Anderson Home Inspection

Review: [redacted] inspected our home in 2011. In 2014 our valleys were leaking. He failed to make any note of the condition of our valleys in his report. I have since learned that roofs usually fail at transitions, chimney flashing, valleys, and penetrations. Information that [redacted] as inspector had at the time of inspection. His failure to note the condition of the valleys did not allow us to use that condition when negotiating our purchase.Desired Settlement: I would like [redacted] to help pay for the damage done from the leaks in the valleys and repair to the roof. His failure to note the conditions of the valleys on our roof did not allow us to potentially negotiate the cost of a new roof into the purchase of our home.

Business

Response:

RE: Complaint ID [redacted]To Whom It May Concern at the Revdex.comToday (12/5/14) is the first I have heard of complaint ID [redacted].In your notification of this complaint to me, you state that the Revdex.com may edit the context of my response to protect the privacy rights and to remove inappropriate language. I respect that. I would appreciate if in return, you respect the entirety of my response and not edit it for length.I inspected the property for this home buyer on 12/22/2011. I emailed a copy of my Report and a Summary to him at 7:52pm that same evening. I believe his complaint has originated because he did not thoroughly read the home inspection report, contact me after the inspection regarding anything on the report that was not clear to him but primarily his unrealistic expectations that home maintenance and a home maintenance routine can be ignored. We have a signed Agreement in which the home buyer acknowledges have read and understood the Standards of Practice RL 134 which had been provided to him prior to the inspection.Postponing maintenance on a new home for 3 years would have fewer consequences than postponing maintenance on this 50 year old home with over 30 other sub-standard conditions in addition to the poor flashing conditions which were noted on my report. Some conditions required prompt attention.Without reading the WI State SOP the uninitiated might expect that a Home Inspection should be “all encompassing” and meet their pre-conceived expectations for acceptability. For that reason, prior to my inspections, I email confirmations to our clients which read:“In an attempt to avoid “Unrealistic Expectations” we STRONGLY encourage you to read the State of WI Standards of Practice (http://www.anspect.com/pdf/Standards_of_Practice.pdf ) PRIOR to the inspection.”Your understanding of the Standards is the basis for realistic expectations.If you have questions regarding the Standards, please contact us prior to your inspection.* We STRONGLY encourage you to read our "Inspection Agreement” and review a "Sample Report".I speculate that not all of my customers read the SOP even knowing that this may be the most expensive investment they ever make. Regardless, I still try to help by including an Annual Home Maintenance Checklist in the binders I give them at the beginning of the home inspection. This checklist is also located on our web site in case they misplace the binder. I sense that some home buyers initially believe that once they’ve had a home inspection their responsibilities are over rather than realizing the home inspection report is really their first “Maintenance Checklist”.For a better understanding of the requirements of a home inspection and the contents of a home inspection report as it relates to this complaint, please consider the following from the State of WI Standards of Practice (SOP) for Home Inspectors.A home inspector shall perform a reasonably competent and diligent home inspection of the readily accessible installed systems and components… to detect observable conditions of… residential real property. RL 134.02A home inspector is not required to predict future condition, including the failure of the components. RL 134.02(2) (j)A home inspector shall observe and describe the condition of the Roof Flashings. RL 134.03(4) (a) 3.A home inspection report describes a condition that if not repaired will have significant adverse effect on the life expectancy of the item. RL 134.04(1) (d)A home inspector is not required to report on life expectancies, the reason for the necessity of a major repair, the method of making any repair or correction… RL 134.04(2) (a) (b) (c)This Customer’s Statement of the Problem:“[redacted] inspected our home in 2011. In 2014 our valleys were leaking.”The reason the State limits the home inspection liability to 2 years is the understanding that things change; especially the exterior of a home when exposed to rain, wind, snow, seasonal/ thermal change, etc. All homes require maintenance. Because of the 2 year limit of liability, the customer has little recourse but to lash out rather than assume responsibility for not reading the report and not doing typical maintenance required by all home owners. In an effort to help future home buyers avoid misunderstandings and the importance of reading the 2 page State SOP and thoroughly reading your home inspection report, please continue.The customer writes:“He failed to make any note of the condition of our valleys in his report.”The WI State SOP requires a home inspector to observe and describe the condition of the roof flashings. The SOP does not distinguish between the different types of roof flashings (attic vent, plumbing vent, electrical masthead, sidewall, valley, chimney, step, counter, drip edge, are some types of flashings) and neither do I unless I observe a “Defect”. When I see handyman/ homeowner (non-professional) type repairs that appear satisfactory, I note it on the report.In his report under the section “Flashings and Roof Penetrations”; I wrote in italicized text: “Tar or roofing cement limits the evaluation and or existence of an appropriate flashing in one or more locations. This typical yet non-professional patching requires more maintenance than a properly installed flashing. Remedial action advised.”On page 3 of my reports, the heading reads: DEFINITION OF TERMS. The 2nd line from the top reads: “Bolded or Italicized text = Unreliable condition. Contact a specialist for further evaluation of the component, system and like components.”My report indicated that there were problems with the flashings. The chimney flashing was actually lifted and therefore the report specifically indicated that the chimney flashing was leaking. Though other flashings, including the valley flashings were tarred, there were no signs of the valleys leaking at the time so I noted that it was non-professional and would require more maintenance. I advised Remedial action.In the intro to my reports, there is a paragraph that reads:“Conditions noted in the report, and photos taken of various Systems or Components represent a sample of the current condition and may or may not be indicative of the condition of all similar components. For example a comment regarding a rotting or deteriorating window sash does not necessarily indicate that all of the window sashes are deteriorating, nor does it necessarily indicate the only rotting or deteriorating window sash. Since it is beyond the scope of this inspection to observe "every" window, we advise further evaluation of all windows (or all similar components) by a qualified specialist prior to the end of your inspection contingency to confirm quantities of components needing repair, replacement, attention, etc. Maintenance issues, if not addressed in a timely manner may eventually become a Significant Defects.”The customer continues in his complaint:“I have since learned that roofs usually fail at transition, chimney flashing, valleys and penetrations.”This verbiage is almost verbatim from what is on my report. I don’t know if this means that 3 years later he is reading it for the first time or if he read it somewhere else.The roof did not leak for almost 3 years after the inspection. This tells me that he never did a maintenance walk-around his home. Understandably, if someone buys a new home, they might not do an annual maintenance routine. I’ll bet that most of us are more reactive than proactive and wait until there is a problem before we react to it.At the beginning of my inspections, I give our customers a 3 ring binder which includes a pen, blank lined pages for taking notes, and 50 pages of home maintenance tips. Pages 4 & 5 are an annual HOME MAINTENANCE CHECKLIST.Section 1 - ROOFS:Water is the worst enemy of your home.A. Check all flashing, roof penetrations and transitions for signs of leaks.When I email Reports to our clients, the intro reads:The 2 major reasons for a less than satisfactory Home Inspection experience are:1 - Unrealistic Expectations (Standards of Practice)(the underlined words are a link to the Standards)2 - Not reading the report.Please read the attached report thoroughly prior to the end of your inspection contingency and contact me right away if you have any questions.When Mr. Homebuyer contacted me about his leaky valley almost 3 years after the inspection, I explained that the sub-standard flashing condition was listed in the report and it was not leaking at the time of the inspection. I also advised him that claims are limited to 2 years under the State Standards of Practice, he emailed back:“While I may not have legal action I can do other things. File a complaint with the Revdex.com and WI Consumer Protection. I can write a review of the quality of your inspection on every place on the internet I can find.”This is where communication broke down. I don’t respond very well to threats. I don’t feel it is right to reward someone for threatening rather than doing their due diligence; in this case, reading his Home Inspection report and doing home maintenance. If we are responsible human beings, we all need to be held accountable for our actions and inactions.Most of us who have done any amount of home maintenance agree that we are not going to cut a check to the best contractor out there to assure that things are exactly the way they should be. Sometimes we might just slap some tar over a leak knowing that it’s not the proper way to deal with the situation at hand, but we just don’t have time or money to do it properly right now and it will last for a little while longer until we have the time or money to address it properly. Just because someone does a non-professional temporary patch job, does not mean it requires immediate attention. It’s non-professional. This is what I reported under “FLASHINGS” - “Non-professional”, “Remedial action advised”.Most lenders want to know that the roof will last at least 3 years under normal circumstances. This roof has lasted 3 years and will last longer. The valleys have lasted 3 years and Mr. Buyer wrote to me that on 10/27/14 he had just re-tarred the valleys (they should last another couple of years). As a home inspector, we do not report on life expectancy of the roof or any other component (WI RL 134.03(2) (a).My report was 26 pages long. Remove the images and it was 18 pages. Get rid of everything except for the italicized or bolded text, there are 8 pages of reading material. The DEFINITION OF TERMS on page 3 reads: “Bolded or Italicized text – Unreliable condition. Contact a specialist…”The issue in question is in the first section of my report, the ROOF section. The first 2 paragraphs are bolded and italicized indicating problems with the Chimney and with the Flashings. I did not predict that the valley flashing would leak 2 years and 10 months after the inspection, but I did give the heads-up that it was a non-professional patch job and I advised “Remedial action” defined as an Unreliable condition – Contact a specialist.Regardless of all of this, the Standards of Practice limits our liability to 2 years. This is three years later. Home Inspectors are not insurance companies that guarantee or warranty homes. We inspect homes and report on Material Adverse Facts or Defects.Lesson: Read your home inspection report and do your home maintenance (which there will likely be more if you don’t read your report and deal with issues when you purchase the home).Respectfully,[redacted], CMICertified Master Inspector®Anderson Home Inspectionwww.anspect.com

Consumer

Response: