Has anyone here sued their home inspector?

[Anonymous]

I purchased an old home and was told by the home inspector the pipes were updated. Turns out it is almost all old galvanized pipes that are failing. I’ve had 5 plumbers come in to quote updating them and nobody can believe that the home inspector missed this. One suggested collusion with the realtors to get the home to sell and 3 of them willingly wrote me letters about their findings compared to what my inspection report says. I haven’t gone to an attorney yet and usually your damages are limited to the inspection fee but this seems to be gross negligence or just straight up fraud.

[Anonymous]

Home inspection is a racket. Inspectors never find what specialists within that specialty easily identify. All they say in their defense is “well I’m not a plumber” {shrug}.

[Anonymous]

We haven't and haven't had a problem quite that bad (we are in a new built with other issues but also had a builders contract with a warranty that helped some).

But I'm interested to see answer here -- please share if you dig up something elsewhere as well. I found the inspection process ridiculous and yes, it absolutely felt like there is a natural alliance between inspectors and realtors to say "looks good!" and ensure the sale goes through. Even if you hire your own inspector instead of taking a realtor recommendation, they have a strong motivation to give a thumbs up because then your realtor might call them up next time. As the buyer, you're buying one home. You might buy another one... in a few years. The realtor, however, could help the inspector get 20 jobs in that time. Of course having a reputation for moving sales along is beneficial to inspectors.

The other option is to no rely on the inspection and see if you can get a contractor or other professional in to look at things before you settle. We definitely know people who have bought older homes with the intention of renovating and hired a GC before purchasing to come in and provide both an estimate on the reno and an extra professional opinion on issues. Though even in that case, plumbing and electrical can be tricky without opening things up, unless the problems are really bad.

[Anonymous]

90% of your contract with an inspector is disclaimers saying they are idiots, know nothing, and can't be relied on

[Anonymous]

I don't think you can actually get any $ from them. Their liability is minimal.

[Anonymous]

Pipes are behind the wall. How could the inspector know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:90% of your contract with an inspector is disclaimers saying they are idiots, know nothing, and can't be relied on

Exactly. They walk around cheerfully saying, "I can't open walls! har har"
We've been disappointed in some way by every single one. It's just part of the game. They are useless.
Just get the cheapest now.

[Anonymous]

I don’t believe inspectors much either. We never waived one and if we had bought at the height of the market and had too I would care.

We have had inspectors make a big deal out of things when we were selling. One, said the HVAC was installed incorrectly. It was about a year old. We had to get two HVAC companies say all was well (different than the installers.). Turns out inspector wasn’t up to current code. Cost us a couple 100 to say it was OK. Lot is stress and worry

Another house and a different inspector when we were selling said there was a problem with the electrical in the attic. No problem. We never went up there and a new bulb was needed - but proving “no issues” is hard. Same inspector said the shower leaked after he turned it off for a few seconds and this was a problem. It was totally normal. The hoops we had to go through on that sale!

When buying our current home, he said the boiler heat would last another 20 years. It died two weeks after we moved in and cost $10K to replace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:90% of your contract with an inspector is disclaimers saying they are idiots, know nothing, and can't be relied on

Just because the contract says it, it doesn’t mean it holds up in court. You can’t just disclaim everything and have that be the end of the story. But obviously lawsuits are expensive and that contract language probably scares most people from suing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:90% of your contract with an inspector is disclaimers saying they are idiots, know nothing, and can't be relied on

Just because the contract says it, it doesn’t mean it holds up in court. You can’t just disclaim everything and have that be the end of the story. But obviously lawsuits are expensive and that contract language probably scares most people from suing.

I used to think this too, because it's so ridiculous, and the inspector reports sometimes say that their maximum liability will be the price of the inspection. But I believe Maryland and Virginia are two states where your freedom to enter into a contract is highly regarded in case law, so their waivers actually stand unless bad faith can be shown (like fraud, collusion, etc.).

[Anonymous]

Get your money back and review him online and tell us his name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:90% of your contract with an inspector is disclaimers saying they are idiots, know nothing, and can't be relied on

This particular contract specifies that I can go after them for gross negligence and fraud. My first quote was 28k and it’s a major job

[Anonymous]

I would sue that sound like you have more than enough evidence.

Did you pick the inspector or did your realtor?

[Anonymous]

Home inspectors are a gimmick. Read the contract, their liability is not more than how mich you paid them for their services. It would be bad to have it on their record and the liability would be a lot more if there is gross negligence.

[Anonymous]

What exactly did your inspection report say?
How would your inspector know that all your pipes were updated, did he just thru walls???
It does not make sense!