I just received this email from the Osceola County Association of Realtors - they clearly support the HI legislation. As you can see, they feel strongly about this, since the governor has already vetoed another important bill:
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This is the form e-mail the Florida Association of Realtors is suggesting that every member send to the Governor. This is an outrage to the HI industry that the FAR would make these allegations!
I think that the NAR is leading this effort among its local chapters in every unlicensed state. I know that we are battling them, heavily, in Missouri.
I’m not OK with the calls for licensure, but to say that “every Realtor I know can recount numerous, and often times outrageous, stories regarding incompetent home inspectors.”
It’s too bad that every Realtor is beyond reproach because their licensure requirements have ensured that!
“Realtor” is simply a name that they have trademarked for themselves so that they can be referred to as something other than what they are…salesmen.
In my state, they constitute the largest number of state licensed people with criminal records. I would not think it to be that much different in Florida.
Start throwing the dirt back on them and see if that shuts them up.
A licensed home inspector does not guarantee defects will not go undiscovered. Especially with no SOP to warrant what a HI is looking for.
I sat in the office of the Florida Association of Realtors in December 2006. I met with the leader of FAR, the Home Builders Association, and the Florida Real Estate Commission. They all told me this email would eventually come.
It is a shame that the original text that I modified in November 2006 and shared with these individuals in December is not the text in the Bill today.
They were perfectly happy with the Bill text. We would have had grandfathered everyone currently in business, and would have allowed the National HI Associations and HI Franchises complete autonomy of the Bill.
Keep the calls to the Governor coming in. If you do your part, you can’t blame yourself.
Jay -
I’m not surprised by the email, but by the text. I am PI$$ed at essentially being called incompetent - not just me, but every HI in Florida.
If 150K members know of numerous instances, the law of probability says that there is a story of incompetence of every HI in the state… or else, over 150,000 stories about one guy in Ocala…
And I’m glad they are so concerned about our bill after the nail technician bill was vetoed - they only thing worse than a bad HI is a nail tech who is incompetent…
I resent our industry being called incompetent.
How many times a year do HI get a call from realtors crying about how we blew their deals over petty items or asking us to turn a blind eye because they need the sale.
Here’s an idea.
How about policing your industry first and fumigate those unethical use home sales people you call realtors that would sell thier own mother a piece of **** and leave our industry alone.
Warm wishes
Sam Rivera
Gulf Coast Home Inspections.
I sincerely hope the Realtors feel the same after they start receiving those reports with numerous statements declaring the systems in the home is at or near the end of the normal predicted service life. This is going to have a major impact on their sales; when the buyers start insisting on having updated systems before signing on the line. I fully intend to cover this nebulous area on every single item and every single home I inspect. If it even looks like it is in a degraded state I will making it abundantly clear it is time to budget for replacement. I do not intend to buy anyone an AC, furnace, plumbing systems, etc. and I can state loudly “its the LAW!” I gots to do it! I already do it when warranted but with housing sales already in a slump they are going to feel this. There are going to those times when its borderline and new inexperienced inspector is not going to put their necks on the line. We all know inspectors who have soft peddled reports for years. For this Realtor to say it doesn’t put a dime in his pocket is disengenuous.
At the risk of sounding rude, curt and glib, this was the last line from my most recent letter to the Governor.
“The Realtors in FL support SB2234. That in and of itself should tell you in an instant how truly bad the bill is. No more words are necessary. Please veto the bill.”
Doug,
Unfortunately, it’s NOT the law. As I can see, there is no set SOP or anything to guide an inspector as to what is expected. So, there is no standard for an HI to fall back on. That’s why I say this “consumer protection” is bunk - there’s nothing to protect anyone, so they can’t even use that argument for this legislation!
