Inspector Investigation at 11:00 p.m.

Today at 6 we introduced you to two families who had nightmare home buying experiences.
From moisture issues, to severe water damage, the Grays and Hinrichs family say they had so many problems they had to move out of their dream homes.

In both instances the homebuyers thought they were doing everything right. Both used home inspectors and used their reports to make their final decision to buy. Their inspectors stand by their initial findings leaving the home owners on their own to pick up the pieces.

In Part 2 of our I-Team Investigation we explain what home inspectors can and can't do when it comes to guaranteeing your home and what everyone needs to know about the process.

Shon Wicker was hired to re-inspect the Hinrichs’ home a year after they moved in. He says, "There's no doubt that the problems were pre-existing prior to the sale, the short time they owned the property was simply not enough time for that damage to have occurred. It was there and it was covered up."

Structural issues, rotting wood, and extensive water damage, just a few of the problems found… but Wicker says even though it is obvious now those problems were there before the sale, he cannot say whether the Hinrichs’ first home inspector did anything wrong.

He says, "In certain cases homeowners rely too much on inspectors…the fact is, homeowners need to better educate themselves prior to making a purchase."

We contacted the Hinrichs’ original inspector; he says citing licensing rules, he can’t speak about this or any other specific inspection but says in general:

"I make perfectly clear to all of my clients that what I do is a visual inspection only. This means what I can see I will inspect and report. This and other information is made clear in the written agreement…I never make the recommendation to any client whether I think they should or should not purchase the property. "

Meanwhile... the Hinrichs family is renting a second home in Onslow County and facing foreclosure on the house they own but cannot live in.

The Grays of Greenville, who have now moved on, faced a similar disaster: "This whole experience was just devastation…" The Grays lost tens of thousands of dollars and learned a costly lesson. Alice Gray says, "We've learned to be more thorough on checking out anybody you're purchasing a home from, or any type of business."

Attorney Jim Wall works for legal aid of North Carolina in Wilmington. His team is representing the Hinrichs family and many others in similar situations. He has serious advice for anyone buying a home: "You must not just rely on inspectors, you need to be willing to get dirty, you need to crawl under the house and see if there's any rotten wood, or any dampness and if there are any places under the house you can't get to, that is a warning sign, be very, very wary."

In addition to hiring a home inspector, Wall says hire experts to examine specific areas of the house: "Hire a plumber to inspect the plumbing, hire an electrician to inspect the electrical system and a heating and air expert to inspect the heating and air unit. These are all expensive, but for most people this is the biggest investment you'll make in your whole life."

Don Warner is Executive Director of the North Carolina Home Inspector Licensure Board under the North Carolina Department of Insurance. He says, "Our home inspectors are great people, they're educated, they're trained, they have experience, but they're generalists."

Warner says before you hire a home inspector do some research. Buyers need to read the Standards of Practice and Rules home inspectors are expected to follow.
Warner says, "It's what the house is on the day we inspect it and as we walk away and hand you the report and drive down the street something could happen. A home inspection was never intended to guarantee anything in the home...no guarantees at all."

You heard him right; no guarantees at all. Once the board licenses a home inspector, the inspector is free to inspect homes, with no oversight.

Reporter: "There's no way of telling whether an inspector is doing a good job, if they're abiding by the rules?" Warner says, "That's a fair statement, the licensure board is never certain every inspector is complying by the standards. The tell-tale sign is when the board receives a complaint."

But for the Grays, Hinrichs family, and countless others like them, all the complaining in the world doesn't get their homes fixed or their family's finances back on track.

And if you're wondering how effective complaining is with nearly 4,000 home inspector licenses issued since 1996, only 92 have ever been disciplined, with less than 5 percent of those inspectors losing their license.

By the way the home inspector licensure board recently began issuing random report audits to home inspectors. The point of this story is not to bash home inspectors. Everyone I spoke with says you need to have a home inspected and that most do a good job. The bottom line is, you are the one ultimately responsible for the home you buy and an inspection is nothing more than a snap shot in time. And from everything I have seen it is well worth a few hundred extra dollars spent to get specialists involved.

If after an inspection, repairs are done to the house you are about to buy, make sure you get proof of those repairs in writing. Don't accept people's word no matter how trust worthy they may seem. This is obviously a complicated issue; to help you sort it all out we have several resources to help guide you through the process. Just go to our homepage and type in the keyword: “Inspection.”