Renter's Inspections ?

[Robert Foster]

I live in a small college town. a few weeks back a deck fell off the back of a house which had a bunch of celebrating college graduates on it. Big story in the local paper about it and the issue of deck safety. Fortunately only one person was badly hurt.....compound fracture of the ankle....could of been a lot worse.

I've since received two calls from parents who want the house they are renting for their children inspected. I've been quoting my usual fee and planning on doing my normal inspection and report...which has been acceptable to the clients thus far.

I was wondering going forward if this is a marketable niche I what to develop and I am interested to hear how other inspectors handle this type of inspection.

1. What do you do differently for a renters inspection, than you do for a purchase inspection...i.e. what do you leave out or add to the inspection process.

2. What do you do differently as far as your report presentation and or pre inspection agreement.

3. What do you do differently, if anything, about your fees?

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[Jim Singleton]

I don't do them, typically its just a renter trying to get something on there
landlord. I tell them I need to have the owners permission before I can perform an inspection , they say OK but the owner seldom approves.
From a liability stand point I think its a potential can of worms and you could get pulled into litigation expert witness duties without pay.

[Markus Keller]

Interesting concept. My first thought is to talk with a local lawyer. Your State and your SOP may have concerns about this. It seems to be that there may be some additional liabilities here. I find it doubtful that you will be able to do a complete inspection which may increase liability if something does happen. In this case you are looking to inspect for 'worst case scenario'. That isn't a regular inspection, regular report or analysis. There may be a new deck that is fine under normal circumstances BUT because of WHY you are being hired to inspect, further analysis would be warranted for the extreme situations. Are you comfortable with that?
What will happen to your report? Probably go from parent to landlord with a nasty letter saying fix this or else my child moves. Now the landlord is pissed and guess at who. Ask your lawyer how that works in your state.
Many college towns have a housing authority that deals specifically with student housing approval/inspection etc. Even for off campus independent housing. Will you be stepping on someone else's toes? What will be the political backlash if the authority approved it and you are slamming it? Retaliatory actions can be harsh and sneaky in such situations, believe I know.
Since you won't be doing an inspection for sale/purchase, does your SOP even apply, what other standard will you use? ASTM, Code, porch building lumber recommendations, what?
Also discuss a revised contract with your attorney.
I will do pretty much any inspection a client requests but I would be a bit leery of this type. I would figure inspection cost about the same but with a revised report.
I've done a lot of renter's inspection of the years. Either for the landlord or for the tenant. Landlord has tenant in court, wants them out, or is refusing to return security deposit. Requests inspection to prove/verify conditions.
Tenant wants out of the lease, landlord refuses, tenant wants report showing unit does not comply with housing standards.
When I was a property manager I always did a move in/move out report on the unit with pictures. That way when they didn't get their sec dep back I had evidence.
Just some initial thoughts. Good luck

[Jack Feldmann]

Since TN is a licensed State, if I do a home inspection, it has to be a full deal.
However, I can do consultation work and write a letter or a report covering whatever I need to cover.

If someone wants ONE thing looked at, I will do it, and only focus on the one thing. I make it very clear, that I will oNLY address the one thing, even though I may notice other things as I walk thru the house. This will sometimes convert a partial job to a full inspection.

I also do some renter inspections after the tenants have moved out, and cover the condition they left it in. I have done lots of investor inspections, and they look to me to help them out after they own the properties. Its nice fill in work, and there is hardly ever a tight time frame involved.

I also once did deck inspections for an apartment complex. I inspected 390 decks in one complex. Took two of us a week to inspect, and two days to write the report.

[Ted Menelly]

I live in a small college town. a few weeks back a deck fell off the back of a house which had a bunch of celebrating college graduates on it. Big story in the local paper about it and the issue of deck safety. Fortunately only one person was badly hurt.....compound fracture of the ankle....could of been a lot worse.

I've since received two calls from parents who want the house they are renting for their children inspected. I've been quoting my usual fee and planning on doing my normal inspection and report...which has been acceptable to the clients thus far.

I was wondering going forward if this is a marketable niche I what to develop and I am interested to hear how other inspectors handle this type of inspection.

1. What do you do differently for a renters inspection, than you do for a purchase inspection...i.e. what do you leave out or add to the inspection process.

2. What do you do differently as far as your report presentation and or pre inspection agreement.

3. What do you do differently, if anything, about your fees?

As it has already been said the home is not the renters home. I do believe that just about anywhere you would need the property owners permission. It more than likely varies from state to state but is probably more or less the same. I did an inspection with out the owners permission a while ago for people that were renting and wishing to buy. A lot of issues came up about the owner not repairing items and such. I had the potential "buyers' (don't think they really were) a letter to sign stating that my findings were just that, my findings and I would not pursue anything legally in any matter with the home, renters and owner. I doubt that would have done any good if it was persued by either party but I at least stated my stand up front. I never did hear anything from it.

I get calls all the time where folks want me to inspect a home that the wife or husband is still in and is going to be split up. I also get calls all the time asking directly for me to come in and take pictures of property where the owner/investor wants to use them for whatever reason against the renter. I refuse the inspections. Way to much involved. You could be dragged into court forever until the matter is resolved. also the investors want to pay a ridiculous low some for the potential head aches you could wind up with.

Be careful with those deck inspections. A lot of time you just cannot see enough to do what mommy and daddy want you to do. They want a stamp of approval for the safety matters in the home. That is a bit deeper than just noting deficiencies. That is like telling mommy that their little girl is in a perfectly safe home that they are paying for their little girl. God forbid something arises.

Our page and a half addresses items like that stating that we can and will find safety items this is not a code/safety inspection (not looking at exact wording) and the inspector is not required to identify all potential hazards.

Now you know and I know that if you just simply miss something right in front of your face you are toast anyway but I greatly appreciate TREC putting that in the beginning of the formatted property inspection report. I do not do disclaimers for the most part.