In the News

New inspector regulations protect homebuyers

THE WICHITA EAGLE
Thursday, December 3, 2009

For all the trust and faith homebuyers put in home inspectors before purchasing a home, is it too much to ask that the inspector be more than a guy with a ladder and flashlight? According to some home inspectors in Kansas, it is.

A small but vocal minority of home inspectors are protesting new regulations that will take effect Jan. 1 ("New law criticized by home inspectors," Nov. 29). In my opinion as a member of the Kansas Home Inspector Registration Board, better regulation of home inspectors is exactly what the industry, and the homebuyer, needs.

Before I became involved in the world of home inspections, I was like the average homebuyer. I assumed a home inspector had a great deal of knowledge about houses and their different systems and could find problems a lay person might not notice. Little did I know anyone could claim to be a home inspector, even if he did not know the first thing about houses or how to inspect them. Nor did I realize that inspectors could limit their liability to what I paid for the inspection, even if the problem they missed cost thousands of dollars to fix. Perhaps most naively, I had no idea there was a laundry list of items the inspector did not have to inspect.

In 2008, the Kansas legislature passed the Home Inspection Certification and Financial Responsibility Act. In the ensuing months, the Kansas Home Inspector Registration Board has worked closely with home inspectors to set better standards for becoming a home inspector, as well as continuing education requirements for retaining the license. The board also detailed more specific guidelines, called Standards of Practice, so homebuyers can see in black and white what is included in the inspection and what is not.

We have held public meetings in Wichita, Topeka and Kansas City to obtain input from homebuyers, Realtors and inspectors. In all, the board has spent hundreds of hours and traveled thousands of miles to improve the quality of home inspections in Kansas, at no cost to the taxpayers.

By Jan. 1, all home inspectors must register with the state and comply with the board's minimum educational requirements and standards of practice. Additionally, inspectors cannot limit their liability below $2,000. Though not ideal, it is better than today's law, which allows inspectors to limit their liability to the price paid for the inspection, a cold comfort for the homebuyer who put his trust in the inspector's report.

The majority of home inspectors I know believe this law will make home inspectors more credible as a profession and protect consumers from unqualified inspectors. I agree. When a homebuyer hires a home inspector in the future, they will know they are hiring someone who knows how to perform home inspections and is in good standing with the state. They will also know exactly what is included in (and excluded from) the inspection. A handful of inspectors may disagree, but I think it will make home inspectors more respected as a profession and will give customers the protections they always thought they had.

As an attorney who represents homebuyers, I have met many families whose dream home became a nightmare because of dishonest sellers or unqualified home inspectors. The people of Kansas put great faith in home inspectors, and they deserve more than a guy with a ladder and flashlight.