What would you do?

[KY Ted]

Inspected a house today for a young first time buyer.He expressed concern over termite damage that had beeen "repaired", specifically sill plate damaged due to termites. Someone came in and scabbed new joists next to the old ones with the ends resting along 2x8s screwed along the top of the block foundation wall.Some of the new joists didnt touch the new board screwed to the found. wall while others didnt even reach all the way across! Needless to say the buyer backed out and asked to stop the inspection. Normally i wouldnt but charged him half price and stopped the inspection then without looking at anything else and no report issued. I spoke to the realtor(first time referral from them!0 and explained the situation. He told me to write him a report explaining "what happened"! I told him I had no report since the isnp. wasnt completed. I told him I would write a letter explaining what I found so the buyer get his ernest money back.Did I make a mistake trying to help someone? What would you have done, written the letter or refused?

Thanks, ted[:-bigeyes2]

[hausdok]

I would have still written a report, reporting on those areas of the report I'd completed. However, every section of the home which wasn't inspected, because I never got to it, would have had a comment stating that those components and areas were excluded from the scope of the inspection, because they were never examined after the client stopped the inspection, due to issues with insect damage and structurally inadequate repairs that were documented elsewhere in the report.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Brian G]

I agree with Mike, write up what you inspected and disclaim what you didn't, even if it were only for your own files. The only people who have threatened to sue me so far have been sellers, so you might need that documented info somday.

Brian G.

[swarga]

Mike is correct,

Explain (Report)what you had inspected before the client canceled the inspection. Report on each of the other systems that were not inspected with an additional comment at the end that repeats "Only the ***** and the **** were inspected before the client stopped the inspector all other items are excluded from this report."

The secondary comment was recommended by my lawyer the first time I had the same problem. He said that the standards require you to report on each system so you can say "The heating system was not inspected." However there may not have been a heating system in the house so you put the comment; "Only the ***** and the **** were inspected before the client stopped the inspector all other items are excluded from this report."

This prevents a different attorney from saying "You said you didn't inspect the heating system, you never said there wasn't one"

[Konrad]

The only thing I'm qualified to chime in on is this: You recieved compensation, so you should probably give your client at least *something* in return.