Disclosure of Relationship to Seller or Real Estate Professional

If you are performing an inspection for a buyer but you have a personal relationship to the seller or agent (perhaps the seller is your brother-in-law, or you are dating the real estate agent,  for example), you must disclose this relationship to your client immediately.

Add a clause similar to this one to your inspection agreement:

"Inspector discloses to Client that the property Client is hiring Inspector to inspect is owned by the [brother-in-law] of the Inspector. Inspector has previously disclosed this fact for the sake of transparency. Client has considered this disclosure and has decided to move forward by hiring the Inspector."

This full written disclosure of your relationship added to your agreement will help shield you from liability down the road, should either party raise any issues related to your conduct as an unbiased third party.

Find more legal clauses to add to your inspection agreements, as well as other free documents for members, at www.nachi.org/documents. 

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