Get a home Inspection

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Canada: Buying A House? Better Get A Home Inspection.
Last Updated: December 9 2014

Originally published on Slaw](http://www.slaw.ca/2014/12/02/buying-a-house-better-get-a-home-inspection/).
A recent decision](http://canlii.ca/t/gfchf) provides another reminder of why prudent homebuyers should always insist on a home inspection.
The buyers agreed to purchase the property without making the sale conditional on a home inspection. However, the contract did include the right for the buyers to have two more viewings prior to closing.
During one of those viewings the buyers brought a family member with them who had experience in the construction industry to function as a home inspector. During the visit the family member, based on what he saw and was told from the seller and her partner, wondered whether there might be a water problem in the finished basement. However, he was unable to tell based on his visit.
The purchasers closed the transaction and sure enough within a month the new owners discovered a foundation leak. They sued the seller for breach of duty of disclosure.
The trial judge considered a long line of authorities and concluded that even if the seller knew of the leak (which was not accepted by the judge) she had no duty to disclose the information in light of the entire agreement clause.
The law in the Province of Ontario is that a seller is prohibited from actively concealing a defect or failing to disclose a latent defect which renders a premises dangerous. Aside from this, a seller is under no duty to disparage the property and may remain silent.
As such, buyers ought to insist on a home inspection clause coupled with a demand for a seller property information statement to properly protect their interests.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

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If the basement was completely finished the inspector may not have caught it either. That would mean that the inspector would have been o the hook as well as the seller. Not trying to be difficult but it is what it is.

I think you may be right! What if the basement was not finished and it was missed? What if it was a structural defect and it was missed? Does the contract signed by the client protect the HI from being sued for missing potentially “dangerous” defects? What if someone is injured or dies because of this missed defect? (assuming the HI specifies all defects may not be detected).

Nothing protects anyone from being sued!:twisted:

Mot even doing a good, proper and thorough inspection.

Hope this helps
Cheers

Fully agree with you non this one. I have never been sued but have taken some phone calls that made me think I might.
Got a call about a month ago saying I had missed asbestos in the home. Turns out they were remodeling and a duct from the first floor to the second floor was wrapped in it. No visible signs until they pulled the wall apart. They figured I should have put on my x-ray vision to find it. :shock::shock:

What!

You don have X RAY vision:shock:
I bet you can’t even predict the future either!
What kind of a home inspector are you Greg ?:mrgreen:

Happy new Year

Well, I’m going to invest in a crystal ball and x-ray glasses.

I think Nick just added them and you can get 'em at inspector outlet now :mrgreen:

Only available to US members at this time!:wink:

:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:frowning:

It may be easier to explain a missed defect if it was not visible at the time. What about the “dangerous” defect that was overlooked and was not hidden? What if an injury occurred, or lots of $$$ had to be spent on repairs?? How does the HI prepare for this type of error?

Essentially the case in the states as well. Some states require that the seller fill out and sign a sellers disclosure document for the buyer.

Since you seem to think that you are on a Pedestal two steps higher than us HI’s, why don’t you answer that question yourself as a SE, if that is what you are and stop hijacking threads put out by HI’s.
I have saved many SE f uck ups in my years of construction, so you make mistakes too, how are you prepared?

E&O insurance =Errors & Omissions

Yes Dave, good blanket for SE’s also.
Fortunately, we as HI’s will most likely not ommit something that will cause the loss of life, but the SE will.

Whose fault was it here? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Row_house

and the list is a mile long.

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