Are All Home Inspectors Qualified?

To the Editor:

My daughter was recently married and her and her husband mortgaged all that they could to buy a small 1,000-square-foot ranch in Newtown. The disclosure statement that was signed by the sellers was clean. They had a home inspection done by a local company. The kids decided that they were satisfied with the home based upon the favorable inspection and professional advice and went ahead with the purchase. 

After moving into the home, they started to encounter problems. Their first problem was that whenever they started a fire, smoke would leak into the house. Upon calling a repairman, he informed them that the flues for the chimney and furnace were misaligned causing smoke and carbon monoxide to come back into the house. The second problem they encountered was water in the garage/finished basement. The garage had a sub pump in it that did not work. When they ripped up the basement flooring they discovered large puddles of water rotting the wood, sheetrock, and insulation, which had created mold. My daughter is expecting a baby in early August and her doctors advised her to have the mold removed immediately. The mold and chimney experts both explained these were problems that a home inspector should have identified.

I attended a meeting with the kids, their realtor, and the owner of the agency. They both concurred that in their opinion the sellers lied on the disclosure. Since then the sellers have moved to Florida and lawyers say that my daughter would have to go to there to take legal action. The kids then contacted the owner of the inspection company and went on a walk through of their house at which point he concurred that there were noticeable water problems. He told them he would look into the situation and get back to them.

Approximately a week and half later my daughter and son-in-law received a letter from the company stating that their inspectors are not trained in chimneys and mold and could not identify these types of problems! They said that my daughter should have consulted experts in these fields if she wanted to know about these conditions and that the company was not responsible.

When my kids hired this company they believed they were getting an expert in every aspect of a house. As it turns out this particular inspector could not identify major and even health-threatening problems! I now know in lieu of a home inspection, they could have called individual experts who would have given free analyses. You should also contact the Better Business Bureau and Department of Consumer Protection to see if others have reported problems with the company. I just wanted to give this advice to future home purchasers so that they do not end up in the same predicament that my kids are in, paying thousands out of pocket, because they put their trust in the wrong people. If anyone has advice you can email me at badinspection@hotmail.com. Advice would be greatly appreciated.

Steven Eide

25 Bonnie Brae Drive, Newtown                                  August 1, 2005