Home inspection report

[Sean Westbrooks]

I was in contract to purchase a home. I really loved the house and was serious about purchasing it. After the seller and I agreed on a price for the house I accept their counter offer. Two days later I had the house inspected and the results weren’t good. The inspector found damaged to the roof, areas were the shingles were lifting up, the fascia was missing in areas. Multiple downspouts were missing, and the gutters were coming away from the house in certain areas. He found a large verticals crack visible on the exterior basement wall, where the foundation has shifted from water due to downspouts missing. He said this would need to be excavated to see how far down the crack goes and to repair it. Inside the house the basement is finished and he found evidence there was standing water in the basement at one point, and verified moisture in the basement with his moisture meter. He also saw evidence of mold along the bottom of the basement walls along with water stains. He said drywall would all have to come out to see where moisture behind the wall was coming from. He found another crack on the foundation wall in the part of the basement that wasn’t finished. This time it was a horizontal crack running the length of the wall, cause the wall to bow out.  He also found evidence of leaking plumbing and more mold. He found multiple bottles of bleach and mold cleaner in a bucket in the basement as well. There was also a large dehumidifier plugged in, in the basement.  The house has hydronic heat and he wasn’t unable to get the boiler to work. The boiler was rusted and he noted the maker of the boilers hasn’t been in business in 15 years. He also suggested the electrical panel be replaced because of the potential  fire hazard of the outdated one that was in the house.  All this was documented and photographed by the inspector. 

These were the major things that gave me pause after the inspection. We’re talking tens of thousands of dollars in repairs. Non of this  was in the initial disclosures. After I got the inspection report  back I sent a copy to my agent to forward to the sellers agent. They refused to open and look at it because they didn’t want to have to disclose the report to future buyers. I really wanted the house so I submitted a list of repairs I’d like fixed or a new offer for the house “as is.” The seller refused and their agent sent my agent a mutual release form that we both signed. 

Today I received a call from the man who did my home inspection telling me that the sellers agent had contacted him about getting a copy of the report. He told them that I paid for the inspection and that he couldn’t give it to them without my consent. I told him no I didn’t consent to them getting the report, especially since it doesn’t benefit me to do so since we’re no longer in contract. Their agent called my agent tonight threatening to report us to the state if we don’t give them a copy since there was a clause in the contract that they get a copy. 

My questions is since we already sent them a copy and they refused to look at it while we were in contract and since the mutual release was singed by both parties do I have to provide it to them? I live in Ohio if that matters. Thanks in advance.