Ok, so I have had two separate ocasions where past clients or realtors have called HomeGauge about not being able to view reports. Both times they told the callers that the reports were still in the system but access had been denied and I would have to unlock it for them. Just curious, has anyone else had an issue with homeGauge telling clients or random agents what’s in the system? FYI, the reason I lock the reports is due to in the past I have had realtors giving the reports to other potential buyers without the permission of the original purchaser. It appears to me that they are breaking a privacy law of some sort.
Sort of, I’ve locked reports a few times over the years (various reasons) and HG has told the client “it isn’t us, contact your inspector” or words to that effect.
It appears that if a client is trying to view a report they previously had access to, for example, HG is advising them that their site isn’t the reason why the report isn’t available right now.
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So you lock all report access on all inspections? How does your client view their report they paid for? It’s not your job to police who gets a copy of the report. The client shares the link with their agent, the agent shares it will the seller and agent for repairs. Maybe the client want to view the report a year later for reference for repairs they are now ready to make, but the report they paid for is locked.
Why do you care who sees your report? I have gotten many new referring agents that were sellers agents who saw my report and liked the format. I don’t use homegauge btw. Sharing reports is going to happen, don’t stress about it just put a note in your introduction that the report is the sole property of the client and the report is not to be shared without permission.
Stop locking your reports on all paid inspections.
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If they have forgot there password etc, that’s fine that HG helps them. I just think it’s unethical for them to release my information without eve confirming who the person is.
William, I think you misunderstood what I said, so I’ll break it down for you a little better. In my service agreement I tell the buyers they are responsible for downloading a copy of the report. I leave it unlocked for the first thirty days, so they have plenty of time to do so and if they need it later I’ll be happy to unlock it again for them. Now, in regards t your comment as to why would I care who shares it, are you serious! What gives realtors the right to share a report that a past client payed for and has now backed out of the deal. All areas are different, where I live realtors are always trying to get the client a free inspection, then once they do, the client that I have never even heard of is calling me wanting to discuss the report. So, should I now have to answer questions for them? So, yes I do have the right to protect the buyer that paid for the report from some other agent freely sharing it. Again, the original purchaser can always have a copy if needed. I simply feel that HG shouldn’t be releasing information about my settings to random people.
I would not discuss the report with them. You just get their info and their agent info and then you inform them that the report they received is copyrighted and they obtained it illegally. You then report the agent to the board.
I just have never had this issue with someone else calling me about a report. I do get the occasional repair contractor call me.
This is an interesting topic to me. We have discussed this question at length with my team. The decision we reached is that we never interface directly with clients of inspectors on our platform. They are your clients. Even if there is an error message on the web report portal or with a payment, we direct them in the error message to contact their inspector. We then work with the inspector (our user) to resolve the issue for their client.
This situation confirms that is the right way to go about it.
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William, unfortunately it is a common issue for local realtors to take the report without the buyers permission and try to use it to help with another buyer. And if we report them the real estate commission, it just causes issues as they then tell others and obviously they try to black ball us So, with all this being said, this is why I lock the reports after either thirty days or as soon as the deal is closed out.
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Sounds like your company is doing it the correct way. I only wish HG could get it through there head to operate that way.