” purposes. Sad what is going on these days. There is no value to the word ethics.

17

Gary

Foul, foul, foul, and foul

http://flnachi.org/iccvshi.html

18

Nick, Thanks for all of your help in getting this matter cleared up. Now INACHI and other orgs are all on the same playing field instead of being excluded as it was in the last written form.