Disclosure to Seller

Recently did a home inspection for a home buyer in a rural area. Home vacant with lock box. Client Agent present. Client, home owner, home owner agent all absent from the inspection. Not an ideal situation. During the inspection I noted a small leak from a sharkbite valve below a toilet in the home.

The offer was withdrawn from the property for other reasons… am I liable if it has been leaking more or suddenly fails completely?

Should I contact the seller agent of the vacant home and advise them of the leak?

Thanks in advance!

Nathan Hayden
Home Inspectors Hawaii LLC
(808) 796-4414

I would contact the seller agent as a courtesy. But, he knows it is leaking is my bet. And, no you wouldn’t be liable, Nathan, IMHO.

Oh, and welcome to our forum, too, Nathan! :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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If there is something that should get immediate attention, I always let the seller or seller’s agent know. Just this week I informed a seller’s agent of a melted wire in a panel. I may not have been liable, but I would have felt pretty bad if something happened and I didn’t say anything.

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Not your problem if you reported it. Your client got the report AND most likely his agent AND maybe the sell or his agent. After that its no longer your concern

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But if not included in A SUMMARY section, what makes you think either agent would read past the Summary

Surely a GOOD agent reads more than the SUMMARY … IF an inspector uses a Summary

In return for this release, you have paid me $_____. I understand this will be the sole consideration for this release.how much is this fee usually. First inspection and trying to navigate all the little details. Any help is appreciated

Why would anyone read PAST a Summary? By definition, a Summary is located at the END of the report!!

So why do the reports always hve the summary at the beginning.

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Inspectors sukking up to realtors.
Note, I haven’t provided a Report Summary in over ten years… since about 2008.
My clients attend the inspection 90% of the time, so I guess one could say my Report IS the Summary!!

This is one reason why I like Spectora. A button at the top of the report lets you switch between Full report or Summary. I am not concerned with which one they view but I do encourage all clients to read the full report.

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Exactly the objective of Spectora.
I’d bet you have no clue how this came to be with Spectora, do you?
I’ll just say this… very heavy input from the RWS/Thornberry Inspector Forum.

You’re right, I don’t. But realtors like the ease of use. Realtors do not want to go through the entire report. They see report after report after report and they already have the fluff memorized. They just want to cut to the chase.

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So eliminate the fluff, which many reports are full of. That’ll cut your report in half at least.

FYI: I do include a summary, but it is at the Bottom. If they want to get to it all they have to do is look at the index and click summary. HG has the same option just click summary at top of page and get the PDF copy.

Also, in my area it is the client that chooses what items in the report that they want addressed, not the agent, at least most of the time. And the client reads the entire report, the majority of time in my experience.

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Correct, but the agent is the one who has to put together the proposal normally.

FYI like you have not included a summary for years. The reason lazy agents, they do not want to read the report, they want to interupert it for the buyers.

Which is why I prefer MY clients attend the inspection. I get first crack as discussing the home and it’s true condition. My clients get all the time they need (within reason) to ask questions and interact with me personally so that they fully understand what THEY need to understand. I make followup calls and am always available to them for their questions/concerns. Interestingly, they very rarely have any when I get done with their walkthrough. A large part of this is due to their expectations being set up front by ME, not the realtor!

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That’s no small leak! Why wouldn’t you advise whomever you could about it?

I think the summary is helpful for both the client and the agent. I tell my client, there will be a summary at the end of the report you can use as a checklist. And of course, when I send the report via email…I say this: “I have attached your inspection report, I recommend you read the entire report”.