Threatened by inspector

Hi, I was screamed at, physically prevented from leaving my own driveway, and threatened with sabotage by one of your members. I filed a police report and the company was notified of a no trespassing order. Now they are claiming they have a legal right to come back into my home. I do not feel safe with these people, what can I do?

If you are selling your home and agreed to an inspection clause, the home should be made available. You should not be present when the inspection takes place to avoid just this type of confrontation.

You wouldn’t get a “no trespassing” order from anybody but the courts. Did you go to Court? Didn’t think so.

What precipitated the event? Someone doesn’t just start screaming for no reason. Physically prevented? Does this mean they parked in back of you?

Too many questions with an obvious bias.

Ummm…what did the police tell you to do…that should carry more weight than what anyone in an online forum states. InterNACHI does not control any of their members in that fashion so again if you feel threatened you need to deal with it on from a police level…not an online forum level.

As no one on this forum was there, they can not know what happened. Do you know if it was a single inspector firm or a multi-inspector firm? Usually a business owner, or single inspector firm would avoid this kind of confrontation, and negative experience. If it was an inspector from a multi-inspector firm, the business owner should be made aware of the incident. This will give the owner a chance to make it right, and to correct any issues with the inspector going forward.

You shouldn’t be at the home when your buyer is having it inspected. That’s likely the core issue here.

Did you vote for Hillery Clinton by any chance?

Interesting responses here. Looks like there is no professional standard of conduct for your industry.

Why was homeowner home? Because inspector showed up two hours late.
Why did inspector lose his ****? Because homeowner said that he should talk to realtor, who had left.
What do I mean by prevent from leaving? Stood in front of my car so I couldn’t drive out of driveway.
What do I mean by threatened? Said he would sabotage inspection unless I stayed and did whatever he said

So, y’all think this behavior is OK for a member of your association? Show up late, scream at homeowner? Etc?

Just say no to the bad inspector and ask the buyer to hire another inspector. If they already paid the inspector you will have to work that part out.

Or kill the sale and wait for another buyer. It’s your home so you can do whatever you want.

:lol:

You should be speaking with your realtor. You likely signed a contract allowing them to bring an inspector of their choosing on the property. That does not mean you should be treated poorly regardless of the circumstance. I often interact with sellers and would never even consider such an interaction. Your options are to work it out between you, your realtor, your lawyer, and the buyer or find a way out of the contract and move on.

Best of luck.

Interesting responses here. Looks like there is no professional standard of conduct for your industry.

Why was homeowner home? Because inspector showed up two hours late.
Why did inspector lose his ****? Because homeowner said that he should talk to realtor, who had left.
What do I mean by prevent from leaving? Stood in front of my car so I couldn’t drive out of driveway.
What do I mean by threatened? Said he would sabotage inspection unless I stayed and did whatever he said

So, y’all think this behavior is OK for a member of your association? Show up late, scream at homeowner? Etc?


It is your home and you have a right to be there during the inspection. If anyone tells you otherwise, they are incorrect, and if it was your Realtor who said that, I would fire them on the spot.

Did the inspector call anyone to say he was going to be 2 hours late? Were you given the opportunity to decide if you would be available in that time frame? If no, too bad…that is poor communication on behalf of the other parties. Reschedule the inspection.

If said inspector “stood in front of my car”, said inspector has a good chance of finding out what it feels like to be run over by a 4,800 pound Dodge Durango!

In reality, I would have videoed the confrontation, then called the police to have the inspector removed from the property. I may even go as far as getting a restraining order against him, depending on what law enforcement said my options were.

The behavior, or behavior similar to it, is unfortunately quite prevalent in this industry. Some, actually, a majority of home inspectors, seem to think they can wander into someones home, run roughshod through it, break things, then claim, “failed under testing”, and leave the place a mess.

What they fail to realize is that they are a guest, and in fact, a sub-contracted individual hired by the buyer, in most cases, and as such, the Buyer is responsible for any damages cause by the inspector.
A lot of inspectors say that isn’t true, however, the following is from the FARBAR real estate contract and this clause or something similar to it, is in most real estate contracts:

If this Contract does not close, Buyer shall repair all damage to Property resulting from Buyer’s inspections, return Property to its pre-inspection condition and provide Seller with paid receipts for all work done on Property upon its completion.

I would report everyone to the appropriate authorities and/or boards.
Regardless of the real estate contract, you do have the right to determine who can and cannot come into your home.

Good luck!

Should have called the police it is your home . Period !
I feel there is more to this than meets the eye , I have had several sellers scream and threaten also . I just say Ok i am leaving no inspection no sale. I am not there to argue or be abused . Makes no difference to me i get paid either way.

Did the Inspector say anything about his wife getting him kick off a plane? Were you wearing a Make America Great Again hat?

What area are you in? I’d be happy to come out and inspect the property for you. Please call to schedule.

Yes, there are controls. It comes from the likes of you.

No one conducts themselves like you are implying and stays in business (any business).

Please tell us the rest of the story…

You control who comes to the property. Don’t burden us with your inabilities to function in society.

LOL I’m gonna call BS. None of that makes any sense. You were held against your will and you came to a forum for answers. LOL get a life.

They don’t state their name where they are from anything that would give reasoning for the inspector to act this way. And they haven’t returned to say any more. How do they know it’s one of our members, They must have a name Wouldn’t someone that ticked off shout the name of the inspector. One sided argument and we are hanging the inspector. Please tell the truth. Fake news

Thanks John

I agree too much missing information

From NY area