New name for home inspectors?

[Robert Jones]

A listing agent, with ethics issues, asked the buyers agent if they had ever worked with me before and asked if I was a "tear it down Tom".

Home was a short sale(meaning the bank is not paying for repairs). Standing water in the crawl. Metal ducts in that crawl were on the ground in the water. Mold and an active leak in the attic. That is just a couple of the issues. Listing agent stated that the water in the crawl can "simply be fixed with the addition of a sump pump". And the mold in the attic, "very common here in our area and just needs ventilation improvements."

Almost 11 years and my first time hearing that one. Needless to say, that report was a work of art!

[hausdok]

We can be disciplined for making unqualified engineering calls if an engineer initiates a complaint with the engineers board and they take it to DOL or if we don't have a bug license, practice bug inspecting, and a licensed SPI makes a complaint to WSDOA.

That's all we need to use the same principal against 'zoids.

Send the listing agent an email informing him that you intend to initiate a complaint with DOL against him for violation of 18.235.130(15) RCW for Unprofessional Conduct as defined in 18.235.010 RCW for engaging in unlicensed practice as a home inspector.

Let him know that his proffering an opinion about conditions found during a home inspection constitutes a violation of 18.235.20 RCW as he does not have the requisite training to be a home inspector nor hold a valid home inspector's license under 18.280 RCW.

Make a formal complaint to the board and copy Rhonda that the guy is violating both home inspector law and real estate broker law by trying to insert his untrained unqualified opinion of conditions uncovered by an inspector into the real estate process. Nothing in state real estate law says he is allowed to do that and state real estate law says he can be disciplined for engaging in unlicensed practice, because he doesn't hold a valid, unexpired, unsuspended home inspectors license.

The board should, if they aren't sleeping, send a letter of concern to the director about unqualified agents trying to proffer opinions about home inspection matters they are neither qualified or licensed to comment on.

Bet it ends up snatching a knot in the panties of every 'zoid operating out of his office.

Got an attorney? Maybe an attorney would see his question of the buyer's agent about you being a "Tear it down Tom" as an attempt to get the agent to dissuade the buyer from hiring you, in which case you might have a case for tortious interference.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

P.S.

You may have figured out that after nearly 17 years of dealing with their petty bullshit I'm not willing to put up with any more nonsense from 'zoids.

[gtblum]

Maybe an attorney would see his question of the buyer's agent about you being a "Tear it down Tom" as an attempt to get the agent to dissuade the buyer from hiring you, in which case you might have a case for tortious interference.

Mike, He might better go with the rest of your good advice and not waste his time with this part.

Nobody wants to touch tortious interference. There's too many flaming hoops and it's awful hard to prove unless there was an actual breach of contract because of what was said.

I was schooled on this subject earlier this year after I finally got sick of the stories that got back to me from several clients who had enough sense to ignore agents attempts to steer them away from hiring me.

Apparently, there's one who actually comes unglued when she hears I'm doing an inspection. She was the one who made me decide to make a move in that direction.

Seems like you folks have less of a problem with this kind of thing than we do here. Maybe it's about the difference in the size of the towns we work in, or how they're trained around here. Over and over, I hear how some will suggest there's no reason to muddy the waters with an inspection and rock the boat after working such a sweet deal. That's just one example. I've also heard some other clever tricks. They try to just work their way around the whole process rather than deal with us at all.

[kurt]

There will always be troglodyte realtors, just fewer numbers as time passes. Youngsters are wired to different information sources....the old realtor sales pitch isn't one of them.

[John Kogel]

There will always be troglodyte realtors, just fewer numbers as time passes. Youngsters are wired to different information sources....the old realtor sales pitch isn't one of them.

This is true, but in the small towns, the old established salesmen have a lot of influence on the younger realtors, such as "keep him away from any of my listings if you want to be successful here."

[Jim Morrison]

There will always be troglodyte realtors.

Thus it is, thus it 'twas, and evermore shall be.

Inspectors have been dealing with this since we came down from the trees and began walking upright. I don't think it's any worse now then it ever has been. It may get better one day, but I doubt it.

Success as an inspector comes in part when you get to the point where it offends you when you find out about it, but you don't get too worked up over it. At the end of the day, there's really nothing we can do about it, except do such excellent work for our clients that they refer us to their friends.

Happy Christmas,

Jimmy