seller’s disclosure

A home inspector I’ve known for several years came up to me at an industry workshop with an issue: he had received a demand letter from a past client for failing to detect mold.

Shocking, the underlying facts of this claim were ridiculous. Leaving aside that mold detection is excluded from any extant standard of practice, and was not part of this inspection, the mold was only discovered after destructive probing.

The “I’ll fix this” home inspection industry cycle ensued. The inspector tried to (unsuccessfully) explain to the claimant’s attorney that the claim had no merit then subsequently turned it over to his insurance company, which appointed expert local counsel.

And that’s the worst of all possible worlds for the home inspector.

I explain the cozy world of litigation – a world that benefits the suits, not the home inspector – in this week’s video blog.

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A Massachusetts home inspector recently asked me if he could rely on the information posted in the seller’s disclosures or responses provided by the seller or the seller’s representative to specific questions about the property.

The easy answer to that question is such: If seller’s disclosures were reliable, there would be no need for home inspections. And these seller’s disclosures are unreliable for various reasons, many which are completely unrelated to any skulduggery on the seller’s part.

Although, as I illustrate in this week’s video blog, sellers will oftentimes actively conceal material defects, and home inspectors need to realize that when locked doors prevent access to critical areas or furniture seems oddly out of place, what seems amiss is usually…amiss.

I provide an example on this topic and profess why you should follow the “Skeptic’s Creed” in this week’s video blog.

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