Payment

[Wasden]

Has anyone ever been asked to wait for closing to be paid? Is this common? What if deal falls through?

[Marc]

Yes, a few. I've always demanded payment upon completion of the inspection...and got it.

I'm not party to the purchase of the house.

Marc

[John Dirks Jr]

Yes, a few. I've always demanded payment upon completion of the inspection...and got it.

I'm not party to the purchase of the house.

Marc

I fully agree.

[AHI in AR]

Yeah. Don't wait to get paid in a transaction that might not occur.

[hausdok]

In 17 years I've only been burnt maybe two or three times. Two of those involved folks that asked me to wait until closing and I was foolish enough to agree.

Never again. Now I just say, "That's OK, I'll just follow you to an ATM and we can take care of it now."

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[kurt]

The best reason to (at least) have the option of taking plastic; no one can dodge it.

[Nolan Kienitz]

I waited one time (about 10 years ago) for payment to closing and the property didn't close. Huge, 'spensive property and similar large inspection fee.

I went into hyper mode and pushed all sorts of buttons and got paid, but the buyer/client was playing dodge-em with me.

Never again did I or will I accept "paid at closing".

[davidlord]

If for whatever reason I can't get paid on site or before the inspection I just tell them the report will be emailed whenever I receive payment.

[Wasden]

Thanks all, Not one good experience tells me a lot. Have a good weekend.

[kurt]

If for whatever reason I can't get paid on site or before the inspection I just tell them the report will be emailed whenever I receive payment.

Exactly. No ticket, no entry.

[inspector57]

Yes, I have waited for payment from the title company at closing in small town USA and was only stiffed once there. However when I moved to the big city, things changed. I still have thousands of uncollected fees out there... before I changed the policy to payment due at the time of inspection. Cash, check or credit card due at the time of inspection.

[Mark P]

If requested I'll agree to be paid at closing - I've never had a problem. Around here there are a number of grant programs that pay the cost of closing and inspections, etc; so those people prefer it be paid at closing.

[Jim Baird]

I've broken fees in half for the cash strapped, and have been patient with others, but not stiffed yet, but have never been given the closing line. Sounds like a speculator trying to "leverage" his activity costs.

[hoosier inspector]

I pick up a substantial amount of work because no one else around here does that. Be careful, people that can't afford an inspection up front are already stretching their budget, and usually will not have the cash if the deal falls through. I will ask to hold a check or a CC# until I receive a check from the title company. Another issue you may consider is when you get several in a row, it creates a hiccup in your revenue stream.

[Wasden]

All good information. I called the agent and told her that after a night of thinking about it I decided not to do it. I called the client and they said "No problem". They will bring a check. I see some reasons for it but the biggest reason not to, for me, is "conflict of interest".

If there were ever an issue with e&o might they think I didn't report because I wanted to get paid? Just something to chew on.

[hausdok]

I pick up a substantial amount of work because no one else around here does that. Be careful, people that can't afford an inspection up front are already stretching their budget, and usually will not have the cash if the deal falls through. I will ask to hold a check or a CC# until I receive a check from the title company. Another issue you may consider is when you get several in a row, it creates a hiccup in your revenue stream.

Hi,

I'm not sure what holding a check or CC# is going to do. If they are so cash strapped that they can't pay my fee, and I hold onto a signed check or a CC#, they can simply pick up the phone and void the check or call their credit card company and void the purchase. Then I am faced wtih dogging them to try and get paid or going down to the small claims court and trying to take them to court. That usually ends up going to mediation and a mediator is probably going to try and arrange it so I cut my fee in half so I'll get somethingp for my effort or set it up where the tuy who doesn't want to pay only has to pay $10 a month, which means I'm dogging him again when he conveniently forgets his payments halfway through. I'd have to lose time going to the mediator only to inform him/her that I wasn't interested in those options and wanted to go to court.

Early on, I chased a guy for six months. Called and called and he was never home - always out of the house and could I call some night when he's home. Finally staked him out until he came home. He wasn't inside that door 30 seconds and I was ringing the doorbell. He answered the door and this time said he might have left his checkbook at work 'cuz he couldn't find it. As he was closing the door I stuck my foot in the door and offered to help him look for it. He told me to wait and then left for a minute and came back with a check.

A year or so later, I got a call from a realto wanting me to do a job on Lake Washington for a guy buying a million dollar property. Showed up to do the job and found out that it was the deadbeat; he and a friend had invented some program that Amazon had bought. Amazon had given him and his buddy jobs as executives, a boatload of cash and a whole lot of stock options or something like that.

He showed up driving a shiny new Jaquar. I didn't say a thing, just did the inspection. When it came time to pay, he pointed to his girlfriend and said she'd take care of paying the fee. She looked surprised and a little vexed but handed me a check anyway. Bet he bled her dry and has never paid her back.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike