Tabula Rasa

There’s something about the start of a brand new year that tops off my hope reservoirs and makes me look forward to bigger and better things. Out with the old, in with the new.

Not that last year was too shabby, mind you.

I got speaking invitations from the four corners of the nation, the Pacific Northwest to the Gulf of Mexico, Boston Bay to the Nevada Desert and deep in the heart of Texas. In April, this website launched and has attracted a thousand unique visitors each month ever since. And I successfully terminated an average of two claims per week on behalf of home inspectors from all over the United States.

Looking over the list of claims, I was struck by their variety. Many of the claims were against home inspectors who are not insured but most of them were against home inspectors who were insured and were simply tired of being sold out by their insurance company. In two of the cases, I was able to convince the insurer that both it and the inspector would be better off if it allowed me to respond. Of course, that is not an issue for inspectors insured through the Lockton program that I promote on this site.

In a handful of the cases, I had to dispatch a non-client, usually the seller but in three cases, it was an insurance company that was trying to assert a subrogation claim that I had to discourage.

Most of the claimants were represented by attorneys, something that I regard as incontrovertible evidence of the universal ignorance of the limitations of a standard home inspection.

In another handful of cases, I successfully persuaded individuals who had intemperately made online defamatory comments to remove them by pointing out a. the magnitude of damages available to professionals in defamation cases and b. the unabashed willingness of juries to award them.

I also had to write responses on behalf of inspectors who had been haled before their state’s licensing board by disgruntled clients.

For the coming year, I am expecting more of the same: more speaking engagements, more website visitors and more opportunities to defeat the ridiculous claims that abound in this industry.

In addition, after years of promising to do so, I am finally going to put the Law and Disorder Seminar on video so that you will be able to view it in the comfort and privacy of your own home.

Happy New Year, Everyone!