Avoiding Litigation: A Tale From the Trenches

By the time I’d finished evaluating the roof the selling agent arrived, whose smiling face I’d seen on television and numerous billboards. She welcomed me inside, while assuring me that although the flat roof had leaked it had been “professionally repaired,” and that the house itself had been totally renovated and was now “better than new,” to use her words. I didn’t tell her what I thought, but I did wonder what so-called professional would repair a family room roof and leave a turbine vent in the middle of it. Regardless, I’ve made a practice of not sharing information until my clients are present, but when the agent informed me that the clients would not be attending the inspection, because they were entirely satisfied with the renovation and had accepted the house in its “as-is” condition, my paranoia returned. A cursory glance confirmed that the interior had been cosmetically renovated, and I wondered what deficiencies the amateur paint-job and cheap carpets now concealed. Nevertheless, I told her that the property has some serious deficiencies. Her once warm and bubbly demeanor turned frosty, and persisted until the tardy listing agent arrived. As I continued to work, they whispered to each other and cast furtive glances in my direction, but I was not intimidated. And before the listing agent left I purposefully asked her a few pointed questions about the house, which she seemed reluctant or unwilling to answer. But, she did admit that the sellers had never lived in the house and had purchased it with the intention of renovating it for resale, which conveniently absolved them from disclosing any deficiencies and left me holding the body, so to speak. Regardless, my inspection revealed several other potentially litigious issues, not the least of which was the fact that the family room had probably been built without permit, and that the additional square footage rendered the vintage heating and air-conditioning system hopelessly inadequate. Later, I learned that the listing agent was directly related to the sellers, and that there had been at least one prior inspection that she had not disclosed. That would be enough to make any inspector paranoid. However, I’m not paranoid, and never have been, but I’ve come under fire before and been hit a couple of times, and there are many people--including attorneys and expert witnesses--who just don’t seem to give a tinker’s damn about anything except making money. So, don’t wait to be attacked before you raise your prices because, when you are, it’s going to cost you, one way or another. Besides, given the responsibilities that inspectors are willing to accept, they deserve to make at least what the average attorney makes. And, remember, money is not the root of all evil; it’s the counter by which culture is distributed.