Inspection Neglection (It’s not a word…yet!)

The home inspector who gave the all-clear on my Toronto house missed some big problems. Dangerous electrical issues and other things put our lives and bank accounts at risk. He was also a jerk and if you haven’t gathered, he was incompetent.

When I spoke to him about the issues and presented him with evidence from contractors that he should have caught them, he said he was unable to apologize because that would put him at risk of a lawsuit. That asshat is probably still working today and making a tidy living because anyone in Ontario who wants to, can call themselves a home inspector. The industry is the wild west. In fact, only two provinces license home inspectors – BC and Alberta. But all that is about to change.

Ontario is finally going to rein them in. They will need to complete standardized professional training before they can hire themselves out. The Wynne Liberals say it will happen this year. It’s good for homeowners and bad for guys like the Toronto asshat.

But I don’t entirely blame him for the fiasco. Even the most experienced home inspector can miss a thing or two. No one’s perfect. I also blame our realtor. She used this guy exclusively and since we were fish out of water in north Toronto, it was easier to just hire her guy than go looking for someone else in the unregulated wilderness. And that’s how they get you because the dodgy home inspector won’t get to stay with a realtor very long if he keeps finding problems and losing sales.

My advice: don’t go with a home inspector recommended by your realtor. Even if it means waiting, find someone else, check their referrals and keep them independent from anyone who stands to make money from the real estate transaction. Our home in Willowdale did have a lot of problems, some of them pretty scary, but it was an amazing house and eventually fixing all of those things brought a good return when it sold. You have to look on the bright side, and look forward to the regulations!