Shady Lead Paint Inspectors

[Christian M.]

Hi guys,

I am curious if anyone else has gotten this same vibe while getting a lead paint inspection. 

Here's the story: We recently purchased a rental property and since one of the units is a 3 bedroom we decided to get a lead paint inspection because in Massachusetts one is required if there is a child 6 years or younger living in the unit (which will most likely happen at some point with a 3br).  The lead inspector found nothing inside the home, but once he got to the exterior he found two window cells that supposedly had traces of lead paint. He also randomly pointed to areas of "flaking" paint around the trim of the home and window trim on the second floor that were "too high up to test" so it must be "assumed that they have lead paint" and we needed to hire a de-leading contractor to scrape away and remove these random tiny spots of "flaking" paint. To things in perspective, this is not a distressed property with tons of chipped paint, it actually has a solid, intact paint job that I think would pass the eye test for any buyer. He went over the inspection with us so quickly that it was pretty confusing and all of the areas of "flaking paint" looked the same as other parts of the exterior that he didn't seem to have an issue with, and his definition of "flaking paint" seemed VERY strict, yet not so strict for other areas of the exterior. These areas were so small I could barely see them (if at all) and it seemed over the top to have to hire a contractor to scrape these areas without even knowing whether or not there was any lead paint present. I didn't want to point out to him that the areas with "flaking paint" looked just like other areas that supposedly didn't have flaking paint because I didn't want him picking new areas for us to re-mediate. 

The remediation for these random spots cost $2,100 and that was the lowest cost I could find after calling multiple contractors. 

Has anyone ever gotten the feeling that maybe their lead paint inspector was drumming up business for his contractor friends, and securing a re-inspection fee for himself? At the end of the inspection the inspector pulled out a list of de-leading contractors and told us that he legally is not allowed to recommend contractors, but then proceeded to circle contractors on the list that he liked. It all seemed very shady and then I began thinking to myself.... what controls are in place to stop these inspectors from deciding an area is "not accessible" and pointing at "flaking paint" to drum up business for their friends and themselves?

The initial inspection cost $450 and then we had to pay him another $400 to reinspect it after the contractors finished. The "re-inspection" took less than 15 minutes....

It is my opinion that if I am gonna pay you $900 for an inspection, you better get your butt up on a ladder and test the trim to make sure there is lead paint before you decide that I need to hire a de-leading contractor for $1000's to deal with microscopic areas of "flaking paint".

Has anyone else felt like they were getting ripped off by these people or is this just common practice?

Thanks,

Christian