PA Compliance
In tonights meeting at the NACHI Berks County Chapter meeting the following address was presented by me. I urge all Pennsylvania Inspectors to copy this and hand carry it to the Real Estate Agents, REALTORS, and Brokers in their area. I also encourage you to send a copy to your local legislators and media outlets.
NACHI and PA Compliance
The National Association of Certified Home Inspectors was founded in 1999 as a non-profit association under Federal rules concerning Tax Exempt (501) © (6) associations. Since it’s inception NACHI has evolved into the largest inspection association within the State of Pennsylvania as well as North America.
As of Thursday, 27 July 2006 NACHI membership in North America is at 8,673. NACHI membership in the Keystone State is at 678.
For an extended period of time now there has been a declaration being circulated maliciously and with ill intent by a self proclaimed group here in Pennsylvania. That group being known as the Pennsylvania Home Inspectors Coalition or PHIC. It is my intentions here and today to put this opinion declaration to rest.
To begin with we need to take a long hard look at the deceitfulness of this self-imposed group. To do this, I will quote from thier website: “NACHI: Responded with only verbal communication and directon to their web site. Continued requests have gone unanswer and formal complaint was submitted to the AG for further action. It is PHIC’s opinion, that due to a lack of verifiable responses, and continued refusals, NACHI is not compliant.”.
Well first of all the Pennsylvania State Attorney General’s office has reviewed all of PHIC’s complaints and conjectures and has rejected all of them citing them as being irrelevant and malicious in nature. You may have noticed that PHIC makes no mention of this on their websidte and in fact have ignored the advice of the Attorney Geneal’s office and continue with their barrage of malicious lies and deceit.
Secondly, I would like to address to the specific and self serving brash PHIC statement that reads, “Continued requests have gone unanswered”.
Never a truer statement has been uttered by this group. Neither NACHI nor the State of Pennsylvania recognizes PHIC as having any authority in PA. In fact the State Attorney Generals Offices have addressed PHIC about their questionable ethics, and have strongly suggested that they cease and desist with their declaratory judgments. As evidenced previously this has been intentionally ignored. In addition the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors, PAR issued a statement to all Realtors in Pennsylvania declaring it inappropriate for them or anyone to determine the compliancy of any association. I quote from their letter, “While the law defines the criteria to be a “national home inspection association,” it is somewhat vague and doesn’t give any governmental agency the authority to determine the compliance status of an association”.
Again I ask. Where is the follow-up to this original letter? Why has PAR not released the results of the Courts ruling on 13 June 2005, whereas Justiice Thomas G. Glavin ordered and decreed that the Default Judgment entered on May 6, 2004 is hereby STRICKEN? Is it PAR’s intention to stifle and restrict the practicing home inspection business’s that are associated with NACHI?
Today I was made aware of a very disturbing letter that I will present to NACHI’s Board of Directors for further consideration. Within that letter a local Berks County Real Estate Firm vehemently denied the Home Inspection report of a local Francise owner who is associated with NACHI only. In that letter they cited and asserted the opinions of PHIC and the STRICKEN Default Judgment. In fact they explicitly referred to the current PHIC website as a reference. It concerns me that Pennsylvania Realtors have now established themselves as the governing law. They are operating as Judge, Jury, and executioner of the Pennsylvania Laws and Statutes based on the opinions of a unrecognized self-appointed “Consumer Watch Group” calling themselves a coalition.
In conversations with both ASHI and NAHI executives it was further discovered that neither organization submitted written compliance or statements. Both were extended the “voluntary” compliant status based on the general knowledge of PHIC ASHI/NAHI power based directors. Who, by the way have no authority to speak on behalf of the ASHI or NAHI National Associations! In fact we are looking at a self-centered, self-promoted, self-appointed, select group of business’s forming a group geared towards the “cornering of the market”.
PA Law title 68, section 7502 clearly defines what an association is. In fact, it is quite simplistic. In part it reads:
- Is operated on a Not-For-Profit basis and is not operated as a franchise.
- Has member in more than ten states.
- Requires that a person may not become a full member unless the person has performed or participated in more than 100 home inspections and has passed a recognized or accredited examination testing knowledge of the proper procedures for conducting a home inspection.
- Requires that its members comply with a code of conduct and attend continuing education classes as an ongoing condition of membeship.
To this I will respond that NACHI and its Pennsylvania contingent not only qualifies under PA Act 114 but exceeds the requirements for membership in our Association membership requirements.
Pennsylvania requires association to operate as a Not-For-Profit basis and not as a franchise. PHIC has openly stated in the past that NACHI is not non-profit. They lied… The National Association of Certified Home Inspectors is the largest inspection association in Pennsylvania and North America. Formed in 1990 in Pennsylvania, NACHI is both a non-profit organization as well as tax exempt. I can furnish copies of our tax exempt non-pofit status to those interested. From 1990 to 1998 NACHI did not have income or collect dues and as such remained a non-profit corporation. It wasn’t until 1998 when NACHI began collecting dues that it necessitatd the need for a bank account, etc. and that NACHI Incorporate as a Non-profit, tax exempt 501 © (6). Corporation. To this day NACHI accepts no outside funds and so we’re not owned by anyone figuuratively. We don’t even sell as much as a banner ad on our 88 million hit/year website. NACHI does not issue stock and so NACHI is not “owned” by anyone!
Pennsylvania requires associations to have members in more than ten states. PHIC contends that NACHI does not have members in 10 states. This past statement by PHIC representatives actually had me in a laughing frenzy. I almost don’t know how to respond to this ludicrous acquisition. NACHI is the largest home inspection association in the great Keystone State, the U.S., and the world! In fact NACHI is the only home inspection association that actually lists its membership on an open website for all to see. Other associations use ambiguous geographic searches so no one can ever see or verigy their membership lists. What could they possibly be hiding? NACHI has members in all 50 states, Canada, D.C., the island, and 30 countries abroad. A quick review by me of our 2001 membership when the PA law was enacted shows clearly that NACHI more than met this requirement. To facilitate any concerns I also have available a quick listing of members that were attached to NACHI during and before 2001. This is by no means a complete listing, as I didn’t have the time to estract the complete membership.
Pennsylvania requires that a person may not become a full member unless the person has peformed or participated in more than 100 home inspections and has passed a recognized or accredited examination testing knowledge of the proper procedures for conducting a home inspection. PHIC has never disputed NACHI on this requirement. But I will expand and spell out in further detail just what NACHI requires that other associations do not. NACHI requires all working members to submit a complete listing of 100 inspections performed. Out of that listing 25% or 25 reports are randomly chosen to be submitted to our Report Review Committee to review for substantial compliance with NACHI’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice. No other association even comes cose to this. In fact another well known association that PHIC has selectively approved only requires 2% report verification out of 250 reports. You do the math.
Pennsylvania requires that its members comply with a code of conduct and attend continuing eduction classes as an ongoing condition of membership. Again PHIC has never disputed NACHI on this, and rightfully so. NACHI is the leader when it comes to continuing education. Each of our members are required to complete 24 hours of continuing education per year as prescribed in their agreement that they signed with NACHI. To that extent, NACHI strives to offer Continuing Education to all of our members at reduced costs. NACHI has made it a basic membership requirement that new members of our association fulfill the requirements by completing designated courses. These courses include the NACHI Code of Ethics, NACHI Standards of Practice, NACHI Electrical Course, NACHI Roofing Course, and soom to be released and required a NACHI Plumbing Course. In addition all members of NACHI must take and pass our Nationally recognized entrance exam and must further pass a annual qualification exam for membership. All members must fill out and confirm their understanding of these requirements. So you see there is much, much more to membership in NACHI than a simple filing of an application, payment of dues and eventual passing of a one time exam some time in the future. NACHI requires all of this and more prior to anyone being accepted as a member.
Clearly PHIC has manipulated a monopoly to the detriment of consumers, REALTORS, inspectors, and homebuyers by pointing local governments, PAR, REALTOS, and the consuming public to their fake organization riddled with lies and deceit. These lies and deceit clearly mark their intention to “Corner the Market” under the consumer watch disguise.
NACHI will never recognize PHIC as any type of Pennsylvania authority or watch group. They are a private concern, not a government office or a coalition that represents the Home Inspection Industry withing Pennsylvania. They at most represent less than 1% of all inspectors in Pennsylvania. In conclusion I will simply reiterate that it is definitely true that NACHI has refused and will continue to refuse to provide this highly questionable bogus coalition with any information about NACHI.
A copy of my remarks is being furnished to every REALTOR in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania along with the Attorney Generals Office and PAR. It will also be freely distributed amongst the media.
END of Statement…
*Last edited by jbowman : Today at 10:22 PM. *