Suing your Home Inspector

10 years ago

We hired a home inspector, he had a great resume and was recommended. At the end we asked if there was water intrusion, he said no. We bought the house and the first day we saw water intrusion but like home inspector say, they don't move anything. We hired another home inspector after the sale and he found major water intrusion. If he would at least looked behind the window covering he would have seen water intrusion.

Well we sued the owner (sellers) and won (over $100K). Now I want to sue the original home inspector and really would NOT want him to be a home inspector any longer or have a record to show he did NOT do a good job and don't hire him. We would not have bought the house if we knew what we found out by our 2nd home inspector

In California HI do not have a license, one of few states that do not. What is my recourse? What can be done since I can't take his license away? He should not be a home inspector. And what we paid him doesn't even cover fixing or replacing a window nor what we won does not cover the problems, we would rather return the house.

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Comments (11)

kirkhall
10 years ago
Yelp?
kats_meow
10 years ago
This is a legal question. Consult your attorney.
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User
10 years ago
Most home inspector agreements state specifically that the only damages they are liable for is the actual cost of the inspection. So, you can get your fee back, but I would file in small claims court yourself for that as you would lose money if an attorney handled the paperwork.

A better way to keep the inspector from exercising his incompetence is by telling every realtor, homebuyer and seller you know about the situation, and tell people to feel free to tell their friends. Join Angie's list and tell your story there. Forget the Better Business Bureau, that's a company-friendly listing that's worthless.
sylviatexas1
10 years ago
You realized that the inspector didn't move furniture & so forth, so it sounds like he had no way of detecting the problem.

You won a lawsuit against the sellers, which sounds like the court was convinced that *they* are the responsible party, that they failed to disclose a fault that they knew about, or maybe that they covered it up deliberately.

Since you've been compensated for any loss (is California like Texas? a buyer can recover treble damages against the sellers if the sellers have failed to disclose or have covered up a problem? if so, you've been compensated to the tune of about twice the amount of the loss, figuring a third went to legal fees), why do you want to sue the inspector (which sounds like greed) or get his license revoked (which sounds like either revenge or a threat: pay up or suffer the consequences)?

& why are you asking on an internet forum rather than consulting the attorney who got you the award from the sellers?

I'm surprised to hear that what you paid for a home inspection won't even replace a window;
inspections here are far more expensive...
or maybe windows are cheaper.
brickeyee
10 years ago
The problem with getting civil awards is you then have to collect them (often a separate set of legal/court actions to seize something).
jane__ny
10 years ago
Why shouldn't Living2 go after the inspector? I would, and it would be revenge! There are so many inspectors who do nothing and should be out of work. It happened to us but luckily we didn't buy the houses. I would contact Yelp and Angies.

Jane
sylviatexas1
10 years ago
As far as I have ever heard, *no* inspector moves furniture.

It would leave the inspector open to complaints & demands for "restitution" from sellers who claim that the inspector damaged furniture or flooring.
LuAnn_in_PA
10 years ago
Some people are just plain greedy....
ncrealestateguy
10 years ago
yep...
southerncanuck
10 years ago
Sue, Sue, Sue, I hear a song coming. I went to 1 day of training to be a home inspector here in Ontario and packed it in. The entire day stressed that if you didn't pass 95% or more of the inspection you would be labeled a deal breaker and never be hired by anyone again. Some of the people in that class that would be given some bogus certificate after dropping 2K for the course would make your hair curl. Most were there to comply with training paid for by the On trio government to continue social benefits. One individual was unfortunately very physically challenged. How for goodness sakes was she supposed to go on a roof let alone get up and down stairs not accessible to those who are unable to, let alone had problems reading a tape measure. As a tax payer and homeowner I wanted to scream.

We are starting to move towards certification but that's a long way off.

If I was 10 years younger I would start an agency that would work for homebuyers only. No agents involved in hiring, none.
nosoccermom
10 years ago
I have to say that one should expect an inspector to look behind window coverings. Is there a Better Business Bureau or Consumer Protection agency with whom you could file a complaint? Also, tell the agent and post on Angie's List or Yelp.