New Mexico home inspector licensing/legislative meeting in Albuquerque on October 29

Emmanuel … Good post

I was on ASHI’s national legislative committee years ago when they still believed in fighting another profession trying to push us into licensure with no significant public outcry for it, JUST the special interest groups clamoring for it.

I had the privilege of working with at least several states on this, and I gotta tell you, the “Hill to Die On” was not licensure itself; not mandatory E & O insurance; not the test or educational requirements; etc. When pushed to the brink, the one unanimous point the inspectors in other states would NOT go with (their Hill to Die On) was the way inspectors are governed and ruled in TX and the promulgated type report format. Inspectors in other states would if they had to … take about anything else thrown at them but not that.

Life is amazing.

Years ago at inspector seminars in Florida, California, New York, etc … inspectors would talk about a media article in the news, on local OR national TV, etc on BAD inspectors and talk about the quick, cheap, say nothing inspectors AND talk about how they’d get sued out of business and disappear soon. MAYBE 1 or 2 went, but for the most part the minimalists stayed and flourished. WHY?

Because much of the sales force liked that and pushed that, and many customers were too naive or too weak to stand up and say NO WAY … Until something goes wrong.

I know, same swan song, different decade.

Dan,

I’ve been hearing for years how the cheap Minimalist Texas Inspectors will be sued out of business, go out of business, etc. Unfortunately as you know that hasn’t happened and yes part of the reason are the current Texas rules/laws and lack of proper enforcement of them. Again the only way for them to be gone is for Inspectors to raise the bar to get consumers used to better and not cheaper.

I actually like the promulgated report format but I do not care for the rules that cause issues with it. For example you have a roof structure and attic section of the report, a fireplace and chimney section, and a walls section (that covers exterior and interior walls). When you encounter FUBAR siding, FUBAR roof trim, and FUBAR chimney chase siding and trim for manufactured flues then you have separate places for each to be reported in which downplays the significance of FUBAR wood all on the outside of the home that would typically be handled by one tradesperson. OR you can unfortunately work with the system and place it all in the wall section of the report and cross-reference comments in the other two sections referring to the wall section. If you don’t do that and your report does make it to “The Enforcers” you’re most likely going to get hit with a Penalty Matrix fine which is no less than $500 for each infraction.

At one point Texas used to be a model for other States in the creation of their laws but that was when we had people like John Cahill, Russell Strahan, and the other level headed Inspectors on the Inspector Advisory Committee (IAC). Now we have little to no real representation and the rules and laws are going in the toilet. Texas is becoming the model to avoid!

Emmanuel …

Our business is so weird sometimes its beyond amazing. About 2 years ago I was at a TAPREI meeting in Conroe. If memory serves me correctly one of the speakers was on the Texas Advisory Board or similar. I’m going blank on his name.

He was talking about the new changes in the TREC rules / SoP for inspectors, etc.

During the conversation, I asked him why TREC had switched to the NHIE test rather than using the Texas test that had been used for years, ESPECIALLY since Texas is so strongly code related AND other states are not AND since the NHIE test is NOT code related and the Texas test was.

Since I had been on the ASHI national BoD when we set up the NHIE, etc I was very curious about WHY the switch. The 2 main reasons he gave were:

  1. Too many new inspectors were flunking the Texas test even with 3-4 times the required training of any other state, and they had been told the NHIE had a higher passing rate. GREAT, lets not beef up the training, lets dumb down the passing.

  2. Because over 16 states use it in their licensing, if Texas also used it … They could have reciprocity if an inspector moved. Think about what I just said … Do you think that if an inspector from a state with a requirement of 60 hours of training and the NHIE to be licensed moves to Texas … Will TREC reciprocate and license him. BET money on No Way. Therefore if TREC don’t take say Illinois inspectors WILL the other state take Texas inspectors AND reciprocate.

I’ve been told by friends at the NHIE that only 2 different sets of states reciprocate with each other.

Blew me out the door listening to the guy talk, since he obviously believed what he was saying. I think he was from Dallas or Houston.

Dan,

Texas continually lowers the entry bar. A few years ago against strong objection from many Inspectors TREC lowered the passing score from an already low 80% to 75%. They gave the same reason that too many people were failing the test. IMO they should be raising it to 90% or better to help ensure some quality!

The reciprocity excuse for adopting the NHIE is a popular one. What it really boiled down to is TREC achieved autonomous status and must now fund themselves. All they contribute to the testing process is Texas specific inspection items such as rules and regs. That saves a lot of time and money on their part. The NHIE crew was just smart enough to see what was occurring here and take advantage of it by pushing it to TREC.

As for accepting reciprocity Oklahoma does accept our license but I believe TREC requires their license holders to take additional training to obtain a Texas license. I really have not heard of any others than LA after the hurricanes that forced so much relocation here.

And a new InterNACHI Chapter: http://nm.nachi.org/newmexico/event1213.html

Ok…I live in NM So I have my house up for sale FSBO…who Realtors hate. So we were thinking bout hiring a realtor. we sit down and we were talking with the realtor about home inspection without telling her I am certified by internachi and AHIT and am certified and licensed by state of NC And she was blurting out that a home inspection doesn’t expire. I said wait…I asked…a home inspection doesn’t expire?? I say…and look her in her eyes and say…Are You Sure??? She says yes…then I say… Your sure about this … Then she says… I dont think it does. So I was under the impression for the 6 month realtor contract she would use the same inspection to me. Then she goes on to say. She Has 3 inspectors but really one in particular that she recommends due to the fact that he is nick picky to a point! But not too bad…hmmm… Also she mentioned that she’s first one to get the report and distributes it to others like buyers and anyone else that needs it. Would this be because NM has no licensing?? Where the report can goto anyone and no code of ethics are followed. I even asked her about the bill that was drafted for NM licensing. She indicated that she wasn’t a where of it.

And as a side note… Get this… We consumers here in NM have to pay tax on their commission. We are the only state in the country having to do that. Now explain that to me.

Gary …

10 years ago I had 2 friends in NM that were home inspectors (Albuquerque I think) . All they ever talked about was how the REA’s in their area constantly told buyers that home inspections were not needed ONLY a home warranty AND worked real hard to keep buyers from getting inspections.

I’m sure thats different today…

Same tune today, Dan.

Another reason that REA’s push for licensing is so they can push liability onto the HI’s, get basic reports, and to do it all legally. With licensing of HI’s, they do not have to “soft sell” home buyers into not getting an inspection. With licensing, all inspectors will be basic, cheap, and non-alarmist.

Any state licensing is a scam, instigated by the REA special interest groups, and any HI law or regulation only benefits them; never the home buyer.

I am sure there are languages in every HI law, where you can go above the rules and regulations, and charge a higher fee. But why would an REA suggest that HI, when all they have to do is suggest a licensed, basic, HI?

State HI licensing is dumbing-down our profession, but many HI’s do not see it that way, and want to hide behind the laws also.

It takes special education, sponsorship, ride-alongs, and months to be an appraiser, who is involved in the RE transaction. HI’s should be the same. So, why don’t the REA’s push for that?