The "upset" email

The “upset” email

Often when a client has a problem with your Home Inspection they notify you by way of an email.  People generally don’t call with complaints because they are afraid of the confrontation.  There is nothing wrong with contacting someone via email but we hope that the first contact is not notification that we are being taken to court.

Over the span of 10 years and after performing over two thousand, two hundred inspections I have been involved in 15 situations that ended with dissatisfied clients.  One was my fault and I paid some restitution for my error. One wasn’t my fault but I paid-up anyway.  (My clients were a young couple who were just staring out and I felt sorry for them).  The other dozen or so were people trying to get me to pay (or more accurately to get my insurance company to pay) for something wrong with their house that developed months after they moved in. Apparently lots of people are under the false assumption that having a Home Inspection is like buying a warranty on all the systems of a house!

The most recent situation involved a single woman for whom I inspected a house three years ago. She purchased the house and presumably there were no problems until a year ago when Hurricane Irene blew through and a skylight in the addition started leaking.  An unscrupulous roofer looked at the leak and charged her $6,000.00 for a complete new roof. He told her the Home Inspector should have caught the defective roof, and she would have no problem getting the inspector’s insurance company to pay for the new one.  Two months after the roofing job was finished she brought me to small claims court. 

Among the many mistakes she made in this situation most importantly she did not call the Home Inspector (me) to try and resolve the complaint as soon as it was noticed.  I could have explained about the nature of the inspection and that it is not a lifetime guarantee. I would have pointed out the extreme nature of the storm situation, and that nobody could have reasonably foreseen that this leak would occur two years in the future. I would have explained also that the Home Inspector is usually only responsible for the inspection fee; except in cases of gross negligence. I could have also counseled her to shop around for a contractor before having major work done.  The roof was architectural shingle approximately three years old; at the time I inspected the house, and likely did not need a complete replacement.

The bottom line is the judge is probably still laughing about this case.  He looked at her and said, “You have to prove that when the inspector looked at this roof he should have known it was defective.”  She withdrew her suit.

The thing I have learned over the years is; if you find you have a problem, immediately follow-up on it (whether by email or phone), don’t procrastinate, it only makes the situation worse. It is good business to inform your client at the time of the inspection of your availability should any questions or problems arise.  Encourage them to call or email you before a problem goes too far.  Follow up with your client a month or so after the inspection to be sure all is well.

We Home Inspectors understand the misconceptions about this business and are happy to clarify the true nature of our services.  Inspectors are usually good about giving advice (as long as it is only a courtesy service) in regard to repairs and contractors.  If a mistake has been made by an inspector, he deserves the opportunity to make it right, without litigation, if possible. And believe me, the burden of proof that belongs to the plaintiff is a tough sell in court- even if there was an oversight.