Were they heels or pumps? Personally, I would never wear heels to an inspection.
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Interesting, as at first I understood this thread to be about herself or a partner inspector in her company.
After reading her ‘reply’, I now feel she is/was the Buyer that attempted to buy this property and is now butthurt because she ‘lost out’ on this investment property, whether due to her own mistakes or not.
Her descriptrion of the “Inspector” fits very well into the “Field Services” category, which is full of out-of-work and starving Realtors!
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Darlene, you remind me of my wife. Often, when she asks me for “my opinion”, she isn’t really asking for my opinion. What she is asking for is her opinion … in a deeper voice.
You obviously want to believe that the person who wrote that your roof is failing can be sued for saying so. In that regard, you want a home inspector to agree with you. Certainly, anyone can be sued for anything. You can even be sued for suing the inspector who said your roof is failing. Everyone is “liable” to everyone, when it comes to lawsuits.
Successful lawsuits, however, are contingent not only upon the facts of the case but the laws and precedents established within the jurisdiction where the suit will be filed. For that information, you should not trust the internet. As others have told you, you should seek legal advice from an attorney where you live.
Best of luck.
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The only way I can see this being handled is through litigation and the courts. I do a good amount of expert witness work and I have learned over almost 25 years as an EW that you actually have three sides to the issue:
- The Plaintiffs opinion or view.
- The Defendants opinion or view.
- Then the truth to the entire issue at hand!
It is time to hire an attorney and let them guide and direct you on what the next steps are. But you need to be ready for long ride if you move forward with litigation and even if you win and obtain a monetary judgment that does not mean you will ever see any money from it!
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Many times people get this confused. “The VA/FHA is going to send out their own inspector/appraiser…”
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That would be up to you to prove.
There is nothing that says what a HI can’t comment on. As a matter of fact:
(c) This rule does not limit home inspectors from:
- Reporting observations and conditions or rendering opinions of items in addition to those required in paragraphs (7) through (16) of this rule; or
None of the rest of that stuff in your last paragraph applies either.
Sounds like this incident applies to your house sale. 
Yes, I’m making an assumption based on the facts provided in your post. Or am I deducing all of this?
The bank is the client here. We do what we are contracted to do for the client, not the owner. If you want to sell your house, it needs a loan sometimes to accomplish that. You have the right to not let your house be inspected. It could be listed “As Is” if this is your desire. The bank or any buyer can add a contingency for the sale to go forward. In this case, it seems that you now have the option to replace the roof, or find another buyer that may or may not require another inspection. You also can reduce the sale price and let the buyer take care of it (if they already have a loan approved, or cash in hand).
Hope this helps.
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For those that missed or didn’t catch it… here’s the “crux of the biscuit” of the OP’s issue…
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When I do a bank inspection and letter, I have learned only to list the specific items requested to inspect on the letter and only comment on those items. If the bank sends you to a home to look at basement moisture, only comment on basement moisture and what contributes to the issue. You are only asked to comment on what they send you there for. I used to comment on other stuff only for the bank to call me back and ask me to remove the items they didn’t request me to comment on. They only need to respond to something the appraiser flagged.
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Hello Darlene,
Can the Inspector be held responsible for the outcome of this situation? Anything is possible but it will take more information than you may have access to regarding the situation. That is where a good Attorney comes into play. If you can find one that can think outside of the book (basic law books and procedures) that is what you want.
The first thing is to determine exactly what was requested by the lending agency. That will require seeing any communications they had about this request and I seriously doubt they are going to hand those over under typical conditions. That would most likely require starting a legal action and the Attorney can then demand that information on discovery motions.
If the lending agency did call for an actual “Inspector” to inspect the home the Attorney may well then look at this “65 year old real estate woman” to determine if she is holding herself out to be a competent Inspector who can fulfill the request. Unless the requested function by the lending agency required the use of a licensed individual of some specific type to “inspect” then anyone can fulfill their request and it comes down to a competence issue.
There are many angles to this issue that we are obviously not aware of which would make it difficult to provide even a WAG of an answer. This really is something that should be brought up with an Attorney. The Attorney, if any good, will go well beyond the items I have highlighted here and be able to obtain the information needed to pursue any legal remedies.
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Darlene,
You’ve reached the website of a professional home inspection certification school and organization.
If the inspector was certified, then it’s time for you to determine by whom and when, and look up the applicable standards. If your inspection report had a disclaimer or scope of work, it’s time for you to read it.
It’s nobody’s job on this forum to weigh evidence or responsibility for the event you describe.
Consider for your next job hiring a professional certified and where applicable licensed inspector.
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Your comment, "
Something tells me we arent hearing back from this one…We are missing alot of the story that she doesnt want to spill." is how…
I am the homeowner and a Student 0f INTERNACHI. It interesting that nobody has given an answer past the assumption of the roofs condition.
I did hire an attorney and sued the home inspector and the lending agency and won.
The judge ruled in my favor. reasons being:
1.)The " Home Inspector’ had no education in how to conduct a Home Inspection and being a realtor for over 20 years didn’t qualify her to be doing Home Inspections, outside the realm of real estate sales.
2.) She had no knowledge or experience in construction, specifically roofing, to be able to determine what causes a roof to fail and what to look for in a failed roof, especially without going up on the roof, to actually see the condition of the roof.
3.) She did not have a good enough understanding of the word catastrophic, it’s definition a how to use it and to use it in the context that she did, was nothing more than an assumption and not a direct fact of the condition of the roof
4.) The Lender specifically stated internal inspection only, then ahe had no obligation or right to comment on anything beyond the interior of the home, for which she skipped key aspects of an internal inspection, not performing critical steps, such as checking the plumbing, electrical and appliances, but chose to comment on several external items, some not being of any value to a hone inspection, such as garage was cluttered and back bedroom used for storage ( we had just had our fridge water dispenser stick, the week prior and flood the house, so I had moved some furniture in the back bedroom til the tile floor was finished.
The judge stated from the pictures, the roof did not look like there was any catosteophic failure, there was a patch that looked compromised, but with the pictures taken from on the roof itself, one could tell that the roof had been repaired and other than a coat of paint, most likely no longer leaked.
If this is true, which I doubt, why did you ask if a home inspector you presumably had already successfully sued was liable?
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Hey dumbass… PAY ATTENTION!
That wasn’t even my comment!
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The details and timeline of your story are confusing. Three days ago, you were asking if the home inspector could be held liable. Yet today you had already hired an attorney and won the case.
If the inspection was limited to the interior of the home, why are you concerned about the age and how the inspector was wearing. Seems a little creepy and judgmental.
It seems extremely questionable that a lender would not care about the exterior of the home but wanted the appliances covered in the report to determine if they would loan you money.
I thought you were a student of INACHI. These questions are pretty elementary in the learning process.
Which story are you going with? Your statements are contradictory. You say that there are no regulations, and anyone can become an inspector. But the judge ruled that the inspector did not have proper education?
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This is how the Police, Attorneys, Juries and Judges determine who is lying when the facts are not clear.
Just sayin’.
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Hey, I was happy with you taking the punch for that one! 
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Oh, I am sure you were, but there was no way I was going to take credit for your words.
(I’m NOT Robert Young, don’t cha’ know)!!
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Darlene:
So, reading through this thread and your comments, it appears you are the seller who lost a sale. At the time you made this post, it appears you already received a judgement from a court that the inspector was not qualified to do this work. It appears you already answered your question, “Is inspector liable”.
Clear and straightforward communication would have been appreciated. Sorry you lost the sale. You are not a home inspector as I first thought. You are not an appraiser as I thought later on. You are not the buyer either. There will be another buyer. Consider having a NACHI Certified home inspector perform a “Move In Certified Inspection” of your property and home, top to bottom, inside and out. You can then sell it “as is” and not have to go through this problem again.
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Things that make you go HMMMM.
This from 4 days ago:
To this 3 days ago:
To then this today:
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