Home Inspector

[darkfiire5000]

I had a house inspected about 7 1/2 months ago and the inspector said the roof was fine and last sunday part of my ceiling came down in my front room. My insurance came and took a look and said they dont know if they can cover that since it was like that. So how would I find out what to do , is the home inspector liable? Any info would help a ton.

[dodgecharger-fan]

Ouch!

Did you get a full written report from the house inspector?
If so, that'll have their disclaimers in there. I'm betting it will cover their butts.

A house inspector is a good idea - to a point. They don't have x-ray vision, so they're not going to be able to see everything.

It might come down to the cause of the failure. If it's something that should have been caught by a trained professional, then you might have something.

[darkfiire5000]

Yah he did but my insurance guy said there was hail damage and no flashing around the chimney and we have not had a hail storm since i lived in the house

[dodgecharger-fan]

I think the inspector should have spotted that.

Still, if he's got a disclaimer in the report, he's probably off the hook. Unfortunately.

[nh_mopar_fan]

I think if you check the contract you signed with the inspector, you'll find that he is not liable for anything he missed.

It's a joke, I know, but it's the truth.

[PocketThunder]

I think if you check the contract you signed with the inspector, you'll find that he is not liable for anything he missed.

It's a joke, I know, but it's the truth.

Thats correct.  I have my home inspection right in front of me here from May of this year and it states on the front page:  "The inspection is limited to a visual inspection of readily available areas.  It is not technically exhaustive, and does not imply that every defect was found"  ............ "The parties agree that "said inspector" assume no liabilites for the cost of repairing or replacing any unreported defects or conditions, either current or arising in the future, or for any consequential damages, bodily injury, or property damage of any nature.  No warranty is expressed or implied."
So you may be on your own on this one unfortunately.

[sunfire69]

Did you get any type of home warrantee ...that might cover it....likt AHM....

[darkfiire5000]

No but I sure as hell wish I did now cause of this crap. The home inspecter went over to my house and went up on my roof today with out my permission. Which just tottally pissed me off but my realtor said the old home owners might be liable cause they said the roof was in good condition.

[dodgecharger-fan]

Yeah, if they knew and didn't disclose it during the selling process, or if they told their Realtor and THEY didn't disclose it, you could have some throat to get a grip on.





We went through something like that when we sold our old house.
A garden hose broke in the garage and the water came down the wall and in to the basement.
The water came from the hose, not from the weather. There were water stains in the corner of the basement. You could see them on the floor and we made no attempt to hide them.

We told our agent. All he was worried about was if we fixed the source of the water leak. Yes. We chucked the hose out. And that we hadn't seen any water since. That was the case.

A few months after the sale, we got a letter from the new owner's lawyer saying they were suing for repairs to the garage and waterproofing along that wall.

The owners experienced a leak. They then ripped down the cabinets in that corner of the basement and saw water stains. They used that to say that we knew there was a leak and didn't disclose it.

What they didn't say in the letter is how they upgraded the water line to the house to get more water pressure and in the process, busted out the block foundation because they rammed the pipe outwards instead of inwards. When they rammed it out, they broke the outside of the wall. Apparently, they took two shots at getting the pipe through.
Then they dug up the garden bed over where all this activity went on - a couple of the owner's bar-buddies did the work. They apparently fixed the foundation then but I don't know.
When all that was done, the owner's wife planted a new garden, dropped the garden hose in the bed and left it there all day.
The water came in to the basement after that....

I knew all this before we got the letter. Their neighbour told me because he was worried that I sold to a bunch of crazies.
When I told my lawyer, he said, "So, we're not going to do anything for them, then?" I could hear him smiling through the phone and I never got a bill from him for whatever he did after that and the issue has never come up.

They've since built a concrete porch across the entire front of the house - effectively barricading that section of wall from the weather.