Legal Question in Construction Law in Illinois
poor home inspection
I bought a house seven months ago and contracted a licensed home inspector to do a home inspection for me. There were minor repairs needed but the house was basically sound. Upon trying to sell the house the buyer had another home inspection done and that inspection revealed a baddly deterriorated beam and baddly deterioriated sill plates under the house making the house structurally unsound and therefore un sellable without extensive repair work to the structure. The original home inspector stated that he was only responsible for the cost of his home inspection and would not be responsible for any other repairs. I would not have bought the house if I would have known there was structural damage in the first place. Do I have any recourse for legal action against the home inspector?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: poor home inspection
The short answer is yes. However, depending on the cost of these repairs you may or may not be wise to pursue the claim.
If the inspector is insured and the cost of the repairs exceeds ten thousand dollars it may be worthwhile retaining an attorney to sue the inspector. However, that attorney would need to see just what you "purchased" when you hired the inspector. Also, certain rights may be given up between contracting parties and you would need to read the contract to make sure that you can even file a lawsuit. The contract may call for arbitration which you can initiate without an attorney either by contacting the American Arbitration Association (depending on the language of your agreement).
If the cost of the repairs is less than ten thousand dollars - you may well throw good money after bad by pursuing the claim and it may just be a live and learn situation. Next time - ask for references!
Good Luck.
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