NJ Inspector missed major issues, options for legal recourse?

Question

Hi All,My husband and I recently bought a 90 year old 2 family home in Northern NJ. We had what we thought was an extensive home inspection completed, including a termite inspection. We planned on doing renovations, but were told that the house was structurally sound and there were no major issues with plumbing, electric, termites, or structure. When we started the renovation we found major issue after major issue and our 50k renov budget has now doubled. We believe some of the issues should have been caught by the inspector (structural damage to the sill plate by termites and a damaged main water supply line) and would like to find out what our options are for compensation from the inspection company. Does anyone have any experience with this, or can recommend a good lawyer for us to work with? Thank you!

Mark Elliott · Answer

all good posts. i am a home inspector here in the western new york area. i am a rather small man, 5 ft 8, 180 pounds, so, as you can imagine, i can fit into spots that even a mouse would fear to go. it gives me a distinct advantage in doing home inspections. i can agree with your concerns. if there were multiple areas of interest missed in the inspection, that is the fault of the inspector. if there areas that were covered with insulation, personal items, etc that items could have been safely moved, then the inspector should have moved them, especially in areas of major concerns such as plumbing or heating areas. personally, if i look under a sink and see personal items blocking what i want to look at, i am gonna move them. the personal items are not as important as what i may find, plain and simple. in a house i know is going to be rehabbed, i am going to pull back insulation that is blocking what i want to see. the owner is probably going to tear out that piece of insulation anyway. crawl spaces??? my small size and eagerness to " boldly go where no man has gone before" allows me to find a way to get into that crawl space and see what i can find. lets face it, crawl spaces, attics, roofs and " hidden areas" tell you just about everything you need to know about a house. i personally have removed an attic panel that was screwed AND glued shut just to get into the attic. what did i find???? an attic that had major fire damage that had been repaired but not well. and the owner had NOT disclosed this to the buyer or their agent. if i had ignored that and not gone in there, i would have not discovered that, and would not have been responsible for not knowing, but i am there to determine the condition of the house at the time of the inspection and this definately constitutes the condition of the house at that time. a good inspector will question anything that does not look right. the clamp covering the plumbing??? of course i would NOT have removed that, its there for a reason and that reason would be to cover a whole and/ or damage. i would have noted that in my report as " unknown damage behind clamp on main plumbing infeed". that notifies the buyer of an issue without directly saying there is a major problem where there may not be one. i would not have " passed" that part of the report. its simple to tell the buyer " i cannot see what is behind this, but it isn't there for decoration.in short, be as absolutely complete in that inspection as you possibly can be.

George C. · Answer

Laura, those inspectors reports have as many holes as a cake of Swiss cheese, they give themselves many way outs from liability. If it's covered and not visible to the naked eye, they are not responsible for what's under the covering. Was the basement finished, or was insulation covering the sill plates & plumbing lines? Was all the damage, rot, insect damage found only after you began tearing things apart? If so, they have their out. Read the fine print on those reports, they set themselves up to have as much liability as a weatherman does for predicting the weather.

Laura Levine · Answer

Thanks for your posts @Wally Smythe and @Mark Elliott. It's good to hear about the availability of thorough inspectors and now we will know what to look for next time. This has been a valuable experience for us!

Account Closed · Answer

@Mark ElliottI like to hear of your eagerness and thoroughness. I have been privy to doing about a 1000 WDO/WDI in NJ over the span of 20 years. I was/am as conscientious as you in your inspections. That said I got out of the business after a stern reprimand from a judge that I had gone to far in asking a wall be opened up a second time to view termite damage that was supposed to have be fixed by another termite damage repair company. FTR the buyers went forward with the purchase opened the wall as I suggested after they bought the home 6 months later and found additional termite damage in areas I suggested there might be and still they are in litigation from what I understand... many years and $ later. The judge has since retired and the Termite company that did the repairs is no longer in business....

Laura Levine · Answer

Hi Wally,Thanks for your detailed feedback! It's been a bit of time since I made the original post so we have some updates. We consulted with our lawyer who seems to feel that the liklihood of being successful with the inspectors insurance was slim. We have settled with the company for $1000, approximately double what we paid for the inspection. We were on site for the inspection, but we were first time home buyers and were learning as we were going. We knew that the crawl space wasn't accessible from inside the house, but we didn't realize (and the inspectors missed) that there was an outside entrance that they easily could have used. At this point, we're just calling in a learning experience and moving on....happy that we got more than the bare minimum!

Account Closed · Answer

@Laura Levine After I "inspected" my post above I have a little bit more and a favor to ask... Crawl spaces (Inaccessible of accessible) (safe or unsafe conditions) (stored personal items) . Could you please check your contract and share with us some blurbs in the warranty and disclaimer sections of the report re the limitations of the inspections...As it pertains to your situation I cannot tell you how many crawl spaces I go into where others would never venture into (because the inspector was to large and the opening to small) or that he pulled "that is a confined space and I am not certified nor have the safety equipment to enter such a space" and how many roofs I ascended to where even the pigeons fear to nest... "My insurance prevents me from going on to other peoples roofs".Again thanks in advance for sharing (to at least help others if not yourself)...Wally

Account Closed · Answer

@Laura LevineI can truly appreciate your frustrations. BUT I have some questions...Where you at the inspection when it was being performed? Let me clarify, Where you at ALL the inspections when they were being performed and did you follow the inspector around? How did you find the inspector or inspectors that you used?DID you read the contract from the inspector prior to the inspection?....... UGHHH talk about disclaimers.... worse than a used car sales contract! Being one that has been in the R/E investor game for many years and also one that is a contractor and has seen the likes of all types of issues "missed" by home inspectors I ask the questions above to help you and possibly help/educate others.I am not going to protect or defend the inspectors at the same time there can be conditions that prevent things from being seen or not. That is why I am always at every inspection (if I am not inspecting it myself). I also inspect/visit a property I plan on purchasing multiple times prior to purchasing*. I bring a video camera and record everything...Inside and out! Why? because of reasons just like your issues...If an inspector misses something he/she should not have and I can document it......Bammm you will get instant satisfaction either from the inspector, his or her insurance company and or the courts... Been there done it! If no proof or documentation it makes it tougher although not impossible to get compensated for inspections gone wrong. IMH(Personal)O inspectors I feel are getting trained on how to limit liability more than how to properly inspect a home. That said there are some really good inspectors. I know I have used some. *If I am going to part with any of my hard earned monies I want to make sure I am truly getting what I think I am getting. I often visit a property multiple time (even if it is just to examine the outside) during different weather events (even different tidal times at the shore areas) as this offers me many conditional views to see how the property (and area) is holding up during different meteorological events. Sometimes even wind plays apart of water entering in a home where on most days or rain events it would not...other times it does. I also offer the same freedoms of someone buying one of my flips as I have nothing to hide. If i get someone selling me a property that is not "reasonable" in allowing me re-inspections if needed that is a red flag for me.Looking forward to your replyWally

Colleen F. · Answer

They may refund your fee and you can also report them to BBB I guess but getting money for the repairs I doubt it.

Laura Levine · Answer

Hi everyone, thanks for the feedback. The termite damage was on the sill plate and joists that would have been very easily observed (there was a huge hole in the subfloor under the hardwoods) if either the inspector or termite inspector had gone into the crawl space that was acceptable from two locations. The plumbing line was damage to the main water supply line and it was covered by a clamp, but no one checked why the clamp was there in the first place (unfinished basement). I did see the disclaimer, but I saw somewhere that you might be able to ask for damages based on "breach of contract". Supposedly this is a very well known, reputable company, so I'm hoping their reputation is worth something and they will be willing to settle. We aren't looking to make money, just recoup some of our losses.

Wayne Brooks · Answer

Yep, agree with above. Even pest control co.s doing termite inspections say..."if we didn't trip over termite damage, we're not responsible for finding it".