Andy,
Here is a prime example of someone “In the Trades” that did not bother to further his education. This and other examples like this are the reason for making sure that a “Home Inspector” in New Hampshire is required to show a minimum level of competency.
At this point in time their is no, and I repeat no, consumer protection in New Hampshire. It is people like this who give the entire Home Inspection Industry a bad name. It is time to protect ourselves from this type of situation.
{This New Law will also protect the legitimate Home Inspector in many ways. You will learn more on the 24th. Do not forget to RSVP and send in your check.}
January 10, 2006
Unhappy couple sues over inspection
They claim the house was found wanting
By ANN MARIE TIMMINS
Monitor staff
December 19. 2005 8:00 AM
Hope and Tom Ralph say they chose their $377,500 saltbox in Canterbury for its central air conditioning. So they were surprised to find after moving in that it didn’t exist.
According to a lawsuit in Merrimack County Superior Court, the home’s builder, Joseph Harnois of Epsom, and an Auburn home inspector made several false claims about the house that the Ralph’s say will cost nearly $78,000 to remedy. Among the most serious is an allegation that the heating system was so improperly installed that Eastern Propane investigated at the town’s request and shut off the gas. But the well has also run dry, the roof and basement leak, and the driveway washed away, according to their lawsuit.
The case is pending, but the heating complaint alone has prompted the Canterbury building inspector, Jim Snyder, to change the way he issues occupancy permits for newly built homes. He now demands to see a report from the company or department that signed off on the heating system before he’ll issue a permit.
The Ralph’s, who fixed some of the problems and live in the house at 139 Intervale Road, want out of their contract and reimbursement of the $377,500 they paid. They also want their attorney’s fees paid, plus other damages.
The Ralph’s and their attorney, James Rosenberg of Concord, declined comment and referred a reporter to the lawsuit. That lawsuit says the couple wouldn’t have bought the property if Harnois and the home inspector hadn’t assured them in writing that the home was in good working order.
The home inspector, [FONT=Arial]Dominic Scuderi, owner and sole employee of Premium Home Inspections in Auburn, said he did mistakenly confirm that the home had air conditioning when he knew the system was missing a critical part. "I made a mistake saying the (air conditioning) condenser was there," Scuderi said. [/FONT]
He said he has since offered to correct that problem at his own cost but that the Ralph’s refused. As for the Ralphs’s other alleged deficiencies about the well, driveway, roof and basement, Scuderi said he stands by his inspection and saw no problems with the house, which is about 3 years old.
“All I can tell you is that I did a good job,” Scuderi said. “The lawsuit is frivolous. The house is beautiful.”
Harnois, whose wife, Lori, is also named in the lawsuit, did not return a phone call. Rosenberg has asked a judge to attach their $435,000 worth of real estate in Epsom to cover the cost of any damages awarded to the Ralph’s.
Lawyer Earl Carrel of Manchester, who represents the Harnoises, is fighting that attachment and said he would comment only briefly until further court proceedings. “We feel that Mr. Ralph is being unrealistic in his claims,” Carrel said.
The case raises concerns every new home buyer considers: How do you know what you’re getting? And who’s responsible for pinpointing deficiencies?
In this case, for example, Scuderi said he didn’t evaluate most of the items the Ralph’s say are inadequate because he assumed the town’s building inspector had already looked at those items. But the [FONT=Arial]inspection checklist issued by the American Society of Home Inspectors would have obligated Scuderi to inspect things such as the roof, basement, heating system and attic. [/FONT]
Synder, the town’s building inspector, meanwhile, saw his role differently. “My primary responsibility is looking at safety,” he said, explaining that his inspection is not as thorough as a home inspector’s. “The home inspector industry is looking more at value.”
According to their lawsuit, the Ralph’s took considerable steps to make sure the house was without serious defect. They said they asked their Realtor, Steve Gagne, formerly of Hearts and Home Realty in Concord, specifically if the home had central air conditioning. They also asked him to check whether the Harnoises, who lived in the house before they sold it, had trouble with the home’s long steep driveway.
Gagne did not return a phone call, but according to the lawsuit, he told the Ralph’s that Harnois assured him the driveway posed no problem and also disclosed in paperwork for the house that the home had central air conditioning.
That same paperwork also said the well worked and provided adequate water, and that the roof and basement didn’t leak, according to the lawsuit.
[FONT=Book Antiqua]During a walk-through of the home, the Ralph’s said they inquired again about the central air conditioning system and asked Scuderi to turn it on. In their lawsuit, the Ralph’s said Scuderi worked on the system in the attic for about 15 minutes and told the couple that he had the system working. [/FONT]
Tom Ralph said he first discovered that the air conditioning didn’t exist when he arrived at the home in August to paint. When he couldn’t get the air conditioning working, Ralph called Harnois. “For the first time, Harnois admitted that there was in fact ***[FONT=Arial]no central air conditioning system,***” the lawsuit said. [/FONT]
The couple discovered other problems alleged in the lawsuit -the dry well, unstable driveway and dangerous heating system - in the weeks after moving in, the lawsuit said.
Scuderi, who started his home inspection company four years ago [FONT=Arial]after retiring as an electrician, said he is particularly upset with the Ralphs’s lawsuit because he believes they violated their contract with him. He says they are obligated to try to settle their claims through arbitration before going to court. [/FONT]
That particularly irks Scuderi, he said, because Ralph is an attorney with the state attorney general’s office.
Rosenberg responded to that complaint in a court filing and said state law allows the Ralph’s to take their claims to court and prohibits them from waiving that right by going to arbitration.
The case is scheduled for a court hearing next month, where a judge will consider Rosenberg’s request to attach the Harnoises’ real estate.
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By ANNMARIE TIMMINS
Monitor staff