That may in fact be the ultimate outcome but the real point is if the state deems that licensing is necessary, the standards and requirements that establish who can become licensed should be applied to everyone fairly without exception.
Janet Swandby an ASHI lobbyist has written Real-Life Lessons About Home Inspectiion Legislation](Home | American Society of Home Inspectors, ASHI) which is her personal thoughts and observations on how licensing legislature has effected our profession, and not in a positive way. [FONT=Verdana]Basically she explains the realities of the laws that finally went into effect did not live up to either the spirit of the legislation or expectations of those who worked so hard to get their bills passed. Her final conclusion is that HI licensing has been an abject failure and our profession has suffered because of it and still no one seems to listen.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]Each and every year across our country we see poorly worded bills being introduced by mostly incompetent home inspectors whose only purpose it seems is for one class of inspector to gain an unfair advantage over another class of inspector. Most have no language that protects the consumer, the one proposed here in Florida has no Standards of Practice. The one thing they do all have in common though is language that provides a free ride for themselves known as a grandfather clause which exempts them and their cronies from having to meet the standards they wish to inflict on their competition. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana]Were it not for the protection that grandfathering provides to its promoters it is doubtful that licensing bills would be as popular as they are today. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]Grandfathering should be eliminated by legislators because it allows one small group of voters an unfair advantage over another large group of voters, a concept that will not be lost of those who depend on total votes for their livelihood. Furthermore, America holds dear the principal of fairness and through the editorial pages of our press it should not take very long to show the public just how unfair grandfathering is.[/FONT]
Comments & help welcome, email me if you wish to become part of this national project.
I agree, do away with grandfathering, do not count preivious inspection, do not count previous education, do not count previous certifications, everybondy start from ground zero, take the same test at the same time, meet the same insurance requirements, the same CE requirements, etc
Then what Bushart and others say will actually be true, Licensing WILL make all Inspectors Equal, of course then Mentoring could not be required as there would be no qualified Inspectors to do the Mentoring, everone would be equal. Bushart seems to think thats a good thing now I guess.
How would any law be written that required a certain level of experience, i.e. a number of Inspections performed, without some kind of grandfrathering?
In effect what no grandfathering would do, would be to limit the requirements to become a home inspector to Testing and education wouldn’t it?
In Washington the reason that “grandfathered” inspectors would be allowed to delay taking the test until they renewed their license was to spread the number of people taking the test thoughout a longer time table.
Wouldn’t counting any previous experience, education, or certifications be grandfathering?
If a license is to determine a minimum basic standard, then all bearing such license should meet that/those standard(s). If it is not a standard that should apply to all, it has no place in a licensing bill.
It reveals the folly of a licensing bill when its proponents create conditions for future licensees that they, themselves, do not or otherwise refuse to meet…and hide behind a “grandfathering” clause. We believe that legislators will see through that, readily, and act accordingly.
In fact, we believe that we have ample evidence that will show any legislature that a “grandfathering clause” renders any licensing bill as little more than a home inspection marketing plan at the expense of the tax payer.
I could accept no grandfathering, it doesn’t matter to me.
But if there were no grandfathering you would say that the licensing is being pushed by newbie Inspectors who want to become “Imediately Equal” to all experienced Inspectors.
Your arguemnet about grandfathering is much like your arguemtn about the conflict of interest in Realtors Referring Inspectors to clients, one of the few things I agree with you about, but the you use the argument that licensing would be terrible for those inspectors who rely on Realtor referrals as the New Law would require Realtors to provide a list of all licensed Inspectors to their clients, which I believe they should have to, but without a law you will not get either the Realtors or Inspectors to go along with that.
I have no problem with doing away with Grandfathering, when the Law takes effect the best inspectors are still going to be the best inspectors, the most experienced, not always the best, are still going to be the most experienced, you should be able to see from my arguments over the Washington SPI that I believe all Inspectors should meet the same requirements, so I have no real argument about doing away with Grandfathering. other than I know you will switch your argument from the good old boys trying to protect themselves and eliminate competition, to the newbies trying to make themselves “equal” to the good old boys.
I hate it when I agree with you, but on the conflict of interest with referrals I do, so on that I will ask you a nonargumentative question, what do you think of the IHINA and is it worth supporting by joining?
Dennis Robitaille, the president of IHINA, has been helpful in our fight in Missouri to keep real estate salesmen from controlling our industry, and I am indebted to him for that.
When the fat lady finally sings the death march to HB 978, he will have been a key player in bringing that to fruition, along with several others whose contributions have been extremely valuable.
I personally embrace the ideals and principles of IHINA. I did so before even knowing that there was an IHINA.
Now…to anwer your question…
Dennis is a proponent of licensing bills. He is actively assisting ASHI in Massachusetts as they lay siege to New Hampshire, by way of manipulating public opinion through the media, to bring life to the bill that ASHI has been pushing in that state. I do not support that effort or Dennis’s role in it. In fact, I oppose it and hope that Frank C. and his chapter will soon begin to counter it … although I know that ASHI has more money than they do to spend on that project.
I do not believe that one must join an association, such as IHINA, to do the right thing when it comes to distancing our profession from real estate salesmen.
I believe that…as mortgage defaults increase and more pressure/turnover falls upon the salesmen to close these deals…it will become more and more obvious to home inspectors how much actual benefit there is to call themselves, proudly and loudly, “deal killers”.
While I see no harm in joining or supporting IHINA, I personally can find no benefit derived from it.
I was thinking about joining for a couple of reasons, when you search for Home Inspectors in North Idaho, his site is always in the first 7 or 8, and if the dues I paid helped push for fighting the Realtor Referral Issue, expecially the paid “Referral” list, we don’t have that here.
I get asked by Realors every now and than abut my website and brochures that tell potential Clients to hire an Inspector who workks for the Buyer not the Realtor or the Seller, I ask them how many HI Brochures they give their buyers or if they refer an Inspector by name, if they say they give buyers all the brochures available and let the buyer choose their own, then I tell them that my marketing doesn’t concern them, I also ask my clients how many brochures they are given and how they chose me. I do get referrals directly from Realtors but I don’t market to them and many of those are for out of State buyers where the Realtor is their Agent and acts for them in many more ways than in a normal local sale.
I don’t know how it is in Missouri, but in Washington and Idaho when you list or buy a house, some where in the fine print of the listing or purchase agreements there is a little clause that says the the client acknowledges that the Realtor is acting on behalf of both the buyer and the seller, I always scratch that out and initial it, if they don’t like it then they don’t list my house or I buy through another agent. Have you ever been looking at homes to purchase and had the Realtor tell you that the seller “Had to Sell” because of a Divorce, Tranfer, etc. and that you could probably buy the house for much less, or listed a House for sale where the agent told you that it was worth tens of thousands more than you knew it was worth, scumbags, there are some good ones though.
Jim, I don’t have time or desire to argue with you over this point; but my biggest problem with no grandfathering is that inspectors who have 5, 10 or more years of experience may not use experience in lieu of, for instance, the 120 hour education requirement that is often required. You’re saying, that in your opinion, someone with over 5 years experience, should have to pay thousands of dollars to go to a school to meet 120 hours of training? I don’t know of any profession that does not take experience into consideration.
No. I oppose legisltating the industry, so I would not support that.
If, however, there were a bill pending that would force that expense on inspectors in order to be licensed…all inspectors expecting to be licensed should be expected to pay that expense.
If it is a ridiculous expense, it does not belong in a bill. If it is a legitimate expense, it should be carried by all who expect to be licensed, without exception. Period.
The equality that licensing brings should be extended to all aspects of the law including all associated benefits and burdens, it is the only fair thing legislators can do when imposing unpopular unwanted laws on their voting constituents.
That is why when flying today everyone is burdened equally by the security regulations imposed to help keep our airways safe even though we know the demographics of a terrorist to a tee. It is not uncommon to see 80-year old ladies in wheelchairs randomly pulled out of line for expanded security checks.
Those who don’t believe that they should be subjected to the same standards as their competition need to know that if burden of licensing is really necessary, then it should be carried equally by everyone without exception.
I have little doubt that if this program were shared with a group of consumers that they would have no problem understanding the concept and would agree that it is the fairest way to implement the licensing standards.
My position on grandfathering is if you are in business and registered with the state and then a law gets passed in which you do not meet the requirements, you should be allowed sufficient time to meet those requirements.
My opostion here in NH on this matter was the state will unlawfully take away my privilege to conduct my business that it granted to me in 2004 without allowing me sufficient time to meet the new requirements.
If I have to close my business for two weeks, travel out of state to attend a school so I can meet the education requirements of the new law then the state should grant me enough time to complete this undertaking. Education was a big issue with licensing in NH because there is none.
So do I. But they should indeed “meet” them and not have them waived by a “grandfather” clause. Every holder of a license should be required to meet the same set of standards.
I have to agree with you on this, it has always annoyed the heck out of me that members of one particular org have side-stepped NHIE on the basis that they had taken that exam before it morphed into what it is today. No one can possibly compare the old trade org (unproctored) exam with the proctored NHIE or its equivalents.
Agreed on both, they did the grandfathering thing here in Illinois. I also agree with Peter, you should meet the requierment, but also be granted the time to do so. But if one can not meet the requeriment then one should then find something else to do… Once upon a time barbers were also surgeons
ASHI tried hard to pass a HI bill here in Colorado a few years ago, very poorly written and MADE it a REQUIREMENT that HI’s HAD to belong to a National orginization, words in the bill “LIKE ASHI”, I was firmly against it then as I am now. I don’t wish some government dweeb telling me WHAT, WHEN or HOW I conduct my business.
They got three srikes against the HI bills, now they can’t EVER try AGAIN.
Thank
ASHI tried hard to pass a HI bill here in Colorado a few years ago, very poorly written and MADE it a REQUIREMENT that HI’s HAD to belong to a National orginization, words in the bill “LIKE ASHI”, I was firmly against it then as I am now. I don’t wish some government dweeb telling me WHAT, WHEN or HOW I conduct my business.
They got three srikes against the HI bills, now they can’t EVER try AGAIN.
Thank you
ASHI tried hard to pass a HI bill here in Colorado a few years ago, very poorly written and MADE it a REQUIREMENT that HI’s HAD to belong to a National orginization, words in the bill “LIKE ASHI”, I was firmly against it then as I am now. I don’t wish some government dweeb telling me WHAT, WHEN or HOW I conduct my business.
They got three srikes against the HI bills, now they can’t EVER try AGAIN.
Thank you to
ASHI tried hard to pass a HI bill here in Colorado a few years ago, very poorly written and MADE it a REQUIREMENT that HI’s HAD to belong to a National orginization, words in the bill “LIKE ASHI”, I was firmly against it then as I am now. I don’t wish some government dweeb telling me WHAT, WHEN or HOW I conduct my business.
They got three srikes against the HI bills, now they can’t EVER try AGAIN.
Thank you to all
ASHI tried hard to pass a HI bill here in Colorado a few years ago, very poorly written and MADE it a REQUIREMENT that HI’s HAD to belong to a National orginization, words in the bill “LIKE ASHI”, I was firmly against it then as I am now. I don’t wish some government dweeb telling me WHAT, WHEN or HOW I conduct my business.
They got three srikes against the HI bills, now they can’t EVER try AGAIN.
Thank you to all the