hahaha I’m actually back to work at my normal job! 2 weeks away from home in a tug boat. Is rather be home though for sure! 6 weeks home with the family was awesome!
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Our state has the same rule, the seller is entitled to request the reports performed by the buyer if they’ve backed out of the sale.
The seller and selling agent are not entitled to talk to you though. I would probably have agreed to talk but would not have been overly helpful if their tone was demanding…
Good luck man.
That is just how I handled those situations, Dominic.
Why are you concerned about talking to them? The contract between the LA and your client was terminated, which means your contract with the client is terminated as well, which is really irrelevant. Even if it wasn’t terminated, that doesn’t mean you can’t talk about it with others, especially if your client gave them the report. You obligation is to not provide the report, but it doesn’t prevent you from talking to them. If someone asked you for directions, would you tell them that you don’t have to answer cause you don’t have a contract with them? I would say you can talk to them without being in violation of any contract with your client, and that you can say whatever you want or feel comfortable saying, there is nothing that prevents you from talking to them. If they didn’t already have the report, you couldn’t give them a copy, or discuss what was in. If you don’t want to talk to them cause you feel it will get contentious or argumentative, then just don’t talk to them. But there is nothing legally that says you can’t talk to them or that you don’t have to talk to them.
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As Patrick said, this is how it works in many states. Regardless of what you put in your reports/contracts, you can not tell them what they can/cannot do with the report after it’s been delivered to your client. That would be up to the client.
HOWEVER!
The Agents can share the report as their rules state. But they can NOT share You!
You do not have to spend your time answering their stupid questions. “Read the report”.
You should have in your agreement /report that you are not responsible for third party interpretation of your report. The report is for your client only regardless of who gets their hands on the report.
If you should end up in court at some point over a third party dispute, you would have to answer to the judge and to lawyers in deposition. But that is generally about if you wrote the report or not. What did you observe and why did you add it to the report. If they ask something other than what is in the report, just say you don’t remember at this time… “It’s not in the report and a can’t recall”.
Generally I answer the REA’s question so long as they don’t become accusatory towards anyone. They can hire me to look into anything they have question about. $500/day plus expenses.
I’d call my client and be sure they are out of their contract and get their info on what they may know what is going on before proceeding.
I can call them stupid questions but I think “combative” is more accurate in my experience so far. I’m “the new guy” so I’ve been called by nearly every listing agent because of how thorough I am. 
They’re apparently not happy that I call out things “their” inspectors don’t.
I will say that I do a great deal of research and posts on here to make sure what I’m doing and saying is correct so I don’t fret too much by their combative questioning.
I need to start working on my agreement again. I’ve had a lot of great tips.
Already did. See my newest post for more to this modular home in question. Thanks for your post!
If combative, I just hang up on them…
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That’s what I did, too.
Personally I would refer her back to the person who gave her the report and suggest she ask them to explain what they found concerning in the report and why they backed out. Anything i would tell her would be based on my risk tolerance and would have little to add to the fully documented report.
JMO
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This situation has almost nothing to do with the legality of who has the report, or discussing it with the LA, etc. It’s really about what Jake said here:
They don’t really have questions about the report here, Jake. They are trying to intimidate you or get you to change how thorough you are. I’ve had similar experiences with a few LAs in my area. Here’s how I respond to LAs who take this approach: “I’m happy to answer any technical questions you have about any defects found during the inspection. Here’s my email address, you can send the questions there and I will respond when I have time.” Somehow that email never arrives… I also make it clear to them that their phone call will not change the way I inspect or report, which usually ends that call pretty quick.
Just keep doing what you’re doing Jake, you’ll be fine.
In terms of the legality of whether the LA has any right to the report, that varies state by state. Here in MD, a buyer could write a contract with an AS IS, right to terminate only clause. Meaning they can do the inspection and walk for any reason after the inspection. In this case, they typically do NOT give the report to the LA or seller. The buyer’s agent does this as a courtesy to the LA, so that they don’t have to disclose to the next buyer. So a LA may want to know why they walked in that case. In this type of case, you should refer them to the buyer’s agent before answering any questions, because there are disclosure issues that may arise. Not sure if this is the same in AK. Do everything in writing/email. What would happen if you had a verbal discussion with the LA agent about defects on that property, then by chance the next buyer hires you also, but the seller didn’t disclose any of those defects? Could be a mess.
These kinds of situations and understanding the politics of this business are a huge weakness in HI education, something that varies state to state, and really needs to be improved by our industry as a whole.
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She attempted to get some answers out of me but was met with me dismissing her questions and told her multiple times to email me any concerns she has and I’ll answer them as soon as I can. She said it’ll be a few days and I said that’s perfectly ok. That was the end of the phone call.
Your post is pretty much my experience with LA. No calls for information, just calls for intimidation.
Yeah that’s what I thought. She won’t email you. Just keep being thorough and don’t change the way you do your inspections for any agent.
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A good friend of mine is a REA and the only agent I get consistent work from. We knew each other before we both got into the game. He’s got a spine and loves how thorough I am. He gets emails back for every inspection asking why the hell I was so thorough and shocked that I was. He just emails them back saying “that’s right he’s thorough and that’s exactly why we use him!” The listing agents for his sales I’ve never heard from so I’m curious if he does damage control in those emails haha. Every call I get are agents not associated with transactions with him.
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Yes, these are the only types of agents that work with me regularly. The ones that want their buyers to really understand what they are buying and aren’t afraid to do some real negotiating after the inspection when it’s warranted. The ones that aren’t afraid to work for the buyers.
I’ve had experiences with really crappy agents who say things like: “Well if you find anything that costs more than $5,000 total during the inspection, that’s going to be a real problem.” or “Is replacing a roof something that you typically get done after an inspection?” There are two very distinct paths in this industry and every inspector must choose which one they are taking. You’re going the right direction so just stick with it.
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That’s my plan!
Well never got that email. She did say one thing on in the phone call that I didn’t respond to but looked into and I could reword my narrative to. I’ve been writing up attic spaces that are under insulated. My narrative says that the DOE requires attic spaces in climate zone 7 to have an r value of 49 and I recommend to add insulate to meet that. Technically, homes built 2009 and later require that but they recommend that all other bring it up to that. Which I kind of state that but could word it better.
She did say “that home was built with adequate insulation (1971) and doesn’t need any more.” That’s when I ignored her and said just email me.
Oh well
Using that “logic”… Cars in the US weren’t required to have seatbelts until 1968… so… I guess all vehicles prior to 1968 had “adequate safety restraints” and didn’t need anymore???
I actually laughed out loud reading this because I use this exact analogy when explaining attic insulation. This agent hasn’t been the first to say it was adequate when it was built.
I say: vehicles in the 50’s didn’t have seat belts. Do you think today’s safety standards are as adequate as they were in the 50’s? Or have studies been done to show that there’s better more efficient ways to do things?" That gets them every time.
Honestly though, nothing is better than seeing my client realize that they’re not being represented the best they can be.
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In my neck of the woods, the seller’s agent gets a copy of the report if the purchaser backs out of the promise to purchase.
Mortgage issue the same thing stands.
If the sale does not go through, the listing agency has the legal right to get a copy of the report or any other written disclosure as to the reason/s the purchaser backed away from a pending promise to purchase.
Whenever an agent says this to me I just say “Well you can sell it at the 1971 price then.” You should see the reactions that gets. LOL
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