Well, I got a "Summons and Complaint" today from my client's lawyer for an inspection I did during the winter months. In this complaint, they are suing me, the sellers, the buyer's Realtor, the realty company and the home warranty company.

In this complaint, many (if not all) the items are ridiculous. For example, they have written that the air conditioner did not operate properly. It was winter with snow on the ground and I wrote that up as a limitation. Second is the electrical panel was not grounded which I wrote up and the service box needed to be upgraded which we put down that the electrical box is a Federal Pacific and further evaluation by an electrician is needed due the the problems that have been noted about this type of panel. Even though we have written in the report that we do not test the temperature control on the oven, they have it down as something we neglected to inspect.

Where I'm going with this is that most (if not all) the items noted in the complaint are clearly items that we reported as problems or were written as limitation plus they did not inform me of any problems in writing as written in the contract. Do I need to submit this information to my insurance company or is there a way for me to take care of this myself.

I know there a few of you HI guys that do not have E&O and I was wondering how you would handle this.

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I say lets merge all the home inspection organizations into one.

Seepaluce

I feel for you man, that is something that makes my stomach knot-up when the thought of a law suit crosses my mind. Maybe because I have never been sued, and only threatened a few times, most of those by the sellers for basically being to thorough.

This sounds like one of those shotgun suits that only helps the lawyers.
Probably got PO'd at the warranty company cause they denied their claim.

Questions to ask yourself:
Did they sign an inspection agreement?
Did they abide by the terms?
Does your report adequately deal with anything mentioned in the notice?
Did you talk to your lawyer?
Have you talked to the client? What do they want? (talking to them may or may not be the right thing, ask your lawyer)

Things to do:
Take a deep breath and get on with life, this is just one more hurdle.

Good luck!

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Jim Luttrall
Mr. Inspector.net, Inc.
Allen, Texas 75002

If you are in receipt of a summons, you need to notify your E&O Providor (in most cases a requirement of the policy). Failure to notify may result in a denial of coverage.

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Joseph P. Hagarty
Main Line Inspections, Inc.
http://www.householdinspector.com

Yep, do as Joe has said. Get all of your papers together and contact your insurance company. They will tell you what to do.

I expect that we will be seeing more frivolous lawsuits like this as folks start having a hard time making their house payments. They are looking for ways to get out of their mortgage payments.


Good luck.

FYI!! I would not post any more information about this lawsuit on this board or any other board.

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Scott Patterson
Spring Hill, TN
http://www.traceinspections.com

Agreed. Active Claims should not be discussed in Open Forums.

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Joseph P. Hagarty
Main Line Inspections, Inc.
http://www.householdinspector.com

I agree with all.

Even when a claim seems small, you should notify your E&O carrier.
They will explain this to you, it seems many claims that start out small end up growing as the clients lawyer and blown out of proportion estimates get added on in hopes of a windfall.

Failure to notify promptly will cost you all future claims that may arise with the house.

I have no exp. with this, just had a long chat with two different ins. providers this year.

Yes
None of them
Yes to all but they mentioned about an extension cord used for a hanging light fixture.
NO! Need to find another one.
From the way the Complaint was written, it sounds like the lawyer is trying to get something from anybody.

One thing that suprised me is how poorly the Complaint was written by the lawyer. Misspellings, making statements that are clearly incorrect and grammatical errors.

In this case, since the buyers ran into other problems that had nothing to do with the home inspection, the lawyer just included the home inspection with all the others.

I know some people in the past wrote that if you do not have E&O insurance, it is less likely the lawyers will pursue the lawsuit. Whether I have insurance or not makes me think the same process would take place.

My question is, if I didn't report this to my insurance, would it still go to the arbitration as noted in the contract signed.

I still don't see how Home Inspectors can get by without E&O insurance.

__________________
I say lets merge all the home inspection organizations into one.

Seepaluce

I would file a complaint against their atty. for naming you in this suit when an agreement and report exists that clearly shows no fault on your part.
If more people would file complaints against attys, this 5th grade mentality might be reduced somewhat.


I would also remind the client that you are counting every minute of your time and will proceed to collect from them if they do not prevail against you.

I assume you have an agreement that allows for the above action but it may not even be needed to take legal action.

I have that written in the contract the buyers signed.

I think what amused me the most is the lawyer keeps referring the Realtor as an employee to the reality company she belongs to. Plus they are suing the realty company.

__________________
I say lets merge all the home inspection organizations into one.

Seepaluce

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then, protect yourself!

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Jim Luttrall
Mr. Inspector.net, Inc.
Allen, Texas 75002

Kevin,
He is going after the assets. If they are tied up in the Realtor's company it's on the list.

I can understand your frustration, Joesph and others have given all of us good sound
advice.

Let this thread go,come back after you have a Dismissal or Signed Settlement.

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It Might have Choked Artie But it ain't gone'a choke Stymie!
Billy J. Stephens HI Service
Memphis TN.

Kevin,
I feel for you. I do agree with most of the other posts, especially the ones that suggest you suspend talking about this paticular case.

I don't know about your insurance company, but mine REQUIRES me to notify them as soon as I am aware of a potential or pending lawsuit. Failure to do so may qualify them to cancel your coverage.

I don't agree with Bruce about filing a claim against the atty. To me, that is just a waste of time, money ($$$$), and stomach pain to get - well, nothing in return.

While you may have done 99 things out of a hundred correctly, there is likely at least one thing that you didn't do (any/all of us will miss "something"), and THAT'S why they are taking you to court. Just that fact that you did the inspection at the property gives them cause to include you.

I know this too well, I was sued by a woman that bought a house two years after I did an inspection - and the inspection was for someone else. Yes it got thrown out, yes it cost me a bunch of $$$$, and no, I wasn't able to do anything to go after her or her atty.

Wish you well with it

JF

If you do not have E&O insurance, how would you respond to this? For the % of people that talk about not having E&O insurance, somebody must have some experience in dealing with this type of situation.

I do agree with the comments about keeping quiet when it comes to the case itself.

__________________
I say lets merge all the home inspection organizations into one.

Seepaluce

You can always counter sue them for a frivilous lawsuit and name them and their lawyer in the suit.

First thing is that is going to cost them money out of their pocket immediately and they may just drop the whole thing.

rick

If you don't have E&O you will have to pay for everything on your own. You will have to pay the attorney, experts, etc.

If you are in a state that requires E&O then it is a moot point.

As for a signed contract and the part about arbitration, this does not always work. Some states do not allow you to remove a persons right to a trial by a judge and jury. FYI, after going through an arbitration many years back, I do not recommend it to anyone.

A question: Are the papers you received just a demand or is it a court document with a case number, etc.

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Scott Patterson
Spring Hill, TN
http://www.traceinspections.com

It's a court document with a case number.

__________________
I say lets merge all the home inspection organizations into one.

Seepaluce

Bummer! Call you insurance company in the morning!

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Scott Patterson
Spring Hill, TN
http://www.traceinspections.com

Yep, Bummer.

__________________
I say lets merge all the home inspection organizations into one.

Seepaluce