Don’t worry Greg. If they loose their Real Estate license, they will become Home Inspectors and NACHI members!
Appearantly, the DBPR has no problem taking away Real Estate licenses with one hand. Then, issuing an HI license with the other.
Another reason the HI’s needs their own governing board…
This report is not transferable. It is the exclusive property of Flagler Home Inspections and the clients whose names appear herewith. Its use by any unauthorized persons is strictly prohibited, and agents are specifically cautioned against providing it to any unauthorized third party.
By the way, we have a bunch of realtors who became inspectors when the recession started. Most could not tell you a fuse from a circuit breaker.
I was asked to perform an inspection for a prior client. The first house had too many issues and the client backed out. She wanted me to inspect another home she had an offer on and told me that the Realtor had an inspection report from a previous client and there were no major issues. In short, the roof was at the end of its normal life expectancy. It amazes me how much some realtors will stick their neck out to get a sale.
All Realtors care about is the sale. They are always the thorn in my side whenever they are involved with anything.
They need to memorize the phrase.
The lock box code is XYZ. That is all I want from them and all the interaction I wish to have with them.
A nice lady from DBPR did call me back. I explained what happened and asked what the opinion of the DBPR is? She stated that while that is not the intent of how the report should be handled there are no rules concerning what an agent can or can’t do with a report. Looks like we have another item to add to the rule making list.
aS i THOUGHT 
Greg, should start a list on a new thread?
Can you publish your report in PDF format that does not allow printing? If it can be done, perhaps you can publish your report in that format and offer hard copies to your client, only, for an additional (and discouraging) fee.
The agent is in violation of Florida law. Unless the agent is licensed to perform inspections, she just provided one for a fee. In addition, providing this service…she is in violation of Real Estate law in that the service of providing the inspection has a direct appeal to the transaction where she stands to gain from the transaction. This is an issue for FREC. FREC would make the determination as to whether to sanction the agent.
Need more info on this. How can we claim title when we sell the report to the CLIENT? I would think the client can pass this on to whomever they wish. Fine legal line with the Realtor. (above my pay grade)
FREC said it was a DBPR matter.
You should address it in your inspection agreement.
The Inspection and report are performed and prepared for the sole and exclusive use and possession of the Client. No other person or entity may rely on the report issued pursuant to this Agreement. In the event that any person, not a party to this Agreement, makes any claim against Inspector, its employees or agents, arising out of the services performed by Inspector under this Agreement, the Client agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Inspector from any and all damages, expenses, costs and attorney fees arising from such a claim.
Update;
I have e-mailed the Director of DRE as well as the Corporate Legal Counsel for Florida Realtors for opinions.
We will see their opinions in a couple days.
I like this verbage. Have to run it through legal but it sounds like a great foundation.
The DPBR doesnt care and there is nothing in the law which prevented the realtor from passing on anothers report. The realtor performed no inspection, and is no in violation of law. It is not a criminal matter, it is a civil matter, and would be up to the originator of the report to decide whether to persue legal action against his client and the realtor.
He will likley have to pay legal expenses out of pocker and prove damage to recover any money.
It’s all nice in theory, but the language is really meant to try and protect the inspector from a 2nd party using a defective report.
In California, the inspector is powerless and actually liable to anyone who relies on his report. Ask Russel Ray about the Leiko decision.
Interesting comments. Are you familiar with the DBPR or have you met with the individuals that lead that department in Florida?
I have met and spoken with the people in charge of these departments and they are very much interested in development of the industry and laws that govern the same.
Correct, the person who answers the phone most likely is not too much interested in the situation but if you speak with the proper people you will find a different attitude.
Not to caste aspersion on the individuals who are at DBPR or others like youself who have respect for them but… there are no rules. Until there are HI’s are likely going to suffer a consequence of good faith and proper performance whereby the intended client passes on the home and another buyer recieves an out of date report and later sues the inspector for discrepancys.
Californication of our rules to include the purchase of prior reports from inspectors or the release of information from those reports to other agents and individuals not involved in the transaction it was performed for should be eliminated. This is a matter for DBPR. realtors should not be allowed to broker transactions for this information, nor utilize reports for other clients.
I have been running into this for years, The other inspector did’nt even mention that? Well then. I must be wrong then-not. What we need to do is create legislation to make all real estate agents ethical. Or at least make it a stated unethical practice in real estate law for the info to be passed on between transactions. They might even like that, but it can’t be allowed to go both ways, good luck with that too!
No problem:roll:
I agree with what you are proposing and its intent. Let’s wait a few days and see what flavor of a reply we get from the DRE and legal. I will post the reply here ASAP. This is the FIRST year for enforcement of the new law and it will have growing pains such as this.
We should thank Nick for this Forum so we might past along information and stay in touch.
You are missing something…she ‘bought’ the report from the agent. The agent just furnished a fee paid inspection on her own RE transaction. Not only can she NOT provide inspection services [as she is not licensed to do] but she also stands to gain in the outcome of the inspection/transaction. At minimum, this is an ethics issue for their board or FREC.
Sometimes, the semantics of the question determine the answer.