Inspector won't pay for failed items

Re: 'You break it, you buy it' (March 25)

Dear Editor:

A major part of being a home inspector, or working in any aspect of real estate, is managing the expectations of one's clients. To that end, my whole purpose as a home inspector is to make things fail while the property belongs to someone else and not my Client. Carrying on Barry's analogy a little further:

"The sink drained just fine this morning when I brushed my teeth." "The electric outlet worked just fine this morning when I blow-dried my hair." "The door locked just fine this morning when I had to lock little Johnny inside the room with me." Etc.

I would never, ever pay for something that broke during the course of my normal inspections. Now if I got up into the attic and fell through the ceiling, that's a different story.

A great many of we home inspectors refuse to pay for something that "failed under testing." In fact, if something failed under testing during the course of our normal inspection protocols, that is exactly the phrase that we put in our reports: "Failed under testing."

There's such a thing as maintaining good customer relations, and there's such a thing as being taken advantage of. The home owner should have home insurance, and the fact that the home owner agreed to the buyer's request for a home inspection means that I'm not going to pay for repairs. End of story.

Russel Ray

Property Consultant

La Mesa, California

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