Can Inspector/inspection company be held liable?

Question

I have rental properties, but my wife and I just bought a primary residence and of course had an inspection done. The inspector's report was SO far off and incorrect it almost seemed like he was at the wrong house, assuming he was there at all. Unfortunately my wife and I weren't able to be there during the inspection because of work and other things. The inspection report said that there was a dishwasher where there clearly wasn't, the water heater was over 20 years old (although he had pictures in the report of the sticker on the water heater showing it was manufactured in 2006). So basically I don't trust anything he says after seeing the original report.

I asked my agent (who recommended this company) what we should do about it. He reported it back to the inspector and the inspector essentially just changed the "wrong" things to the correct thing (without re-inspecting, of course). I asked if we needed to get a second opinion or inspection and my agent said well lets have the seller fix the things we KNOW are wrong with the property and then when we go do the final walk through we'll inspect the property at that time.

So no additional inspection was done. NOW the first couple of rains since we bought the property and the roof is leaking in several spots near or on the windows. In the inspection report it was noted that there were leaks in the roof, but they had been repaired and were no longer a problem. Again at this point I don't trust ANYTHING from this inspector.

My question is: do I need to take legal action against this inspection company? Am I just SOL?

Wayne Brooks · Answer

@Dave Foster As a former agent, I'm always sensitive to people wanting to blame the agent for any and every thing. In this case, I agree. Not so much for recommending the inspector, this could have been a new guy, a one off mistake, whatever.....but the notion of "don't worry about it now, we'll reinspect at the final walk through".....say what!? It's too late to inspect/do anything about it at the final walk through, as your inspection and negotiation period is over.....what a moron, or just an agent Not looking out for their client.

In the end though, the buyer had an inspection, missed any potential roof issue,made some requests, then accepted the house and closed.....pretty much case over.

Tyson Hosey · Answer

I really appreciate the advice from everyone. I'm starting to get a sense of what direction I might go.

@Dave Foster I agree. At first I didn't want to hurt the agent (he did pay the inspector out of pocket for us), but the more I think about it and hear what you said, the more I'm really starting to question motives of the agent and how much accountability should be placed on him.

@Brian Pulaski No it wasn't raining at the time of the inspection. My concern with that though is that the inspection stated that there had been roof leaks but they had been repaired and were no longer an issue. So he either just got that by word of mouth or he got up and inspected the roof to see that there were no issues, in which he would have been wrong still. And no, there were several other issues in the inspection that were either completely wrong, didn't exist or did exist where he said they didn't.

Sara K. · Answer

I doubt you will get very far with a lawsuit, if you can even find an attorney to take the case. Inspection reports have a ton of fine print, and protection for the inspector.

Going forward, I would recommend that you steer clear of inspectors recommended by your real estate agent, or anyone else with skin in the game. Your agent needs the sale to go through in order to get paid, remember that.

Carl Fischer · Answer

@Tyson Hosey

Absolutely an inspector can be liable, the appraiser can also be liable these days, and of course the re agent, and the seller for the non disclosure possibly. This is America. You can find an attorney to take the case.

Brian Pulaski · Answer

I'm not defending the inspector, I have seen bad inspections before and feel for you. With that said, was it raining during his inspection? If not then how would he know about leaks? was this the largest or only larger issue? I have seen some blatant misses on reports that make me wonder if they even looked over the house.

Your agents advise was bad business. Giving a seller a day or even hours to address something is asking for trouble.

Kristian Peter · Answer

@Tyson Hosey most real estate inspectors have a standard form that they submit along with their findings (similar to the legalese in an insurance policy) - all of that "fine print" insulates the inspection company from any liability.  If you feel that something was done fraudulently, then you can retain an attorney to draft a demand and potential file a lawsuit that will pay for any of the problems that the inspector and agent failed to disclose (the seller is also liable if they purposely omitted information from their disclosures).

Overall, I believe that it would be a huge cost and a lot of time committed to recover anything, but you may be able to find an attorney that will take the case on contingency, but attempting to recover damages from an inspector is going to be an uphill battle.

Dave Foster · Answer

@Tyson Hosey, the inspector made a couple hundred bucks.  The agent much more.  The agent recommended an inferior provider.  the agent encouraged you to not worry about an obviously deficient product.  The agent offered to act as your inspector at the 12th hour.

Who do you suppose ought to share some accountability?

Can Inspector/inspection company be held liable?

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