Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Massachusetts

Re: Home Inspection Gone Wrong

What bad wiring would cost $5,000 to repair?

I would like to see you get a "second opinion". I just handled a case where a second repair shop claimed that the first repair shop (my client) hadn't done any work at all (rebuilding a transmission). I pointed out to the judge that the second repair shop certainly had a vested interest in making that claim, which was no news to the judge.

You're concerned about the disclaimer. The disclaimer may well not be effective to disclaim responsibility for the very heart of the contract, an inspection that would tell you of any major problems with the house.

Sometimes problems are "unknowable" by their nature. Unless the inspector tears up the rugs, he's not going to find stains on the hardwood floors beneath the rugs; sometimes without knocking out walls or pulling out wires, they can't know what bad wiring there may be somewhere. That just BEGS the question of how your new electrician determined what he did!!! In other words, if your new electrician found something out, why wasn't an inspector to able to? Did the new electrician have more permission to do structural damage?

You may fax the disclaimer to me. Often such a disclaimer would cover the damage the inspector may do to the home during the inspection, for example, but may or may not attempt to prevent you from suing for doing a bad job, and as I said, if it has that kind of language, it may not be effective -- that is, the court may legally ignore the disclaimer and could still award damages.

Hopefully you haven't started work yet before starting your lawsuit. You ought to give the inspector himself a chance to see what the problem(s) are / is before the problems get fixed (if there's some practical way to allow it) so that he doesn't make up stuff later on.

You should be able to bring suit on this unless your disclaimer made you agree to abitration (or mediation). If you're at all near Boston (Newton), you can fax me a copy of the disclaimer and the new electrician's written quote to (617)527-1763 or call to come see me in Newton.

Re: Home Inspection Gone Wrong

The answer depends on what you contracted with the inspector to do, what he could see when he did the inspection, and what your purchase and sale agreement said. For example, if the wires hanging from the ceiling are from a chandelier that was removed, which was spelled out in the P&S, then the inspector is not responsible. The age of the house, and where the wires are in the house also are important to the answer. You should gather up your documents and sit down with an attorney for an hour and discuss your options. You should consider the possibility that the electrician is trying to get you to do work that is not necessary, in order to create business... (I am not accusing the electrician of doing this, but pointing out the possibility). For the peace of mind, you might have a second inspection done, and not tell the inspector what you suspect. If the new inspection report points out the issues, then they are probably real....